All Railway Gazette International articles in October 2000 – Page 2

  • News

    Wave of openings in France

    2000-10-01T10:00:00Z

    THREE FRENCH cities inaugurated new light rail and metro lines within a week. First was Nantes, where Semitan opened two routes on August 28. Line 1 was extended west from Bellevue to François Mitterrand, and the first stage of Line 3 began revenue service from H

  • News

    Finance

    2000-10-01T10:00:00Z

    Brazil: América Latina Logística do Brasil has become the first of Brazil’s privatised railways to turn in a profit, achieving net income of R$13m in the first half-year.Bulgaria: Income from asset sales and higher fares were expected to contribute to improved financial results for BDZ in the third quarter, following ...

  • News

    Fast Rail Links Project wins state funding

    2000-10-01T10:00:00Z

    ON SEPTEMBER 5 the Victorian state government announced a A$550m cash injection towards a five-year programme of upgrading and modernisation to provide faster passenger services between Melbourne and the regional centres of Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong and Traralgon. Premier Steve Bracks said the project would be funded as a public-private sector ...

  • News

    National Express takes root in Melbourne

    2000-10-01T10:00:00Z

    INTRO: In June 1999 Britain’s National Express Group won three of the five passenger rail franchises in Victoria. Whilst geographically they couldn’t be further away from the Group’s five British franchises, the inheritance, the challenges and the ambitions are remarkably similarBYLINE: Peter StrachanChief Executive, Australia Rail Division, National Express GroupON ...

  • News

    Stansted Express relaunched

    2000-10-01T10:00:00Z

    BRITISH train operator West Anglia Great Northern is due this month to relaunch its Stansted Express service which connects London Liverpool Street with Stansted Airport. This is now the London hub for several low-cost airlines, and WAGN reports that passenger numbers on Stansted Express are 37% up on last year, ...

  • News

    München explores the Stadtbahn options

    2000-10-01T10:00:00Z

    INTRO: Both the S-Bahn and U-Bahn network in the Bavarian capital are reaching their optimal size. Ralf Roman Rossberg examines plans for an extensive light rail network to complement the existing rail corridorsTOGETHER with the long-established city centre trams, well-used U-Bahn and S-Bahn networks form the backbone of public transport ...

  • News

    Expertise and experience are vital

    2000-10-01T10:00:00Z

    YET ANOTHER public inquiry, this time into automatic train protection (but still with m’learned friends present in strength), opened in London on September 18. Chaired jointly by Lord Cullen and Professor Uff, who respectively held inquiries into the Ladbroke Grove (1999) and Southall (1997) collisions, it provides the third opportunity ...

  • News

    Spoornet electric renewal

    2000-10-01T10:00:00Z

    SOUTH AFRICAN operator Spoornet has awarded a R300m contract to Adtranz for the upgrading of 45 Class 11E locomotives which run on the 25 kV 50Hz heavy-haul coal line to Richards Bay. This follows the contract for Alstom to renew the 31 Class 9E heavy-haul electric locos (RG 9.00 p511). ...

  • News

    Dublin metro ring study

    2000-10-01T10:00:00Z

    IRISH Minister for Public Enterprise Mary O’Rourke has approved in principle the development of a heavy metro in Dublin, augmenting the light rail route already under construction. The intention is to develop the network through a public private partnership, for which legislation is to be introduced next year. The government ...

  • News

    DSVN to elevate

    2000-10-01T10:00:00Z

    LAST MONTH, Vietnam Railways unveiled proposals to build a double-track elevated railway across the centre of Hanoi, replacing its existing single-track line which runs at grade with many level crossings. Connecting the existing Red River bridge at Long Bien with the southern suburb of Van Diem, the 13 km viaduct ...

  • News

    Watching paint dry faster

    2000-10-01T10:00:00Z

    REPAINTING of French National Railways’ refurbished TGV Sud-Est trainsets has been speeded up by the development of a new paint drying tunnel using infrared radiation. The Sunkiss Thermoreactor is a catalytic radiant panel which produces infrared radiation and convection currents through the catalytic combustion of natural gas or propane. ...

  • News

    Iran orders express DMUs

    2000-10-01T10:00:00Z

    ON SEPTEMBER 12 Austrian trade minister Dr Bartenstein and his Iranian counterpart Dr Schafei attended a contract signing ceremony for the supply of 20 inter-city diesel trainsets for Iranian Islamic Republic Railways. The four-car units will be supplied by Siemens Austria under a deal worth Sch1·37bn, which was signed by ...

  • News

    Design on the hoof wrecks the economics

    2000-10-01T10:00:00Z

    German Railway’s 300 km/h Neubaustrecke between K

  • News

    UITP debates light rail renaissance

    2000-10-01T10:00:00Z

    INTRO: With several Australian cities planning to invest in expansion, modernisation or revival of their tram and light rail networks, there will be much to discuss at this month’s UITP light rail conference in MelbourneBYLINE: Hans Rat and Peter Moore *LIGHT RAIL is increasingly recognised as a superb transport mode, ...

  • News

    Track lease deal

    2000-10-01T10:00:00Z

    BANGLADESH Railways awarded its first private-sector track maintenance contract in August, to come into operation from October 1. The deal covers the 40 km line from Jessore to Benapole, which forms part of the broad-gauge rail link between Bangladesh and India. The line has recently been rehabilitated at a cost ...

  • News

    DART goes west

    2000-10-01T10:00:00Z

    DALLAS Area Rapid Transit extended its Trinity Express commuter rail service from 16 to 43 km on September 18. Four new stations have been opened at West Irving, CentrePort, Hurst/Bell and Richland Hills. Services run hourly from Dallas as far as CentrePort, where a shuttle bus connects to Dallas/Fort Worth ...

  • News

    Cost optimisation matches demand and resources

    2000-10-01T10:00:00Z

    INTRO: From low-budget lines for low-density cities to intensely-operated networks, the variety of light rail lines around the Pacific Rim demonstrates the great flexibility of the mode. Critical for success has been the ability to tailor each application to the specific operating and financial needs of its communityBYLINE: John Schumann ...

  • News

    NSW Freight Corp to be sold

    2000-10-01T10:00:00Z

    PLANS to privatise Australia’s principal standard-gauge freight operators have been shaken up by a surprise proposal to sell the New South Wales owned Freight Corp. Despite earlier commitments not to privatise the business, the NSW Labour administration voted on September 7 to dispose of Freight Corp to whichever bidder is ...

  • News

    Gauge conversion returns

    2000-10-01T10:00:00Z

    JUST over a quarter of a century ago, we raised editorial eyebrows about the decision by General Gowon of Nigeria to convert the national rail network from 1067 to 1435mm gauge. The plans went the way of many similar proposals, but the idea has now been resurrected. Information Minister Prof ...

  • News

    Express Rail Link construction in full swing

    2000-10-01T10:00:00Z

    With 18 months to go before the opening of Kuala Lumpur's airport rail link, civil works are nearing completion and tracklaying is getting under way