All Railway Gazette International articles in October 2011
All articles published this month.
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NewsGPS tracking
EUROPE: During September freight operator Europorte began fitting its locomotives with GPS beacons linked to a movement monitoring system developed by Belgian firm Railnova in partnership with Kerlink. The Railster system will provide real-time location reporting for Europorte’s fleet. Automatic collection of temperature, average speed and distance covered data will ...
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NewsProducts & Technology in Brief
DB is testing a 300 m section of noise barrier just 760 mm high alongside tracks at Celle-Garßen, aiming to reduce noise in the immediate vicinity of the source. The results of a national programme to test methods of reducing noise are to be presented next year. Trelleborg Industrial ...
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NewsSkoda 109 E2 ready for trials
SLOVAKIA: This month Skoda Transportation will begin trials with the first of two Type 109 E2 three-voltage electric locomotives ordered by ZSSK for €4·8m. It is expected to enter regular service in December, with the second to follow in June 2012. The 6·4 MW Class 381 is derived from the ...
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NewsIJmeerlijn visions revealed
NETHERLANDS: Three feasibility studies for a direct metro line between Amsterdam and the growing satellite town of Almere across the IJmeer lake have been completed on behalf of development agency Werkmaatschappij Almere-Amsterdam. Two of the options will now be selected for further analysis, and the selected project could be completed ...
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NewsČD closes Railjet deal
CZECH REPUBLIC: State-owned operator ČD finally signed a €200m deal with Austrian Federal Railways and Siemens Mobility on September 30 under which it will acquire 16 Viaggio Comfort (Railjet) push-pull trainsets using an option on ÖBB’s original contract with Siemens which was no longer required by the Austrians. Announced in ...
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NewsBrookville to produce modern tram
USA: An expansion of tram manufacturing was announced by Brookville Equipment Corp on September 14. The company said it is developing an articulated tram with a low-floor section and the capability to run for short distances without overhead supply. Founded in 1918, Brookville's core business is the production of rail ...
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NewsNordic Rail: a meeting point for the region's railways
The railway industry of Scandinavia and Finland gathers on October 4-6 for the Nordic Rail exhibition. Organised by Elmia in the Swedish town of Jönköping every two years, Nordic Rail and the related Future Transport exhibitions are designed to act both as a showcase for new products and a 'meeting ...
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NewsEMD to produce passenger demonstrator loco
USA: Electro-Motive Diesel announced the development of a 200 km/h ‘next generation’ diesel passenger locomotive for the North American market at APTA Expo 2011 in New Orleans on October 3. The design is being produced on a speculative basis, and a prototype is to be rolled out during 2014. The ...
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NewsC4Ks start running to Larne
UK: Northern Ireland’s Transport Minister Danny Kennedy joined the celebrations on October 3 to mark the entry into service on the Belfast – Larne route of the first of Translink’s new Class 4000 DMUs. The 20 three-car units are being supplied by CAF under the operator’s £150m New Trains Programme, ...
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News
VDB elects new board members
Meeting in Kiel on September 30, the German Railway Industry Association VDB elected Dr Klaus Baur of Bombardier Transportation, as VDB President for 2011-14. He is joined on the nine-member board by Dr Ansgar Brockmeyer of Siemens Mobility as Vice-President with responsibility for rail vehicles, Andreas Becker of Ephy Mess ...
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NewsSNC Lavalin acquires Interfleet Technology
INTERNATIONAL: Montréal-based international infrastructure and engineering group SNC-Lavalin announced on October 4 that it had agreed to acquire the rolling stock engineering and rail operations consultancy Interfleet Technology under a deal signed on October 3. Formed in 1994 through a management buy-out of British Rail’s former inter-city train engineering services ...
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NewsFreedom takes Flexity to the North American tram market
NORTH AMERICA: Bombardier Transportation President & CEO André Navarri launched the ‘Flexity Freedom’ as the company's tram platform for North America at APTA Expo 2011 in New Orleans on October 4. The 100% low-floor car is a parallel development to the Flexity 2, launched in Blackpool last month and targeted ...
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NewsTurnout converter
UK: The Points Converter launched by Zonegreen enables hand-operated turnouts to be converted to powered and remote control, helping to streamline the operation of depots, reducing the need for stop-start operations and also reducing the risk of staff accidents. ‘The system is made up of two parts’, explains Technical Director ...
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NewsChongqing opens monorail and metro lines
CHINA: Chongqing Rail Transit has begun trial operations on its first conventional metro and second straddle monorail lines, expanding the city's urban rail network. The first route to be completed was Line 2, which opened in 2005 using straddle monorail technology from Hitachi. Monorail Line 3 services began running at ...
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NewsCAF preferred for Auckland EMU order
NEW ZEALAND: A consortium of Spanish manufacturer CAF and Mitsubishi of Japan has reportedly been selected as preferred bidder to supply and maintain 57 three-car electric multiple-units to operate the Auckland suburban network now being electrified at 25 kV 50 Hz. The deal had been expected to be announced on ...
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NewsLine H opens to Parque Patricios
ARGENTINA: On October 4 the southern extension of Line H from Caseros to Parque Patricios was formally opened by Mauricio Macri, head of the Buenos Aires city government, joined by Juan Pablo Piccardo, President of metro construction authority SBASE. Public services were due to begin at 18.00. The new southern ...
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NewsBrunswick Rail’s new-generation wagons arrive
RUSSIA: private wagon leasing group Brunswick Rail announced on October 5 that it had taken delivery of the first of a new design of gondola wagons being supplied by CJSC Promtraktor-Vagon. Under a contract signed in July, Brunswick Rail is buying 70 Type 12-1304 four-axle wagons from Promtraktor-Vagon; these are ...
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NewsToshkent trams
UZBEKISTAN: Celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of independence on September 1 included the launch of the first two of 20 VarioLF low-floor trams supplied by the Alliance TW Team consortium of Czech manufacturers Pragoimex, KOS Krnov and VKV Praha. The rest are scheduled to arrive next year. 'These trams meet ...
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NewsSound and safe
SWITZERLAND: SBB Cargo is providing shunting staff using remote control equipment with mobile phones from Finnish firm Twig Com that incorporate motion sensors and GPS tracking to enable the user to be located in an emergency. If the phone's sensor is motionless for 3 min the phone automatically sets an ...
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NewsAuckland EMU contract signed
NEW ZEALAND: Transport Minister Steven Joyce confirmed on October 6 that Auckland Transport had signed contracts with Spanish manufacturer CAF for the supply and maintenance of 57 three-car electric multiple-units to operate the Auckland suburban network. Speaking at Britomart station in the city centre, Joyce said ‘this ...