All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1153
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News
French safety authority founded
JANUARY 1 saw the formal establishment of a new public authority to oversee railway safety in France. Legislation to authorise the établissement Public de Sécurité Ferroviaire was approved by the Assemblée Nationale on December 15.The move is part of the process of transposing into French law the requirements of the ...
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Palermo awards LRT contract
A CONSORTIUM INCLUDING Bombardier Transportation, AMEC Spie and SIS (a subsidiary of Spanish construction group Sacyr Vallehermoso) has been awarded a €192m turnkey contract to build a three-line LRT network totalling 15 km in the Italian city of Palermo. The contract includes detailed design, civil works, mechanical and electrical systems ...
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Beijing links
ECI TELECOM announced on January 4 that Beijing Metro had selected its optical transmission equipment to expand video surveillance and safety communication on Lines 1 and 2. The XDM Multi-Service Provisioning Platform will cover 47 stations and around 100 km of track. 'The 2008 Olympics will be a challenging experience, ...
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Seat belts increase injury, says study
'THERE IS no overall net safety benefit associated with the fitting of two-point passenger restraints to trains. Two-point passenger restraints should therefore not be fitted to rail vehicles', concludes research by Britain's Rail Safety & Standards Board. The study found that injuries would be worsened if passengers in a collision ...
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CP embraces best practice
INTRO: Following its transformation from a national railway to a train operator, Comboios do Portugal is looking to play a bigger role on the European stage. President António Ramalho explained to Chris Jackson his plans to develop the business ’WE ARE putting Portugal on the European railway map’, insists António ...
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Green Tulip blooms in bulbland
ON JANUARY 17 Dutch Transport Minister Karla Peijs signed a contract with the Green Tulip consortium for operation of the Betuwe Route. Consisting of Babcock & Brown (which has just purchased Swiss intermodal operator Crossrail AG, p60), TowRail, national network manager ProRail and the port authorities of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, ...
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News in Brief
Paths on the standard gauge network in Switzerland will be allocated by an independent organisation from April 1. Trassenvergabe AG, set up in December to manage and allocate paths, is owned equally by Swiss Federal Railways, BLS Lötschbergbahn, Südostbahn and the Association of Public Transport Undertakings. The move is intended ...
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Passenger News in Brief
Qinghai-Tibet Railway Corp and Shanghai-based Rail Partners Inc have set up a joint venture to operate luxury tourist trains between Xining and Lhasa, taking three days to cover over 2000 km.NS Business Cards have been issued to 4200 Capgemini employees in the Netherlands. The cards are used to book business ...
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City News in Brief
Anxious to get rail service to Dulles International Airport as soon as possible, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority has proposed that it should build the planned 37 km metro extension from West Falls Church, now priced at $3·8bn. The current schedule calls for the 18·6 km first segment to ...
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Europeans to dissect the British Experiment
A SEMINAR has been organised in Brussels on February 23 for the purpose of dispelling myths and misconceptions that have gained currency among the ranks of senior rail managers in Europe about the outcome of Britain’s unique privatisation experiment in the mid-1990s.This event was triggered by letters sent last autumn ...
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Dry bulk loads
FREIGHT operator EWS and its French-based subsidiary Euro Cargo Rail are offering European users of dry bulk powders and granule products rail transport in ISO-Veyor pressurised containers (RG 9.03 p595).Contained within standard ISO frames, the ISO-Veyor units are filled and sealed at source for intermodal transport to a site, where ...
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Holland buy-out
Holland Railconsult staff acquired the majority of the company’s shares in a buy-out effective from January 2.Management and staff now hold 74% of the shares in the Dutch consultancy, and Van Lanschot Bankiers the remaining 26%.On December 15 the Movares Polska subsidiary announced the acquisition of Lublin-based consultancy Biuro Projektów ...
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Cab and coach composites
METRO-NORTH Railroad has selected American Acoustical Products’ HushLiner FR acoustic ceiling panels for installation in the cabs of its GE Genesis passenger locomotives, replacing vinyl film which had de-laminated.The lightweight panels provide sound absorption and an attractive, cleanable surface that resists graffiti and de-lamination. Exposure to a flame causes rapid ...
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Torino - Novara to carry Olympic traffic
SPECTATORS arriving in northern Italy for this month's Winter Olympics may get off to a flying start when Trenitalia opens the Torino - Novara section of its high speed line between Torino and Milano. All being well, trains are due to start running over the new line from February 1. ...
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Premium rail and suspension changes could cut rolling contact fatigue
INTRO: Two methods of achieving economic benefits in the management of rolling contact fatigue were examined in studies carried out by TTCI for the UK railway industry during 2005. Both the use of premium rail steels and changes to vehicle suspensions have the potential to deliver cost savingsBYLINE: Steve Clark, ...
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Lok Ma Chau Spur Line offers a quiet route to China
Noise mitigation is integral to the design of the 7·4 km Lok Ma Chau Spur, a second rail link between Hong Kong and the mainland which will relieve congestion at the Lo Wu crossing point
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Door to China
GUANGZHOU Guangri Group and Knorr-Bremse have established a joint venture to produce platform screen doors in China.Knorr-Bremse has a 65% stake in Westinghouse Platform Screen Doors (Guangzhou) Ltd, which will initially employ around 70 staff and produce up to 3000 screen doors annually. The partners have previously won orders to ...
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Chuo Line renewal
EAST JAPAN Railway has announced plans to order a new fleet of 10-car EMUs to operate Tokyo’s busy Chuo suburban lines. The first of 688 Series E233 cars are expected to enter service in December, starting the replacement of 710 Series 201 vehicles.The E233 trainsets are derived from the Series ...
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Cleaner underground escalator
AUTOMATIC dust tray cleaners have been installed during the replacement of two escalators at London Underground’s Embankment station.Designed by RJC and installed by Otis, the rectangular metal dust trays are fitted under the escalator steps at both the top and bottom chambers. Debris and dirt is swept from the tray ...