All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1173
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News
News in Brief
On June 8 Bombardier announced that it had won a €35m contract from Trenitalia to upgrade 60 ETR500 power cars for dual-system operation. Built by the Trevi consortium in 1992, the original 3 kV DC power cars will be rebuilt with 25 kV 50Hz capability and ETCS Level 2 equipment ...
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Geting two into the cab
A TWO-MAN cab is fitted to the JZ140 rail excavator which JCB launched in May. Adapted for rail use by Philmor Rail, the excavator weighs 21 tonnes in rail mode. The zero tail-swing design is suitable for use where a conventionally-profiled excavator would obstruct adjacent tracks. A 2·1m dipper is ...
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Capital growth
PLANS FOR another north-south metro line across the Chinese capital were unveiled by the Beijing Municipality on June 9. Line 9 is designed to open up development zones on the western side of the city.The 18·3 km route with 15 stations is expected to cost 6·7bn yuan. It will connect ...
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Chipped shop
PASSENGERS travelling with London commuter operator Thameslink have begun using self-service Chip &PIN ticket vending machines supplied by Shere. The software is initially being piloted at seven stations, and roll-out at a further three is 'imminent'. All Thameslink stations will offer self-service Chip & PINmachines by the end of 2005. ...
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Curved cladding
THECURVED facade of Hounslow East station on London Underground’s Piccadilly Line uses composite cladding from Stoakes Systems to maximise the transmission of sunlight to the station interior.The Kalwall panels offer better insulating properties than glass, with their low solar gain helping to reduce the energy consumed by air-conditioning without the ...
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Eurotunnel closer to substitution
EUROTUNNEL’S Chairman & Chief Executive Jacques Gounon survived by a large majority an attempt to replace him with fellow director and former Chief Executive Jean-Louis Raymond at the AGM on June 17. But it was a close thing.It appears that Nicholas Miguet - the share tipster who held a large ...
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Research holds the key to commercial success
Lower noise, higher speeds and lower costs rank among the top targets for today's research teams. Murray Hughes reviews current railway research activities
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On-rail competition is still controversial
Strong views about the efficacy of competition as a tool to drive up the quality of European rail freight services were expressed at the EurailFreight conference in München on May 30
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Tunnels completed
WITH THE WESTERN bore holed through at 12.30 on June 1, tunnelling work has been completed on the 28·4 km Guadarrama tunnel on the Madrid - Valladolid high speed route. Spanish Development Minister Magdalena Álavarez had been on hand when the eastern bore was completed on May 5.The boring of ...
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Rebuilding the gateway to Coney Island
INTRO: Solar panels are now a distinctive feature of New York City Transit’s Stillwell Avenue station, which has been completely rebuilt by a joint venture of Granite Halmar and Schiavone Construction Co IncBYLINE: Kim BegonjaGranite Halmar/Schiavone joint ventureCONEY Island’s Stillwell Avenue station was opened in 1919, with four island platforms ...
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Monorail contract
AFTER NINE months of talks, Seattle Monorail Project announced on June 3 that it had agreed a draft contract worth US$1·6bn for construction of the 22·5 km Green Line between Ballard and West Seattle via the city centre.The privately-financed line is to be designed and built by the Cascadia Monorail ...
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Corridor study
THE MINISTRY of Development has called tenders for a preliminary study into creating a ’high performance’ route between the north coast of Spain and the Mediterranean Sea.The proposed route would connect with the high speed line between Barcelona and the French border as well as the proposed central rail crossing ...
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Sydney plans cross-harbour tunnel
NEW South Wales Premier Bob Carr announced on June 9 that A$8bn would be spent over the next 15 years on construction of a new deep-level north-south tunnel under Sydney’s central business district.The line would continue under the harbour to serve suburbs north of the city that currently rely heavily ...
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Resignalling deal
AFTER a lengthy hiatus in awarding major signalling contracts, Network Rail announced on May 24 that it had selected Siemens for a £50m resignalling of the Portsmouth, Fratton and Havant area.Work is due to start this month for completion in 2007. A new centre at Havant will control 131 signals ...
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Power dive
TRAINS all over Switzerland ground to an untimely halt in the evening peak hour on June 22 when a short circuit in a transmission line triggered a chain reaction that cut all traction power supplies to the Swiss network.The original fault occurred at 17.08 on a transmission line between Amsteg ...
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Stadler wins Dutch GTW order
ARRIVA has ordered a fleet of 43 low-floor diesel railcars from Stadler Bussnang to operate a 255 route-km network of secondary lines in the northeastern Netherlands provinces of Friesland and Groningen. The cars are being bought under the terms of a 15-year operating concession which starts in December 2005. Herrenveen-based ...
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Letters to the Editor
Rail-sea connections Sir - Dick Fearn is a rail manager held in high regard by his erstwhile customers in several parts of Britain. But his comments about Rosslare in his capacity as Chief Operating Officer of Iarnród Éireann (RG 5.05 p278) are depressing and disappointing. He says 'the boat train ...
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Real work starts at ERA
CEREMONIES were held in Valenciennes on June 16 to inaugurate the European Railway Agency, which was created last year to advise the European Commission as part of the Second Railway Package (RG 8.04 p449). ERA Executive Director Marcel Verslype said the event marked the end of the set-up phase and ...