All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1314
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Passing the motivation test
ON AUGUST 2-3 Southern Africa Railway Association held a workshop on track maintenance awareness, motivation and leadership in Lubumbashi. SARA reports immense enthusiasm among the delegates from Congolese National Railways, who were clearly inspired by a thirst for knowledge.Many of the Congolese delegates travelled considerable distances to attend the event. ...
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Pointers
n Kowloon-Canton Railway Corp submitted proposals to the Hong Kong regional government on July 13 for the proposed HK$30bn cross-Kowloon rail link connecting the new East Rail terminus at Tsim Sha Tsui and West Rail at Nam Cheong Street. KCRC and MTRC were due to present proposals for the 15 ...
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Swiss progress
CEREMONIES were held at Langenthal on August 2 to mark the mid-point in the construction of Swiss Federal Railways’ Mattstetten - Rothrist line. SBB Major Projects Director Paul Moser confirmed that the benefits of the SFr5·9bn Bahn 2000 investment programme would become apparent in December 2004, when a major ...
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Rijn-Gouwe takes off
PLANS to develop dual-mode light rail services in the Netherlands moved ahead last month, when Den Haag transport operator HTM ordered six LRVs from Bombardier. Based on the Stockholm A32 cars, they are due for delivery by the end of 2002. To be built in Wien at a cost of ...
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Software upgrade
Bentley Systems has released version 8.2 of its InRail track layout and 3D design software, which includes German, Danish and US standards. Enhancements include information management integration with ProjectWise, and remote access capability. Emch + Berger of Switzerland is using InRail to produce a precise three-dimensional digital terrain ...
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ETCS Level 1 ordered
SWISS FEDERAL Railways has approved its first commercial application of ETCS Level 1 train control on lower-density routes. On June 27 a €9m contract was awarded to Alcatel Transport Automation for resignalling of the 30 km Seetalbahn between Lenzburg and Eschenbach. As well as 24 colourlight signals, 26 point motors ...
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Intelligence August 2001
Australia: Western Australia government is to spend A$1m building a 1·5 km link to a wood chip mill in Albany. Westnet is to construct the line, with the state meeting interest costs over four years. Victorian Transport Minister Peter Batchelor has identified regauging the Mildura line next year as a ...
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SF6 switchgear
SIEMENS Transportation Systems has received Railtrack product acceptance for Sitras 8DA 25 kV AC SF6 gas insulated switchgear. Later this year 44 panels will be commissioned as part of Skanska Rashleigh Weatherfoil’s power reinforcement project at Corey’s Mill on the East Coast Main Line.Sitras 8DA is the latest generation of ...
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Open access boosts IKEA Rail
SEPTEMBER 1 will see the start of IKEA Rail AB’s first open-access freight services between Sweden and Germany, following the signing of the necessary track access contracts on June 29. The Swedish-based furniture supplier decided earlier this year to form its own rail division, which is headed by the former ...
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Perpignan - Figueres accord
MEETING in Toulouse on July 12, French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot and his Spanish counterpart Francisco Álvarez-Cascos agreed that the two countries would share equally the €709·2m public-sector contribution towards building the 45·5 km Perpignan - Figueres cross-border route. Expressions of interest in a concession to build and operate the ...
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Landbridge accord signed
A MEMORANDUM signed in Ostrava on June 22 will pave the way for construction of a 1524mm gauge rail link across southern Poland from Katowice to a multimodal terminal at Bohumín in northern Moravia by the end of next year. The US$300m project envisages the extension of the existing ’Sulphur-Steel ...
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Maglev all the rage again
ON JULY 16 Nexans announced an order from ThyssenKrupp Transrapid GmbH for supply and installation of the long stator motor winding for the 30 km guideway of the world’s first commercial maglev project in Shanghai, and the first cables arrived in the Chinese city from Germany last month.Although the ...
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Window replacement aids phone users
MOBILE telephone users are to benefit from the replacement of carriage windows on Austrian Federal Railways. Windows in ÖBB’s older coaches contain a thin layer of metallic insulation. This blocks mobile phone signals, but is not found in newer vehicles.Spokesman Robert Herbst said the replacement is ’a gradual process and ...
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Aluminium car ends
SUPERFORM Aluminium is to manufacture front ends for Desiro UK trains ordered by Angel Trains (RG 3.01 p161). The two large panels making up each end will be 2·5m high, 1m wide and 0·7m deep. The aluminium alloy panels are trimmed on five-axis machining centres to produce finished components ready ...
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Pilbara peace deal will take tracks to West Angelas
TRAINS COULD be hauling iron ore out of the West Angelas mine in the Pilbara, northwestern Australia, ’early in the second half’ of next year, thanks to an agreement reached on July 2 between Rio Tinto and the Robe River Joint Venture Partners. A year ago Rio Tinto successfully pushed ...
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Automated lookout on test
ENDURANCE testing of the Track!02 automatic track warning system from Track Warning AB of Sweden is to begin on Railtrack’s Midland Zone. Track!02 detects rail vibrations using rail-mounted ultrasonic sensors. A microprocessor identifies vibrations caused by trains, and a radio signal is sent to a master unit.The master then warns ...
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Praha automates
PRAHA Metro has awarded a contract worth €7·6m to Matra Transport International for the installation of automatic train control equipment on 47 trainsets by 2004. Operator DphmP has been developing proposals for automatic operation over the past five years, and this contract for automatic speed control and supervision equipment marks ...
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BA to build three more lines
THE Buenos Aires city council has approved plans for three more metro routes totalling 22 km. Bringing a metro station within 400m of some 2 million residents or 70% of the city’s total population, Lines F, G and I are likely to be taken forward as build-operate-transfer projects. The aim ...
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Freight fights back
ALTHOUGH the rail freight sector was hit hardest by Romania’s economic changes, CFR Marfa has now started the long climb back. In 2000 it handled 13·6% more traffic than the low point in 1999. This represented 19·7% of the national freight tonnage lifted and 41% by tonne-km.Director General Vasile Tulbure ...
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The wave crests as the big four become three
Bombardier's purchase of Adtranz represents the largest industry acquisition to date and may just be the last, as results finally start to improve at the major suppliers. Andrew F Saxe of Accenture presents his annual review of the rolling stock supply industry