All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1458
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Commuter rail boosts mobility
INTRO: Opening of the Green Corridor route across central Madrid in 1996 concluded an important phase in a major investment programme that has transformed the Spanish capital’s commuter services. Construction of new lines to dormitory suburbs has been matched by rolling stock deliveries to create the most modern commuter train ...
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Fireproof cable protection
THIS month PMA of Switzerland plans to launch a range of ’banana-angle’ cable connectors. Developed primarily in response to demand from Adtranz, the connectors will be available in a range of sizes and materials.Later this year PMA will add to its range nylon-based cable protection conduits that meet the demanding ...
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Six-axle car to power NS double-deck EMU
INTRO: Netherlands Railways unveiled its first Bo’Bo’Bo’ power car at Leidschendam on November 12; the 2·4MW vehicles will work with double-deck coaches in four or five car sets. Harry Hondius reportsBETWEEN 1992 and 1994, Netherlands Railways put into service 258 double-deck coaches for commuter operations in the Randstad region. Built ...
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Smart card revolution under way at last
INTRO: Market developments are encouraging the long-awaited introduction of smart cards to a ticketing industry which has been dominated by magnetic stripe technology. Roger Ford looks at the technical and operational implicationsENCODED MAGNETIC stripes on tickets were seen as a key technology in combating fraudulent travel. In practice the forecast ...
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Smart cards: too much hype?
INTRO: With smart card ticketing being tested in London, Manchester, Paris and Hong Kong, the concept is generating considerable interest among transport operators. But investing in contactless fare collection has risks as well as benefits, suggest Matthew Lawson and Bill Steinmetz from the Railway Technology Strategy Centre at London’s ...
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Heathrow Express completes commissioning trials
INTRO: Murray Hughes rides the first three-car Heathrow Express set on the Velim test track in the Czech RepublicSTREAKING through the birch forest on the circular test track at Velim northeast of Praha, the first train for Britain’s Heathrow Express service was clocking 160 km/h as part of an intensive ...
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GSM data link research completed
Improved passenger information and emergency communications are in prospect following a research programme funded by Britain’s Department of Trade & Industry. Details of the Hiflirts project are to be unveiled by ERA Technology on January 24. The High Intensity data For Light Rail Transport Systems concept uses GSM radio links ...
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TFM wins Noreste concession
ON DECEMBER 5 the Mexican government accepted a US$1·4bn bid from Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana for the 50 year concession to operate the Ferrocarril del Noreste (RG 12.96 p805). TFM will also pay 0·5% of net operating income in each of the first 15 years and 1·5% for the remainder. There ...
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Skirmishes over Conrail turn to war
THE BATTLE raging for the control of Conrail has hotted up, with the alarums and excursions of the early weeks changing to a full-scale war in the courts. On November 20 a federal judge denied Norfolk Southern’s request for a preliminary injunction to halt the first step in CSX’s attempt ...
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Leasing explosion demands registration
IN THE LAST five years there has been an astonishing increase in the amount of leased rolling stock running on Europe’s railways. Much of the impetus has come from the US, where cross-border leasing brings substantial tax avoidance benefits. Michael Kershaw of HSBC International told a Frankfurt conference on Commercialising ...
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New York megalopolis plans regional rail expansion
INTRO: The backlog of under-investment in New York’s urban railways has been made good, and they are now poised to expand. Integration to create a true regional network is seen as the way to support economic growth and enhance mobilityBYLINE: William D MiddletonWITH A population of nearly 20 million and ...
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S-Bahn expansion in full swing
INTRO: Despite changes in funding arrangements for investment in Germany’s already extensive S-Bahn networks, new construction and modernisation are forging ahead. Hubertus R Jäger assesses the state of playNEARLY ALL Germany’s S-Bahn networks are expanding. Funds are still flowing from federal sources under the Community Transport Financing Law (GVFG), which ...
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Intermodal expansion
SWISS intermodal operator Hupac inaugurated a terminal at Singen on November 15, replacing its site at Rielasingen. The yard took 18 months to build, and is designed to cope with projected traffic growth for the next 10 years.Described as a hub for southern Germany and a gateway for the transalpine ...
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Trinity Express starts
JANUARY 20 sees the start of revenue operation on the Trinity Express commuter rail line from South Irving to Dallas Union Station, where it interchanges to the city’s light rail line (RG 10.96 p639). Trains were to begin on December 30, but without all 13 rehabilitated Budd diesel railcars, restricting ...
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Franchising starts on the final lap
ONE YEAR AGO we were writing about a legal battle delaying the award of the first of 25 franchises to run passenger services on Britain’s rail network. At the time we were deeply sceptical about the private sector’s willingness to enter the rail business. Yet, as we have chronicled in ...
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Finance
Argentina: The World Bank is to provide US$150bn to replace 30 level crossings within the Buenos Aires city limits with road underpasses.Czech Republic: CD secured DM200m in state-guaranteed credit from Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau on November 25 for modernisation of the Breclav - Petrovice u Karviné line, and a further ECU200m ...
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Tunnel fire offers important lessons
INTRO: Richard Hope examines the fallout from what could be the most costly accident in railway historyIN TERMS OF personal safety, Eurotunnel coped well with the major fire which raged through the rear half of a freight shuttle in the Channel Tunnel for several hours from 22.00 on November 18. ...
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Investment flows as UP restructures
JANUARY 2 sees the start of a major reorganisation of Union Pacific’s Operating Department as part of the merger with Southern Pacific. Four ’regional leadership teams’ were formed on December 1 to manage the transition, which is due for completion by February 28. The Central and Northern regions are based ...
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Frontiers frustrate parcels giant
Which single company provides US railways with the most revenue? According to Bob Longenecker, Vice President Transportation, it is United Parcels Service at $500m a year. He assured the Intermodal 96 conference in London on December 5 that ’UPS is a customer of every American railroad’; while this is hyperbole ...