All Railway Gazette International articles in September 2000
All articles published this month.
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News
Train times by WAPphone
Railtrack announced on August 3 the launch of a timetable enquiry service for users of WAP mobile phones. Following an agreement with software company Kizoom, the estimated 500000 users of WAP phones in Great Britain can now access Railtrack’s well-established internet service at www.railtrack.co.uk/i.wml. They will also be able to ...
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ZSR renewals
SLOVAK Republic Railways announced in July that it plans to invest SK21bn in modernisation of its rolling stock over the next five years. With 64% of its coaches and 80% of wagons more than 20 years old, replacement or refurbishment is becoming essential.ZSR is about to call tenders for 20 ...
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Track recording trolley
ENGINEERING Technology 2000 has developed the Autograph track geometry measuring trolley, a battery-powered self-propelled unit which records at up to 4 km/h. It can be dismantled for transport in the boot of a car. Operated by remote control, the Autograph is equipped with an on-board PC in a weatherproof housing ...
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Publications
Stadtbahn in Deutschland: Innovativ - Flexibel - AttraktivWritten by the German Association of Transport Undertakings and sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building & Housing, this comprehensive study reviews light rail developments in Germany over the past 30 years. With text in German and English, the 490 pages include ...
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Russians press on with reform
AT THE end of August the Board of Russia’s Ministry of Railways expected to authorise implementation of the second stage of the national railway reform programme. The ’Concept of Structural Reforms of the Russian Railways’ was formally approved by government in 1998 (RG3.98 p138), and this has now been substantially ...
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PR sets tight upgrading timetable
SEPTEMBER 15 sees the formal inauguration of a new Marketing Department at Pakistan Railways, one of a range of initiatives launched by Chairman Lt-Gen Javed Ashraf Qazi at the request of the government. The department is intended to put PR’s activities onto a more commercial basis, including the leasing out ...
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Pointers
n Look for Mozambique President Joaquim Chissano and his Malawi counterpart Bakili Muluzi to launch officially the Nacala Corridor this month, to encourage development along the Blantyre - Nacala line now operated by concessionaire Central East African Railway.n Vietnam Railways has launched a five-year investment plan valued at 5700bn dong; ...
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Plovdiv - Svilengrad upgrading
BULGARIAN State Railway is to call tenders shortly for upgrading of its 156 km main line serving the southeast of the country, at an estimated cost of US$340m. Modernisation of the Plovdiv - Svilengrad route is due to start early next year for completion by June 2005. The line forms ...
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PEOPLE
Mihai Necolaiciuc has been appointed General Manager of Romanian infrastructure operator CFR SA in succession to Viorel Simut; he was formerly Manager of CFR’s Iasi region. Miss Anca Boagiu has taken over as Transport Minister, succeeding Traian Basescu who has become Mayor of Bucuresti.Alexander S Misharin has been appointed Senior ...
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More twists in ore tale
ANGLO American’s failure last month to outbid Rio Tinto in its hostile take-over of mining group North appeared to seal the fate of the 342 km railway planned by Robe River Iron Associates to exploit its West Angelas iron ore concession in Western Australia (RG 8.00 p457). However, this interpretation ...
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Super Soya tilts to the north
PASSENGERS in Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido are reaping the benefits of the country’s latest build of tilting diesel multiple-units. Marketed as Super Soya, the four-car Series 261 sets have cut the journey time between Sapporo and Wakkanai by 54min to 4h 58min.The new trains are the final development in ...
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Slow progress in Mindanao
AMBITIOUS plans to build a complete railway network from scratch on the Philippine island of Mindanao are running into trouble. A report by consultants Louis Berger concedes that the 1436 km network would be a good idea, but says that it would be preferable to build feeder roads from farms ...
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Metros
Canada: Toronto city council has given its approval for TTC to sell and lease back all 372 T1 metro cars being supplied by Bombardier Transportation. The transaction is expected to generate savings of between C$50m and C$80m over the 50-year life of the cars.China: With the breakthrough of the 8 ...
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Market
Argentina: The Emepa workshops in Chascomús are due this month to begin refurbishing 34 coaches for Uepfp, the operating company established by the province of Buenos Aires.Australia: ANI Bradken has ordered 240 sets of air braking equipment and bogie-mounted TMX brakes from Wabco Freight Car Products for wagons to run ...
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Mail on rail under threat
IT IS extraordinary that Europe’s railways successfully offer fast, frequent inter-city passenger services, but that several of them cannot provide the speed and reliability needed for mail traffic. Deutsche Post Transport stopped using rail in 1996, and despite a 1998 plan to launch dedicated overnight trains for mail and packages ...
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Sacramento LRVs
Sir - In Metro Report 2000 p17 you refer to 40 high-floor LRVs being built for the Sacramento Regional Transit District. These cars are being built by CAF with traction equipment from Alstom, not Siemens. Siemens-Duewag supplied the first two orders of Sacramento LRVs, with 26 being delivered in 1985-86 ...
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Siemens wins Maracaibo LRT
A TURNKEY contract to build and equip the first 6·9 km of Maracaibo’s planned light rail network was awarded to Siemens Verkehrstechnik last month. Siemens announced on August 9 that it had won the 155m euros package, which includes the depot, six stations and 12 LRVs.Metro de Maracaibo is planning ...
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Littleton line launched
DENVER RTD inaugurated its 14 km Southwest light rail line from I25/Broadway to Mineral Avenue in the suburb of Littleton on July 14. Parallelling existing BNSF and UP tracks, the route has four intermediate stops at Evans, Englewood, Oxford and Littleton/Downtown. Journey time on the extension is 14min, with services ...
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Laser treatment for wheels
SWEDISH regional operator Svenska Tågkompaniet has awarded Duroc Rail a contract to maintain the wheels and wheelsets of its rolling stock fleet, including application of the Duroc treatment process to extend the life of contact surfaces. This uses a high-power laser to heat the wheel tread, followed by application of ...
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White Seagulls serve Kyushu
PREMIER services on JR Kyushu’s main line between Hakata and Nagasaki are now operated by the company’s fourth design of air-conditioned limited express EMU. The Series 885 Kamome or Seagull units are derived from the Series 883 sets used on the Hakata - Oita run. With a top speed of ...