All Railway Gazette International articles in September 2003 – Page 3

  • News

    West Coast Route Modernisation still faces tough choices

    2003-09-01T10:00:00Z

    Richard Hope outlines the huge effort required since January 2002 to rescue critical elements of a project whose estimated cost has multiplied six-fold since delivery of 225 km/h operation with tilting trains was promised back in 1998

  • News

    Millennium bugs strike Sydney

    2003-09-01T10:00:00Z

    MICHAEL COSTA, Minister for Transport Services in New South Wales, released on August 14 a letter to EDI Rail, supplier of Sydney’s Millennium EMUs, informing the company that the state government would suspend payments for the double-deck suburban trains until technical problems with on-board computer systems had been resolved. Telling ...

  • News

    BRKS start-up

    2003-09-01T10:00:00Z

    SLOVAKIA’s first regional rail operator expects to open its second route on September 1, with the restoration of passenger services between Zohor and Rohozník. County-owned Bratislask

  • News

    Passenger News in Brief

    2003-09-01T10:00:00Z

    Free wireless internet access is being made available to first class passengers on some Montréal - Toronto VIA Rail services as part of a four-month trial by Bell Canada, Intel and PointShot Wireless.Suzhou Schindler Elevator Co has won a 66m yuan contract to supply 97 escalators to Guangzhou Metro. Installation ...

  • News

    Industry in Brief

    2003-09-01T10:00:00Z

    UVZ & AVR has begun constructing a rolling stock assembly works at Ahtme in northeast Estonia. The first two assembly lines will be installed in November, and the Russian-Estonian joint stock company expects to employ up to 400 people to produce up to 3000 passenger carriages and tank wagons per ...

  • News

    Sena line boost

    2003-09-01T10:00:00Z

    THE WORLD Bank confirmed on August 7 that it had agreed in principle to assist with the restoration of the 553 kmSena line in Mozambique. Linking Beira with the Moatize coalfields and the Malawi border, the line has been out of use for 20 years because of the civil war, ...

  • News

    Malaysian bidding hots up

    2003-09-01T10:00:00Z

    A DOMESTIC consortium of Malaysia Mining Corp and Gamuda Bhd has submitted a bid to double-track the country’s north-south main line. MMC Chief Executive Ismail Shahudin said in mid-July that the companies believed the work could be completed within three years of a contract being signed.The Malaysian government had already ...

  • News

    Nine bid for Line A

    2003-09-01T10:00:00Z

    A TOTAL OF nine groups have submitted bids to prequalify for a contract to build the 3·5 km extension of Buenos Aires metro Line A from Primera Junta to Nazca. With intermediate stations at Puan, Carabobo and Flores, the extension is expected to take three years to build within a ...

  • News

    Rivals skirmish over Beijing - Shanghai

    2003-09-01T10:00:00Z

    WITH maglev technology effectively ruled out for the 1300 km high speed line planned between Beijing and Shanghai (RG 8.03 p484), a serious battle is shaping up between rival interests promoting Japanese Shinkansen, French TGV and German ICE technology. Already it is looking like a re-run of the fight to ...

  • News

    Mannheim tests grooved rails with elastic bearings

    2003-09-01T10:00:00Z

    BYLINE: Anabel HengelmannGetzner Werkstoffe GmbHIN THE search for a smoother ride for street-running tram and light rail lines, Getzner Werkstoffe has been developing an elastic support structure for grooved rails over the past two or three years, in co-operation with Mannheimer Versorgungs- und Verkehrsgesellschaft AG. The system combines external ...

  • News

    Battery power

    2003-09-01T10:00:00Z

    SAFT is supplying three 24V batteries for each of the 23 three-car diesel multiple-units being built by CAF for Northern Ireland Railways. The underframe-mounted batteries comprise 20 SRX 190 FR cells, designed to deliver short-duration high current discharges of up to 1 min at five times normal capacity when starting ...

  • News

    Batignolles sale

    2003-09-01T10:00:00Z

    AS PART of its strategy to focus on services and reduce its exposure to cyclical construction activities, Amec has signed an agreement to sell 51% of French construction business Spie Batignolles to management buy-out vehicle Financière Spie Batignolles for €15·3m. The management offer was announced in May, and completion of ...

  • News

    Ballast machine cleans up

    2003-09-01T10:00:00Z

    BERLIN-BASED contractor MGW Gleis- & Weichenbau GmbH & Co KG is using an RM 95-700 high capacity ballast cleaning machine from Plasser & Theurer for maintenance work on the German rail network. The eight-axle articulated hydraulic machine offers a precise, laser-aligned cutting of the subgrade, with integrated supply of new ...

  • News

    Authority will revive SLR

    2003-09-01T10:00:00Z

    PLANS FOR a comprehensive revival of Sri Lanka’s rail network were announced by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesignhe on August 11. Consultants are to be appointed to look at improving the management structure, whilst Indian engineers will start on urgent repairs, he said. The Prime Minister also hopes to see services ...

  • News

    Intermodal fly ash in bulk

    2003-09-01T10:00:00Z

    CEMENT maker RMC Rugby has ordered 40 intermodal H-type ISO-Veyor units from inBulk Technologies for transporting fly ash from power stations.The H-type is a cylindrical vessel with 34m3 capacity constructed within the dimensions of a 30ft ISO container, and can be handled and transported using the same equipment. Once it ...

  • News

    North Rail approved

    2003-09-01T10:00:00Z

    THE PHILIPPINES government announced on August 8 that it had approved plans for construction of the first stage of the planned North Rail express commuter railway, at an estimated cost of 27·6bn pesos. The project has been cleared by the Investment Co-ordination Committee of the National Economic Development Authority. NEDA ...

  • News

    Angolan restoration

    2003-09-01T10:00:00Z

    LAST MONTH was due to see the start of work on rehabilitating Angola’s 1067mm gauge Caminhos de Ferro do Luanda. This runs eastwards for 424 km from the Atlantic coast to Malanje, with a southern branch to Dondo. In recent years trains have only been running between Luanda and Dondo.Transport ...

  • News

    Amtrak reform bill goes to Congress

    2003-09-01T10:00:00Z

    INTRO: Julian Wolinsky reports on the latest developments in the saga of the US long-distance passenger trainOn August 5 the US administration presented its Passenger Rail Reform Bill to Congress, proposing the breaking up of Amtrak and privatisation of some parts, together with the devolving of control and financial responsibility ...

  • News

    Alpine plan cleared

    2003-09-01T10:00:00Z

    PLANS TO introduce rolling motorway services over the 175 km Fréjus corridor between Aiton-Bourganeuf in France and Orbassano in Italy have been cleared by the European Commission. On August 4 the EC confirmed that it had given the go-ahead for the formation of Autoroute Ferroviaire Alpine, a 50:50 joint venture ...

  • News

    RZD reforms move ahead

    2003-09-01T10:00:00Z

    ON OCTOBER 1 Russian Railways will begin life as a joint stock company, OAO RZD, marking the start of the second phase of the railway reform programme. The company will remain 100% state-owned, according to Vice-Minister of Railways Anna Belova.Reviewing progress with the reform programme on July 25, Mrs Belova ...