All Railway Gazette International articles in September 2008 – Page 3
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NewsFirst Tango in Basel
SWITZERLAND: The first of 60 Stadler Tango trams ordered jointly by Basel city transport company BVB and Baselland regional operator BLT arrived at BLT's Oberwil depot on September 2. A SFr276m contract for 60 trams was announced in May 2006, and includes 40 cars for BLT and 20 for BVB. ...
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NewsUsing mobile phones in the Glasgow subway
UK: From December customers of mobile telephone company O2 will be able to make calls from five of the busiest stations on the Glasgow subway. Arqiva will provide multi-user distributed antenna systems to enable mobile phones to work underground at Buchanan Street, St Enoch, Kelvinbridge, Hillhead and ...
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NewsEC approves rolling motorway aid
EUROPE: On September 10 the European Commission approved an extension to state support being provided during the experimental phase of Modalohr rolling motorway services on the Lyon - Torino route. Trial services on the 175 km Fréjus corridor between Aiton-Bourganeuf in France and Orbassano in Italy are being operated ...
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NewsMega-trucks are not the answer
FREIGHT: The European Commission is considering a report recommending the EU-wide acceptance of longer and heavier lorries, but environmentally and economically this would be a monumental step in the wrong direction, argues Michael Clausecker.
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NewsMalt trains mark Rail4chem integration
EUROPE: Veolia Cargo has announced the launch of its first new freight service using resources from the Rail4chem business which it acquired earlier this year. On August 4 Veolia began transporting loose malt to Antwerpen from Malteurop's main production site at Vitry-le-François in France. Within France the trains are ...
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NewsGrant funds freight brake research
AUSTRALIA: Queensland's Smart State Research Partnerships programme has approved a A$670 000 grant towards the development of a Train Health Advisory System at CQ University's Centre for Railway Engineering. The university had previously been awarded A$869 500 to develop OzECP electronically controlled pneumatic braking in partnerships with QR and ...
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NewsIntercity Express design unveiled
UK: The Express Rail Alliance consortium has released computer-generated impressions of the designs it has put forward under the Intercity Express Programme to develop the UK's next generation of inter-city trains. The Department for Transport is seeking to replace the existing fleet of IC125 diesel and IC225 electric trains ...
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NewsFrancilien launches wide-body family
FRANCE: Bombardier rolled out the first Francilien trainset in July. Murray Hughes reports from the company's Crespin factory near Valenciennes in northern France.
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NewsCommission looking into DSB funding
DENMARK: The European Commission is to determine whether public service contracts concluded between the Ministry of Transport and national railway DSB for the periods 2000-04 and 2005-14 amount to state aid. Many DSB services are operated on the basis of public service contracts agreed without tendering. DSB is required ...
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NewsPointers September 2008
The Ministry of Transport in Jordan unveiled its railway development plan at the end of July which would see two lines totalling 1 018 km built by 2013. A north-south route would run from the Syrian border to Aqaba via Mafraq, Amman and Ma’an, whilst an east-west route would run ...
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NewsDesign your own railway
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO: WSP International confirmed on August 12 that it had been appointed as technical adviser to the national infrastructure agency Nidco during the design and construction of planned Trinidad rail network. The consultant says it will 'provide technical advice to the government as project manager’ for the ...
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Moscow ring agreed
RUSSIA: On September 11 Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin and Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov signed an agreement establishing Moscow Railway Ring as an equally-owned joint venture of RZD and the city. The special purpose vehicle will be responsible for the development and funding of the 5bn rouble ring railway ...
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NewsKorail sets out its 2015 vision
SOUTH KOREA: With traffic climbing steeply in recent years, Korail is focusing on further expansion of its passenger business and seeking ways to strengthen its freight operations in a competitive global market.
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NewsBudapest metro trainset unveiled
HUNGARY: Budapest transport operator BKV and Alstom Transport Katowice have unveiled the first of 37 Metropolis trainsets for the Budapest metro. BKV and Alstom signed a €247m contract in May 2006 covering the supply of 22 five-car trainsets to replace the existing stock on line M2, and 15 four-car ...
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NewsRDC sells Central East African Railway stake
AFRICA: Railroad Development Corp has completed the sale of its stake in Nacala Corridor concessionaire Central East African Railway to Mozambican investment group Insitec, the Pittsburgh-based rail management and investment company announced on September 15. 'The sale of our economic interests to local investors represents a major development in ...
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NewsDancing partner
ITALY: Just days after the private-sector NTV consortium unveiled its plans to compete with Trenitalia in the domestic high speed market from 2011, potential partners started beating a path to its door. According to Chief Executive Guiseppe Sciarrone, NTV recognises that it does not have practical experience of 300 ...
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NewsWabtec to buy Standard Car Truck
SCT: Wabtec Corp announced on September 15 that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire wagon bogie and locomotive component manufacturer Standard Car Truck for $300m in cash. Based at Park Ridge in Illinois, Standard Car Truck has annual sales of about $225m, including the Barber range of ...
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NewsDual-system EMUs will revitalise Mumbai suburban services
INDIA: Indian Railways has ambitious plans to boost capacity on its busiest suburban network around Mumbai. As part of a comprehensive renewal project, Siemens and ICF are supplying 174 dual-system EMUs to improve reliability and passenger comfort as IR manages the transition to 25 kV AC supply.
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Uncertain times in Estonia
ESTONIA: National rail operator Eestie Raudtee confirmed last month that it planned to split infrastructure management and freight train operations into separate companies with effect from January 1 2009. New subsidiaries EVR Infra and EVR Cargo are to be established, with EVR remaining as a holding company to deal with ...
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NewsDB Schenker buys 49% stake in NordCargo
ITALY: On September 17 DB Schenker subsidiary Railion Italia announced that its offer for a 49% stake in Milano-based rail freight company NordCargo had been accepted. Spun off from parent company Ferrovienord in 2003, NordCargo operates between Germany, Switzerland and Italy, with 182 employees and revenue of €34m in 2007. ...