Technology news – Page 103
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Metro Report InternationalComparing suburban rail best practice
INTERNATIONAL: Catalunya regional operator FGC hosted the annual meeting of the International Suburban Rail Benchmarking Group on November 9-11. The event in Barcelona brought together 15 rail operators as part of an international project which aims to identify synergies and drive continuous improvement by providing a confidential ...
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Metro Report InternationalTfL seeks composite conductor rails
UK: As part of a long-term programme to replace London Underground’s steel conductor rails with more energy efficient composite designs, Transport for London is seeking options for conductor rails which could be used on parts of the deep level tube network where clearances are too tight for currently approved conductor ...
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NewsTransdev chooses IVU.rail software
SWEDEN: Transdev Sverige is to use IVU.rail software for service planning across all its Swedish rail operations from December. IVU.rail can be used to develop efficient timetables and rolling stock diagrams, offering automatic suggestions and incorporating configurable planning rules which take into account service intervals, track and depot capacity and ...
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NewsBombardier opens Wrocław production hall
POLAND: Bombardier Transportation inaugurated a 20 000 m2 high speed train car body production and painting hall at its Wrocław plant on November 3. The hall has ‘unique’ 3D laser welding technology which will be used to produce car bodies for Deutsche Bahn’s ICE4 fleet. Bombardier said ...
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Metro Report InternationalBART aims for 'gold standard' in open data
USA: San Francisco’s BART has worked with the Sunlight Foundation to draft an open data policy which it says would make the transport agency ‘the gold standard for data accountability in local government’. The policy envisages the creation of an online portal enabling activists, third-party innovators and ...
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NewsAir travel portal to offer Amtrak bookings
USA: Fareportal is to use SilverRail's API to sell Amtrak tickets through its CheapOAir travel portal. Fareportal ‘will be amongst the first leisure online booking platform to offer Amtrak tickets alongside airfare results', said SilverRail Chief Commercial Officer Cameron Jones on October 26. 'This partnership helps raise the profile of ...
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NewsDetecting voids on the move
UK: The Institute of Railway Research at the University of Huddersfield has developed an algorithm aimed at enabling sensors fitted to Siemens GSM-R cab radios to detect track voids and potentially other rail defects. The algorithm is intended to enable every vehicle equipped with GSM-R radio equipment to act as ...
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Metro Report InternationalLast-mile app integrates Amtrak, Uber and buses
USA: North Carolina Department of Transportation and technology company TransLoc have launched a three-month pilot of a door-to-door journey planning app which highlights options to use Uber and local public transport services to access nine stations on Amtrak’s Piedmont and Carolinian routes. Users enter their preferred station into the Rider ...
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NewsFinnish firm wins TGV lighting contract
FRANCE: SNCF has selected Finnish company Teknoware to supply LED interior lighting for the refurbishment of its Alstom-built TGV Duplex double-deck high speed train fleet. The contract covers the supply of main lighting elements housed in opening ceiling frames on both sides of the aisles, as well as indirect mood ...
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NewsBitcoin to be sold through Swiss ticket machines
SWITZERLAND: Passengers will be able to buy the digital currency Bitcoin from Swiss Federal Railways’ ticket machines from November 11, under a distribution deal between the operator and financial intermediary company SweePay. SBB said there have been limited opportunities to purchase Bitcoin in Switzerland, and over the past two years ...
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NewsBridge lift to increase clearances
UK: An innovative process to raise arched masonry bridges to increase clearances for electrification was successfully demonstrated in Buckinghamshire on October 26. The ElevArch technique has been developed by Freyssinet under the RSSB-sponsored ‘Avoidance of Bridge Reconstruction’ competition. This was launched in 2014 to find cost-effective ways of increasing clearances ...
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Metro Report InternationalTowards the Metro of the Future
RGTV: Automation, costs and reliability will be touchstones of metro development over the next 15 to 20 years, according to the panellists convened by the Railway Gazette Group for our latest interactive live debate.Entitled ‘The Metro of the Future’, the debate addressed a number of topics that ...
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NewsMTU inaugurates Cape Town engine plant
SOUTH AFRICA: A ceremony on October 27 marked the inauguration of MTU’s redesigned plant in Cape Town following a €3m modernisation designed to enable the Rolls Royce business to localise diesel engine manufacturing. The plant will be used to assemble, test and commission around 200 of the 232 Series 4000 ...
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NewsAb Ovo to supply Eurasian freight planning software
CHINA: Business software developer Ab Ovo signed a contract on October 26 to provide Shanghai-based logistics company Railink International with a service planning and ‘track and trace’ container management package. This will be used on Railink’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ routes from China to destinations in Mongolia, Russia, Central Asia ...
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NewsKTZ launches train wi-fi pilot project
KAZAKHSTAN: InfiNet Wireless has provided national railway KTZ with a wireless broadband network as part of a pilot project covering passenger trains, maintenance vehicles and stations on the 226 km route from Astana to Shchuchinsk. Low cost and robustness were priorities, and the network uses small wireless devices fitted to ...
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NewsDB and Siemens launch predictive maintenance pilot
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn and Siemens have launched a 12-month pilot project to provide data to support predictive maintenance of the Class 407 Velaro D high speed train fleet. Data received from moving Velaro D trainsets will be systematically analysed at the Siemens Mobility Data Services Centre in München, complementing diagnostic ...
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NewsMipro to provide signalling spares software
FINLAND: Transport agency Liikennevirasto has appointed Mipro Oy to provide inventory management software to control the supply of spare parts for signalling equipment across the national rail network. Mipro’s cloud-based software will support all maintenance organisations and equipment providers under the contract, which runs for six years with an ...
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NewsSolar-powered guard’s van unveiled
INDIA: A guard’s van equipped with solar panels and a toilet with biological waste digestion has been unveiled by Indian Railways. The Brake Van Z-frame Improved vehicle was modified by Indian Railways Organisation for Alternate Fuels with the assistance of Northern Railway’s Amritsar workshop. The four roof-mounted solar panels charge ...
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Metro Report InternationalBYD enters urban rail market
CHINA: Bus, car and battery manufacturer BYD unveiled its first monorail at a 4·4 km test track at its headquarters in Shenzhen on October 13. SkyRail is the result of a five-year 5bn yuan R&D project and is aimed at small and medium sized cities, as well as tourist ...
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NewsBogie test facility opens in Huddersfield
UK: The University of Huddersfield has completed the installation of a full-scale bogie test rig, claimed to be the only one of its type in Europe, after securing a £4·5m grant from the UK government’s Regional Growth Fund.The 150 tonne test rig, which was officially opened on October 12 by ...