International Railway Journal

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Articles in June, 2004 issue of International Railway Journal

• Alstom to sell some transport interests
• Railion has operated the first scheduled freight service through three European countries using the same locomotive and driver
• Planned DB listing criticised
• Netherlands Institute for Fire Safety and Calamities has concluded that the Betuwe freight line currently under construction fails to meet requirements for transporting dangerous substances
• Sydney proposes light rail transit extension
• Manhattan tunnel bids called
• Construction of a 19km light rail line from Las Catalinas Mall in Caguas to the Urban Train station in Cupey is due to begin towards the end of 2005 and enter service two years later
• Railion has awarded a 16 million [euro] contract to Bombardier Transportation for 200 environmentally-friendly four-axle bulk freight wagons
• Bids are invited to upgrade the 3km Bucharest North-Baneasa and 79km Fetesi-Constanta sections of the pan-European Corridor IV route
• Infrastructure projects come to fruition: a series of major infrastructure projects are coming to fruition which will radically improve the quality of Portugal's broad-gauge network. The emphasis will then switch to the construction of a standard-gauge hi
  by Barry Cross
• Website directory
• 200 years of progress
  by David Briginshaw
• A new 110km narrow-gauge branch line linking Xstrata's proposed Rolleston coal mine to the port of Gladstone is to be funded by the Queensland state government
• RailLink wins Perth contract
• A direct weekly freight service has been launched jointly by Kenya Railways and Uganda Railways between Mombasa and Kampala
• Norinco scores again in Tehran
• The Municipality has commissioned Systra, France, to undertake a preliminary engineering study for two metro lines in Dubai
• Described as "the most famous thing that's never been built in New York City", the Second Avenue Subway project, for which bonds were first floated to pay for it in 1951, moved a step closer to reality at the end of April
• Bids are invited to upgrade signalling and telecommunications on the Blagoevgrad-Kulata line
• Israel Railways is to purchase 10 second-hand IC3 dmus from SJ, Sweden
• SNCF accused of inter-regional neglect
• Maglev gives Nagoya a lift: opening of a maglev metro line in Nagoya, Japan, next year brings into service a technology that began to be developed in Japan more than 30 years ago
• Talgo creates walk-through decks
• The railfreight operator, Rail4Chem, has been granted a licence to operate its locomotives on the French rail network from January 1 2005
• Lausitzbahn, a subsidiary of Connex, has had its concession to operate passenger services between Zittau, Gorlitz, and Cottbus
• Comsa has acquired two new 100km/h G-1700-1 BB hydraulic diesel locomotives from Vossloh, Germany
• The city council is planning a public-private participation project
• The historic Canal street-car line reopened in New Orleans on April 18 after a hiatus of 40 years
• Ove Arup and Partners , in association with a Beijing design company, has won a contract to design phase two of metro Line 4 in Shenzhen
• Hungarian State Railways has asked for bids to build a new traffic control centre at Zalaszentivan, and to reconstruct several existing smaller regional traffic centres
• Land Transport Authority has invited separate tenders to supply and install electrical equipment
• A solution to upgrading information systems: refurbishing information systems is a challenge for train owners trying to bring 20-year old trains up to modern standards. LON-based information systems offer a flexible, time-saving and cost efficient route
• Ashdod-Eilat rail plan promoted
• Austrian Federal Railways will soon start trials with two prototype doubledeck freight wagons
• Four pre-qualify for franchise
• The government has awarded a 25-year concession to an Indian consortium of Rites, and Ircon International, to rehabilitate and operate the Beira rail network in partnership with Mozambique Railways
• MRT7 in Manila gets go-ahead
• Transdev, France, in partnership with the council-owned Transport Initiatives Edinburgh, has been appointed operator and maintainer of the city's proposed 475 million [pounds sterling] two-line light rail system
• The city will receive $C 600 million from the federal and Ontario governments to expand the O-Train light-rail system to Barrhaven
• Rail Infrastructure Administration has invited bids to supply and install the European Rail Traffic Management System, incorporating Level 2 of the European Train Control System, on a 22km pilot section between Poricany and Velim
• Polish State Railways has invited separate bids to upgrade several sections of the E30 international route
• New trains to rejuvenate regional rail services: Spanish regional and commuter rail services have enjoyed strong growth during the last 10 years. However, the growth rate has slowed for regional services, and some commuter services have lost traffic. Renf
  by Barry Cross
• Gaderos project field trials underway: a project is underway to apply global satellite navigation to safety-critical systems such as ERTMS and ETCS
  by M.J. Garcia-Prieto
• SBB gets back in the black
• VR, the passenger services operator, has introduced an e-ticket system on a trial basis
• Linx Scandinavian operation to end
• The Chinese government plans to build a passenger coach assembly facility in Sri Lanka under a joint-venture deal between China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation, Sri Lanka's International Industrial Trade Promotion Consortium, and Colombo
• Shanghai expands for Expo
• Vancouver cancels airport line
• The first integrated urban transport ticketing system in France is to be introduced in the Breton capital by Ascom
• Harzbahn, a subsidiary of DB Regio
• Metrorex has invited tenders
• Locomotives get a new lease of life: there's more to it than meets the eye when installing new assemblies and components on locomotives that have already seen decades of service
  by Mike Knutton
• Pan-Eurasian link moves ahead
• Iron ore mining company, Rio Tinto, is to contribute $A 150 million towards upgrading railway infrastructure in the Pilbara region
• Brenner tunnel pact signed
• Consultants are invited to provide a preliminary study
• Mass transit funding re-instated
• Business offers crossrail funding
• Bids have been called for construction of a light rail link
• Czech Railways has ordered 20 200km/h multi-voltage electric locomotives from Skoda DT at a cost of Koruna 2 billion
• Bids are invited to construct new stations
• New government quickly makes its mark on rail: Spain's new socialist government, which took office in April, is quickly starting to make its mark on rail transport. Already top railway managers have been replaced and legislation put on hold
  by Barry Cross
• Fifth speed-up launched: Chinese Railways implemented its fifth national acceleration of long-distance passenger and freight services on April 18. This also marked the entry into service of new trains, improved catering, and a new fares structure
• Cork commuter project launched
• Franco-German ERTMS pilot project launched
• Bhilai Steel Plant has produced the first 80m-long rail at its long-rail finishing facility
• The administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration , Mr Alan Rutter, has decided to leave his position this month to take up a new post with a highway transport organisation, North Texas Tollway Authority
• The city urban and regional transport operators, BVB and BLT, expect significant savings from their plan to place joint orders for about 60 light rail vehicles—half of them low floor—to replace existing vehicles between 2007 and 2015
• Four bid for Woolwich extension
• Israeli company, Granite Ha-Carmel has pulled out of the group led by Daewoo Transport, Korea, and AnsaldoBreda, Italy, bidding to build the city's first light rail line, the 22km Red Line
• MAV is seeking bids under separate contracts to install new electronic interlockings at Komarom station on the Komarom-Csempuszta-Nagyimand line
• Slovakia Republic Railways is seeking a civil engineering company to oversee the renewal of the Trnava-Nove Mesto nad Vahom section
• Legion stands out in the crowd: a British-based company is building a global business in improving mobility in crowded areas by turning people into dots on a computer screen
  by Mike Knutton
• Agreement on Lyon-Turin link
• Canadian Pacific Railway is considering plans to increase capacity by upgrading track, signalling, and other infrastructure to cope with rising freight traffic which has reached record volumes so far this year
• Second Malpensa link planned
• A study funded by the United States Trade and Development Agency is to examine the viability of building
• GO gets $C 1 billion funding
• Transmitton has started work on a project to upgrade and extend the operational control facilities for the Docklands Light Railway to support the extension to London City Airport that is due for completion towards the end of next year

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