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Found 138 bulletins. The archive was last updated on 18 October 2005 and there are 2345 bulletins.
GNER is to become the first privatized British train operating company to relaunch a cars-on-trains Motorail service when it begins a London to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness service at the end of this month. (March 11th 1999)
Plans for a £200m rail freight terminal near London's Heathrow airport could run into objections because it would eat into the undeveloped "green belt" around London. (March 9th 1999)
Some British railway lines may have to close and buses may need to replace trains on other routes to reduce costs, a report by a group of transport academics and industry executives warns. "The Treasury cannot ignore the huge sums required to support marginal services," the Railway Reform Group says. (March 9th 1999)
Sir Robert Horton is to step down as chairman of British Railtrack at the end of this year. The announcement came a day after the government unveiled its detailed plans for the railways at a national rail conference. Railtrack denies being "investment shy". However, the way privatisation has been arranged means there is no incentive for Railtrack to expand capacity on the network, says Gerald Corbett, chief executive. (March 9th 1999)
The New South Wales Government has signed an agreement to further develop a proposal for a high-speed rail link between Sydney and Canberra. (March 8th 1999)
Heavy rain has washed out part of the rail track between Peterborough and Broken Hill, stranding the Indian Pacific and a freight train at Broken Hill in far western New South Wales, Australia. (February 15th 1999)
AAR Bluster
The Association of American Railroads says technology aimed at preventing railroad accidents by telling if trains are too close together or going too fast isn't ready yet for widespread use. The comment was made in reference to speculation that such technology may have spared the lives of two rail workers in a January accident.
Others beg to differ: "It is very difficult for me to rationalize why the industry is not moving forward with this," said Barry Sweedler, director of the office of safety recommendations for the National Transportation Safety Board. Editor's note: The AAR is blustering. Perhaps they should investigate a 20-year old technology from Sweden.
Jim Sabourin, a BNSF spokesman, says safety systems must be advanced enough to provide efficiency gains as well if they are to be justifiable economically. A system allowing dispatchers to remotely limit train speeds for such purposes as train spacing, fuel conservation and reducing congestion at yards and junctions can increase capacity by 40%. (February 8th/12th 1999)
Europe's freight rail industry is up in arms over DBAG Cargo's decision to raise rates by 20% next year. Intercontainer-Interfrigo will have to drop some services if the rate hikes go through; speculation is rife that DBAG may even pull out of the ICF joint venture. With the purchase of collegue/competitor NS Cargo, it is becoming increasingly clear that DBAG is not shy of throwing its considerable weight around in the new, more competitive rail industry. DB Cargo is coming under increasing pressure to turn a profit. (December 7th 1998)
Grand Russian Plans Scuppered by Crisis
At least 76 freight trains were stuck on an eastern stretch of the Trans-Siberian railway on Monday the 26th after the local electricity company cut off the power for non-payment of bills. (October 29th 1998)
The Russian Railways have suffered a 15% fall in freight volume and a 30% fall in revenue since the devaluation of the ruble in August, The Journal of Commerce reports. Rates will be slashed by up to 25% for many freight types, to adjust to the market. This is apparently on top of a controversial set of substantial cuts announced in April.Also in Russia, projects were announced last spring to raise the speed of freight trains to 100 mph or 160 km/h. This would apply on two routes westward from Nizhni Novgorod and Moscow, to St Petersburg / Helsinki, and Warsaw / Berlin. Also, the Trans-Siberian is being modernized. The aim is to provide transit times 40% lower and prices $450 per container less than the sea route. (October 23rd 1998)
About $500 million worth of investment in housing, office, industrial and retail space has occurred along the alignment of an 18-mile extension of the light rail network in Portland, Oregon. Nearly 7,000 housing units are underway as well. The extension is a part of a major improvement in transit services to the "Westside" area of Portland. The famous chipmaker Intel is responding by offering free transit passes to all its 11 000 Portland-area employees. Intel has also found $120,000 for flood relief to China, which has seen two rail lines blocked by the flood. (August 21st 1998, thanks Alan Reekie)