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Found 138 bulletins. The archive was last updated on 18 October 2005 and there are 2345 bulletins.
Florida Chooses High-Speed System This Fall
The top contenders to build and operate the first leg of Florida's constitutionally mandated high-speed rail system say it will cost taxpayers between $2,1bn and $2,7bn over 30 years to get the line up and running. One consortium, led by Bombardier, wants to run diesel trains at 241 km/h. Another, called Global Rail, advocates an electric train. A third bidder is pitching a monorail and a fourth, ET3.com, sees a swissmetro-like system of vacuum tubes and vehicles moving at 483 - 6437 km/h (300-4000 mph) in an intercontinental system. The state's high-speed rail authority is not expected to endorse a route or team until next fall. If the project eventually moves ahead, trains are not expected to run until 2007. If it comes to naught, a transit triangle, anchored by a high-speed leg from the airport to Disney World, would give the region an alternative train system. (March 7th 2003, thanks Jakob Christoffersen and John Brydle)Canadian HSR Edges Nearer
HSR May Find Money in Greenhouse Funding
Canada's transport minister hopes a high-speed rail link in Central Canada will become a reality in five or six years. Sources say the government is considering funding high-speed rail using money earmarked in last week's budget to meet its commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The plan is to spend C$3bn to improve the Quebec City-Montreal-Toronto-Windsor corridor. In a press conference, the minister raised the prospect of road pricing for Canada's largest cities and a high-speed Montreal-Toronto rail corridor this decade. (February 26th 2003)More Rail Money in new Canadian Policy?
Canada has released a new document on transport policy. Called "Straight Ahead", it builds on an evaluation of the Canada Transportation Act of 1996, which among other things made it easier for freight railways to transfer track to shortlines, or abandon it. The document says that commercialisation, privatisation and deregulation have served the sector and country well, but tweaks are needed. The new bill would require freight railways to carry goods at a regulated rate wherever there was only one railway for shippers to choose from. A brochure outlining the policy contains two sentences which can be seen as a victory for those advocating user fees for roads and more public funding for railways:“Some infrastructure, such as rail lines, is paid for directly by users, while infrastructure like roads is paid for out of general tax revenues. Because most users choose their transportation method based on what it costs them to use it, establishing the right prices for transportation use (including the cost of building and maintaining infrastructure, the cost of any environmental impact, and the ‘social’ costs, such as accidents and congestion) will contribute over time to a more efficient system.” (February 27th, thanks John Brydle)
JetTrain Goes North
Lab Rat for Acela?
A very well-placed source tells Erik that Bombardier's JetTrain is being used as much as a prototype for redesigning the Acela's cracking yaw damper structure as a public relations machine. The turbine loco isn't going anywhere in the USA unless both Amtrak and the FRA decide the retrofit makes the loco satisfactory for USA service. The JetTrain is based on Amtrak's 250 km/h Acela tilting electric train. See also "What are yaw dampers?". (February 19th 2003)Airlines and Bus Companies Take Notice
Bombardier's 240 km/h turbine-powered locomotive has generated a lot of press coverage during the tour of Canada. The federal minister of transport is said to be a fan, and money may come in this month's annual budget. But The Fair Transport Policies coalition fears that the mere announcement of a pro-fast-train policy for Via will hurt airport authorities by shaking the confidence of debtholders. Editor's remark: Can there be a better endorsement of the splendour of high-speed rail, than the fear of its competitors? See also more stories at Globe & Mail and Yahoo. (February 5th, thanks Jakob Christoffersen and John Brydle)Fast Loco Tours Canada
Bombardier is bringing its 240 km/h turbine-powered JetTrain to Canada for show-and-tell demonstrations with federal officials and rail operators. Bombardier has identified the Montreal-Toronto and Edmonton-Calgary routes among 13 potential markets for its product. Upgrading the Montreal-Toronto route for the JetTrain would cost C$1,4bn. The Minister of Transport wishes to inject as much as C$3bn into nationwide rail improvements, both freight and passenger. Quebec has issued tenders to study a rapid passenger link to connect Montreal and New York, in addition to a parallel study under way for a fast rail link between Montreal and Boston. Also, Florida will close a bidding process for a fast-train link in February and Bombardier will submit its JetTrain proposal. See also stories from Canadian Press and Edmonton Journal. (January 28th, thanks John Brydle)
UP Has Record Year and Visceral Critics Union Pacific's net income rose 39% last year, and though UP says profits for this year's first quarter will be lower than last, UBS Warburg has raised its rating from "neutral" to "buy". Worries over rising fuel prices are a short-term (less than 12 months) issue. • A group called Railroad Employee Safety and Quality, RRESQ, has started a campaign for better employee conditions at the railroad and alleges that "Railroad employees can be required to work up to 432 hours a month," or 22 hours per weekday, and "12- to 15-hour shifts in non-air-conditioned locomotives when the outside heat index can be in excess of 38°C". See also a reprinted newspaper article (in pink font). (February 14th 2003)
Tellier Leaves CN for Bombardier
Hunter Harrison is succeeding Paul Tellier as CEO of Canadian National. Tellier is moving on to Bombardier, which analysts say may mean Bombardier's problems are worse than expected, particularly the airplane part. Tellier is a former public servant and was at the helm as the CN was privatised. Both have been named "Railroader of the Year" by Railway Age magazine. CN runs scheduled trains, which is unusual among North American freight railways. See also press releases from Bombardier and CN. (December 22nd 2002, thanks Bengt Mutén)More Passengers in Sweden, SJ Bankrupt
Swedish SJ Runs Out of Money
Swedish SJ has gone through its capital and found its net value is negative. Neglected maintenance, useless old trains and unprofitable franchises are liabilities worth SEK1bn, about €110m. Since the company is bankrupt, it needs more money, which Leif Pagrotsky has said will be granted. Mr Pagrotsky is Minister of Industry, Employment and Communications. SJ was turned into a passenger train operating, limited company in January 2001. It is wholly owned by the government. See also Ny Teknik bulletin and SJ press release. (December 4th 2002)
Swedish Rail Increases Market Share
Automobile traffic in Sweden lost 4% of its market share in 1990-2001, and most of this share went to rail, reports the European Tourism Research Institute in Sweden. Part of the increase in passenger rail traffic is due to the introduction in 1990 of the fast X 2000 trains. Rail's market share averaged 8,4% during this time, while it increased to 10,3% in the last two years the study looked at. Almost one in five people travelling to Stockholm, Sweden's capital city, take the train. Eleven per cent of people in Stockholm travelling elsewhere take the train. (November 27th)Connex Wins Swedish Franchise
French Connex will run passenger trains on Kinnekullebanan, a small railway paralleling the main Stocholm-Göteborg line (Herrljunga-)Håkantorp-Hallsberg. Connex' client is Tåg i Väst, a group of Swedish provinces. Connex' bid was 20% lower than that of BK Tåg, which in turn was 20% cheaper than SJ's. The transit authority is considering running limited-stop trains to all the way to Göteborg. See also Tåg-nytt bulletin and more about Kinnekullebanan in Swedish. (October 16th 2002)WCML Ambitions Scaled Back
New Plan for British West Coast Upgrade
The British Strategic Rail Authority has announced a new £9,8bn plan for the West Coast Main Line upgrade, and lowered the goal of 225 km/h operation to 201 km/h (125 mph). The upgrade will be complete by 2008 and enable 80% more passenger trains to use the tracks, as well as 60-70% more freight trains, plus a doubling of services to four trains an hour from London to Birmingham. New Fiat/Alstom Pendolino trains will begin operating at 201 km/h on a good proportion of the line in the fall of 2004.
The project was initially started by Railtrack and Virgin Trains, and was then costed at £2,5bn. A large part of the increase is due to not moving directly to the new ERTMS wireless signalling system which was considered immature. The conventional signalling system will be upgraded first. The SRA chairman, Richard Bowker, said: "Today's announcement is about the renewal of 1255 km of railway and the elimination of a 20-year maintenance and renewal backlog in the shortest practical time." See also SRA press release and stories at The Independent and The Times, the Scottish perspective, WCML train drivers get pay rise, project outline at Railway Technology, and story from Pendolino roll-out. (October 9th 2002, thanks Richard Mlynarik)
New Multi-System Freight Locos
DB's First 15-country Freight Loco
Designed for operation in 15 European countries, the very first Class 189 multi-system locomotive was handed over by Siemens to German DB Cargo at the InnoTrans fair on Thursday the 25th. It can run from arctic Norway to mediterranean Italy, and from atlantic France to the Polis/Russian border. It has space for four pantographs, but the signalling systems for all countries have not yet been installed. 100 locos are on order for €300m since 1999. They reach 140 km/h and produce between 6400 kW and 4200 kW depending on the railway's electrical system. See also DB press release. (September 28th 2002)
SBB Orders 40 Multi-System Locos
Swiss SBB has order 40 dual-system Bombardier class 482 freight locos for services from Köln in Germany to Switzerland and the Swiss/Italian border for €111m. German DB also ordered vehicles of the same type in 1998. They have a maximum power of 5,6 MW and can reach a maximum speed of 140 km/h. They can be used in cross-border freight traffic in countries with a line voltage of 15 or 25 kV AC. More than 100 vehicles of this type are already in service with various European operators. See also Bombardier press release, Bombardier info page and IRJ bulletin. (September 28th)