Search result for search archive
Found 138 bulletins. The archive was last updated on 18 October 2005 and there are 2345 bulletins.
French SNCF is buying out the BNP/Paribas bank's shares in operator Via GTI. Via GTI's other main owner CGEA Transport, also known as Vivendi, will also leave Via GTI while taking some of its activities with it. Other owners will be offered to sell their shares at a later date. Vivendi's portfolio includes the Connex trains in the UK and Sweden as well as an interest in operations of the Swedish west cost main line. (November 19th 1999)
Adtranz Cutbacks
Adtranz plant closures in Switzerland have caused widespread indignation in labour, business and government quarters. The Swiss say Adtranz will lose know-how and competitive export-oriented facilities with production costs 30% below German levels. P Christener summarizes the gripes. (November 26th 1999)
A majority of Adtranz staff at the Pratteln facility in Switzerland (previously Schindler) held a demonstration on the factory grounds to protest the closing on Monday the 15th. The demonstrators received support from officials of the Basel cantonal government, which has already opened talks with the Adtranz management in Berlin. Rolf Eckrodt, the German boss of Adtranz, says that the Swiss units might be able to continue as independent sub-contractors. The Swiss Adtranz protests have a website. The Swiss debate strengthens the impression that it is the German operations which are the most inefficient operations in the Adtranz group. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung says that while the Swiss operations are centred on engineering and not on production, this need not be a disadvantage since locomotives are not mass-produced like cars or Bic pens. (November 25th 1999)
The German Adtranz works council says it will oppose job cuts and ask governments to support the industry. See also story in English. (November 19th 1999)
Adtranz is closing facilities at Nürnberg in Germany, Amadora in Portugal, Oerlikon and Pratteln in Switzerland, Strømmen in Norway, and Elmira in the United States. 3000 jobs will be cut from its 24,000 strong workforce by 2002, yet sales are projected to rise by a quarter to 5 bn Euros ($5bn). Adtranz hopes to reduce costs by 300 million Euros each year. Swiss unions say they oppose the closing and will try to get the Swiss railway, SBB, to overturn the decision. But SBB says its fleet policy will not change as a result of Adtranz' actions. In Britain, 260 jobs will be cut: 130 staff will go from Derby, the UK headquarters and manufacturing base, 70 from the refurbishment plant at Crewe, and 60 from the wheel forging and machining operation in Manchester. See the press release, and stories at German Yahoo, and International Yahoo. (November 12th/17th 1999)
The Transrapid Berlin-Hamburg maglev consortium has a cheery attitude despite key member Adtranz abandoning the project, saying that there is no future for the project. The consortium has released yet another study concluding that a single-track "light" version of the project would be feasible after all. The costs for the track itself, which the government has promised to pay for, would not overrun the DM6,1bn limit set by the government. The Transrapid consortium will pay for the trains. The consortium is also looking at an extension of the maglev past Berlin through the Czech Republic to Wien and Budapest. See also Die Welt's special Transrapid page. (November 15th 1999)
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority's biggest expansion plan in decades, linking Philadelphia with its western and northern suburbs, is being threatened by Norfolk Southern Corp.'s objection to allowing the company's passenger cars share its freight track. (November 2nd 1999)
Hurricane Floyd Stops Trains
Hurricane Floyd dumped rain on the US east coast to the extent that several sections of track were (are?) underwater. Fallen trees had blocked Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. (September 19th/21st)
Hurrican Floyd caused less damage to the US East coast than feared. Still, some Amtrak trains have been cancelled or delayed several hours. Bill Herndon at the North Carolina Department of Transportation writes that a bridge on one of CSXTs main lines has been washed out or at least is under water. New York's Metro North commuter railroad Harlem line was washed out on a 150 metre long stretch. CSXT press releases, 1, 2, 3. (September 17th/18th 1999)
The new name for DB Cargo and NS Cargo will be "Railion". The previous name for the merged company was Rail Cargo Europe. Railion is owned 94% by German DB AG and 6% by Dutch NS. The new name and logo has been presented on September 16th in Duisburg, and two locomotives (class 6400 and 152) and five freight cars have been relettered for the presentation. The actual merger will take place on January 1st 2000. Usenet thread. (September 18th 1999, reported by Tobias Köhler)
The launch of Amtrak's Acela service will be delayed until next spring at the earliest because of lingering problems with the train's wheels, company officials said Wednesday the 1st. The 241 km/h train was to have gone into service later this year, but "excessive wheel wear" on the passenger coaches has prompted additional refinements, said Jacques Lapare, North American head of Bombardier, which is building the high speed train with Paris-based Alstom. Officials said at a news conference that the consortium is obligated to a graduated penalty for each of the 20 train sets that is delivered late, starting at $1000 per day per train and rising to $13 500 per day per train. The last of the train sets was to have been delivered by June 2000. But, "This in no way affects our ability and desire" to meet the financial plan, says Amtrak President George Warrington. See also Amtrak press release, Bombardier press release. (September 2nd 1999, thanks Matthew Johnson)
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark inaugurated the Øresund fixed link on Saturday the 14th, linking their countries for the first time in 7000 years, when the two were landlocked. Danish DSB is just taking delivery of new two-system freight locos which will use the bridge, which opens for traffic July 1st, 2000. See also a diagram showing how the last bridge girder was put in place, the press release in English, and some photos. (August 20th 1999)
Amtrak's Gee Whiz-Plan
Amtrak is enjoying a slightly better than expected 1999 but still faces serious obstacles to becoming financially self-sufficient by 2003 as required by law, two recent government reports conclude. They credit Amtrak with being between $10 million and $14 million ahead of budget estimates for fiscal 1999. A 1997 law requires that Amtrak become self-sufficient by the end of fiscal 2002. If it appears Amtrak will not meet that goal, the Amtrak Reform Council must submit plans for a new national passenger rail system, and Amtrak would be required to submit a plan for its own liquidation. Amtrak's plan for making more money is partly to charge high fares with the Acela trains, and partly to expand a profitable express package service. (August 19th 1999)
Amtrak's new Acela fast train is getting a lot of gee-whiz attention in the US press. MSNBC reports that the Boston-New York travel time will drop from five hours to just over three, while the ticket price for this trip is more than doubling from $60 to $130. Good coverage in the press is key to getting consumers excited about the product, and being able to charge higher fares with sexier trains is key to salvaging many a passenger railway's battered finances. (August 18th 1999)
CNN has taken the Acela for a test drive as one of the new trains is being tested for up to 16 hours a day on a 13-mile track at the Transportation Technology Center, which sprawls across 52 square miles of land about 25 miles northeast of Pueblo. So far, the train has been driven at 269 km/h. More photos. (August 9th 1999, thanks Mathew Johnson)
'Substantial Increase in Government Control'
The British government's plans to reorganise the privatised rail industry are confused and could lead to "a creeping renationalisation of the railways", a leading firm of London lawyers says. The review criticises the bill for its lack of clarity and detail in explaining what the new Strategic Rail Authority was to do other than "be strategic". "The precise functions it is to have, its duties in performing them and the powers with which it is equipped do to so are not clearly addressed and are confusing."
The bill would give the SRA power to provide rail services and reject private sector bids for franchises. "This is no minor reshuffling of administrative responsibilities. These changes represent a substantial increase in the control which the government will be able to exert over the industry," the review says. (August 19th 1999)
British Railtrack wants to see a five-fold increase in its income from revenue sharing deals with train operators in order to give it an incentive to invest. Railtrack does not benefit from spending on capacity improvements because the track access charges it levies on train operators are fixed. (August 1st 1999)