High speed rail grinding on the Stockholm metro
SWEDEN: Stockholm metro maintenance contractor Strukton Rail has awarded Vossloh a subcontract to use a High Speed Grinding machine to remove corrugations, slip waves and other signs of rail wear.
Pilot project looks at low-altitude drones for railway inspection
CHINA: The use of low-altitude drones to enhance the efficiency of railway maintenance is to be explored by Traffic Control Technology and MTR Corp.
Israel: NofIt project learns from Karlsruhe
Work is under way on the NofIt interurban light rail line linking Haifa and Nazareth, which will run through complex terrain with gradients of up to 8%. Dan Shenbach, CEO of project promoter TransIsrael, discusses the state of progress with Benjámin Zelki.
Mexico: Guided buses challenge urban rail projects
While Mexico is enjoying a renaissance in rail investment at a national level, urban rail projects in several cities are coming under threat from cheaper bus options and Chinese-backed ART technology. Michael Dreyer reports.
Brazil: Urban rail projects battle local politics
Examples in Cuiabá and Canoas show how vulnerable Brazilian urban rail projects are to changes in local politics, as well as the temptation of alternative modes which are seen as less complex, even if the benefits are lower. Marcelo Benoit examines the two cases.
Brazil: Salvador turns to the tram
Having dismantled a suburban railway and aborted a monorail scheme, the Brazilian city of Salvador is now developing a tram network using second-hand trams and track assets from Cuiabá. Ana Cláudia Nascimento, CEO of state transport operator CTB, explains the plans to Benjámin Zelki.
Voters reject Salzburg S-Link rail project
AUSTRIA: Voters in the Salzburg area have rejected a proposal to build a 15 km partly underground light rail line, which will not now go ahead.
DART begins construction of Silver Line depot
USA: Dallas Area Rapid Transit held a groundbreaking ceremony for the rolling stock maintenance depot for its future Silver Line commuter route on October 24.
Custom machine to renew Paris metro tracks
FRANCE: Scheuzer is to design a build a custom battery-electric track renewals train for use by contractor TSO on the Paris metro network’s steel wheel and rubber-tyred lines from 2027.
Paris: Learning lessons from Line 14
Paris metro operator RATP believes it can use the experience it has gained in managing the migration of train control equipment used on Line 14 from one GoA4 platform to another to help upgrade other automated metros. Jérémie Anne reports.
Mobile inspection lab for urban railways launched at InnoTrans
INNOTRANS: Plasser & Theurer has unveiled its InfraSpector Truck road-rail mobile testing lab, which is designed to meet all the infrastructure inspection and measuring requirements of metro, tramway and local railway operators.
Novel software to assess Transport for London clearances
UK: Transport for London is the latest customer to use D/Gauge’s Rift software for in-house structure gauging and track design activities.