1/2007

With the 10 December 2006 timetable change, DB Regio launched its fastest ever service - the München - Nürnberg Express, which reaches 200 km/h between stations on the recently-inaugurated Nürnberg to Ingolstadt high speed line and on the upgraded route south from Ingolstadt to München.

After just over four years of construction through some of the most inhospitable terrain on this planet, on 15 October 2005 the final piece of rail on the 1,142 km Golmud to Lhasa line was lowered into position on the banks of the Lhasa River. The Age of the Train in Tibet dawned on 1 July 2006, when the railway, which reaches a literally breath-taking altitude of 5,072 m at Tanggula on the Tibetan plateau, was inaugurated.

On 14 December 2006 ALSTOM organised a press visit to its Belfort works, where several new types of rail vehicles are currently under construction. Of the workforce of 2,500 at the Belfort factory, around 700 are directly involved in rail-based activities. In this report we take a look at the progress being made with the various projects.

The Co'Co' prototype EURO 4000 made its public debut at InnoTrans 2006, where it scored a remarkable early success with orders being placed by Angel Trains and Comsa. Now that the locomotive - the most powerful diesel-electric currently available in Europe - is a reality, we can offer readers a more in-depth study, as a follow-up to the feature in R 5/05, pp. 61 - 63.

On 19 December 2006, nearly twelve years after the âKD works was revived by CMKS, a brand new locomotive was once again outshopped for a Czech client. 709.702 was built for MUS of Komorany. The very next day CMKS - which at present is the only builder of new diesel locomotives in the Czech Republic - changed its name to CZ LOKO.

This feature, covering a wide range of infrastructure, maintenance and road/rail vehicles, together with an overview of new bogie technologies, brings to a close our exhaustive report of novelties appearing at InnoTrans 2006. Section on exhibits related to urban transport systems can be found in number 1/07 of our new sister magazine, TransUrban, published in January this year.

Mankind have lived for centuries in unchanging conditions. They learnt to take advantage of their long-time experience, acquiring thus permanency in thinking and decision-making as their principal characteristics. And the result? We neither think nor determine as we should to comply with topical and incoming situations but as we are used to do from the past.