News

Public transport solutions provider Xerox has been successful in winning orders for its ticketing systems, most recently in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Chihuahua, Mexico. In Kuala Lumpur, the company will supply its Atlas contactless ticketing system and equipment to public transport operator Mass Rapid Transit Corporation for a new railway line that will cross the urban area of the city. Over the next five years, Xerox’s field teams will deploy the ticketing system, install 300 gate controllers and 200 tick

Technology developed by Melbourne’s La Trobe University’s Centre for Technology Infusion that aims to reduce or even eliminate accidents at railway level crossings is to be trialled by the Queensland government as part of a $2 million commitment to address safety at rail crossings. The system uses GPS and dedicated short range communications (DSRC) wireless technology to establish a wireless connection between trains and vehicles approaching a railway crossing. The system is designed to detect the possibili

Alan Tolley, JCB’s director of engine programmes, recently spoke to World Highways Assistant Editor Guy Woodford about the company’s new six-cylinder engine - the JCB Dieselmax 672. The result of a £45 million investment by JCB was unveiled during the firm’s recent International Press Launch of its new machine range for 2013 held at JCB World HQ in Staffordshire, central England.

The International Road Federation is inviting entries for its Global Road Achievement Awards (GRAA) programme. According to the IRF, this competition is intended to highlight innovative road projects and individuals that raise the profile of roads in worldwide social and economic development. The awards provide an important route for promoting road industry innovation and achievements receive worldwide publicity. Winners will receive a crystal trophy at the 17th IRF World Meeting & Exhibition in Riyadh late

The new Vidin–Calafat Bridge – also known Danube Bridge 2 – was being officially opened today. A road and rail bridge between the cities of Calafat, Romania and Vidin, Bulgaria, Danube Bridge 2 is the second bridge on the shared section of the Danube between Romania and Bulgaria. Expected to today’s event were dignitaries including the president of the Republic of Bulgaria Rosen Plevneliev, Romania Prime Minister Victor Ponta, and European Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn.

The Tender Board of Oman has floated, on behalf of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, a prequalification tender for building Section 2 of the Daba-Lima-Khasab carriageway in the country's Musandam Governorate. Section 2 of the Design-Build-Operate (DBO) project involves a 65km stretch between Daba and Alkhalidya. The project will involve 18 valley and wadi bridges covering 3.79km in combined distance, and up to seven tunnels with a joint length of 7.32km. Of the tunnels, the biggest has a length

Better use of peak-time lanes is said to be among the reasons why motorway congestion in the Netherlands fell by 5.6% in the first four months of 2013. Dutch Infrastructure Minister Melanie Schultz van Haegen said that the reduction in congestion is also partly due to a 0.5% decrease in distance travelled, as well as the targeting of known congestion zones. However, another European country, Switzerland, has seen another increase in the amount of time spent in traffic jams in Switzerland in 2012. In 2012 19

A new in-depth study carried out by Newcastle University highlights the low environmental impact of electric vehicles. The study included a wide array of factors and shows that electric vehicles are responsible for 85grammes CO2 /km, some 55grammes CO2 /km less than new petrol driven cars. The study also revealed that electric vehicles are suitable for the majority of daily car journeys. Previous concerns have focussed on the short range of electric vehicles, suggesting that this could impact on distances t

The US Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) is warning equipment users that new, low sulphur fuels feature a greater risk of ignition by static electricity ignition. These ultra-low sulphur diesel (ULSD) fuels are required for use with the latest generation low emission diesel engines designed to meet Tier 4 Interim/Stage IIIB emission requirements. With this in mind, the AEM is now providing a new best practices guidance bulletin. This publication highlights the fact that removing sulphur and other

Trimble has acquired Actronic Holdings Limited (Actronic Technologies) of Auckland, New Zealand in order to extend its Connected Site portfolio. Actronic Technologies is a leading provider of weighing technology and payload information systems for construction, aggregates, mining and waste markets. The firm produces the industry renowned LOADRITE weighing system for wheeled loaders, excavators, conveyors and waste collection vehicles. LOADRITE systems provide equipment operators, site foremen and project ma

A German team has developed a new long-life lithium ion battery suitable for use in electric vehicles. Criticisms of existing electric vehicles have highlighted factors such as the need to replace batteries during the life of the vehicle, at substantial cost to the owner. However this new technology is said to be able to deliver 85% of the original battery performance even after being charged 10,000 times, or around 27 years. This development suggests that the batteries could even outlast the vehicles being

Around US$388.39 million (HUF 87bn) will be spent on road repairs in Hungary during 2013, according to State Secretary of the Hungarian Ministry of National Development (NFM) Sara Hegmanne Nemes. As a result, country roads with a total length of some 600kms will be repaired. The project will be financed from EU funds in line with the country's New Szechenyi Plan (USZT). In Jasz-Nagykun-Szolnok county, some 28.4kms of road will be renovated from $14.11 million (HUF 3.18bn). This includes the upgrade of a 5.4

A study by the RAC Foundation in the UK has raised doubts about the usefulness of speed cameras. The research has prompted the RAC Foundation to write to seven local authorities about 21 camera sites where there has been a noticeable increase in the number of accidents since the installation of speed cameras. The study based on speed camera data going back to 1990 identified nine risky camera sites in Merseyside, north-west England and three in Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent, both in central England.