Porterbrook Agrees to Purchase Rolling Stock from Southern
Porterbrook Leasing Company Limited (“Porterbrook”) has completed a transaction to purchase 44 Bombardier Class 377 dual voltage Electric Multiple Unit vehicles from train operator Southern at a cost of £54M.
The 44 vehicles made up of 11 4 car units were originally ordered by Southern and delivered in the last few months. They will be integrated into the current Class 377 fleet, also owned by Porterbrook and operated by Southern.
The vehicles were assembled at Bombardier’s production facility in Derby and have been fitted to the highest standard including air conditioning, CCTV surveillance system and on-board electronic passenger information linked through a Global Positioning System. They are also equipped with automatic selective door opening to cater for short platforms and are suitable for driver-only operation. The facilities on-board are also fully compliant with the latest Disability Discrimination Act legislation.
Paul Francis, Managing Director at Porterbrook said “We are delighted to be investing once again in this class of vehicle and continuing with our commitment to support the growth of the railway industry. The total number of Class 377 vehicles in service now stands at 792 and is the largest rolling stock class in the UK.”
http://www.porterbrook.com/pages/press_releases/060710.html
Exercise 8. Read the passage, title it and render in English.
ОАО "Федеральная пассажирская компания" – российская компания, дочерняя структура ОАО "РЖД", предоставляющая услуги по перевозке пассажиров и грузобагажа железнодорожным транспортом в дальнем сообщении.
В 2013 г. ФПК закупила для поездов дальнего следования первые двухэтажные вагоны, произведенные в России. Все новые вагоны оборудованы системами кондиционирования воздуха, биотуалетами и точками Wi-Fi для доступа в Интернет. Каждый купейный вагон рассчитан на 64 пассажира. В вагоне-ресторане могут одновременно разместиться 44 – 48 человек в обеденном зале и 6 человек – в баре.
Эксплуатация двухэтажных вагонов позволит удовлетворить возрастающий спрос на перевозку пассажиров в условиях ограниченной пропускной способности на отдельных направлениях, в частности, на маршруте Москва – Адлер.
http://www.metalinfo.ru/ru/news/60329
Listening and speaking
You are going to watch a video about Eurostar trains. Eurostar is a high-speed railway service which uses the Channel Tunnel, also called Eurotunnel.
Exercise 1. Look at the map and the cross section of the Channel Tunnel and answer the questions.
How can trains travel from Great Britain to continental Europe?
What countries does the Channel Tunnel connect?
How many tunnels does the Channel Tunnel consist of?
What tunnel is used for services and security and what tunnels are used for traffic?
Exercise 2. Try to guess the correct endings to these statements.
1. Eurostar trains travel from London to Paris:
a) daily b) weekly c) in winter
2. Eurostar also goes to:
a) Brussels b) Glasgow c) Amsterdam
3. The trains are nearly:
a) 200 metres long b) 300 metres long c) 400 metres long
4. A Eurostar train carries over:
a) 700 passengers b) 1000 passengers c) 2000 passengers
5. It can travel up to:
a) 150 kph b) 200 kph c) 300 kph
6. There is a specially built high speed line:
a) in the UK b) in France c) all the way
7. From London to Brussels it takes about:
a) two hours b) three hours c) four hours