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NewsTenders called for US passenger cars
USA: US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced on April 20 that manufacturers had been invited to bid for a contract worth $551m to supply 130 double-deck cars for Amtrak services, under ‘a groundbreaking multi-state effort to jointly purchase standardised rail equipment’. With funding from the Federal Railroad Administration’s High Speed ...
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NewsChinese locos prepare for service
AUSTRALIA: Following successful testing that has included operation at up to 130 km/h and hauling ‘one of the biggest iron ore trains’ between Port Augusta and Adelaide last month, SCT Logistics expects its full fleet of CSR Ziyang diesel locomotives to be ‘up and running’ by June. SCT says that ...
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NewsSNCF orders 40 Euroduplex sets
FRANCE: SNCF has exercised an option for a further 40 third-generation Duplex high speed trainsets from Alstom Transport under a framework agreed in June 2007. SNCF is already taking delivery of 55 of the 320 km/h multi-system double-deck trainsets, branded Euroduplex by Alstom. The first entered traffic in December 2011 ...
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NewsNortheastern link proposed
THAILAND: The Thai Office of Transport & Traffic Policy & Planning submitted proposals for a 336 km railway from Ban Phai to Nakhon Phanom to the cabinet at a meeting in Udon Thani on February 21. The branch from the existing Nakhon Ratchasima – Nong Khai metre-gauge line would run ...
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NewsAmtrak accelerates in Michigan
USA: On February 7 the Federal Railroad Administration gave Amtrak approval to raise speeds on its passenger services in western Michigan from 152 km/h to 177 km/h. The agreement covers an Amtrak-owned 155 route-km section between Kalamazoo, Michigan and Porter, Indiana which has been equipped with the Incremental Train Control ...
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NewsChiang Mai line included in infrastructure package
THAILAND: Construction of a 750 km standard gauge line from Bangkok to Chiang Mai is the largest single project included in a 400bn baht programme of infrastructure investment announced by the government on January 10. Comprising 128 different work packages for completion by 2016, the programme includes a range of ...
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NewsHigh speed line to Bursa to open by 2015
TURKEY: Transport Minister Binali Yildirim confirmed on December 30 that contracts had been signed to build a 75 km mixed-traffic high speed line from Bilecik to Bursa, and that civil works would start this year. The line is to be built in two sections for opening by mid-2015. The first ...
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NewsReferendum backs Stuttgart 21
GERMANY: Controversial plans to rebuild Stuttgart’s main station look set to go ahead after 59% of voters approved the project in a referendum held by the Land of Baden-Württemberg on November 27. ‘The people have spoken’, said Baden-Württemberg Minister-President Winfried Kretschmann. ‘I accept the results, even if it does not ...
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NewsUS$1bn double-tracking programme to modernise Trans-Java Railway
INDONESIA: Tenders are to be called in December for double-tracking the remaining single sections of the Trans-Java Railway between Jakarta and Surabaya, the Transportation Ministry announced on November 23. The US$1·1bn project calls for doubling of approximately 425 km of single line on the 727 route-km, 1 067 mm gauge ...
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NewsCongress axes inter-city project funding for 2012
USA: The Appropriations Bill setting 2012 funding levels for several government agencies including the Department of Transportation was ratified by both houses of Congress on November 17. The budget sets out the expected level of federal support for existing inter-city rail services run by Amtrak, and outlines funds available for ...
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NewsGrowth & the Capacity Challenge: now available to watch on demand
RAILWAY GAZETTE TV: With demand for passenger and freight movement by rail projected to rise significantly over the coming 20 years, infrastructure managers and train operators across Europe are facing the challenge of squeezing extra capacity from busy networks and building new lines despite financial constraints. Railway Gazette International held ...
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NewsCalifornian high speed plans revised
USA: The California High Speed Rail Authority launched a revised ‘draft business plan’ for its proposed 832 km Phase I of a 400 km/h network connecting San Francisco with Anaheim and Los Angeles. In announcing what it described as a ‘foundation for an economically-viable high speed rail system’, CHSRA has ...
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NewsCeremony launches Tanger – Casablanca high speed project
MOROCCO: A foundation stone was laid in Tanger on September 29 to mark the start of construction of a high speed line to Casablanca. The ceremony was attended by King Mohammed VI and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, reflecting the close relationship between the two countries which has underpinned the project ...
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NewsSNCF takes Westbahn stake
AUSTRIA: On August 23 SNCF confirmed that it had bought a 26% stake in Rail Holding AG, the parent company of open access operator Westbahn Management GmbH. The purchase takes the form of an injection of share capital into Rail Holding, which becomes a three-way joint venture between SNCF ...
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NewsAlstom to maintain Ferrovalle infrastructure
MEXICO: Under a contract worth around €40m, Alstom has taken responsibility for maintenance of 660 track-km of standard gauge lines in central Mexico. The lines are owned by Ferrocarril y Terminal del Valle de Mexico, a vertically-integrated railway owned jointly by operators Kansas City Southern de Mexico, Ferromex, Ferrosur and ...
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NewsChina starts work on line to Myanmar
ASIA: A foundation laying ceremony in the border town of Ruili on May 30 marked the official launch of construction on a railway from Kunming in China to Myanmar. The 330 km double-track line will join the CR network at Dali in Yunnan province. Construction is being undertaken in two ...
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NewsNoise-damping track to be installed on Thameslink core
UK: SilentTrack noise dampers are to be installed at London Blackfriars station under the Thameslink Programme to mitigate the acoustic effects of running up to 24 trains/h along the core north-south cross-city route from 2018. Already installed by DB Netz on its main lines through the Rhein valley and on ...
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NewsReturn of the Bicol Express
PHILIPPINES: Following three test runs in late May, Philippine National Railways announced on June 9 that long-distance passenger services between Manila and Bicol province would resume on June 29. The announcement marks the completion of a four-year, 18bn pesos programme to rebuild PNR’s 479 km Main Line South between the ...
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NewsSinara and Siemens announce Desiro production agreement
RUSSIA: Siemens and local manufacturer Sinara Group have launched Train Technologies, a joint venture to produce Desiro electric multiple-units for the Russian market in Yekaterinburg. ‘Preliminary contracts’ worth ‘around €2bn’ were signed at the 1520 Strategic Forum in Sochi on June 1 by Siemens Mobility CEO Dr Hans-Jörg Grundmann, Dimitry ...
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NewsSumatra coal railway on course for 2014 opening
INDONESIA: Joint venture company Bukit Asam Transpacific Railway has launched the land acquisition process for its 307 km coal railway in southern Sumatra, Special Advisor to the Board Dr Julison Arifin told the Modern Railways conference in Bangkok on May 24. Intended as a heavy haul railway to move coal ...