Latest news – Page 1136
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NewsSharing BIM to cut whole-life costs
UK: Crossrail Ltd has decided to use the latest Building Information Management software throughout its construction supply chain, in order to ensure consistent data and share design information across the £15bn project to build a new east-west rail route under London. Addressing a briefing for Tier 1 contractors at the ...
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NewsUrban rail news in brief - January 2012
Metro Bilbao has completed a programme to add a fifth trailer car to 13 Series 500 and all nine Series 600 trainsets, using vehicles ordered at a cost of €32m. Infrastructure work costing €26m included depot lifting equipment and changes to signalling software. The first of 60 MI09 double-deck ...
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NewsNational University Rail research centre established
USA: The Department of Transportation has awarded a multi-university consortium led by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign a $3·5m grant to establish a rail transportation and engineering research centre. Headquartered within the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Illinois, National University Rail will focus on education and research ...
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NewsRFF to upgrade Blanc-Argent metre gauge line
FRANCE: Infrastructure manager RFF and the Centre region have signed an agreement to fund upgrading of the metre gauge Blanc-Argent line to ensure its long-term future. Passenger services on the 56 km Salbris - Valençay line are operated for SNCF by Keolis subsidiary Compagnie du Blanc Argent. The December 2 ...
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NewsMoscow metro expansion plans announced
RUSSIA: The Moscow city government has announced plans to build a further 98 km of metro over the next nine years, taking the total network to 400 km and adding 44 stations at an estimated cost of 344bn roubles. Of this, 75 km and 36 stations would be completed by ...
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NewsResurgent wagon market boosts Knorr-Bremse sales
KNORR-BREMSE: Sales grew by 14% to reach €4·24bn in the 2011 calendar year, Knorr-Bremse Group reported on January 12. The Rail Vehicle Systems Division recorded an 8% year-on-year increase in sales in 2011, reaching a total of €2·19bn. This growth was driven by a resurgent North American wagon market and ...
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NewsNorth-South Railway contracts worth 2·34bn riyals signed
SAUDI ARABIA: The Ministry of Finance and Saudi Railway Co signed contracts totalling 2·34bn riyals for works on the North-South Railway on January 7. Al Rashid Trading signed a 1·57bn riyal contract to build stations at Majma'a, Qasim (Buraydah), Ha'il, Al Jawf and Al Qurayyat. Yapi Merkezi was awarded a ...
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NewsHöft & Wessel check them all
DENMARK: As part of a national multi-modal e-ticketing project, national passenger operator DSB has commissioned Höft & Wessel to develop an external unit which will enable a variety of hand-held devices to read a wide range of electronic ticket formats. The module will be able to use RFID, OCR and ...
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NewsCanadian Pacific Railway announces C$1·2bn investment plan
CANADA: Plans to invest between C$1·1bn and C$1·2bn in renewal, enhancement and expansion projects during 2012 were announced by Canadian Pacific Railway on January 17. CP's 2012 Capital Plan focuses on strategic and targeted investments to improve service and increase network capacity, as well as funding projects offering a rapid ...
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NewsLow-profile lighting film shows the way out
USA: Grote Industries has launched LightForm Emergency Egress Lighting Film, which uses low-profile LED lighting technology to highlight escape routes from rolling stock. The company said that while standard reflective and glow-in-the-dark tapes are easy to install, they may not attract the attention of passengers when most needed. ...
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NewsReflective markers highlight shunting limits
USA: Davidson Traffic Control Products has introduced reflective clearance markers which can be fixed to sleepers to allow train drivers to identify shunting limits within sidings, even at night. The 300 mm long durable plastic markers are installed at the furthest point towards which a wagon can be propelled before ...
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NewsLow-cost level crossing warning system goes into service
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has put into service a low-cost warning system designed for deployment at unprotected level crossings which are lightly used but cannot be closed. Supplied by Swiss firm Verkehrs- und Industrietechnik AG, the 'micro' system is costed at SFr180000, less than half the cost of conventional crossing ...
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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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NewsWorld rolling stock market January 2012
Argentina: Under a contract worth €75m, the federal government has purchased a further five Class 2400 DMUs from Spanish metre gauge operator FEVE as well as three Class 1500 diesel locomotives. FEVE has already sold six Class 2400 DMUs for operation in Argentina. Australia: In November FMG placed an ...
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NewsQueensland masters course produces first graduates
AUSTRALIA: The first five graduates of the Queensland University of Technology’s Master of Railway Engineering (Infrastructure) completed the course on December 12. QUT claims its course, launched in 2008, is the only online postgraduate railway engineering course which expressly targets professionals already working in the industry. Course Co-ordinator Mike Garrett ...
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NewsNews in Brief
A €270m package to fund electrification of the (Paris –) Gretz-Armainvilliers – Troyes route and the Provins branch by 2017 was signed by RFF and the Ile-de-France and Champagne-Ardenne regions on December 9. Last month Pakistan’s Railways Minister confirmed the country’s intention to accede to OTIF, the Inter-governmental Organization for ...
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NewsWork to begin on Chad rail network
CHAD: Construction of what may be the country’s first railway is set to begin in February, following the signing of an agreement between the Ministry of Transport & Civil Aviation and China Civil Engineering Construction Corp on December 24. The US$5·6bn four-year plan covers a 1 364 ...
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NewsNetwork Rail awards signalling framework contracts
UK: Infrastructure manager Network Rail announced a series of framework contracts on January 11 covering the majority of its signalling renewal and enhancement works. The agreements with Invensys Rail, Atkins and the Signalling Solutions joint venture of Alstom and Balfour Beatty Rail are scheduled to commence on April 2. They ...
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NewsBouygues selected to build Nîmes - Montpellier line
FRANCE: Réseau Ferré de France announced on January 12 that it has selected a Bouygues-led consortium as preferred bidder for the 25-year PPP concession to design, build, maintain and finance the 60 km mixed-traffic high speed line bypassing Nîmes and Montpellier. The consortium includes Bouygues TP, DTP Terrassement, Colas, Alstom ...
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NewsCeremony launches Swazilink rail project
AFRICA: A sod-turning on January 12 ceremonially launched work to develop a 146 km rail connection between Lothair in South Africa and Sidvokodvo Junction in Swaziland. The Swazilink project includes upgrading of the existing lines at each end. This will provide landlocked Swaziland with a direct western rail connection with ...