Latest news – Page 1160
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NewsSignalboxes to go as Network Rail accelerates control strategy
UK: Network Rail began formal staff consultations on July 20 for a 25-year strategy to eliminate around remaining 800 mechanical signalboxes and relay interlockings and concentrate control of the national network in 14 regional operating centres. This will form a key element in its proposed investment plans for 2014-19 (Control ...
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NewsFEVE assists Ecuador Railways revival
ECUADOR: On July 8 Ecuador Railways General Manager Jorge Eduardo Carrera signed two contracts worth a total of US$30m with FEVE President Ángel Villalba, as the Spanish metre-gauge operator continues to participate in the revival of the Ecuadorian network under an existing co-operation agreement (RG 5.10 p30). A US$25m contract ...
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NewsChicago orders 300 more 5000-series metro cars
USA: Chicago Transit Authority has placed a $331m firm order for 300 more 5000-series metro cars, Bombardier Transportation announced on July 20. The order is an option under a July 2006 contract and brings the total number of 5000-series cars ordered by CTA to 706, worth a total of ...
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NewsPerth consults on strategic transport vision
AUSTRALIA: Public Transport Authority of Western Australia has begun consultation on a strategic plan for the development of rail, bus rapid transit and light rail services with the aim of addressing congestion and accessibility issues as Perth grows to an expected population of 2·5 million by 2031. Heavy rail elements ...
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NewsNorth West Railway back on track
ZAMBIA: Plans for a 254 km railway from the Chingola railhead to the Lumwana mining region are once again active, with US-based Tagos Group and Zambia Development Agency signing a memorandum of understanding to raise US and African Development Bank funding for the US$500m project in Lusaka last month. ...
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NewsWorld rail infrastructure market July 2011
Australia: RailCorp has awarded MerMec a €15m contract to supply two 130 km/h Roger 800 self-propelled diagnostic vehicles by the end of the year, with an option for a third. Queensland Rail has awarded TrackStar Alliance a US$15m contract for work on the US$488m 10 km Richlands – ...
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NewsSunRail commuter project funding signed
USA: Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood visited Orlando on July 18 to announce a $178·6m federal grant completing funding for the $357·2m capital costs of first phase of the SunRail commuter rail project. Governor Rick Scott had put the project on hold earlier in the year, but gave the ...
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NewsModernised EU07 locomotive on test
POLAND: ZNTK Olenica has extensively modernised a PKP Intercity Class EU07 electric locomotive as a pilot for a possible wider programme. The changes have uprated the locomotive from 2 MW to 3·2 MW, and increased top speed from 125 km/h to the 160 km/h permitted on an increasing proportion of ...
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NewsWorld rolling stock market July 2011
Argentina: Trenes de Buenos Aires has acquired 10 ex-Netherlands Railways Class 3200 two-car DMUs, which will be regauged to 1676 mm for use between Merlo and Lobos on TBA’s Sarmiento route and on the Victoria – Capilla del Señor section of the Mitre network. Australia: WPG Resources has ordered ...
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NewsQueues to see first Vamos in Bielefeld
GERMANY: Queues of up to an hour developed when Bielefeld transport operator MoBiel opened its first Vamos light rail vehicle for public viewing during a depot open day on July 3 which attracted 20 000 visitors. MoBiel placed a €47m order for 16 LRVs with a consortium of HeiterBlick and ...
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NewsRail.One announces new ownership structure
GERMANY: Ballastless track and concrete sleeper supplier Rail.One completed a 'comprehensive financial reorganisation' at the beginning of July, with some creditors receiving shares in return for waiving claims. The company is now owned by a group of creditors led by the DAM Capital Management subsidiary of US firm Anschutz ...
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NewsKeeping vegetation under control
UK: Network Rail has taken delivery of the first of three LUF Bushfighter automated vegetation clearance machines from Austrian supplier Rechner's GmbH. Equipped with a 75 kW four-cylinder turbocharged Deutz powerpack, the vehicle is controlled remotely and can operate on embankments at an angle of up to 45°. It can ...
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NewsUrban rail news in brief
A 1·5 km extension of Istanbul metro line M2 from Darüssafaka to Haciosman opened on May 23, taking the line length to 18 km. The southern extension of M2 from Sishane to Yenikapi over the new Golden Horn Bridge is expected to open in 2014. Waterloo Regional Council approved ...
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NewsIndustry News in Brief
The American Railway Car Institute reports that wagon manufacturers saw an upsurge in orders during the first quarter, at 36903 compared with 5078 in Q1 2010. The Financial Times has reported that Spanish train builder Patentes Talgo has appointed Nomura Holdings, Credit Suisse Group and Banco Santander to prepare an ...
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NewsThales wins Edmonton LRT signalling contract
CANADA: Thales announced on July 9 that it had been awarded a contract to provide signalling and train control technology for an extension of Edmonton's North LRT to Northern Alberta Institute of Technology which is due to open in April 2014. Under a C$45m package which includes upgrading work, Thales ...
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NewsRailway construction starts in China
CHINA: Construction is scheduled to begin this month on a 168 km line linking Jingzhou in Hubei province with Yueyang in Hunan. The alignment is being designed for 160 km/h running, and construction is expected to take three years at a cost of 11·4bn yuan. Meanwhile, local approval has ...
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NewsWorld rail market July 2011
Africa: Mott MacDonald is to study implementation and finance options for the Cotonou – Niamey – Ouagadougou – Abidjan project under an African Union Commission contract (RG 6.11 p30). China: Tagmaster, Richor and FTRD are to trial an RFID tag system providing onboard warnings of temporary speed restrictions. ...
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NewsHammond launches £5bn Great Western Main Line upgrade
UK: Visiting London’s Paddington station on July 14 to mark the completion of work to refurbish the station roof, Secretary of State for Transport Philip Hammond officially launched a 10-year programme to upgrade the Great Western Main Line. Speaking at the launch, Network Rail Chief Executive David Higgins said the ...
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NewsVossloh to supply Rotherham tram-trains
UK: Vossloh has been selected as ‘lead bidder’ for the supply of rolling stock for the Sheffield - Rotherham tram-train pilot project, Transport Minister Norman Baker told an event organised by the All Party Parliamentary Light Rail Group on July 12. The business case is still being ...
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NewsPrime Minister launches MY Rapid Transit project
MALAYSIA: Prime Minister Najib Razak officially launched the MY Rapid Transit project on July 8, granting approval for the Sungai Buloh - Kajang Line. The 51 km metro line is the first of three totalling 156 km planned under the Greater Kuala Lumpur initiative which aims to put the ...