Latest news – Page 1178
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NewsNorthern resignalling underway
VIETNAM: A ceremony at Hanoi’s Yen Vien station on March 24 marked the start of a Chinese-backed resignalling programme covering Vietnam Railways’ routes to the border crossings at Lao Cai and Dong Dang. Deputy Minister for Transport & Communications Le Manh Hung told assembled guests that the resignalling work would ...
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NewsSetting up a Saudi railway regulator
SAUDI ARABIA: Arcadis is currently supporting the Saudi government's Railways Commission as it moves from the set-up phase to full operation. According to Arcadis Safety & Risk Director Stef Scannali, the process involves an extensive transfer of skills and knowledge, which draws on Arcadis staff's global experience of safety-critical industries, ...
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NewsMixed height EMU
ARGENTINA: Suburban operator Trenes de Buenos Aires has unveiled the first nine-car EMU to be completed by Emfer for its Once - Moreno route, comprising five rebuilt single-deck Toshiba vehicles and four new double-deck cars to increase train capacity by 40%. TBA is due to take delivery of a first ...
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NewsFuente de la Mora joins Madrid suburban network
SPAIN: Development Minister José Blanco joined Esperanza Aguirre, President of the Madrid regional government, to open a station at Fuente de la Mora on March 24. Now forming northwestern the terminus for routes C7 and C10 of RENFE’s Madrid suburban network, the new station has been built as part of ...
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NewsNTV brands RFI access changes 'illegal'
ITALY: In an exceptionally strongly-worded statement, private high speed operator Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori has urged the Italian government to intervene to resolve an increasingly bitter dispute with infrastructure manager RFI over paths. NTV convened an emergency board meeting on March 25 after receiving notification that RFI’s Network Statement had been ...
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NewsNS and SNCF shortlisted for West Coast franchise
UK: The Department for Transport announced on March 24 that it had shortlisted four bidders that will be invited to tender in May for the replacement InterCity West Coast franchise, covering the operation of long-distance passenger services from London to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow. As well as incumbent Virgin ...
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NewsRail-Tech Europe takes to a new stage
NETHERLANDS: Encompassing a trade exhibition and conference, Rail-Tech Europe takes place in Amersfoort this month. Held every two years at the Royal Dutch Jaarbeurs since its launch in 1997, the Rail-Tech Europe exhibition is on the move. This year, the Dutch rail industry will gather on March 29-31 at De ...
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NewsIllinois awarded $1·2bn in high speed rail funding
USA: A further grant of $1·2bn in federal funding has been released for high speed rail development on the Chicago – St Louis corridor in Illinois, where work is underway to upgrade the existing Union Pacific line for 177 km/h running. The previously-negotiated award was confirmed in Chicago on March ...
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NewsEtihad Rail on course to open in 2013
UAE: The first freight trains on the emirates’ nascent rail network will start running in 2013, according to the Chairman of Etihad Rail Nasser Al Sowaidi. Speaking at an event in Abu Dhabi on March 23 to mark the rebranding of the company previously known as Union Railway, Al Sowaidi ...
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NewsSecond Gotthard bore holed through
SWITZERLAND: Five months after the celebrations to mark the breakthrough of the eastern running tunnel of the 57 km Gotthard base tunnel, the western bore was finally completed on March 23. The second breakthrough was not marked by the same kind of public ceremony as the first event on October ...
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NewsPKP Cargo starts running into Germany
EUROPE: Just 24 h after the Polish government invited expressions of interest for the sale of a majority stake in PKP Cargo to a strategic investor, the state-owned freight operator announced on March 22 that it had started running its own trains on the German network. Up to now, PKP ...
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NewsMixed welcome for ERA ruling on Channel Tunnel safety
EUROPE: Welcoming the Technical Opinion on safety in the Channel Tunnel issued by the European Railway Agency on March 21, Deutsche Bahn’s Board Member, Passenger, Ulrich Homburg said he was ‘optimistic’ that the Intergovernmental Commission would approve the operation of ICE trainsets through the Tunnel in ‘early summer this year ...
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NewsSino-Thai construction agreement edges closer
THAILAND: A framework agreement for a Memorandum of Understanding covering the construction of two standard-gauge inter-city corridors was approved by Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban on March 21. This marks the latest milestone in the Thai government’s efforts to agree its position ahead of ministerial negotiations with China to reach ...
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NewsWorld rail infrastructure market March 2011
Brazil: Engexata Engenharia has won a R$38·7m 18-month contract to build two light rail routes totalling 12·5 km with 11 stations in Sobral. Bom Sinal is supplying five two-car trains. Vale has awarded Uzminias contracts to build six bridges for the first phase of the Carajás railway project. ...
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NewsAnsaldo scoops Honolulu metro contract
USA: The award of two major contracts totalling $946m covering construction and fitting out of the elevated metro line in Honolulu was announced by the city’s mayor Peter Carlisle on March 21. The Ansaldo Honolulu Joint Venture, bringing together Finnmeccanica companies Ansaldo STS and AnsaldoBreda, has been selected as core ...
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NewsWabtec wins Los Angeles PTC contract
USA: Wabtec Corp announced on March 22 that it had signed a $27m contract to provide equipment and services for the implementation of Positive Train Control on the Metrolink commuter rail network radiating from Los Angeles. The contract has been awarded by Parsons, which was selected by the Southern California ...
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NewsManchester Metrolink starts Phase 3b
UK: Construction work has started on a 3·9 km extension of the Manchester Metrolink light rail network from Droylsden to Ashton-under-Lyne, following a groundreaking ceremony held on March 8. This is the first of the projects included in Phase 3b of the network expansion programme to get underway. The work ...
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NewsFirst congress on rail training
EUROPE: The Technical University of Madrid's Railway Technology Research Centre (Citef) will host the first World Congress on Railway Training on April 6-8. Entitled 'From Strategy to Performance', the congress has been organised at the behest of UIC with the support of its network of regional rail training centres. The ...
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NewsERA recommends changes to Channel Tunnel safety regime
EUROPE: There is no intrinsic reason why trainsets with distributed traction should be banned from operating through the Channel Tunnel, according to a Technical Opinion issued by the European Railway Agency on March 21. The Channel Tunnel Intergovernmental Commission had asked ERA to review its findings on proposed changes to ...
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NewsMadrid metro Line 2 extended to Las Rosas
SPAIN: Esperanza Aguirre, President of the Madrid regional government, inaugurated an eastern extension of metro Line 2 from La Elipa to Las Rosas on March 16. The 4·6 km extension, with three intermediate stations at La Almudena, Alsacia and Avenida de Guadalajara, cost €315m and took 28 months to build. ...