Latest news – Page 1206
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NewsEurostar restructuring completed
EUROPE: The long-planned restructuring of Eurostar, the cross-Channel high speed rail operator, was formally completed on September 1, the company has confirmed. The restructuring has seen the unincorporated tri-national partnership under which Eurostar was created replaced by Eurostar International, a conventional three-way joint venture with its own ...
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NewsBalfour Beatty acquires power supply business
USA: Balfour Beatty’s US rail division has completed the purchase of Reuel Inc’s Traction Power division for an undisclosed sum, Balfour Beatty Rail Inc announced on August 30. Based in Goldsboro, North Carolina, Reuel is a specialist manufacturer of electrical components and power supply equipment. The Traction Power business unit ...
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NewsWires going up in Toshkent
UZBEKISTAN: Last month UTY completed electrification of the 114 km Toshkent Tukimachi – Angren line, the last diesel-worked route in the Toshkent area. Wiring was undertaken at a cost of US$85·4m funded by UTY and foreign sources including Germany’s KfW and the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development. Russian firm ...
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NewsLight rail contracts awarded in Minneapolis
USA: The Metropolitan Council approved two contracts for the 18 km Central Corridor light rail project linking Minneapolis and St Paul on August 25. The Council confirmed the Transportation Committee’s recommendation to award Siemens a contract to supply 41 low-floor S70 Avanto light rail vehicles at a maximum cost of ...
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NewsDynamometer upgrade
UK: A railway braking product test dynamometer at TMD Friction´s Manchester site has been upgraded to provide increased load capacity and greater accuracy with assistance from pneumatic systems supplier Thorite. The dynamometer uses pneumatic cylinders to force friction materials onto a wheel under simulated operating conditions, to ensure compliance with ...
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NewsMarmaray upgrading contract retendered
TURKEY: Suppliers have until January 7 2011 to submit bids for a contract to modernise existing commuter routes as part of the 77 km Marmaray Project in Istanbul, which includes a rail tunnel beneath the Bosporus connecting Europe with Asia. The retendering follows termination earlier this year of the previous ...
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NewsNJ Transit orders more cars from Bombardier
USA: Bombardier Transportation announced on September 1 that it had received a second order for double-deck coaches from commuter operator New Jersey Transit, covering the supply of 100 cars and worth $267m. The contract includes options for up 79 additional vehicles.'We are proud to be a partner with NJ Transit ...
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NewsDelhi metro opens Chhatarpur station
INDIA: An intermediate station at Chhatarpur on the southern section of Delhi metro Line 2 opened on August 26. The station serves visitors to Chhatarpur temple as well as local residents.The HUDA – Qutab Minar section of Line 2 entered service on June 21 but Chhatarpur was delayed as DMRC ...
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NewsCincinnati streetcar approved
USA: Cincinnati city council has authorised the use of $108m in grants and bonds for the proposed 9·7 km tram route connecting the Riverfront area of the city centre with the Uptown district near the University of Cincinnati. The council's decision paves the way for construction to begin ...
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NewsDoT sets common standards for passenger coach design
USA: US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced on August 31 that ‘uniform technical standards’ were to be introduced for the design of inter-city passenger coaches to ‘enhance the ability of US manufacturers to compete’ in the market. The Department of Transportation believes that adoption of a common design with fixed ...
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NewsFrance and Germany seek co-operation
EUROPE: Meeting in Berlin on August 31, Germany’s Federal Transport Minister Peter Ramsauer and his French counterpart Dominique Bussereau agreed to establish a high-level railway group bringing together representatives from both countries. Building on existing agreements, the new group will aim to foster co-operation in order to remove bureaucratic obstacles, ...
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NewsGroundbreaking in Denver
USA: A groundbreaking ceremony was held at Denver International Airport on August 26 to mark the start of work on the $1bn East Corridor, one of three commuter rail routes included in the Regional Transportation District’s FasTracks Eagle P3 programme.‘The start of work on this ambitious design-build project represents one ...
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NewsTags on test in China
CHINA: The Institute of Railway & Urban Transit at Shanghai Tongji University is to set up an RFID laboratory to develop and test applications for railway and mass transit systems. Located at the Jiading campus, the laboratory will investigate the use of RFID equipment from Swedish firm TagMaster ...
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NewsQueensland details 2030 rail vision
AUSTRALIA: An 8 km metro and major expansion of suburban and regional rail services in Brisbane are at the heart of a 20-year transport blueprint published by the Queensland state government on August 31. Entitled ‘Connecting SEQ 2031’, the plan would cost A$123bn if all the projects were adopted. According ...
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NewsTrack machine exports
INTERNATIONAL: US on-track plant manufacturer Harsco Rail announced on August 30 that it had received orders worth US$13m to supply tamping and grinding machines to Bangladesh and Liberia. Bangladesh Railway will receive a Mark VI ballast tamper to support the upgrading of its 1 676 mm gauge ...
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NewsTikhvin signs first major wagon order
RUSSIA: Private sector freight forwarder Transgarant has signed the first major agreement to purchase wagons from Tikhvin Railway Car Building Plant, a state-of-the-art factory being developed by ICT Group on a site 200 km east of St Petersburg in Leningrad oblast. Transgarant has agreed to order 15 000 wagons from ...
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NewsRoyal ceremony marks Botniabanan opening
SWEDEN: A ceremony in Kramfors on August 28 attended by King Carl XVI Gustaf marked the start of a rolling inauguration of the Botniabanan in northeast Sweden. A royal train then left for Örnsköldsvik and Nordmaling, where further celebrations were held, before it reached Umeå in the evening. Revenue passenger ...
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NewsThree Gorges route linked up
CHINA: Work has been completed on the Yiwan Railway, paralleling the lake formed by the Three Gorges dam. Running through mountainous terrain to the south of the Yangtze valley, the 377 km east -west line links the city of Wanzhou east of Chongqing with Yichang in Hubei province via Lichuan ...
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NewsCapita Symonds opens York rail office
UK: Capita Symonds has opened an office in York providing civil and structural engineering services for the rail sector. The company hopes to increase the initial 12 staff to 30 within 15 months, and generate turnover of £3·5m. 'As we are successfully bucking the national downturn trend thanks to contracts ...
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NewsWagon builder sees revival in rail market
USA: 'Recent orders for double-stack equipment represent the early signs of a restoration in demand for this car type', President & CEO of The Greenbrier Companies William A Furman said on August 25, when the company announced contracts to built more than 1 000 double-stack container wagons and 700 hoppers ...