Latest news – Page 1213
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NewsUS cities receive tram grants
USA: Five US cities have received nearly $105m for tram projects from the US Department of Transportation’s Urban Circulator Grant Programme, which is designed to help cities better co-ordinate transport, housing and commercial development. The recipients include: St Louis Loop Trolley: $25m for a 3·2 km, nine-stop route ...
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NewsLocomotive engine joint venture launched
RUSSIA: Transmash Holding and Finnish maritime and power generation engine maker Wärtsilä are to form a joint venture to produce diesel engines in the Russian city of Penza from 2012. Production is expected to reach 250 to 300 engines a year, mostly for the Russian market where Wärtsilä sees ...
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NewsElectro-diesel shunter order
SWITZERLAND: SBB Cargo has awarded Stadler Winterthur a SFr88m contract to supply 30 electro-diesel locomotives in 2012-13 for shunting and light freight duties. They are intended to replace Type Bm4/4 locomotives and various outdated three-axle designs, and the contract includes options for further locomotives to be ordered as required. ...
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NewsShort line operator buys infrastructure contractor
USA: RailAmerica completed the $24m acquisition of Atlas Railroad Construction Co on July 1. RailAmerica President & CEO John Giles said the deal would enable the short line operator to benefit from an expected increase in infrastructure spending as part of rail upgrading and government stimulus programmes. Founded in 1954, ...
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NewsLocomotive plant aims to create a domestic rail industry
KAZAKHSTAN: The foundation stone was laid on June 26 for an electric passenger and freight locomotive plant in Astana which Alstom sees as 'the jewel of a modern rail industry' supplying Kazakhstan and the wider 1 520 mm gauge region. The factory is being developed by a 50:50 joint venture ...
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NewsMahle Behr Industry launched
GERMANY: Automotive supplier Mahle Group completed its acquisition of a 60% stake in BEHR Industry on June 30, following approval from the competition authorities. BEHR Industry produces air-conditioning systems for trains, buses, ships, aircraft and specialist machinery, as well as stationary engines for power generation. It recorded sales of €178m ...
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NewsNewrest buys Compagnie des Wagon-Lits
EUROPE: Accor has sold its Compagnie des Wagons-Lits onboard rail catering activities to Newrest WL, a joint venture with Newrest in which Accor has a 40% stake. Announcing the deal on July 7, Accor said it plans to withdraw from the onboard catering sector and has an option to sell ...
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NewsAlte toilets for Régio2N
FRANCE: Bombardier has awarded Spanish company Alte Transportation a contract to supply toilet modules for 129 Régio2N double-deck EMUs. The first 80 trainsets ordered by SNCF under a framework agreement for up to 860 EMUs are due to be delivered for TER services in six French regions from ...
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NewsShanghai - Nanjing high speed line opens
CHINA: High speed services between Shanghai Hongqiao and Nanjing were launched with a ceremony hosted by Governor of Jiangsu province Luo Zhijun on July 1. The line is designed for running at up to 350 km/h, cutting the fastest journey time between the cities by around 80 min to ...
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NewsAmey acquires WYG's rail activities
UK: Amey has strengthened its position in the rail consulting sector by taking over 100 specialist staff and a portfolio of multi-disciplinary design framework contracts from WYG Engineering, part of the WYG Group. Amey's rail consulting activities have grown from 200 staff in 2006 to nearly 1 000 today. 'We ...
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NewsLoan to relieve world's most overcrowded trains
INDIA: The World Bank agreed on June 29 to provide a US$430m loan towards the US$970·5m Mumbai Urban Transport Project phase 2A. This aims to improve capacity on Mumbai's suburban rail network, which the World Bank said suffers from some of the most severe overcrowding in the world with 4 ...
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NewsDB beats ÖBB to Bayern contract
GERMANY: Austrian Federal Railways was unsuccessful in its first tender for a foreign passenger rail operating contract, losing out to DB Regio in its bid to run Werdenfels-Netz services on behalf of Bayern transport authority Bayerische Eisenbahngesellschaft. Veolia and BeNEX had also bid for the contract, which covers the operation ...
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NewsModified mix saves fuel
UK: St Louis, Missouri-based International Fuel Technology believes that its DiesoLIFT 10 additive could deliver significant fuel economy benefits in diesel multiple-unit powerpack applications. Rather than being petroleum-based, IFT's proprietary fuel additive formulations are derived from a mixture of surfactant substances. DiesoLIFT 10 has undergone four years of ...
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NewsSBB and Hupac to form trans-Alpine freight operator
SWITZERLAND: On July 5 Swiss Federal Railways' freight business SBB Cargo and intermodal operator Hupac announced the formation of a new company to handle block and intermodal trains between Germany and Italy from early 2011. SBB Cargo International aims to optimise capacity and minimise locomotive and crew downtime in ...
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NewsArriva Nederland orders its 99th Stadler GTW
NETHERLANDS: Stadler announced a €140m order to supply Arriva Nederland with a further 38 GTW mul tiple-units on July 2, bringing its orders for the articulated units to a total of 99. Worldwide, Stadler has now sold 539 GTW units to operators in 10 countries. The latest Arriva order covers ...
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NewsPrivate funds sought for freight
INDIA: Two Ministry of Railways schemes to encourage private sector investment in rail freight capacity came into effect on May 31. Investors can apply for renewable 20-year agreements to establish freight terminals providing value-added logistics services to third parties. Terminals must be on private land, and can handle all traffic ...
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NewsNews in Brief
Unife and UIC have published Technical Recommendations for driver-machine interfaces in train cabs, describing basic functional and system requirements. Rusk County Rural Rail District has acquired the 25 km Henderson – Overton branch in Texas from Union Pacific with a view to reviving freight traffic which ceased in August 2009. ...
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NewsBulgaria to Turkey wiring underway
BULGARIA: Work is underway to electrify and upgrade the 19 km link between Svilengrad and the Turkish border. Part of the government's EU-backed Operational Programme for Transport which aims to fully integrate Bulgaria into wider EU transport networks, the project is being undertaken by Czech firm OHL ZHS under a ...
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NewsRio - São Paulo high speed rail bidding ready to start
BRAZIL: Bid documents for the concession to build and operate the proposed high speed line between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo are expected to be issued before July 9, according to the Director of the government’s land transport directorate Agência Nacional de Transportes Terrestres. ANTT director Bernardo Figueiredo ...
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NewsUrban rail progress in Najaf and Baghdad
IRAQ: Canadian consortium TransGlobim International has announced a US$600m 30-year concession to finance, build and operate a 37 track-km monorail linking three major Shi'ite pilgrimage sites in Najaf. Construction is expected to take three years, and a second phase would extend the line to the international airport. The monorail is ...