Latest news – Page 1224
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NewsRail Baltica feasibility study gets underway
EUROPE: A study has begun into the feasibility of building a standard gauge railway linking Tallinn in Estonia with Latvia, Lithuania and the Polish border. On April 6 the tri-national steering committee for the Rail Baltica project held its first meeting with consultancy AECOM, which has been selected to undertaken ...
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NewsMetro Line 2 tunnelling starts in Sofia
BULGARIA: Tunnelling for Sofia metro Line 2 started on April 6, when an 85 m long tunnel boring machine was launched in the presence of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova, Sofia Metropolitan director Stoyan Bratoev and other government officials. Fandakova named the TBM after the city.The €15m ...
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NewsWorld rolling stock market April 2010
Botswana: BR Procurement Manager Mogwena Mookodi has announced plans to acquire 160 open wagons to carry bulk export salt from Botswana Ash’s plant to the port of Durban in South Africa. Canada: Assisted by the federal ecoFreight programme, Montréal Port Authority has ordered a 2000 hp genset locomotive from ...
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NewsAlstom begins delivering updated Prima
FRANCE: The first Prima BB 475000 diesel locomotive with an MTU 4000 R43 engine has been delivered to SNCF, Alstom announced on April 12. The locomotives are being supplied by a consortium of Alstom and Siemens within a 2004 agreement for at least 400 Prima locomotives. The latest locomotive is ...
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NewsElektriraudtee opts for Stadler Flirt trains
ESTONIA: Tallinn area passenger operator Elektriraudtee announced on April 9 that Stadler Rail had been selected to supply 18 electric and 10 diesel multiple-units. The EU Cohesion Fund is covering 85% of the 1·25bn kroon cost of the 3·3 kV DC Flirt electric units, with the government providing the remainder. ...
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NewsChina to Turkey train to launch this year
ASIA: Demonstration trains will link Turkey with China and Iran with central Asia this year, Mohammad Mirzaei Kahagh, Director of Transport & Communications at the Economic Co-operation Organisation told Terrapinn's EurasiaRail 2010 conference. These will build on the Pakistan - Turkey train which ran last August (RG 9.09 p3). The ...
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NewsIndustry News in Brief
GE Transportation’s Inspection Products business has been bought by the Progress Rail Services Corp subsidiary of Caterpillar, where it forms the Inspection & Information Systems division within Progress Rail’s Engineering & Track Services group. The unit produces hot wheel and axle box detectors, data acquisition and inspection systems. ...
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NewsProducts & Technology in Brief
DB is testing Cosid 828 organic brake pads developed by TMD Friction for inter-city trains running at up to 200 km/h. Kontron has introduced the Microspace MPCX28R ruggedised PC for on-train applications. Various types of data storage device can easily be swapped, making the computer particularly suitable for passenger information, ...
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NewsToronto funding falls foul of recession
CANADA: Toronto’s ambitious and expensive Transit City light rail expansion programme look set to be scaled back drastically as the result of budget cuts by the Ontario provincial government. Regional transport agency Metrolinx was notified on March 25 that C$4bn promised for Transit City would be delayed by at least ...
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NewsMajor rehabilitation gets underway
DR CONGO: Belgium-based African rail operator Vecturis is assisting with an ambitious World Bank supported project to rehabilitate the Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Congolais network. The project was officially launched by President Joseph Kabila last November. Work planned for 2010 includes renewal of track between Tenke and Kisanfu ...
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NewsCAF to supply trams for Granada
SPAIN: The CAF-Santana joint venture has been selected to supply 13 low-floor trams with energy storage for Granada’s initial 15·9 km light rail route. The €43·9m contract specifies delivery within 26 months and includes maintenance; there is an option for a further four vehicles. Bids were also submitted by Siemens ...
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NewsWien broad gauge agreement signed
EUROPE: A further agreement for the construction of a 1 520 mm gauge railway from Kosice in Slovakia to an international logistics terminal at Wien was signed by the Russian, Ukrainian, Slovak and Austrian railway authorities during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Bratislava on April 6. The four-country joint ...
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NewsRZD and Tatravagonka sign co-operation agreements
SLOVAKIA: Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin and Tatravagonka CEO Alexey Belyayev signed two agreements on April 7 covering scientific and technical co-operation in the production of and testing of rolling stock. The first agreement covers the exchange of technological documentation, training of specialists at Russian companies which are involved in ...
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NewsGalileo takes the tram
GERMANY: Halle city transport operator Havag has begun testing an intelligent real-time passenger information system based on Galileo satellite navigation technology. As Galileo is not yet fully functional the tram trial is using simulated satellites to provide location data. An onboard computer uses this to drive passenger information systems, which ...
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NewsContracts April 2010
China: MTR Corp has awarded the Institute of Railway Technology at Australia's Monash University a four-year contract to advise on optimising wheel and rail maintenance in Hong Kong. Lithuania: Fima has supplied LG with a secure data centre to support ticketing and train information systems. Norway: Nomad Digital ...
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NewsCD reveals rolling stock requirements
CZECH REPUBLIC: National passenger operator CD published its 2010-14 rolling stock modernisation strategy on March 16, setting out plans to spend up to KC16bn rejuvenating one of the oldest fleets in the EU; at present just 6% of CD's 2 199 coaches are air-conditioned cars suitable for 160 km/h operation. ...
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NewsRZD restructures long-distance passenger business
RUSSIA: A further step in the reform of Russian Railways has been taken with the establishment of the Federal Passenger Company as a stand-alone subsidiary responsible for long-distance passenger transport activities. The creation of FPC was proposed by the RZD board in 2008 and received government approval last year. The ...
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NewsBox it up
EUROPE: Testing will begin this month of two boxes developed to carry automotive components between Volkswagen’s car plants at Wolfsburg in Germany and Kaluga, 150 km southwest of Moscow. The box was designed by Schenker Automotive Railnet in partnership with Volkswagen Logistics. The inside loading height of 3 m can ...
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NewsPointers April 2010
African Development Bank has agreed to provide US$8·15m to fund a viability study for the proposed 1435 mm gauge railway between Dar es Salaam, Isaka, Kigali, Keza and Musongati, which will connect Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda. BHP Billiton and Arcelor have opened discussions over a possible alliance in West Africa, ...