Latest news – Page 1240
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NewsCool in the desert
SAUDI ARABIA: To cope with desert temperatures of up to 55°C, the eight 200 km/h trainsets which Saudi Railways Organisation ordered from Spanish rolling stock manufacturer CAF in July 2008 are to be fitted with a comprehensive cooling system from Voith Turbo. The push-pull trainsets will have five coaches ...
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NewsMedellín orders CAF metro trains
COLOMBIA: Spanish train builder CAF has been awarded a contract to supply 12 three-car trains for the Medellín metro. The 211bn peso order announced on December 2 is being funded by the metro together with loans from the Bogotá, Occidente and AV Villas banks. A further 57bn pesos will ...
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NewsBasel goes firm with Tango tram order
SWITZERLAND: Baselland Transport has placed a SFr74m firm order for 15 Tango trams for delivery in 2011-12, Stadler Rail announced on December 4. A SFr276m framework contract for up to 60 trams was agreed by Basel city transport company BVB (20 vehicles) and regional operator BLT (40) in May ...
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NewsCrossrail announces tunnelling shortlist
UK: On December 4 Crossrail Ltd named the five bidders shortlisted to tender for two of the three contracts to bore tunnels for the cross-London Rail link. The bidders are: Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering Ltd, Morgan Est plc, Vinci Construction Grand Projects and Beton -und Monierbau Gesellschaft; BAM ...
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NewsGE announces Brazilian locomotive contract
BRAZIL: GE Transportation has signed an agreement to supply América Latina Logística with 10 AC44i diesel-electric locomotives by the end of 2009, the manufacturer announced on December 3. The 1 600 mm gauge locomotives be built at GE Transportation South America's plant in Contagem, Brazil, with engines from Grove ...
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NewsNîmes - Montpellier funding accord
FRANCE: The national and regional governments signed an agreement on December 2 setting out funding arrangements for construction of the Nîmes - Montpellier bypass and paving the way for the start of construction. The 80 km mixed-traffic route will form an extension of the south-western branch of LGV Méditerranée ...
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News'Bloody slaughter' beckons
GERMANY: Whilst the past decade has seen a steady expansion of competitive tendering for the operation of regional services, Deutsche Bahn's monopoly of long-distance services has remained largely intact. Competition has been limited to a token daily InterConnex service between Leipzig, Berlin and Rostock and the locally-supported Alex inter-regional routes ...
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NewsDB Regio preferred bidder for Tyne & Wear Metro operating contract
UK: Tyne & Wear transport authority Nexus named Deutsche Bahn subsidiary DB Regio (Tyne and Wear) Ltd as preferred bidder for a contract to operate the Tyne & Wear Metro on December 3. Nexus will now finalise details of the operating concession, which will run for seven years from April ...
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NewsGE locomotives in cold-climate biofuel tests
CANADA: A five-month trial of biodiesel is being undertaken in what Canadian Pacific says is its first use with locomotives operating in the cold Canadian climate. Four GE Transportation AC4400 locomotives in dedicated service between Calgary and Edmonton are using a 5% biodiesel blend from November until the end ...
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NewsPöyry creates Urban & Mobility business group
PÖYRY: Engineering and consulting firm Pöyry announced a restructuring on December 2, to focus on higher value activites including project management and management consulting. As part of this, from January 1 the Transportation and Construction Services business groups will be merged into an Urban & Mobility business group. This ...
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NewsGöteborg exercises tram option
SWEDEN: The city of Göteborg has ordered a further 25 AnsaldoBreda Sirio trams at a cost of €61m. Designated Type M32 by operator Göteborgs Spårvägar, they have been ordered under the terms of a 2001 contract for 40 trams which included options for up to 80 more vehicles. The ...
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NewsDSB wins Krösatågen operating contract
SWEDEN: Jönköpings Länstrafik has selected Danish state railway subsidiary DSB Småland to run Krösatågen services on five routes around Jönköping and Nässjö from December 12 2010. The 10-year contract is worth SKr800m and covers the operation of 2·1 million train-km a year using 14 local authority-owned Bombardier Itino and Y1 ...
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NewsNottingham tram Phase Two bidders confirmed
UK: The Arrow Connect and Tramlink Nottingham consortia have been invited to submit tenders for the NET Phase Two tram expansion project, Nottingham City Council announced on December 2. The 23 year NET Phase Two contract covers construction of the 7·5 km Line 2 to Clifton and the 10 ...
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NewsNext-generation Thales interlocking commissioned
FRANCE: Infrastructure manager RFF brought the first Thales PIPC G2 computer-based interlocking into service on December 1. Installed at Longueau on the outskirts of Amiens, it sets 178 routes, controlling 65 sets of points and 75 signals. LockTrac 6171 PIPC G2 is an upgrade of PIPC V1 which is ...
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NewsMore manganese please
SOUTH AFRICA: The increasingly busy Orex heavy haul iron ore railway between Sishen and Saldanha may gain a second source of traffic in the coming years. Transnet Freight Rail is in discussion with a consortium of mining companies about using the route to export manganese through the deep-water port at ...
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NewsRegulator calls for train information code of practice
UK: In an effort to encourage a competitive market in the provision of live train-running information, the Office of Rail Regulation has asked the Association of Train Operating Companies to publish a code of practice setting out criteria against which it will assess applications for access to its 'Darwin' database ...
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NewsVeolia Cargo sale finalised
FRANCE: On December 1 Veolia Environnement announced that its Veolia Transport subsidiary had finalised the sale of Veolia Cargo to Transport Ferroviaire Holding and Europorte 2. Eurotunnel subsidiary Europorte 2 is acquiring Veolia Cargo's businesses in France, which include Socorail, Veolia Cargo France, Veolia Cargo Link and CFTA Cargo. ...
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NewsGlobaltrans to be biggest private tank wagon owner
RUSSIA: Private freight operator Globaltrans has agreed to acquire a 50% interest in BaltTransServis from TIHL, the controlling shareholder in Globaltrans, in exchange for ordinary shares of company with a value of US$250m. Globaltrans is also raising capital of US$175m for rolling stock acquisition and general corporate purposes. BTS ...
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NewsBilbao Line 3 construction contracts
SPAIN: Euskal Trenbide Sarea awarded a consortium of Ferrovial, Amenabar and Exbasa a €27·5m contract on October 23 for construction of the 0·8 km Uribarri section of Bilbao Metro Line 3. On November 12, a contract worth €30·8m was awarded to UTE Sacyr, Cavosa Obras y Proyectos and Altuna y ...
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NewsOpen data
USA: Chicago Transit Authority is to provide pre-packaged application program interfaces on its transitchicago.com website, enabling rail and bus timetable and running information to be used in externally developed desktop and mobile computer applications. 'By making information readily available to developers and other interested parties, the benefits of ...