Latest news – Page 1273
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News
Grant concluded
USA: A US$900m full funding grant agreement for Washington’s Dulles Metrorail extension was signed by US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on March 9, clearing the way for work to start. The FFGA covers Phase 1 of the $5·2bn, 37 km project from East Falls Church to Wiehle Avenue ...
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Warszawa Line 2 bids under review
POLAND: Five offers have been submitted by international consortia competing to build the 6 km central section of Warszawa Metro Line 2. The committee evaluating the tenders is expected to make a decision by the end of March. This must then be ratified by the City of Warszawa. The ...
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News
Boon Lay extension open
SINGAPORE: The S$436m extension of the East–West Line by 3·8 km from Boon Lay to Pioneer and Joo Koon opened on February 28. A date has now been set for the inauguration of the Circle Line. Phase 1 will commence operations on May 30, when five stations at Bartley, Serangoon, ...
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News
Budget slashed
ARGENTINA: Jorge Irigoin, President of Buenos Aires metro construction authority Sbase, has resigned two weeks after the city’s Minister of Urban Development Daniel Chain announced a 75% reduction in the budget for metro development. The figure of 447m pesos approved by the city government last December has now been cut ...
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News
CAF trams on test in Antalya
TURKEY: Test running has started with 14 CAF light rail vehicles for the 11 km Antalya tramway being built by Alarko, which is due for completion on June 14. The line will have 16 stops, including two cut-and-cover stations, and a depot at the northern terminus of Fatih. From ...
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News
Dallas commuter line grant
USA: Construction could get underway in April on the Denton County Transportation Authority’s A-Train commuter rail project now that a $250m grant has been received from the Texas Department of Transportation. The 33·8 km, five-station line will connect Denton to Carrollton, a transfer point to Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s ...
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NewsUrban rail news in brief - April 2009
St Petersburg metro Line 4 was diverted to a newly-opened terminus at Spasskaya on March 7, with the Sadovaya – Komendantskiy Prospekt section of Line 4 transferred to Line 5. A consortium comprising Alstom, Gea21, Inabensa, Mipelsa and Pavimentaciones Morales has been awarded a €74·8m turnkey contract to build Jaén’s ...
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NewsPacific National for sale
AUSTRALIA: Asciano confirmed on March 16 that it was putting up for sale two of the country’s most recognised transport and logistics brands: Patrick Stevedores and Pacific National. In the face of the global financial crisis, the company plans to sell either the container port business or its rail freight ...
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NewsTraining in a virtual world
SIMULATORS: The latest driver training programmes offered by Orca Railway Systems include fuel saving and train-handling strategies to cut operating costs; remote diagnostics allow software maintenance and upgrading via the internet. Mary Anne Throop reports from Vancouver.
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NewsLoubinoux to lead UIC headquarters
INTERNATIONAL: The current Managing Director of SNCF International, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, has been selected as the first Director-General of Services at the International Union of Railways. The appointment was decided at an assessment meeting in Paris on March 30, ahead of a special meeting of UIC’s General Assembly on March 31. ...
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NewsAlstom takes stake in Transmash
RUSSIA: Alstom Transport agreed on March 31 to take a 25% plus one share stake in Transmashholding. The move builds on an existing partnership between the two companies that has seen the Alstom-TMH joint venture selected by RZD as a strategic partner to supply 1 210 double-deck passenger cars. ...
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NewsMehdorn to step down from DB
GERMANY: The controversy over accusations that Deutsche Bahn had undertaken covert surveillance of its own staff claimed its most high profile victim on March 30, when Chairman & CEO Hartmut Mehdorn tendered his resignation. Although by the end of the day Mehdorn’s offer had not been formally accepted, it was ...
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NewsUtrecht hosts Rail-Tech show
NETHERLANDS: The seventh Rail-Tech Europe exhibition is being held at the Royal Dutch Jaarbeurs in Utrecht on March 31 to April 2.
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NewsVoestalpine buys US track component maker
LEADING EDGE ENTERPRISES: The VAE Nortrak North America subsidiary of Voestalpine has acquired Leading Edge Enterprises, a US supplier of specialist track materials including injection moulded plastic, cast ductile iron and manganese steel parts. Leading Edge's plant at Decatur in Illinois will operate under the VAE Nortrak brand. Voestalpine ...
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NewsRecife South Line completed
BRAZIL: The final stretch of Recife Metro's South Line between Tancredo Neves and Cajueiro Seco was opened by Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on 23 March. The 6·7 km extension has five stations and links the city centre with Recife's international airport and mainline rail services at Cajueiro ...
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NewsTighter times ahead
UK: Economic recession is starting to put strains on the UK rail industry, after steady growth in the years following privatisation. Stringent efficiency targets have been set for Network Rail over the next five years, and concerns are emerging that some franchises may not meet ambitious revenue projections.
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NewsEuskoTren to the airport
SPAIN: Tendering will begin shortly for the first phase of a €36·9m extension of the EuskoTren network to Bilbao Airport, comprising a 3·1 km double-track alignment from Matiko to La Ola with 1·9 km in tunnel. Matiko station would be rebuilt and the railway covered over, ‘improving pedestrian routes ...
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NewsAdvisors sought for national rail plan
JORDAN: The government will shortly appoint financial, legal and technical advisers to assist with the development of a national rail network. On January 26 Transport Minister Alaa Batayneh told the Petra news agency that he expected to see detailed cost figures within 10 months, paving the way ...
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