Latest news – Page 1275
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NewsRecession brings growth
ISRAEL: ISR is predicting stronger growth in passenger traffic during 2009 as a result of the global economic downturn. Announcing the railway’s annual plan and preliminary results for 2008 on January 28, General Manager Yitzhak Harel said the railway was preparing for a rise of between 11% and 13% during ...
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NewsCSR rolls out eye hospital train
CHINA: A fourth Health Express trainset was rolled out by CSR Qingdao Sifang Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co last month. The mobile hospital will provide free cataract operations and other ophthalmic treatments for patients in Sichuan province. The double-deck vehicles in the train include a generator car, a diagnosis ...
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NewsDB torpedoes a freight-oriented network
GERMANY: European proposals to give freight trains priority on international corridors have provoked a fierce reaction from Berlin. Murray Hughes reports.
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NewsTaipei Circular Line kicks off
TAIWAN: Taipei’s Department of Rapid Transit Systems has awarded an integrated turnkey contract worth €334m for the first phase of the city's Circular Line automated metro. Services on the 15·5 km route, which will have 13 elevated stations, one underground station and a depot, are expected to begin by the ...
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NewsTranscend selected as Crossrail Programme Partner
UK: Crossrail Ltd is expected to sign a contract worth £100m shortly appointing the Transcend joint venture to the critical role of Programme Partner. The members of Transcend are AECOM, CH2M Hill and Nichols Group. The choice of Transcend as preferred bidder was announced on March 11, when Crossrail’s Land ...
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NewsTFR cleared to order new diesels
SOUTH AFRICA: Transnet Freight Rail has invited tenders for the supply of up to 100 new diesel locomotives. Three suppliers - EMD, GE Transportation and Siemens - have been invited to bid for the contract. Bids were due to be submitted by March 10, but the closing date has now ...
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NewsLine E heads west again
FRANCE: The proposed extension of Paris RER Line E into the western suburbs is back on the cards, after Ile-de-France transport authority STIF decided to revive the project. RFF has commissioned Systra to undertake technical studies for a route serving La Défense and Mantes-la-Jolie. When the EOLE (Est-Ouest Liaison ...
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NewsWorld rolling stock market March 2009
Canada: Bombardier delivered the first of 48 additional MkII cars for the Vancouver SkyTrain light metro in mid-January. Toronto commuter operator GO Transit has exercised a US$85m option for a further 20 MPXpress diesel locomotives, to be supplied by Wabtec Corp’s MotivePower subsidiary in 2009-10. Costa Rica: Incofer is to ...
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NewsBarclays PE buys stake in Compin
COMPIN: Barclays Private Equity France has acquired a majority state in Compin Group, the French-based manufacturer of train seats, front-ends and interior fittings. Compin Group was founded in 2005 by Marc Granger, with established seat maker Compin being the first acquisition. This was financed by the LBO France investment ...
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NewsAlstom next-generation EMU details revealed
UK: Alstom Transport revealed outline details of the X'trapolis UK electric multiple-unit design it is proposing for the British market at the Railtex exhibition in London. Having effectively been out of the UK regional train building market for almost a decade, Alstom feels the demand for around 1 200 ...
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NewsSecond generation Electrostar looks to export market
UK: More details of Bombardier's second generation Electrostar train were released at Railtex. Rather than a simple evolution of the existing Electrostar family supplied to customers in the UK and South Africa, the second generation unit is effectively a new design, drawing heavily on the Talent 2 and Spacium platforms ...
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Patriot Corridor goes ahead
USA: On March 10 the Surface Transportation Board formally approved the Patriot Corridor joint venture between Norfolk Southern and Pan Am Railways. Effective from April 9, this paves the way for a new joint venture company, Pan Am Southern LLC, to begin operations on May 1. Under the agreement announced ...
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NewsPeople in the News - March 2009
Sami Khilji has been appointed Chairman & Secretary of the Pakistan Railway Administration, replacing Kashif Murtaza as part of a series of changes aimed at overcoming the railway’s recent deficits. Saeed Akhtar has been named General Manager, Operations, in place of Nasir Ahmad Zaidi who has taken over Akhtar’s former ...
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NewsWorld infrastructure market March 2009
Australia: QR has won a A$100m eight-year contract for rail grinding on ARTC’s interstate network. Chile: Metro de Santiago has awarded Alstom a €5·3m contract to supply Sacem ATC on the 3·8 km Los Dominicos extension of Line 1. China: Siemens and Beijing Huatie ITDC have won a €32m ...
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NewsJylland contract stays with Arriva
DENMARK: Arriva has retained the contract to operate regional passenger services in western and central Jylland which it has run since 2003. The incumbent saw off bids for the replacement concession from DB Regio and the First Jylland joint venture of FirstGroup and DSB. The contract runs for eight ...
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NewsLondon’s cross-city line follows the RER model
CROSS-CITY: Many enhancements have been made to RER Line A since it was completed across the centre of Paris in 1977. Now carrying more than 60 000 passengers/h on each track, it offers similarities to London’s Crossrail project, making a comparison particularly instructive.
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NewsCanarsie CBTC goes live
USA: New York City Transit reached a milestone in its programme to introduce automatic train operation on February 24, when it activated the final stage of the communications-based train control system on the L-Canarsie subway line. This route was selected as the pilot for CBTC when NYCT decided in ...
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NewsTurkey high speed launch
TURKEY: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to formally open Turkey's first section of 250 km/h railway on March 13. Passenger services will begin the following day, with four daily return trains and promotional fares being offered until April 2. Under construction since 2003, the section of line between ...
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NewsTransnet presses on
SOUTH AFRICA: Despite a ‘marked slowdown in economic growth internationally and domestically’, which has has resulted in reduced traffic volumes, state-owned operator Transnet confirmed on February 18 that it was pushing ahead with its capital investment programme. This envisages total spending of around R80bn over the next five years. Of ...
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NewsUrban rail news in brief - March 2009
A Request for Proposals has been issued inviting contractors to build the first 10·5 km section of the Honolulu Rapid Transit line between West Oahu and Farrington Highway. Future contracts will be awarded for seven stations, track, vehicles, traction power and train control systems as well as a depot and ...