Latest news – Page 1281
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NewsBahn 2030 vision emerges
SWITZERLAND: Further expansion of the national rail network is envisaged in ambitious plans outlined in December by the transport ministry. Following completion of the successful Bahn 2000 investment project, attention switched to a more limited programme of improvements to the rail network known as Zukünftigen Entwicklung der Bahninfrastruktur (RG ...
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NewsCisalpino problems continue
SWITZERLAND: SBB continues to wrestle with the problems caused by late delivery from Alstom of Class 610 tilting trainsets ordered in 2004 for Cisalpino services to and from Milano. The difficulties have been made worse by frequent faults with the ETR470 sets currently diagrammed for this service, and SBB has ...
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NewsUncertainty clouds a record year
EUROPE: Announcing its 2008 results on January 13, Eurostar reported that it had carried a record 9·11 million passengers in the 12 months, up 10·3% on the year before. Revenue from ticket sales rose by 10·9% to £664m. The leap in traffic followed the switch from Waterloo to St Pancras ...
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NewsMaribor plant to close
SLOVENIA: Siemens' rolling stock plant in Maribor is to close by the end of September, the government said on January 20. Siemens had been negotiating to sell the plant to Heung Il, but the Korean firm pulled out because of the global financial crisis. Subsequent discussions for a sale ...
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NewsProduction starts at IRICO rail plant
IRAN: Production has begun at Iran Khodro Rail Industries' rolling stock factory at Abhar in northwest Iran, the company announced on February 4. The start of work follows the formal inauguration of the US$45m first phase of the plant by the Minister of Industries & Mines on December 22. ...
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NewsExtra funds will speed up French investment
FRANCE: Announcing a further package of measures to relaunch the economy on February 2, Prime Minister François Fillon revealed that an additional €300m is to be invested in the rail network. Addressing the inter-ministerial committee charged by President Sarkozy with revitalising the economy, Fillon said that more than 1 ...
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NewsStation names prove profitable
UAE: Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority has raised 1·8bn dirham for transport investment by selling the rights to name stations on the Red and Green metro lines. RTA has also awarded a consortium of SMRT Media, Kassab Media and Wellmark Communications a 10-year concession to manage advertising sites on trains ...
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News20-year GSM-R support contract signed
NORWAY: Infrastructure manager Jernbaneverket and Nokia Siemens Networks have signed a 20-year communications support agreement. The contract covers hardware, spares, and software support for the GSM-R mobile network supplied by Nokia Siemens Networks which has been in operation for more than a year. 'The service contract with ...
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NewsEuskotren renewal
SPAIN: Basque regional operator Euskotren and CAF have agreed to research jointly an on-board energy storage system based on supercapacitors, with the aim of installing a prototype on one of the operator’s trains. As part of its Euskotren 21 programme, the railway ordered 27 three-car EMUs from CAF on December ...
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NewsSystra wins in Santiago
CHILE: Systra has been appointed to supervise construction, testing and commissioning of two extensions on the Santiago metro network. The 28 month contract covers the 4 km Line 1 extension to Los Dominicos and the 14 km extension of Line 5 to Maipú. Systra has already started verification of the ...
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NewsOn the move
SWEDEN: Wagon manufacturer Kockums Industrier is to relocate its headquarters and production plant to a former Trelleborg AB factory in the city of Trelleborg over the next year. The company’s current site in a former shipyard in Malmö is to be redeveloped, so Kockums sought a new home. Sites in ...
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NewsNation Building investment plan
AUSTRALIA: The commonwealth government is to inject A$1·2bn into Australian Rail Track Corp as part of a A$4·7bn package of investment in railways, roads and education which was announced by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on December 12. The ‘Nation Building’ spending is intended to boost the competitiveness of the Australian ...
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NewsTyne & Wear Metro shortlist announced
UK: The four bidders shortlisted for a contract to operate the Tyne & Wear Metro were named by owner and current operator Nexus on January 30. A total of nine expressions of interest were received. Invitations to negotiate will be sent to DB Regio Tyne & Wear Ltd, Hong ...
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NewsGrowth is key to strategic plan
CANADA: Toronto commuter rail operator GO Transit plans to acquire more of the infrastructure used by its trains, rather than relying on trackage rights agreements with the country’s two main freight railroads. The operator already owns some tracks near Union Station and parts of its Barrie, Lakeshore and Stouffville lines. ...
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NewsRail pioneers honoured in Brussels
EUROPE: At a ceremony in Brussels on January 20, Swiss Transport Minister Moritz Leuenberger was presented with the European Railway Award for 2009, to reflect his work in promoting environmentally-friendly transport policies. Presenting the political award on behalf of CER and Unife, European Commissioner for Transport Antonio Tajani said that ...
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NewsControl centre opens
ISRAEL: All ISR trains are now controlled and monitored from a single site following the completion of the National Centre of Control & Management in December. Formally opened on January 20, the Masua facility in Haifa replaces 10 regional signalling centres, and will enable more effective management of the network. ...
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News
Dieter - February 2009
UK: An animal protection charity appealed for information after boxes containing 42 pet rats were found at Chester station last month. ‘We don’t know whether they were left on the platform by mistake or whether they were abandoned, but I’m hoping anyone who knows anything about them will get in ...
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NewsFirst stone laid for Oran tram
ALGERIA: On December 16, Algerian President Bouteflika, accompanied by Minister of Transport Amar Tou, laid the first stone near the future depot at Sidi Maarouf, symbolically marking the start of the Oran tram project. The contract to build the 18·7 km 32 station line was awarded to the Tramnour consortium, ...
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NewsKraków tram tunnel opened
POLAND: Trams began regular Route 50 services through a 1 538 m pre-metro tunnel beneath Kraków’s main station on December 12. The tunnel was planned in the 1960s as part of a proposed east–west metro line, which was subsequently dropped in favour of a north–south pre-metro. Construction was undertaken intermittently ...
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NewsSanto Domingo metro enters service
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: President Leonel Fernández officially inaugurated the first metro line in Santo Domingo at 17.40 on January 29, in a ceremony held at Centro de Los Héroes station. Full public service started at 06.00 on January 30. Speaking at the launch, Diandino Peña, MD of OPRET (the organisation responsible ...