Latest news – Page 1293
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NewsFreight merger still stuck in the sidings
EUROPE: Delegates attending Terrapinn's CEE Rail conference in Budapest on October 28 were given a clear warning that reinforcing rail's share of the freight market through mergers and acquisitions would be far from straightforward.
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NewsLoan targets western China development
CHINA: The Asian Development Bank has announced a US$300m loan towards the US$8·6bn cost of building a 820 km railway from Lanzhou in Gansu province, through Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces to the manufacturing city of Chongqing. Intended to bolster economic growth in poorer areas of western China where nearly 17 ...
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NewsWorld infrastructure market November 2008
Australia: This month QR and Van Elk Contracting will begin work on a A$30m rail replacement contract in Tasmania. The state government said it is committed to ensuring rail freight remains viable, despite Pacific National’s decision to sell its Tasmanian operation (RG 7.08 p422). Belgium: CSC Tech has won ...
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NewsCounting the kilos
CHILE: Metro de Santiago is to install three additional Railweight APC4000 automatic passenger-counting systems alongside seven already fitted. The equipment works by weighing and identifying individual carriages to calculate the number of passengers on board. An initial survey was carried out to calculate a passenger’s average weight, and this is ...
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NewsLondon agrees new Oyster smart card contract
UK: Transport for London announced on November 14 that it had agreed a new contract for the management of the Oyster smart card ticketing system. In August TfL gave the required two years' notice that it was exercising a break option in the 17-year Prestige Private Finance Initiative contract ...
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NewsUrban rail news in brief - November 2008
Praha city council approved the extension of metro Line A to Ruzyne Airport on September 18. Construction of the 13 km route from Dejvicka to Ruzyne, which will have nine stations, is due to begin next year and be completed by 2018, at a cost of KC20bn. Metro Transportation Solutions, ...
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NewsArriva acquires LNWR
UK: Transport operator Arriva announced on November 18 that it had acquired train maintenance company LNWR for £2·4m, including repayment of a shareholder loan and the assumption of approximately £2m of debt. Founded in 1993 by music producer and entrepreneur Pete Waterman, LNWR operates a maintenance depot at Crewe ...
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NewsHurdles ahead in the race to rescue European freight
PARIS: A high-level conference on October 29 sought to assess progress towards a European freight-oriented network, but numerous obstacles lie ahead. Murray Hughes reports.
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NewsNo freight on Perpignan - Figueres?
SNCF’s Director, Freight, Luc Nadal, said on October 29 that the Perpignan – Figueres line now being built by concessionaire TP Ferro was not suitable for freight traffic - despite the fact that it was expressly designed as a mixed-traffic railway. Asked to explain why, Nadal cited three problems. First, ...
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NewsATP for track machines
NETHERLANDS: Lloyd’s Register Rail Europe has developed a low-cost variant of the ATB on-board automatic train protection equipment that will be mandatory from January 2009 for all trains running at above 40 km/h in the Netherlands. Lloyd’s Register is using the ATBE product to target the operators of track ...
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NewsTurnkey rail mill contract
RUSSIA: Russian mining and metals company Mechel has awarded Chinese state-owned firm Minmetals a US$300m turnkey contract for the construction of a rail and structural steel mill at Chelyabinsk. Minmetals will construct the workshop, and install and commission equipment to be provided by Italian firm Danieli. Completion is planned ...
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NewsEuro 2012 deadline catalyses network upgrade
POLAND: The unexpected decision to name Poland as co- host of the UEFA European football championship in 2012 has focused attention on ensuring passenger services are able to meet the anticipated demand. A raft of improvements to inter-regional lines and major stations is now underway, as Ryszard Piech explains.
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NewsWorld rolling stock market November 2008
Bulgaria: Tüvasas has won a €32m contract to supply BDZ with 30 sleeping cars within 18 months. Croatia: TZV Gredelj has signed a €6m contract to supply IRS with 600 Y25 bogies by the end of May 2009. Germany: The city of München has placed a €29m contract with ...
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NewsIntercontinental Bridge of the Horns proposed
RED SEA: Ambitious proposals have been revealed for a bridge across the Bab al-Mandib, or Gate of Tears, between Djibouti and Yemen. The US$20bn Bridge of the Horns would be 28·5 km long, with three 2·7 km suspension spans, the longest in the world. It would carry ...
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NewsContracts November 2008
Australia: ARTC has appointed Parsons Brinckerhoff, Connell Wagner and Halcrow to undertake a A$15m feasibility study into an inland Melbourne – Brisbane route. PricewaterhouseCoopers, ACIL Tasman and SAHA will provide financial input. Egypt: ENR has selected Kernex Microsystems India to undertake a US$16m modernisation of 136 level crossings. ...
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NewsHyundai Rotem signs Marmaray train contract
TURKEY: Hyundai Rotem announced on November 11 that it had signed a €580m contract to supply the rolling stock for the Marmaray cross-Bosporus tunnel project in Istanbul. The Korean firm saw off competition from shortlisted bidders Alstom, CAF and a consortium of Bombardier, Siemens and Nurol for the 440-vehicle ...
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NewsAfrica's megacity needs an urban rail backbone
LAGOS: After many years of talk and aborted proposals, plans for a diesel light rail network are finally taking shape in Nigeria's largest city.
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NewsAlger's first metro train arrives
ALGERIA: Last month Minister of Transport Amar Tou officially took delivery of the first CAF trainset which will serve Alger metro Line 1 once it starts operation in late summer 2009. The six-car train can accommodate 1 290 passengers. Delivery of the remaining 13 sets will start in December 2008. ...
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NewsRussian high speed train sets sail
EUROPE: The first of eight Sapsan high speed trains being built for Russian Railways left the German Baltic port of Sassnitz-Mukran on November 13. Siemens is assembling the 10-car Velaro RUS trains at its Krefeld plant, and awarded DB's logistics company DB Schenker the contract to deliver them to ...
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NewsBombardier opens Indian rolling stock plant
INDIA: A ceremony on November 13 marked the formal inauguration of Bombardier Transportation's €33m rolling stock manufacturing plant at Savli in the Vadodara district of Gujarat. Designed and built within 18 months, it will produce vehicles for projects in India and Southeast Asia using technology based on that at Bombardier's ...