Latest news – Page 1300
-
News
Sale is off
CIT GROUP: Commercial finance company CIT Group announced on September 8 that it had dropped plans to sell CIT Rail. The third largest wagon lessor in North America, Chicago-based CIT Rail has a lease fleet of around 115 000 wagons and 550 locomotives. The company said the decision to ...
-
News
JR Central takes majority stake in train builder
NIPPON SHARYO: Central Japan Railway Co revealed in August that it planned to take a 50·1% stake in rolling stock builder Nippon Sharyo Ltd. JR Central already holds a 1·8% stake in the supplier, and it is now offering up to ¥370 per share to obtain a majority holding. The ...
-
News
Strength of two
LIFTING: The DR170 jib from Geatech allows a single operator to lift machinery which is too heavy for two people to carry. Small enough to fit in the boot of a car, the DR170 can be used to place equipment weighing up to 170 kg onto a trolley, and ...
-
NewsDubai metro starts test running
UAE: Dubai’s Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum officially launched test running on the Dubai Metro during a visit to the test track on September 20. Sheikh Mohammed took a ride on one of the Kinki Sharyo-built trains, accompanied by Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al ...
-
News
Metrolink tightens safety rules
USA: Southern California Regional Rail Authority has taken steps to improve its safety procedures following the September 12 collision between a Metrolink train and a UP freight train in the Los Angeles suburbs which killed 25 people and injured 135. Politicians and railroad officials are seeking to reassure the public ...
-
News
Tri-City feasibility study awarded
POLAND: Following a lengthy clarification process which delayed the decision, the IVV consortium has been selected to undertake feasibility studies for the proposed Tri-City Metropolitan Railway linking Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot. The winning bid was reportedly worth 1·5m z?oty, whereas the other bids varied in value from 1·8m to 3m ...
-
News
Berlin north-south link agreed
GERMANY: A north-south S-Bahn service through Berlin Hauptbahnhof should be in place by 2016, under plans agreed by the Berlin Senate's Office for Urban Development. With work expected to start within the next year, the project would see a new Line S21 running off the orbital ring onto the north-south ...
-
News
More electrification planned
ARGENTINA: By means of a resolution published on September 9, the federal government has added two further electrification projects to its investment programme for the Buenos Aires suburban network. On the Sarmiento route, 830 V DC third rail is to be extended from Moreno to Luján and from Merlo to ...
-
NewsSidetrack - Tax bill
CANADA: Candian Pacific Railway is seeking the repayment of taxes which it believes it has wrongly paid in the province of Saskatchewan for the past 128 years. CPR has found an agreement signed in 1880, the year before the company was incorporated. This specifies that the railway should remain ‘forever ...
-
News
Melbourne port project launched
AUSTRALIA: A A$50m project to improve the efficiency of rail services around the Port of Melbourne was formally launched last month. The state of Victoria is contributing A$23·5m to the project, the national government A$10m and ARTC the remainder. Work is expected to begin in early 2009 for completion in ...
-
News
Sudan - Uganda link
AFRICA: The transport ministers of Uganda and Sudan signed a memorandum of understanding at the end of August establishing a Joint Ministerial Transport Commission to implement road upgrading and the construction of a 920 km rail link. The line will run from the Ugandan network at Gulu, via Nimule and ...
-
NewsSwiss ETCS roll-out plan confirmed
SWITZERLAND: The Ministry of Transport has confirmed plans to roll out ETCS across the entire standard gauge rail network by 2017, at an estimated cost of SFr370m. The decision was announced on August 21, at an event attended by the European Commission’s special co-ordinator for ERTMS, Karel Vinck. With ...
-
News
Base tunnel nears completion
SPAIN: Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero joined Development Minister Magadalena Álvarez on September 13 to witness the holing-through of the eastern bore of the Pajares base tunnel. Forming part of 49·7 km of new alignment being built at a cost of €2·39bn between La Robla and Pola de Lena, ...
-
NewsNews in Brief - October 2008
The planned merger of CD Cargo and ZSSK Cargo was endorsed by Czech and Slovak Prime Ministers Mirek Topolánek and Robert Fico on August 21. They agreed that both countries would have an equal stake in senior management after the merger, which has been under negotation since October 2007 (RG ...
-
NewsPPP bids submitted
FRANCE: RFF confirmed on September 15 that it had received three bids for the PPP concession to build and maintain the 300 km Tours – Bordeaux high speed line, which is expected to reduce Paris – Bordeaux journeys to 2 h by 2016. This is one of four high ...
-
NewsGröna Tåget spawns ECO4
SWEDEN: In an ongoing research project, Bombardier has started testing permanent-magnet traction motors as part of its strategy to develop more environmentally-friendly trains. Dr Harry Hondius reports from a 245 km/h test run between Stockholm and Västerås.
-
NewsOpposition favours high speed line over third Heathrow runway
UK: Shadow Secretary of State for Transport Theresa Villiers announced on September 28 that Britain’s Conservative Party favoured construction of a high-speed north-south rail link instead of building a third runway at London’s Heathrow Airport. Linking Heathrow with St Pancras, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, the ambitious scheme would see ...
-
NewsRFF seeks Nîmes – Montpellier offers
FRANCE: RFF has released a request for expressions of interest in the construction and management, through a public-private partnership, of the Nîmes – Montpellier bypass. The 70 km bypass follows a new alignment to connect the existing TGV Méditerranée route with the high speed line currently being built from Barcelona ...
-
NewsToronto transit plans
CANADA: Toronto Transit Commission launched a tender on September 15 for project management and consultancy services to support its ambitious Transit City light rail expansion programme. Estimated value of the contract, which will last about 10 years, is C$375m. On August 27 TTC re-opened the procurement process for 204 ...
-
News
Singapore to retrofit platform screen doors
SINGAPORE: The Land Transport Authority has awarded two contracts covering the installation of half-height platform screen doors at 36 elevated stations along the existing North-South and East-West MRT lines. This initiative forms part of the Land Transport Masterplan which was unveiled earlier this year (RG 3.08 p127). ST Electronics ...