Latest news – Page 1323
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News
Broad gauge to Austria
EUROPE: A protocol setting out plans to study the feasibility of extending a 1 520 mm gauge line to Bratislava and Wien has been signed by the national railways of Slovakia, Austria, Ukraine and Russia. The hope is that a through broad gauge route will help to attract freight traffic ...
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Wien tram factory opened
BOMBARDIER: A ceremony on March 26 marked the formal opening of Bombardier's new tram and light vehicle assembly plant in the Donaustadt area of Wien. It replaces the company's Floridsdorf factory, which the company described as aging and lacking in scope for expansion. Built in 14 months with the support ...
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Ballastless track agreement
NETHERLANDS: Dutch firm BAM Rail and Germany's Rail.One have signed an agreement to pool their resources for the construction of ballastless track in the Netherlands. The companies worked together in the joint venture which supplied Rheda 2000 track for HSL Zuid, and now hope to win turnkey contracts to ...
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High speed co-operation
EUROPE: Bombardier Transportation and Finmeccanica's rail subsidiary AnsaldoBreda announced on April 1 that they had signed an agreement to jointly develop, bid and manufacture a high speed train capable of travelling at more than 300 km/h which will eliminate 'shortcomings of existing concepts.' Bombardier said the train would offer 'improved ...
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Partial sale of DB agreed
GERMANY: Six hours of debate that stretched into the night of April 13 ended with the Social Democratic Party agreeing to offer up to 24·9% of Deutsche Bahn to the private sector. A government committee was expected to endorse the plans on April 28, paving the way for the sale ...
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EMD turns to the repowering market
ENGINES: Locomotive manufacturer EMD has taken its first steps to re-enter the repowering business with the launch of the GP22ECO and GP32ECO scheduled for this month. The GP22ECO concept - General Purpose, 2 150 hp, Tier 2 compliant, ECOlogy - is intended for repowering suitable low and medium-power four ...
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Fortescue carries first ore load
AUSTRALIA: On April 6 Fortescue Metals transported its first load of iron ore mined at Cloudbreak in the Pilbara to Herb Elliott Port. The initial shipment was taken by lorry from the opencast mine to the Hunter Siding open access facility of Fortescue subsidiary The Pilbara Infrastructure Pty. It was ...
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NewsGWI buys Rotterdam port hauler
NETHERLANDS: On April 15 US-based short line operator Genesee & Wyoming Inc announced it had acquired Rotterdam Rail Feeding, an independent provider of 'last mile' haulage and shunting services within the Port of Rotterdam. With 35 employees and a fleet of 13 locomotives, RRF also provides traction, staff and related ...
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NewsFirst profit for Eurotunnel
EUROPE: Presenting Eurotunnel's 2007 results on April 8, Chairman & Chief Executive Jacques Gounon said they showed 'the new Groupe Eurotunnel is nothing like the old'. The company recorded a pro-forma profit of €1m after excluding an exceptional profit of €3·3bn arising from financial restructuring in accordance with the Safeguard ...
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News in Brief
The Dutch province of Groningen and Arriva signed a memorandum on March 14 to introduce a half-hourly train service to Veendam from April 2010 (RG 10.07 p600). Since the original Veendam station is used by the preserved STAR line, a new station will be built there. Arriva intends to order ...
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München maglev dropped
GERMANY: Federal Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee and the President of Bayern Günther Beckstein agreed on March 27 to cancel the 37 km maglev link from Franz-Josef Strauss airport to München Hauptbahnhof (RG 10.07 p591). Closer examination of project had increased the projected construction cost to more than €3bn from ...
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Big bridge flies in
UK: As part of the East London Line Extension project (RG 2.07 p89), the UK's largest mobile crane placed a 350 tonne bow-string bridge in place across Shoreditch High Street on March 29. The 35 m long and 11 m high bridge was assembled on site from components produced ...
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NewsBrussels RER order won on seats
BELGIUM: On April 13 SNCB confirmed that it had awarded a contract for supply of 305 three-car EMUs over the next eight years; at € 1 425m it is the largest rolling stock order ever placed in Belgium. As we reported last month, SNCB has selected Siemens' modular Desiro Mainline ...
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Duplex-NG on trial
FRANCE: Between April 14 and 17, the first pre-series unit of SNCF's order for 80 new-generation TGV Duplex trainsets undertook endurance testing at up to 320 km/h between Tourcoing and Benestroff, using LGVs Nord, Interconnexion and Est. Known as DASYE (Duplex ASYnchrone ERTMS), the Series 700 sets are similar to ...
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Sha Tin - Central Line gets the go-ahead
HONG KONG: The Executive Council has finally approved construction of the long-planned Sha Tin - Central metro line, although it is not expected to be completed until 2019. Following the West Island Line, South Island Line and Express Rail Link (p272), it is the latest rail project in the special ...
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Yokohama opens Green Line
JAPAN: Yokohama Municipality op-ened its second metro line on March 30, the 13·1 km Green Line serving Kohoku New Town northwest of the city centre. Also known as Line 4, the route runs from Nakayama to Hiyoshi, interchanging with the Blue Line at Centre-Kita and Centre-Minami. Connections are provided with ...
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NewsMetronet signalling will be re-tendered
UK: Resignalling of London Underground's Sub-Surface Lines is to be re-tendered following the exit from administration of Public-Private Partnership contractor Metronet (RG 12.07 p750). The contractual changes are subject to a court order which the PPP Administrator is to seek enabling the transfer of Metronet to a LU nominee company; ...
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Wide-body suburban set unveiled
FRANCE: SNCF President Guillaume Pepy inspected the first four bodyshells for the future fleet of articulated wide-bodied Paris suburban trains at Crespin in northern France on March 28. Unveiled by President of Bombardier France Jean Bergé, the design was previously called Spacium 3.06 because of its 3·06 m wide bodies ...
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Seltrac IS to be used in Dubai
Sir – I was very surprised to see that you reported last month that Alcatel was supplying the Seltrac S40 train control system for the Dubai metro (RG 4.08 p228). I should like to remind your readers that although the contract was originally awarded to Alcatel TAS, we have subsequently ...