Middle East – Page 23
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NewsAmman airport rail link pre-feasibility study
JORDAN: The Ministry of Transport is developing plans for a light rail link between central Amman and Queen Alia International Airport. The proposed line would run for around 35 km on the existing Hedjaz Jordan Railway corridor between Amman station in the Al Mahatta district of the ...
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NewsSaudi Arabia offers 1 000 railway scholarships
SAUDI ARABIA: The Ministry of Education and Saudi Railways Organization have signed a partnership agreement to provide scholarships which will enable 1 000 Saudis to undertake specialist railway courses abroad over the next five years. Minister of Education Dr Azzam bin Mohammad Al-Dakhil said this would provide ...
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NewsIneco studies Cairo - Luxor high speed line
EGYPT: Spanish state-owned engineering consultancy Ineco announced on May 27 that it is to carry out a feasibility study for building a high speed line between Cairo and Luxor. According to Ineco, this 600 km route between the country’s two principal cities would be major addition to Egypt’s tourist infrastructure. ...
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Metro Report InternationalRiyadh metro operations prequalification
SAUDI ARABIA: Arriyadh Development Authority has invited interested parties to prequalify for operation of the metro, with a deadline of June 1. Work is progressing on the six-line network. The Governor of Riyadh Prince Faisal bin Bandar officially activated the first tunnel boring machine for the ...
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Metro Report InternationalPrasarana to operate Makkah’s pilgrim metro
SAUDI ARABIA: The Municipal & Rural Affairs Ministry has awarded Kuala Lumpur transport agency Prasarana a three-year contract to operate and maintain the Al Mashaaer Al Mugaddasah metro line in Makkah, which is only operated during the Hajj period. The contract starts from this year. Announcing the ...
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NewsOman Rail seeks operating partner
OMAN: National railway project promoter Oman Rail is seeking an international rail operator with ‘extensive technical and commercial experience combined with local market knowledge’ to form a long-term partnership to operate and maintain the future 2 135 km network. Oman Rail’s partner would initially support the development of skills ...
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NewsBahrain progresses rail plans
BAHRAIN: The government expects to call bids in June for detailed design of a rail link to Saudi Arabia, as part of the proposed GCC rail network. The 87 km line would be built in conjunction with a second causeway connecting the two countries, to be known as the ...
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NewsIsrael Railways hosts electrification conference
ISRAEL: With final bids for the contract to electrify the national rail network due to be submitted by July 23, Israel Railways hosted a three-day conference for shortlisted bidders on April 27-29 to discuss key elements of the programme. Seven consortia had submitted bids during the prequalification stage in June ...
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NewsSAR’s first passenger train arrives
SAUDI ARABIA: The first of five passenger trainsets for the North-South Railway has arrived in the Kingdom, Saudi Railway Co announced on April 27. Designed for 200 km/h operation in temperatures up to 55°C, the diesel push-pull trainsets are being supplied by CAF under a 533m riyal contract signed in ...
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News'Imperative need' for Gulf railways to standardise
MIDDLE EAST: The importance of harmonising standards across railway projects to enable the development of a coherent and interoperable network across the Gulf region was highlighted at the 1st International Conference on Railway Interoperability, Standardisation & Harmonisation in the Middle East. The event in Doha on March 30-31 ...
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NewsGenesee & Wyoming completes Freightliner acquisition
INTERNATIONAL: Genesee & Wyoming Inc announced on March 25 that it had completed the acquisition of 94% of Freightliner Group Ltd for £492m, plus the assumption of £19m of net debt and capitalised leases. Freightliner’s management team has retained a 6% interest which G&W expects to acquire by mid-2020. In ...
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NewsSRO signs freight line upgrade contract
SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Railways Organization has awarded China Railway Construction Corp a 160m riyal contract to undertake the 91 km second phase of upgrading the Dammam – Riyadh freight line. The specifications for the 23 month project to increase capacity includes raising the maximum axleload to 32·5 tonnes. Last year ...
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NewsSaudi Railways Master Plan update contract
SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Railways Organization has awarded Dornier Consulting GmbH a contract to provide consultancy services for an update of the Saudi Railways Master Plan. The six-month contract is worth 2·84 million riyals. SRO said the main objective of the SRMP update is to provide an ‘integrated and clear ...
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NewsSaudi Railways Organization orders 200 km/h Talgo diesel trainsets
SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Railways Organization has awarded Talgo a contract worth in excess of $200m to supply six 200 km/h diesel trainsets for use on the 480 km Riyadh – Dammam line. In conjunction with infrastructure upgrades the trainsets are expected to cut journey times from 4 h 20 min ...
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NewsIsrael Railways ready to launch first bond issue
ISRAEL: Proposals for Israel Railways to raise private investment to fund infrastructure development are moving forwards, with the company expecting to start marketing its first bond issue at the beginning of March ahead of a formal offering later in the month. Under a framework agreement signed with the government in ...
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NewsCairo Line 3 Phase 4 contracts awarded
EGYPT: The National Authority for Tunnels has signed contracts for fit-out and signalling for the 5·7 km Phase 4A eastern extension of Cairo metro Line 3 to Cairo International Airport. The infrastructure contract was awarded to a consortium of Alstom, Colas Rail, Orascom and Arabco. Alstom has an €80m ...
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NewsBritish consortium wins North–South Railway operating partnership contract
SAUDI ARABIA: North–South Railway project promoter Saudi Railway Co has selected a consortium of three UK-based companies to provide management and technical support for the development of passenger and freight services on its network: Serco: prime contractor and technical support for passenger operations;Freightliner Group: freight expertise and support, technical assistance, ...
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NewsQatar Rail restarts civil works tendering
QATAR: National railway project promoter Qatar Rail launched a new prequalification process for the civil works on the first phase of the planned Long Distance Passenger & Freight Rail network on February 18. A prequalification exercise for a combined civils and railway systems contract was launched last year, but subsequently ...
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NewsTCDD orders 10 more Velaros
TURKEY: State railway operator TCDD has selected Siemens to supply a further 10 Velaro TR high speed trainsets, the company confirmed on February 18. Subject to any legal challenges from other bidders, the contract is expected to be signed shortly. Having bought the former Velaro D demonstrator and then ordered ...
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NewsIsrael Railways deploys customised train planning software
ISRAEL: A customised version of HaCon’s Train Planning System software is now being used for all of Israel Railways’ passenger and freight train planning and capacity management activities, and is expected to fully replace ISR’s legacy tools by the end of the year. ISR required a tailored and integrated ...