News – Page 338
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NewsFavourable opinion on Firenze high speed tunnel
The tunnel will significantly reduce travel times by avoiding the need for trains to reverse at the existing Santa Maria Novella terminus. ITALY: A cost:benefit analysis has come out in favour of continuing with the project to build 7 km twin-bore high speed rail tunnel and Belfiore ...
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NewsSiemens rolls out new Turkish Velaro
TURKEY: Siemens has unveiled the first of 12 Velaro high speed trainsets ordered by Turkish national operator TCDD Taşımacılık at the supplier’s Düsseldorf plant on November 13. Due to arrive in Ankara by the end of November, the train is expected to enter passenger service in February ...
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NewsPraha ETCS programme launched
CZECH REPUBLIC: A programme to install ETCS Level 2 on routes around Praha was launched by infrastructure manager SŽDC and signalling contractor AŽD Praha on November 5. The project is costed at KC327·7m, with 42% to be funded from European Union sources. The project is divided into ...
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Metro Report InternationalSydney metro second phase E&M contract awarded
AUSTRALIA: Sydney Metro has exercised an option on the Northwest Rapid Transit consortium’s Operations, Trains & Systems concession to cover the line’s second phase. In 2014 the consortium of MTR Corp, John Holland, CPB Contractors, UGL Rail and Plenary Group was awarded a PPP concession covering the ...
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NewsNew ERFA President calls for a ‘truly European and competitive’ freight market
EUROPE: BLS Cargo CEO Dirk Stahl was elected as President of the European Rail Freight Association at its board meeting on November 20. Maciej Gladyga, director of Poland’s Land Transport Chamber of Commerce, was elected as Vice-President of the organisation which represents new entrants to the freight ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
Stadler’s directors have recommended former Swiss transport minister Doris Leuthard for election to the board at the AGM to be held on April 30 2020. ‘Thanks to her proven specialist expertise in matters relating to traffic and infrastructure, as well as her political experience as a former ...
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NewsTexas Central selects railway systems supply partner
RENFE is acting as shadow operator of the planned Texas Central high speed line in the USA USA: Dallas – Houston high speed railway promoter Texas Central reached an Early Contractor Involvement agreement with Mass Electric Construction Co on November 23. Under the agreement, the Kiewit Corp ...
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NewsAfrica’s first high speed line covers its costs
MOROCCO: Speaking at a press conference on November 20, Moroccan National Railways Director General Mohamed Rabie Khlie told media representatives that the high speed Al Boraq service launched by King Mohamed VI and French President Emmanuel Macron on November 15 2018 had carried 2·5 million passengers in ...
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NewsFederal funds to boost Queensland projects
AUSTRALIA: The federal government has committed to increase funding for several railway projects in Queensland, as part of an A$3·8bn package of infrastructure spending announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison on November 21. Described by Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk as a ‘huge win’, the announcement followed lengthy ...
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NewsUrban transport news in brief
Uraltransmash is testing a prototype 71-411 tram on the metre-gauge network in Yevpatoria. Series production could begin in 2020. A 4·8 km metro line with three stations opened in Wuhan on November 6. This would eventually form the southern end of Line 8, whose initial section opened ...
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NewsDanish parliament approves Vestfyn fast line
DENMARK: A law granting the Minister of Transport legal powers to build a 35 km line suitable for 250 km/h operation between Odense Vest and Kauslunde on the island of Fyn was approved by parliament on November 21. The double-track electrified Vestfyn line would be 4 km ...
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Metro Report InternationalSouth Korean consortium to build third Panamá City metro line
PANAMA: Metro de Panamá has selected a South Korean consortium as preferred bidder to carry out civil works on the capital’s third metro line. The HPH joint venture of Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co, POSCO and Hyundai Engineering Co has been chosen for the 54-month contract. It ...
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NewsMaine acquisition as CP looks coast-to-coast again
INTERNATIONAL: Canadian Pacific has agreed to acquire the Central Maine & Quebec Railway from Fortress Transportation & Infrastructure Investors LLC, the two companies announced on November 20. CMQ operates a 774 km network in Québec and Maine, largely comprising the former Canadian Atlantic Railway and Banger & ...
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NewsPolarteknik begins production of next-generation of train door control units
FINLAND: Polarteknik has begun production of its latest design of control units for internal doors on trains. The D56 is designed with the flexibility to accommodate the varing passenger flow and functionality requirements of vestibules, saloon, catering vehicles, accessible toilets and gangway fire doors. As well as ...
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NewsFirst Amtrak Avelia emerges
USA: The first of 28 Avelia Liberty trainsets being assembled by Alstom to operate Amtrak’s Acela Express services has been outshopped at the manufacturer’s Hornell plant, ahead of the start of test running. Ordered in 2016 as part of a $2·45bn package of ...
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Rail Business UKRail Industry Ambassadors wanted
UK: The Young Rail Professionals networking and educational association is recruiting volunteer Rail Industry Ambassadors to visit schools, colleges, universities and career fairs to raise awareness of the ‘fantastic’ career opportunities available within the rail industry. Ambassadors are sought from all levels of the industry, from frontline ...
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Metro Report InternationalYamanote track slew completed
Photo: Akihiro Nakamura JAPAN: East Japan Railway successfully completed a realignment of its Yamanote and Keihin-Tohoku suburban lines in central Tokyo with a rare blockade over the weekend of November 16-17. Photo: Akihiro Nakamura The realignment forms part of the project to build a ...
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NewsDB Regio places Mireo order
GERMANY: DB Regio has formally awarded Siemens Mobility a contract to supply seven Miro electric multiple-units for use on services from Karlsruhe to Bruchsal, Heidelberg and Mannheim which it is to operate as part of the Netz 7b operating contract. The three-car units with more than 200 ...
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NewsAlpha Trains raises green financing
LUXEMBOURG: Rolling stock leasing company Alpha Trains has refinanced some of its existing bank debt and secured further bank funds with a total volume of over €500m, as well as raising an additional €200m through a US private placement. This includes €140m of green bank financing, which ...
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NewsDoll to leave DB as Arriva sale falters
Photo: Deutsche Bahn AG/Pablo Castagnola GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn has announced that Alexander Doll, Board Member for Finance, Freight Traffic & Logistics, will leave the business on December 31. Doll’s departure was agreed on November 18 at an extraordinary meeting of the Supervisory Board. A new chief financial ...