News – Page 486
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NewsWorld rail infrastructure market - March 2018
Brazil: CPTM has awarded Alstom an €11m contract to modify signalling on São Paulo Line 9 for the Varginha extension. China: China Railway Construction Corp has won a 18·4bn yuan contract to build a metro line in Shenzhen. Shanghai Shentong Metro Group has awarded the Line 14 signalling ...
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NewsItalian booking technology for c2c
UK: London commuter operator c2c is working with developer IBM to bring the Italian state railway group’s PICO multi-channel and medium-independent ticket retailing technology to the UK market this year, Trenitalia UK Chairman & Managing Director Ernesto Sicilia told the Transport Ticketing Global 2018 conference. PICO enables passengers to purchase ...
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NewsBuenos Aires RER to be built through a PPP
ARGENTINA: The government intends to use a public-private partnership model for the project to create an RER network in Buenos Aires, it announced at a presentation for potential investors held on March 13. Minister of Finances Luis Caputo explained that a PPP would allow the government to pay off ...
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NewsHeavy haul rail fastening contract awarded
CHINA: Shanxi Jingshen Railway Co has awarded Pandrol a contract to supply almost 880 000 Fastclip FC-16 rail fastening sets for 232 track-km of heavy haul line under construction in central China. The line will connect with a 400 track-km section of the Menghua heavy haul railway where Pandrol is ...
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NewsÖskemen tram operations suspended
KAZAKHSTAN: Tram operations in Öskemen were suspended on March 12, after debts accumulated by operator Takhami Put led to a limiting of the traction electricity supply. The 16·5 km, 1 524 mm gauge network dating from 1959 operated four routes. The fleet consisted of 31 Type 71-605 ...
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News‘Milestone’ contracts boost Talgo order intake
TALGO: Spanish rolling stock manufacturer Talgo signed new orders totalling €700m in 2017, its highest intake since 2011, and increased its order backlog to €2·8bn as of the end of the year, representing more than seven times its full-year revenue. Net turnover of €384m was down from €580m in 2016, ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
Through its local subsidiary TMH Argentina, Transmashholding of Russia has begun work on a US$3m programme to refurbish and reopen the Mechita rolling stock workshops in the province of Buenos Aires. Under the terms of an agreement signed on December 20 2017, TMH Argentina is to lease the site for ...
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NewsCRRC trains enter service on Kuala Lumpur airport link
MALAYSIA: The first three of the six electric multiple-units which Express Rail Link ordered from CRRC Changchun to increase capacity on the 1 435 mm gauge Kuala Lumpur International Airport rail link have entered service, after being officially unveiled by Minister of Transport Liow Tiong Lai on March 13. ERL ...
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NewsSecond driverless line takes Delhi metro over 250 km
INDIA: Passenger services on the first phase of Delhi metro Line 7 began on March 14, taking the city’s network to 252 route-km with 185 stations. The route between Majlis Park and Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus is 21·6 km long with 12 stations. When completed, Line 7, also known ...
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NewsRailway project leads to political crisis in Slovenia
SLOVENIA: Prime Minister Miro Cerar announced his resignation on March 14, after a court annulled the result of a September 2017 referendum in which 53·5% of voters had backed the government’s plans to build a 27 km second track to increase capacity on the route serving the Port of Koper. ...
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NewsUK railway news round-up
The 10 000 'millennial' Railcards for 26 to 30-year-olds which were made available on March 13 sold out, with demand overwhelming the website. The railcards offered on a trial basis cost £30 for one year and offer a third off most fares Playing on stereotypes of the dietary habits of ...
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NewsUK backs Bioceanic Corridor
BOLIVIA: Minister of Public Works, Services & Housing Milton Claros has signed a memorandum of understanding with James Thornton, UK Ambassador to Bolivia, covering the provision of technical assistance for the Bioceanic Corridor project to create a rail route between Ilo in Peru and Santos in Brazil, requiring new construction ...
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NewsNetwork Rail adopts new model for track contracts
UK: Infrastructure manager Network Rail has begun the process of letting its ‘next generation’ of track works contracts, with publication of a Prior Information Notice in the Official Journal of the European Union. The contracts are expected to be worth up to £5bn over the 10 years from 2019. Network ...
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NewsDon’t believe the hype about Hyperloop
Policymakers around the world have been beguiled by the prospects of Hyperloop technology providing a paradigm shift in inter-city transport, potentially at the expense of rail investment. However, Gareth Dennis sounds a note of caution about the technical and commercial hurdles facing this ‘fifth mode of transport’.
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Metro Report InternationalRoma suburban upgrade agreement signed
ITALY: The region of Lazio has signed a framework agreement with infrastructure manager RFI for the upgrade of several suburban lines serving Roma. The agreement signed on February 22 includes projects worth €665m over five years, which would be financed by RFI. Signalling is to be upgraded between Settebagni ...
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NewsCzech railbuses provide Polish inter-city connection
POLAND: SKPL Cargo is working with PKP Intercity to operate two Jasło – Zagórz return services per day from March 11 until September 1 using Class 810 railbuses acquired from the Czech Republic. Connections are provided in Jasło with long-distance trains to Gdynia operated by PKP Intercity, which is funding ...
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NewsZagreb – Beograd modernisation memorandum
EUROPE: A memorandum of co-operation for the planned modernisation of the 412 km Beograd – Zagreb route was signed by Serbia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Transport & Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlović and her Croatian counterpart Oleg Butković in Beograd on March 9. Mihajlović said project documentation would be ...
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NewsCalifornia high speed rail plan revised
USA: California High-Speed Rail Authority has published for public consultation a draft 2018 business plan which ‘acknowledges and responds to changed circumstances and emphasises a new way of doing business moving forward’. CHSRA said the draft plan ‘transparently identifies the project’s challenges’, which include putting back the completion date and ...
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NewsTransdev receives safety approval for French passenger market
FRANCE: Transdev announced on March 12 that its train operating subsidiary CFTA had received a certificate of railway safety. This is a prerequisite for Transdev to enter the main line passenger market as a competitor to national railway SNCF. CFTA already operates two rural passenger services in Bretagne, through a ...
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Metro Report InternationalEdinburgh tram extension shortlist
UK: City of Edinburgh Council announced on March 13 that it had prequalified four bidders for a contract to build the proposed tram extension to Newhaven. The 4·6 km eastern extension from York Place to Leith and Newhaven was originally to have been built as the part of the ...