News – Page 595
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NewsNürnberg tram extension inaugurated
GERMANY: A 2·4 km extension of Nürnberg’s tram network was inaugurated on December 10, with the entry into service of the northern section of Route 4 from Thon to Am Wegfeld with three intermediate stops. The Land of Bayern contributed €16·8m of the €43·6m project cost. The city’s transport ...
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NewsFourth Railway Package market pillar adopted by European Parliament
EUROPE: The European Parliament voted on December 14 to adopt the final wording for the market pillar of the Fourth Railway Package, concluding ‘almost five years of intense negotiations’ over the European Commission’s proposals. The market pillar will come into force once the texts have been published in the Official ...
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Metro Report InternationalThree shortlisted to build London Overground extension
UK: Transport for London announced on December 14 that Balfour Beatty, Carillion and Volker Fitzpatrick had been shortlisted for the contract to build the proposed 4·5 km Barking to Barking Riverside extension of the Gospel Oak – Barking line in east London. The electrified extension would run alongside the existing ...
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NewsFirst San Martín locos arrive
ARGENTINA: In the presence of Transport Minister Guillermo Dietrich, the first two diesel freight locomotives that CRRC of China has supplied for the 1 676 mm gauge San Martín network were unloaded in the Port of Buenos Aires on December 13. They form part of the 107 locomotives being ...
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NewsRotterdam light rail vehicle loan agreement signed
NETHERLANDS: The European Investment Bank announced on December 14 that it had signed a €120m loan agreement with Rotterdam transport authority RET. The low-interest loan will be used towards the purchase of rolling stock and signalling equipment. RET is purchasing 16 three-section light rail vehicles from Bombardier to operate ...
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NewsMünchen inaugurates Steinhausen tram extension
GERMANY: The Steinhausen extension of München’s tram network opened with the timetable change on December 11. Construction of the 2·7 km eastern extension began on February 26. Running on reserved track from Max-Weber-Platz U-Bahn station to Berg am Laim S-Bahn station, the extension forms the eastern end of Route ...
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NewsMore Artic trams for Helsinki approved
FINLAND: The board of Helsinki transport operator HKL approved the purchase of 20 more trams from Škoda Transportation subsidiary Transtech on December 8. Deliveries of the low-floor Artic trams are due to take place in 2018-19. The 27·4 m long trams from the €57·3m order would be identical to ...
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NewsCarmichael coal railway approved
AUSTRALIA: Indian energy group Adani has received the final approval from the federal government and the state of Queensland for its A$21·7bn project to develop the planned Carmichael coal mine in the north Galilee Basin, together with a 388 km 1 435 mm gauge rail link to a new export ...
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NewsMainzelbahn opens
GERMANY: A day of free travel across the tram network in Mainz marked the opening of the Mainzelbahn extension on December 11. The 9·2 km route links Mainz Hauptbahnhof West and Lerchenberg in the southwest of the city, via the University and Marienborn railway station. There are 16 stops. ...
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NewsG&W buys terminal operator to complement Freightliner
UK: Genesee & Wyoming Inc has entered into an agreement to purchase UK container terminal and road haulage operator Pentalver Transport Ltd from APM Terminals. The transaction is expected to close in Q1 2017. Pentalver operates off-dock container terminals at the major seaports of Felixstowe, Southampton, London Gateway and Tilbury, ...
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NewsGlasgow backs airport tram-train plan
UK: The Glasgow City Region Cabinet agreed on December 13 to formally endorse plans for a tram-train link between Glasgow Airport and the city centre. The project is to be funded from the £1·1bn Glasgow City Region deal signed with the Scottish and UK governments in August 2014. The £144m ...
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NewsRégiolis enters service in Clermont-Ferrand
FRANCE: The first of 29 Alstom Régiolis multiple-units which SNCF has ordered on behalf of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region entered service with the December 11 timetable change. The order placed under a national framework agreement between SNCF and Alstom includes 12 dual-voltage electro-diesel sets for use on routes from Clermont-Ferrand to ...
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NewsFS buys stake in Milano metro concessionaire
ITALY: State railway group FS is to acquire its first stake in a metro line, with the signing of an agreement to purchase a 36·7% holding in Milano metro Line 5 concessionaire Metro 5 SpA from Astaldi for €64·5m. Astaldi will retain a 2% stake. FS Chief Executive Renato Mazzoncini ...
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NewsKuala Lumpur – Singapore high speed rail agreement signed
ASIA: A bilateral agreement for the development of the 350 km Kuala Lumpur – Singapore high speed rail project was signed on December 13, when the two countries’ Prime Ministers took part in their annual retreat, which was this year was held at Putrajaya in Malaysia. The agreement was signed ...
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NewsJohor Bahru – Singapore RTS Link to use metro technology
ASIA: Following their annual retreat, on December 13 Prime Minister of Malaysia Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong welcomed the progress which the bilateral Transportation Links Work Group has made with the developing proposals for the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System ...
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NewsBasalt fibre insulated tank wagons ordered
RUSSIA: Chemical producer Bashkir Soda Co has ordered more than 70 Type 15-6900 tank wagons from United Wagon Co subsidiary TikhvinChemMash to carry caustic sodium hydroxide. Deliveries are scheduled by the end of 2016. In a development which the manufacturer claims is ‘unique to the market’, these wagons will incorporate ...
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NewsTrailblazer sets standards
UK: The National Training Academy for Rail in Northampton has adopted a new standard for apprenticeship management known as Trailblazer. Intended to provide a framework to ensure apprentices in the rail sector receive technical, professional and occupational learning in railway engineering, Trailblazer has been agreed over the past two years ...
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NewsHigh speed network grows as Brescia – Treviglio route opens
ITALY: A further section of the high speed railway across the north of the country opened for traffic with the European timetable change on December 11. The previous day, inauguration ceremonies included a celebratory run using an ETR1000 trainset carrying Transport Minister Graziano Delrio and other local and national dignitaries. ...
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NewsEMD locos ordered for Tunisian phosphate trains
TUNISIA: National railway SNCFT has awarded Progress Rail Services a 165m dinar contract to supply 20 Electro-Motive Diesel GT42AC diesel locomotives which will primarily be used to haul phosphate trains in the hot, dry and sandy environment. The metre-gauge locomotives are to be manufactured at Progress Rail’s plant in Muncie, ...
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NewsAngela Dluger
Angela Dluger has been appointed by the FTA as Director of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority safety oversight team. She replaces Sean Thompson, who has joined Greater Cleveland RTA as Director of Rail Operations.