News – Page 613
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NewsBalfour Beatty acquires Omnicom Engineering
UK: Balfour Beatty announced its acquisition of video and laser infrastructure asset inspection specialist Omnicom Engineering on September 30. Omnicom Engineering’s products include OmniVision, which combines high resolution on-train cameras and pattern recognition software capable of operating at up to 160 km/h to replace manual track inspection. At InnoTrans 2016 ...
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News'Largest rolling stock deal since privatisation' is signed
UK: A contract for leasing company Angel Trains and Commonwealth Bank of Australia to finance a £900m order for 665 Bombardier Transportation electric multiple-unit cars for use on Abellio’s new East Anglia franchise was signed on September 29. Angel Trains said the ‘largest rolling stock deal since the privatisation of ...
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NewsGSM-R activated in the Channel Tunnel
EUROPE: Eurotunnel announced on September 29 that a GSM-R network is now available through the Channel Tunnel. The fixed-link concessionaire said the €48m introduction of GSM-R was the result of ‘six years of detailed project work’, and provides ‘full interoperability with the entire trans-European railway network’. Nokia undertook system integration ...
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NewsSt Petersburg metro extension design contracts awarded
RUSSIA: Moscow-based Metrogiprotrans has won two contracts for preliminary design work for extensions of the St Petersburg metro. A 140m rouble contract covers the first phase of the circular Line 7. This would serve stations at Bolshoy Prospekt-2 (interchange with Line 4), Vasileostrovskaya-2 (interchange with Line 3), Sportivnaya-2 (interchange ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
In response to a suggestion by former French industry minister Arnaud Montebourg that it planned to sell its signalling activities to a Chinese company, Thales said on September 26 that it ‘never had any intention of selling or merging its rail signalling business‘, and it ‘intends to develop this rail ...
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News€94bn investment in FS 10-year strategic plan
ITALY: Investment of €94bn and a doubling of annual revenues are envisaged in a 10-year strategic business plan for the FS Group unveiled in Roma on September 28 by President Gioia Ghezzi and Chief Executive Renato Mazzoncini. Presented to stakeholders including Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Minister of Infrastructure & ...
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NewsNacala Corridor PTC to go live this year
AFRICA: Siemens Rail Automation says that it expects to commission the Positive Train Control signalling system it has installed on the Nacala Corridor linking Malawi and Mozambique ‘by the end of the year’.The supplier says that the Trainguard Sentinel PTC it is supplying to the Corredor Logístico Integrado de Nacala ...
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NewsKnorr-Bremse to take full ownership of ICER Rail
ICER RAIL: Knorr-Bremse announced on September 28 that it would buy out Berkelium Group’s stake in the Pamplona-based braking materials manufacturing joint venture ICER Rail. The acquisition for an undisclosed price is subject to regulatory approval. ‘The complete acquisition of ICER Rail is the next logical step for Knorr-Bremse in ...
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NewsArriva directly awarded new Cross Country contract
UK: The Department for Transport announced on September 29 that incumbent Arriva CrossCountry had been directly awarded a new contract to operate the Cross Country franchise. The most geographically extensive franchise in the UK covers a 2 400 route-km network of long-distance passenger services serving more than 100 stations. ...
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NewsToshkent metro extension work to resume
UZBEKISTAN: Interim President Shavkat Mirziyoyev issued an order on September 22 to resume work on Toshkent metro’s Yunusobod Line extension. Work on the extension has been suspended since 2001. Three stations are to be built north of the current terminus of Shahriston: an underground station at Fayzulla Xojayev and ...
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NewsOperator aims to benefit from Finland – Russia freight liberalisation
EUROPE: Ahead of the expected imminent ratification of a bilateral agreement liberalising the market for cross-border rail freight between Finland and Russia, Finland’s Nurminen Logistics Group and Russia’s Rustranscom have announced the formation of NR Rail as a jointly-owned company to handle international traffic. Nurminen said the end of ...
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NewsKazan takes delivery of UKVZ trams
RUSSIA: Kazan transport authority Metroelektrotrans has taken delivery of 10 partly low-floor KTM-23 trams from UKVZ, with two more due to arrive by the end of the year. The 270m rouble order for 12 trams follows delivery of 10 KTM-23 trams in April-May. A previous call for tenders issued ...
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NewsSt Petersburg ticketing modernisation contract signed
RUSSIA: Sole bidder GUP Informatsionno-Analytichesky Tsentr signed a 16·2m rouble contract on September 27 covering the modernisation of ticket validators in St Petersburg. The scope covers validators on the metro, trams, trolleybuses and buses. The current fare structure is based on a flat fare of 35 roubles for the ...
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NewsADB approves largest ever railway financing package
BANGLADESH: The Asian Development Bank approved its largest ever railway investment and its biggest investment in Bangladesh on September 28, a US$1·5bn loan package to finance the construction of a 102 km line which will link the tourist town of Cox’s Bazar with the existing network at Dohazari. Construction of ...
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NewsKyiv tram-train study to start soon
UKRAINE: A feasibility study for tram-train routes serving Kyiv is to be undertaken following an agreement with urban transport planners from Germany which was finalised during InnoTrans 2016. According to city council Deputy Head Ilya Sahaydak, services could start in three to four years, and would run at up ...
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NewsPenn Station expansion proceeds under $1·6bn contract
USA: New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo confirmed on September 27 that contracts had been let for the expansion of Penn Station in New York, including redevelopment of the adjacent James Farley Post Office building under the Moynihan Station project.The award of a $1·6bn contract to a consortium of Related ...
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NewsBosnian Talgo finally enters service
BOSNIA: Railways of the Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina launched revenue services with a Talgo trainset between Sarajevo and Doboj on September 26, five years after the nine trainsets were delivered from Spain. ŽFBH and Talgo signed a contract for the nine-car trainsets in July 2005, backed by a €67·7m ...
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NewsUkrainian Railways signs agreements with Pesa and Siemens
UKRAINE: Ukrainian Railways President Wojciech Balczun signed two memoranda of co-operation at InnoTrans 2016 on September 20. The main aims are to create a legislative basis for Pesa and Siemens to participate in tenders called by UZ for the supply and maintenance of rolling stock and equipment, as well ...
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NewsWork starts on T13 Express
FRANCE: Preliminary work including vegetation clearance is due to start this autumn for T13 Express, which will see tram-train services introduced between Saint-Cyr-L’Ecole and Saint-Germain-en-Laye in the western suburbs of Paris. Formerly known as Tangentielle Ouest, the project has been renamed to reflect the use of vehicles capable of running ...
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NewsDB to integrate coach business with long-distance rail
GERMANY: Using its established IC Bus branding, Deutsche Bahn is to integrate its two long-distance coach operations with its inter-city rail services. Announcing this on September 19, DB said that the IC Bus brand would continue as the identity of its future long-distance bus services, but that the BLB brand, ...