News – Page 668
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NewsQingdao opens fuel cell tram route
CHINA: Described as the country’s first domestically-designed tram route, an 8·8 km line with 12 stops in the coastal city of Qingdao was opened for revenue service on March 5. Running from Qianwangtuan to Chengyang Wholesale Market, the 1 435 mm gauge line is the first of three planned routes ...
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NewsGold Line extension reaches Azusa
USA: The 18·3 km Foothill Extension of Los Angeles Metro’s Gold Line light rail route from East Pasadena to Azusa was officially opened on March 5, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Duarte/City of Hope station attended by Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chair Mark Ridley-Thomas, CEO Phillip Washington and ...
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NewsInvestors launch wagon leasing company
USA: Wagon leasing company Riverside Rail has been formed by affiliates of insurance investor Allstate, private investment business Duchossois Capital Management and Henry Crown & Co company CC Industries. Riverside Rail has acquired an initial fleet of 2 032 coal, metals, van, covered hopper and centre-beam wagons, and anticipates ...
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NewsIvanov to lead FPK
A raft of changes to the management positions at Russian Railways was announced in late January. Following the promotion of Mikhail Akulov (photo) to the position of Vice-President, Peter Ivanov is to succeed him as head of the Federal Passenger Company, RZD’s inter-city business unit. Victor Golomolzin has been ...
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NewsBangkok railway engineering education agreement signed
THAILAND: A memorandum of understanding for the provision of engineering expertise to students and instructors over the next four years has been signed by Bombardier Transportation, Navamindradhiraj University, King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Krungthep Thanakom, Bangkok Mass Transit System and AMR Asia Co. The partners are to collaborate ...
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NewsStation waiting room fitted with timed doors
CANADA: As part of a programme to revitalise underused stations, the waiting room at La Pocatière station in Québec has been reopened through a partnership between VIA Rail and the municipality of Ste-Anne-De-La-Pocatière. It has been equipped with a timed door-opening system synchronised with the timetable of the Montreal – ...
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NewsKamchik Tunnel completed
UZBEKISTAN: The first test trains are scheduled to run through the 19·1 km Kamchik Tunnel on April 15, following a ceremony on February 27 which marked the completion of construction works. The tunnel is the key element of the 123 km Angren – Pap railway which is being built at ...
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NewsTEP33A passenger locos enter revenue service
KAZAKHSTAN: National railway KTZ has announced that its first two GE Transportation/LKZ TEP33A locomotives have entered trial passenger service on the Almaty – Aktogay route. KTZ and GE Transportation signed an order for 110 of the Evolution Series locomotives at InnoTrans 2012. They are a passenger version of the TE33A ...
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NewsStadler to supply driverless metro trains to Glasgow
UK: Strathclyde Partnership for Transport announced on March 4 that it had approved the award of a £200m contract to a consortium of Stadler Bussnang and Ansaldo STS to supply a fleet of 17 driverless trains and signalling for the Glasgow Subway. The contract forms part of ...
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NewsGreat Western Railway and Network Rail sign alliance agreement
UK: Network Rail and Great Western Railway signed an alliance agreement on March 4, committing the infrastructure manager and franchised train operator to a ‘more aligned approach’ to improve performance and increase efficiency. Joint planning will aim to minimise disruption during major upgrading projects such as the ongoing 25 ...
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NewsGibela starts work on EMU factory
SOUTH AFRICA: The Gibela joint venture of Alstom and local partners marked the start of construction of its new EMU manufacturing plant at Dunnotar on March 4, with a ceremony attended by Alstom Chairman & CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge, PRASA Chairman Dr Popo Molefe, Transport Minister Dipuo Peters and the Mayor ...
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NewsFehmarn Belt tunnel contract awards authorised
EUROPE: On March 4 Fehmarn Belt fixed link project promoter Femern A/S was granted Danish political authorisation to negotiate contracts with its preferred bidders for the main tunnel works contracts. Femern A/S will present the results of the negotiations to the Danish Minister of Transport before signing the final ...
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NewsNetwork Rail tests market for private investment in power infrastructure
UK: Infrastructure manager Network Rail announced on March 4 that it was looking at options for bringing in private capital and expertise to support the operation, maintenance, renewal, financing and enhancement of its electrical distribution and traction power assets. This will include assessing interest in its electrical assets from global ...
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NewsTülomsaş looks east for export orders
TURKEY: State-owned rolling stock supplier Tülomsaş says it is optimistic about winning more export business in Asia and North Africa as the liberalisation of national railway TCDD requires it to adopt a more commercially-driven business model. Speaking to Railway Gazette International at the Eurasiarail trade fair in Istanbul on March ...
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NewsSydney Trains to build integrated control centre
AUSTRALIA: Sydney Trains is to develop an integrated Rail Operations Centre at a cost of A$276m, New South Wales Minister for Transport & Infrastructure Andrew Constance announced on March 2. To be located at Green Square, on the Airport line south of the city centre, the ROC is expected to ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news in brief
The Rail Cluster for Southeast Europe has been established to facilitate collaboration between companies and other organisations involved in rail infrastructure projects. A total of 36 representatives from 32 organisations in six countries attended the founding meeting in Beograd on February 10. Wells Fargo & Co’s wagon finance, leasing ...
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NewsMetrolinx receives first Tier 4 locomotive
CANADA: Greater Toronto regional transport agency Metrolinx has taken delivery of a prototype Tier 4 compliant diesel locomotive from Wabtec’s MotivePower subsidiary, and has signed a US$97m contract for 16 more to be delivered from 2017. According to Wabtec, the MP54 prototype is the first commuter locomotive to be delivered ...
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NewsContactless ticketing to be tested in Singapore
SINGAPORE: Land Transport Authority announced on March 1 that it will conduct a pilot for account-based contactless fare payment in the fourth quarter of the year. Passengers will be able to use contactless debit or credit cards and will be charged for travel on their card bills. ‘LTA has ...
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NewsChanges at SBB
Currently Vice-Chair of the Management Board, Monika Ribar (photo) is to take up the role of President of Swiss national railway SBB from June 15. A former Chief Executive of freight forwarding company Panalpina World Transport, Ribar is expected to be closely involved in discussions over the future direction of ...
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NewsSoftware for Izy low-cost high speed train launch
SALES: Dutch company Sqills has supplied Thalys with the sales and distribution software for the Izy low cost service which it plans to launch in April. The S3 Passenger platform includes revenue management, pricing and booking engines, seat reservations, inventory management, a customer relationship management front-end and station and ...