All News articles – Page 108
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NewsAn ABC of good design
CHINA: With the Summer Olympic Games just a few weeks away, major infrastructure projects are coming to fruition across Beijing. Prominent amongst these projects is the automated rail link to the city's international airport, where design has been given a high priority.
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NewsSNCF seeks high-capacity double-deck trains
FRANCE: SNCF has called tenders for a fleet of up to 860 double-deck electric trainsets. Designated Porteurs Hyperdenses - literally Ultra-High-Capacity Carriers - they are intended for busy regional and outer-suburban routes and are required in two versions. The Porteur Hyperdense Coeur de Cible would be ordered in four ...
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Signalling accord
EUROPE: At a meeting in Roma on July 4, the European Commission signed a Memorandum of Understanding with six railway industry associations to co-ordinate and clarify the deployment of ERTMS. It is also intended to speed up ETCS and GSM-R testing and certification, with the aim of establishing a single ...
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NewsSwedish high speed strategy
SWEDEN: Infrastructure manager Banverket has submitted a report to the government recommending the construction of two high speed corridors over the next 20 years, at an estimated cost of SKr100bn to SKr150bn. According to BV Director General Minoo Akhtarzand, the rail network will need 50% more capacity by 2020 ...
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NewsRENFE maintenance contract
SPAIN: On July 17 a consortium of Bombardier and Talgo announced it had been awarded a 14-year contract to maintain 45 S-130 high speed trainsets which the companies supplied to RENFE. The contract runs to 2022, with Bombardier valuing its share at €128m. The work will be undertaken at RENFE's ...
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NewsBoosting operational efficiency in Urumqi
CHINA: Trials with Lean Production techniques at Chinese Railways' Urumqi Railway Bureau demonstrated significant improvements in productivity and the efficiency of railway operations, allowing CR to handle increased traffic with fewer resources.
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NewsNTV announces ambitious service pattern in 2011
ITALY: At a press conference in Roma on July 15, Europe's first private-sector high speed train operator Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori outlined details of the services it plans to launch in 2011. Guests at the high-profile event included newly-appointed European Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani, who congratulated NTV on its initiative. ...
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NewsGlobaltrans to establish Ukrainian subsidiary
UKRAINE: On July 15 the board of Russian private freight operator Globaltrans approved the creation of a Ukrainian subsidiary. 'In line with the growth strategy we presented during our recent IPO, we believe that Ukraine provides significant current and future opportunities', said Globaltrans CEO Sergey Maltsev. 'We intend ...
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Pacific transfer approved
COLOMBIA: National concession agency INCO has given its approval for the concession to upgrade and operate the 498 km Pacific rail network to be transferred to a new owner, Ferrocarril del Oeste SA. The 30-year concession had originally been awarded in 1998 to Tren de Occidente, but in 2006 INCO ...
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Contracts July 2008
Germany: Following the rejection of a legal challenge from DB, Hamburger Hochbahn has been confirmed as the winner of a contract to operate regional services in Regensburg and the Danube valley for 12 years from 2010. Italy: RFI has awarded a consortium lead by Thales a €15m contract to supply ...
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NewsNTV unveils Italian AGV livery
ITALY: The red and gold colour scheme which will be carried by the 25 AGV trainsets ordered by Europe's first open-access high speed operator was unveiled in Roma on July 15. Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori announced in January that it had chosen Alstom's Automotrice à Grande Vitesse design for its ...
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More Talgo work for RENFE
SPAIN: RENFE's Integria rolling stock maintenance business is to build Talgo rolling stock for other operators under an agreement signed with the train builder on June 16. Running for a term of 14 years from 2009, the agreement should guarantee 1 150 000 h of work for the Integria sites ...
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NewsFortescue opens the world's heaviest haul railway
AUSTRALIA: A remarkable iron ore railway has been built across the Pilbara region in record time. John Kirk reports.
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Madrid - Valencia contracts awarded
SPAIN: Infrastructure authority ADIF has awarded 14 contracts worth a total of €430m for construction of the high speed line that will connect Madrid with Valencia, Alacant and Cartagena. On the branch to Cartagena, two civil works contracts worth a total of €83·3m have been awarded to Pavasal, Obrum and ...
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NewsNews in Brief
The Czech government has reached an agreement with the Praha city and regional authorities for the construction of a KC28bn rail link to Praha Ruzyne airport by December 2013. A PPP model is proposed, with funding to upgrade the existing line to Kladno to come from the privatisation of the ...
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NewsArriva chosen in Sweden
SWEDEN: Arriva Skandinavien has been awarded a contract to run Kinnekulletåget passenger services between Göteborg and Örebro from June 14 next year. The agreement with transport authority Västtrafik runs for seven years, with an option for a two-year extension. Services have been run by Veolia since 2003, with eight DMUs ...
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Wabtec wins Class 321 upgrade
UK: Wabtec Corp announced on July 10 that its UK subsidiary Wabtec Rail, based in Doncaster, had been awarded a £26·3m contract to refurbish 308 Class 321 EMU cars for HSBC Rail. Work on the National Express East Anglia fleet is due to take three years to complete, and will ...
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CAF signs Izmir commuter train order
TURKEY: On July 10 Spanish rolling stock manufacturer CAF signed a €123m contract to supply 22 three-car EMUs which will enter service on suburban routes in Izmir from early 2010. The order was placed by IZBAN, a joint venture of state railway TCDD and Izmir Metropolitan Municipality. The ...
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NewsScotland orders Desiro fleet
UK: An order for 38 Siemens Desiro EMUs was announced on July 11 by John Swinney, the Scottish Government's Cabinet Secretary for Finance & Sustainable Growth. Passenger franchisee First ScotRail led the procurement of the 16 four-car and 22 three-car units, and is expected to sign the contract later ...