All News articles – Page 110
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NewsCAF wins Saudi passenger train order
SAUDI ARABIA: On July 4 Spanish rolling stock manufacturer CAF announced it had signed a €104·9m contract to supply Saudi Railways Organisation with eight 200 km/h passenger trainsets. Each set will be formed of a diesel-electric locomotive and five steel-bodied coaches, designed to operate in desert conditions and ...
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NewsPointers July 2008
Transport Minister Michael Henry has announced a three-year project to revive the moribund rail network in Jamaica, starting with the main lines linking Kingston, Spanish Town and Montego Bay. A loan from the Chinese government is expected to cover 85% of the US$354m cost, with Chinese manufacturers to supply five ...
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DB sacked over S-Bahn quality failings
GERMANY: A dispute erupted in the Ruhr area on June 12 when local transport agency Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr announced that it had decided to cancel its S-Bahn operating contract with DB Regio Nordrhein-Westfalen with immediate effect. An extraordinary resolution to do so had been approved during a meeting of VRR's contracting ...
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Wabtec completes purchase of POLI
POLI: Wabtec Corp announced on July 1 that it had completed it acquisition of braking equipment manufacturer POLI SpA for €53m. POLI employs 500 people in Italy and Macedonia, and has annual sales of €30m, primarily in Europe. 'We will begin immediately to integrate our existing products and technological ...
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Court rules against TCI
USA: A district court judge in New York has ruled that two hedge funds seeking greater influence over CSX policy 'deliberately violated' US securities law. The court denied the railroad's request for an injunction to prevent the funds from voting their shares at the CSX annual meeting on June 25, ...
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NewsGE wins US$60m signalling contract
BRAZIL: Mining company Vale has awarded GE Transportation a US$60m contract to overhaul signalling and communication systems on the EFVM network. To be completed by 2010, the project covers the port of Tubarão and 600 km of metre-gauge double track between Vitória and iron ore mines in the state ...
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NewsCustomising ballastless track to suit different conditions
TRACK:?Contractors can now choose from a variety of ballastless trackforms to suit the requirements of different projects ranging from urban tunnels to high speed lines.
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NewsDSB issues IC4 ultimatum
DENMARK: Another chapter in the painful saga of DSB's 200 km/h IC4 inter-city DMUs opened in June, when the state-owned operator issued an ultimatum to AnsaldoBreda. With delivery now more than five years behind schedule, DSB has told its Italian supplier that if 14 functional trains have not been delivered ...
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NewsPreferred bidder selected for CDG Express concession
FRANCE: Minister of State for Environment, Energy & Sustainable Development Jean-Louis Borloo and Transport Secretary Dominique Bussereau announced on July 1 that they had selected a preferred bidder to finance, build and manage the Charles de Gaulle Express airport rail link. Five consortia had been prequalified in January 2007 to ...
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NewsKiwiRail launch marks end of 'failed' privatisation
NEW ZEALAND: Prime Minister Helen Clark unveiled KiwiRail as the name for the rail and ferry operations which were transferred from Toll New Zealand into government ownership on July 1. Services will initially be unchanged, with KiwiRail controlled by an establishment board chaired by former Prime Minister Jim Bolger; ...
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People in the News - July 2008
Antonio Tajani was appointed Transport Commissioner for the European Union on June 16. The Italian MEP succeeds Jacques Barrot, who has taken over responsibility for justice and migration following the departure of Franco Frattini. Tajani has committed to continue with Barrot's rail policy initiatives, and to promote trans-European rail freight ...
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Brilliant orange
SWITZERLAND: The unprecedented invasion of Swiss cities by football fans attending the UEFA European Championship forced SBB into an unusual strategic re-think. The effervescent performances of the Netherlands team in the group stage of the tournament offered an additional incentive for thousands of Dutch supporters to travel with their team. ...
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UIC training centre opens
SOUTH KOREA: The International Union of Railways officially inaugurated its training centre for the Asia region during the recent statutory meetings in Seoul. International Railway Training Centre Asia is located at Korail's Railway Human Resources Institute in Uiwang, close to the South Korean capital. The ceremony was followed by the ...
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NewsEIB funds Warszawa - Gdynia upgrade
POLAND: Infrastructure manage PKP PLK signed a €400m loan agreement with the European Investment Bank on June 30. The money will fund the modernisation of the main line between Warszawa, Gdansk and Gdynia to enable trains to run at up to 200 km/h. Current speed restrictions on the 350 ...
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NewsSiemens to supply PKP Intercity locos
POLAND: Siemens is to supply PKP Intercity with 10 Eurosprinter ES64U4 multi-system electric locomotives for 200 km/h passenger services, the Polish national operator announced on June 27. Siemens submitted the only bid in response to the call for tenders, pricing the locomotives at €44·5m. The purchase will be financed ...
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Library-a-Go-Go
USA: San Francisco metro operator BART and Costa County public libraries have launched Library-a-Go-Go, an automated book lending machine at Pittsburg/Bay Point station. Anyone with a library card can check out up to three books, returning them three weeks later. Four machines are planned, each offering 400 books selected ...
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NewsKei Rail revival will support regional development
SOUTH AFRICA The return of passenger and freight services on a 282 km branch line in Eastern Cape province is part of a balanced strategy; the railway is driving local economic development, which in turn generates enough traffic to keep the railway sustainable. Rollo Dickson reports
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NewsRoyal opening at Knorr-Bremse factory
SPAIN: A factory bringing two Spanish subsidies of Knorr-Bremse together on one site was formally opened in the presence of Felipe, Prince of Asturias and Princess Letizia on June 25. Situated at Getafe, 20 km south of Madrid, the factory houses Knorr-Bremse's braking and door systems subsidiary Frenos and ...
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NewsSBB announces Zürich double deck orders
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways announced major rolling stock contracts worth a total of SFr1·5bn on June 30. The competition to supply Zürich's third generation of double-deck coaches has been won by Stadler, which will supply 50 six-car EMUs worth SFr1·02bn. They will be the first double-deck trains to be ...
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Vossloh confirms sale of Infrastructure Services
EUROPE: On June 30 Vossloh Group announced its acceptance of a €150m bid for its Vossloh Infrastructure Services business unit from Vinci Group company Eurovia. Acquired as part of the Cogifer Group in 2002, Vossloh Infrastructure Services undertakes track and electrification construction and maintenance. It has a workforce of ...