All News articles – Page 113
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News
Multipurpose wagon rolls out
WAGON: Kockums Industrier's Malmö plant has begun deliveries of 70 twin-section wagons ordered by Norwegian factory-to-showroom car transport company Autolink. Each wagon can carry 12 cars within its weld-free aluminium body. To maximise utilisation the upper deck can be lowered to enable the wagon to carry palletised cargo on ...
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Woolly policy
GERMANY: Our editorial office recently received an e-mail highlighting a special menu available in Deutsche Bahn dining cars. All dishes featured fresh mutton, and at the bottom of the page customers were invited to take advantage of a special offer for a limited number of woolly jumpers. For those ...
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NewsNew Zealand nationalises
NEW ZEALAND: The government is to buy the New Zealand rail and ferry business of Toll Holdings, Prime Minister Helen Clark and Finance Minister Michael Cullen confirmed on May 5. The price had been a sticking point in negotiations (RG 4.08 p222), but has been agreed at NZ$665m to be ...
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Leasing firm sells European arm
ALLCO: Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ company BTMU Capital Corp has paid US$112m to acquire the European rail leasing business of Allco Finance Group, the companies announced on May 1. The London-based European arm of Australian asset leasing firm Allco has 12 Bombardier Traxx F140 AC locos on order which will ...
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Million tonnes of mud
USA: Freight and passenger traffic began flowing along Union Pacific's main line through Oregon on May 6 after basic repairs were completed to three sections of track wiped out by a massive mudslide near Oakridge in the Cascade mountains. Fine silt obliterated 915 m of right-of-way in difficult terrain on ...
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NewsCommission clarifies rules on state aid
EUROPE: The European Commission adopted guidelines clarifying the rules on state aid for railways on April 30. Drawn up to replace inconsistent national 'custom and practice', the guidelines set out how the particular requirements of the rail sector, especially in the most recent EU members, mean that state aid can ...
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NewsPolish regions to own local services
POLAND: Ownership of the state railway's regional passenger business PKP PR is to be transferred from the national to provincial governments under a restructuring programme which was approved by parliament on May 15. Railway holding company PKP SA is to be paid 2·16bn zloty from the state budget to ...
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NewsFunding debate rolls on
USA: California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has reached agreement with local Democratic party leaders over private-sector participation in the state's proposed 1 287 km high speed rail network (RG 3.08 p151). This is reflected in a bill introduced to the Sacramento legislature at the end of March, which would make ...
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World rail market
Australia: Babcock & Brown Infrastructure purchased a further 25% of WestNet Rail at the end of March, giving it a 76% stake in the Western Australia infrastructure operator. Egypt: Next month staff from Italian state railway FS will began a five-year project to advise ENR on restructuring and staff training. ...
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World infrastructure market May 2008
France: Sitram has awarded Colas Rail a €4·1m contract for tram track works in Mulhouse. Germany: Stadwerke Augsburg has awarded Klaus Hoch- & Tiefbau a €3·7m contract for the construction of 1·5 km of tram track from Theodor-Wiedemann-Straße to Damaschkeplatz. Greece: Michaniki subsidiary Tholos has been awarded a €11·9m ...
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NewsPrima II design unveiled by Alstom
FRANCE: Alstom unveiled the design of the next generation of its Prima locomotive family in an event at its Belfort plant on May 20. The first Prima II locomotives to be delivered will be 20 electric versions ordered by Moroccan operator ONCFM last November. They are due to arrive ...
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NewsSJ orders 20 Regina trainsets
SWEDEN: Passenger operator SJ has placed a €221m order with Bombardier for an additional 20 Regina EMUs, the manufacturer announced on May 22. Deliveries will run from April to August 2010, with the four-car trains to be deployed on services from Stockholm to Värmland and Dalarna. The contract includes an ...
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NewsChina Gateway rail contract awarded
KAZAKHSTAN: Eurasian Natural Resources Corp has signed a US$775m 28-year concession agreement to build and operate the 298 km Zhetigen - Korgas rail link between Kazakhstan and China. The China Gateway Project to create a second rail link between the countries is a key element of the Kazakh government's infrastructure ...
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Wabtec buys European brake maker
ITALY: Wabtec has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Italian braking equipment maker POLI SpA for €53m. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of the current year. POLI's range of products includes disc and tread brakes, and pneumatic valves to UIC standards. It has 500 ...
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NewsUIC crisis could last until Christmas
Current tensions over the leadership and direction of the International Union of Railways could last until the end of this year, according to insiders attending the organisation's statutory meetings in Seoul on May 18 – 19. Chris Jackson reports from Korea
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NewsPepy charts an expansionist future
FRANCE: Ambitious is the adjective that best describes SNCF's plans for the next five years. Newly-appointed President Guillaume Pepy went public on March 19 with his proposals to expand and develop the French national railway, promising 'a change in pace and scope'. Declaring that SNCF was 'now financially healthy' (Table ...
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NewsAlice - Darwin line for sale
AUSTRALIA: Adelaide to Darwin railway concessionaire FreightLink announced on May 19 that it had appointed UBS to advise on the sale of the business, and expressions of interest were now being sought. CEO John Fullerton said the sale 'will provide the opportunity for the new owners of FreightLink to capture ...
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Cross-city high speed
SPAIN: The Ministry of Development has approved the environmental impact statement for a third rail tunnel between Atocha and Chamartín stations in Madrid, for use by 1 435 mm gauge high speed trains operating at speeds of up to 120 km/h. Running at an average depth of 40 m below ...
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First Albatros trainset on test at Velim
NETHERLANDS: The first of 19 V250 trainsets being built by AnsaldoBreda for NS Hispeed and SNCB is undergoing pre-delivery trials at the Velim test track in the Czech Republic. Dispatched from Pistoia on March 26, the Pininfarina-designed 250 km/h trainset is now expected to be delivered to the Netherlands ...
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RZD invites bids for wagon works
RUSSIA: State railway RZD called for expressions of interest in the privatisation of 22 wagon repair and maintenance depots on May 5. RZD expects to raise at least 2·6bn roubles from the sale, which is intended to introduce competition to the fright rolling stock maintenance sector. Between them the ...