All News articles – Page 37
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NewsCross-border upgrading advances
VIETNAM: Minister of Transport Ho Nghia Dung has confirmed plans to upgrade the existing main lines between Hanoi, Hai Phong and the Chinese border crossings at Lao Cai and Dong Dang by 2020. Speaking at a conference hosted by state railway DSVN, the minister said the routes are important freight ...
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NewsWorld rail market January 2011
Australia: Norton Rose has been appointed to advise West Net Rail on project financing for its A$500m infrastructure upgrading and expansion programme on the Morawa - Geraldton corridor. Canada: Vancouver's TransLink has chosen Cubic Transportation Systems and IBM Canada to supply a smartcard ticketing system and operate it ...
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NewsWorld rail infrastructure market January 2011
Argentina: NCA has completed work to reopen the 138 km Río Primero – Sebastián Elcano route for grain traffic, closed since 1978. The 180m pesos project has been funded by the federal government. Australia: Ansaldo STS has signed a five-year framework agreement worth up to A$467m to provide Rio ...
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NewsWorld rolling stock market January 2011
Argentina: The latest batch of ex-RENFE rolling stock to arrive in Buenos Aires comprises nine Class 319 diesel locomotives and two Talgo IV trainsets of nine cars each. The federal government expects to call tenders shortly for a contract to refurbish secondhand traction and rolling stock acquired from Spain and ...
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NewsNews in Brief
Genesee & Wyoming has completed its A$334m acquisition of FreightLink, giving it control of the 2 200 km north-south railway linking Tarcoola with Alice Springs and Darwin. Completed in 2004, the Alice – Darwin route cost A$1·2bn to construct, of which the state governments contributed A$475m and FreightLink A$900m. The ...
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NewsCosting crossing crashes
AUSTRALIA: The Rail Industry Safety & Standards Board has begun using a level crossing incident cost modelling tool which will provide consistency and accuracy in reporting the cost of incidents at the country’s 23500 level crossings Built around a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, the tool developed by LECG calculates human, property ...
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NewsNews in Brief
The Castilla y León regional government has agreed to provide €107m for Spanish metre-gauge operator FEVE in the period up to 2014. This comprises €248m in operating subsidy and €829m for infrastructure enhancements on the León – Guardo route, where on December 3 a new halt was ...
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NewsWorld rolling stock market December 2010
Australia: QR National has placed an A$35m order with UGL for six standard gauge C44ACi locomotives to support its iron ore haulage activities in Western Australia, along with 227 wagons. Deliveries will begin in the second half of 2011. Rio Tinto has ordered nine GE Evolution locomotives from UGL, ...
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NewsWorld rail market December 2010
Italy: CoFren has ordered a Renk Test System flywheel dynamometer for testing tread and disc brakes at speeds of 500 km/h. Kazakhstan: IBM has won a US$8m contract to provide KTZ with a z10 mainframe computer and two 'disaster proof' data centres. New Zealand: Zonegreen is to supply ...
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NewsHammond puts reform back on the agenda
UK: Efficiency savings worth between £600m and £1bn are achievable by 2018-19 without reducing service quality or network size, according to an interim report examining the cost of operating and maintaining Britain’s railways. Its author, Sir Roy McNulty, is expected to submit his completed Value for Money Review to government ...
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NewsNews in Brief
Alstom Transport and Transmash Holding have launched a project to develop a new-generation 160 km/h EMU for use in Russia. The modular ED10 family will be available with up to 12 cars in high and low floor variants. A prototype is due to begin test running in ...
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NewsWorld rail infrastructure market December 2010
Australia: KBR is to provide engineering design services for the Liverpool Turnback project in Sydney, which includes a new platform and 1·8 km of track for completion in 2014. A Theiss-McConnell Dowell joint venture will build the A$291m 5·7 km extension of the TransAdelaide southern line from Noarlunga to ...
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NewsTGV tickets to Figueres on sale
EUROPE: SNCF and RENFE began selling tickets for Paris – Figueres TGV services on November 23, ahead of the launch of through trains on December 19. Two return trips from Paris-Lyon will operate daily over the new Perpignan – Figueres high speed line, with a journey time of 5 h ...
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NewsWorld infrastructure market November 2010
Australia: Seymour Whyte Constructions and Baulderstone have been awarded contracts worth A$68m for enabling works on the 13 km Gold Coast light rail corridor. Egypt: National Authority for Tunnels has appointed Systra to lead design work for Phase IV of Cairo metro Line 3. France: ...
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NewsWorld rolling stock market November 2010
Australia: Downer EDI has won orders totalling A$300m to supply Pacific National with 13 locomotives in 2011-12 and undertake infrastructure renewals projects for ARTC. Brazil: CPTM has awarded Alstom a €80m contract to supply nine eight-car metropolis trainsets for São Paulo Line 11 by mid-2012 (p16). Croatia: TZV ...
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NewsNews in Brief
The Slovenian government is introducing legislation to restructure the national railway as a holding company, Holding Slovenske Zeleznice, with passenger, freight and infrastructure divisions. Construction projects will be undertaken by either state-owned engineering company DDC or a new organisation. Ghana is to use US$4bn of a US$10·4bn infrastructure development loan ...
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NewsNews in Brief
Work has started on the construction of a rail link between the port of Kyaukpyu in western Myanmar and Kunming in China via Ruili. It is being built with Chinese assistance, as China plans to use the new deep-water port on Maday Island as an oil import terminal. The transport ...
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NewsHigh Speed 1 concession awarded to Canadian pension consortium
UK: A consortium of Borealis Infrastructure and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan has been selected for a 30-year concession to manage High Speed 1, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond announced on November 5. The deal will be completed by the end of November, and will see the consortium pay a total of ...
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NewsRENFE tightens belt
SPAIN:Presenting the national operator’s 2011 budget to parliament on October 7, RENFE President Teófilo Serrano said income was expected to be €2·18bn, with passenger operations providing 87·7% of this. Freight would provide 12·3% or €269m, up from €233m in 2009 and the forecast of €241m for 2010. RENFE expects to ...
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NewsEurotunnel buys more rescue locomotives
EUROPE: A further two diesel rescue locomotives able to haul failed passenger trains out of the Channel Tunnel and on High Speed 1 are to be acquired, Eurotunnel announced on November 3. The €1·3m cost is being co-financed by Eurostar. To be delivered 'soon', the ex-DB Schenker Rail Nederland MaK ...