All News articles – Page 40
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NewsNews in Brief
The Union Pacific board has approved a $100m increase in 2010 capital spending to $2·6bn, with the additional money being spent on equipment for intermodal traffic, which grew 8% last year despite the recession. On May 24 UIC and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe signed a memorandum covering ...
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NewsAlte toilets for Régio2N
FRANCE: Bombardier has awarded Spanish company Alte Transportation a contract to supply toilet modules for 129 Régio2N double-deck EMUs. The first 80 trainsets ordered by SNCF under a framework agreement for up to 860 EMUs are due to be delivered for TER services in six French regions from ...
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NewsPrivate funds sought for freight
INDIA: Two Ministry of Railways schemes to encourage private sector investment in rail freight capacity came into effect on May 31. Investors can apply for renewable 20-year agreements to establish freight terminals providing value-added logistics services to third parties. Terminals must be on private land, and can handle all traffic ...
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NewsNews in Brief
Unife and UIC have published Technical Recommendations for driver-machine interfaces in train cabs, describing basic functional and system requirements. Rusk County Rural Rail District has acquired the 25 km Henderson – Overton branch in Texas from Union Pacific with a view to reviving freight traffic which ceased in August 2009. ...
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NewsBulgaria to Turkey wiring underway
BULGARIA: Work is underway to electrify and upgrade the 19 km link between Svilengrad and the Turkish border. Part of the government's EU-backed Operational Programme for Transport which aims to fully integrate Bulgaria into wider EU transport networks, the project is being undertaken by Czech firm OHL ZHS under a ...
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NewsBlack Sea bullet plan
GEORGIA: President Mikheil Saakashvili outlined his vision for fast trains to cut the 360 km Tbilisi - Batumi journey from 8 h to less than 3 h on May 31. Opening a construction base in Batumi for the upgrading of GRZ's main line, he said modern transport and communications were ...
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NewsFyra launch delayed again
NETHERLANDS: A further year's delay to the launch of high speed domestic services on HSL-Zuid has been confirmed by Transport Minister Camiel Eurlings, who has admitted to the Dutch parliament that there is no prospect of the AnsaldoBreda V250 trainsets entering revenue service before the December 2011 timetable change at ...
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NewsBanedanmark awards national GSM-R contract
DENMARK: Infrastructure manager Banedanmark has selected Nokia Siemens Networks and Ramboll Telecom for a turnkey contract to replace its analogue radio communications with GSM-R. The contract announced on June 29 is part of the national resignalling programme which will see ETCS Level 2 installed across the network in 2015-21. Nokia ...
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NewsRENFE unveils Class 112 high speed train
SPAIN: National operator RENFE unveiled the new Class 112 high speed train at its future home, the extended Santa Catalina rolling stock maintenance facility in Madrid, on June 29. A total of 30 Class 112s have been ordered from Talgo and Bombardier for the Madrid - Valencia high speed ...
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NewsSiemens Vectron locomotive on test
INTERNATIONAL: Fresh from its München assembly plant, a new Siemens multi-system electric locomotive targeted at European operators is being put through its paces at the Wegberg-Wildenrath test centre in Germany. Christened Vectron, the four-axle machine is destined to be one of Siemens' star exhibits at the InnoTrans 2010 event in ...
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NewsDB orders more double-deckers
GERMANY: Bombardier Transportation is to supply DB with a further 21 double-deck coaches for use in Sachsen-Anhalt from the end of 2010. The €34m contract announced on June 24 was placed under a 2003 framework agreement which covered 298 vehicles worth €411m with options for a further 300 (RG 8.03 ...
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NewsBombardier to buy stake in RZD signalling business
RUSSIA: Bombardier Transportation has beaten Siemens to be named the winner of a tender to acquire a 50% less two shares stake in Russian Railways' signalling supply subsidiary United Electrical Engineering Plants, known as Elteza. The share purchase deal is to be completed by the end of the year. Established ...
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NewsAfghan rail strategy takes shape
AFGHANISTAN: As work progresses rapidly on Afghanistan's first substantial railway, plans are firming up for a 1000 km standard gauge corridor running across the north of the country. This would give Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and potentially China access to world markets via the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas without requiring transit ...
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NewsRFF control centre open
FRANCE: Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau opened RFF’s Integrated Control Centre for the Rhône-Alpes region in Lyon on June 14. The control centre is one of 15 that RFF is planning to build under a €500m programme of signalling upgrades that is expected to involve replacement of up to 1500 signalboxes ...
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NewsSupervising Swiss tracks
SWITZERLAND: The first integrated control centre on the Swiss Federal Railways network was formally opened in Lausanne on May 21. It will assume supervision of the whole SBB network in the French-speaking part of the country by 2015, with the exception of the immediate area around Lausanne, which will not ...
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NewsPilbara iron ore line approved
AUSTRALIA: Plans to build another 300 km rail link to serve the Pilbara iron ore mining region in Western Australia were approved by the state government on June 24. Premier Colin Barnett said the signing of an agreement with Roy Hill Infrastructure Pty Ltd was ‘a major step forward for ...
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NewsLowering the bar to London
EUROPE: On June 17 the European Commission cleared the transformation of Eurostar from a co-operative arrangement between SNCF, SNCB and London & Continental Railways into a stand-alone joint venture controlled by SNCF and LCR with SNCB holding a non-controlling stake. Approval was subject to conditions which are intended to lower ...
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NewsNewag unveils remanufactured shunting locomotive
POLAND: Newag has unveiled a prototype Type 15D shunting locomotive based on a rebuilt Soviet-built TEM2, known as the SM48 in Poland. The underframe, bogies and original traction motors have been retained, but a new generator and 1·5 MW Caterpillar engine fitted to give both more economical operation and ...
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NewsHigh Speed 1 goes on sale
UK: Transport Secretary Philip Hammond invited bids to buy HS1 Ltd on June 21. Currently a wholly -owned subsidiary of the state-owned London & Continental Railways Ltd, HS1 Ltd has a 30 year concession to manage the 109 km high speed line between London and the Channel Tunnel. The ...
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NewsLevel crossing safety campaign
INTERNATIONAL: Rail and road operators in more than 45 countries, together with international associations including UIC, CER and EIM, are stepping up their campaign to improve safety at level crossings, with June 22 designated as International Level Crossing Awareness Day. Many road users and pedestrians are killed or injured at ...