All News articles – Page 49
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NewsFirefighting stations to cut Eurotunnel costs
EUROPE: Following the completion of its 20th bi-national safety exercise in the Channel Tunnel on the night of March 13-14, Eurotunnel said this had 'confirmed the need to implement our Salamander project, which relates to the installation of four permanent fire suppression stations in the Tunnel'. The strategy has been ...
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NewsAll systems go as Gautrain prepares for World Cup opening
SOUTH AFRICA: Test running has started in earnest on the 20 km first phase of the Gautrain line between Sandton and OR Tambo International Airport. Opening has been set for June 8, subject to a final technical 'go/no-go' decision in April. The original timescale would have seen the Bombela consortium ...
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NewsPartner buy out
AUSTRALIA: Project management, engineering and consultancy firm Calibre Global has acquired Engenium's 50% stake in the Calibre Engenium Rail joint venture, which is to be rebranded as Calibre Rail. Formed in 2005, the joint venture has been involved in heavy haul infrastructure projects in Western Australia. 'The Calibre Engenium JV ...
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NewsParsons Brinckerhoff awarded US high speed rail contracts
USA: Engineering consultancy Parsons Brinckerhoff has been awarded contracts to manage high speed and inter-city passenger rail development projects in Illinois, Ohio and Florida, parent company Balfour Beatty announced on March 16. Illinois Department of Transportation has appointed PB as programme manager for the project to introduce 176 km/h passenger ...
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NewsFirst 14 km of Libyan rail network in place
LIBYA: The first 14 km of track has been laid for the 554 km Surt - Banghazi railway, Russian Railways has announced. RZD is building the line parallel to the Mediterranean coast under a €2·2bn contract signed in April 2008, and President Vladimir Yakunin visited the construction sites on ...
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NewsWorld rolling stock market March 2010
Argentina: Emepa and Ferromel have dispatched the first 40 of 100 coal wagons for YCRT’s 760 mm gauge Río Turbio – Río Gallegos operation (RG 2.08 p73). Three second-hand diesel locos have been acquired from Bulgaria. Australia: QR has placed A$126m of orders to support Hunter Valley coal contracts. ...
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NewsWabtec buys signalling supplier Xorail
USA: Wabtec Corp announced its acquisition of signal engineering and design firm Xorail for $40m in cash on March 15. Founded in 1990 as Southwest Signal Engineering Company, Xorail now has annual sales of $40m. It is based in Jacksonville, Florida, and has 275 employees at 10 satellite offices throughout ...
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NewsSuburban growth in Spain
SPAIN: As it assumes greater responsibility for the management of suburban services in Barcelona, the Catalunya regional government has signed an agreement with ADIF and the Ministry of Development guaranteeing train paths over the next five years. Targets for network availability, reliability and incident management will be set in a ...
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NewsWorld infrastructure market March 2010
Austria: ÖBB has awarded the Alptransit Energie consortium of Rhomberg Bahntechnik and DB Bahnbau a €39m contract to supply electrical equipment for the quadrupling of the 41 km Kufstein - Innsbruck section of the Brenner corridor. Algeria: Dessau has a US$38·8m contract to undertake final design for reconstruction of ...
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NewsContracts March 2010
Australia: Interfleet Technology is to provide operations advice for the development of the 13 km Gold Coast Rapid Transit line. Morocco: Telvent is to supply its SmartMobility technology to give the future light rail system in Rabat priority over road traffic. Russia: RZD’s TransWoodService will sell its ...
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NewsTrain energy consumption standards published
INTERNATIONAL: A Technical Recommendation to enable benchmarking of locomotive and rolling stock energy consumption has been published by UIC and UNIFE. The total net energy consumed at the pantograph or from the fuel tank is calculated over a predefined service profile based on the operation of the train or a ...
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NewsLondon - Birmingham starts high speed railway to the north
UK: Transport Secretary Lord Adonis published the government's high speed rail strategy on March 11, setting out details of a planned 400 km/h high speed railway between London and Birmingham which could open by 2026 as the first part of a Y-shaped network serving Leeds and Manchester. The route developed ...
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NewsLocomotive delivered for north Norway reopening
NORWAY: Vossloh Locomotives has delivered a G1000BB diesel-hydraulic to Sydvaranger Gruve, which is restarting iron ore production at a mothballed mine at Kirkenes in the far north of Norway. The locomotive will make up to 20 trips a day along an 8 km isolated standard gauge railway which links the ...
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NewsRail growth in road slump
KNORR-BREMSE: The braking equipment maker recorded sales of €2·76bn at its Rail Vehicle Systems business during 2009, and although this was down from €3·38bn the previous year, Rail was not hit as badly as the Commercial Vehicle business. The company said it benefited from a 'strong strategic position' in a ...
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NewsIsrael Railways orders second batch of Siemens coaches
ISRAEL: On March 9 Siemens Mobility signed a €47m contract to supply Israel Railways with a further 31 Viaggio Light coaches, as a follow-on to the initial 2006 order for 87 cars which included options for a further 585. The latest cars will delivered from Wien in ...
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NewsTalgos on test for Moscow - Europe services
RUSSIA: By the end of April the Shcherbinka research centre near Moscow will complete tests which aim to assess whether Talgo automatic gauge-changing technology could be used under Russian conditions. Coaches supplied by the Spanish firm will also undergo running trials on the Moscow - St Petersburg and Moscow - ...
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NewsChina South exports are up
CHINA: Rolling stock manufacturer CSR has announced export sales of more than US$1·2bn for 2009, up 60% on the previous year and vastly more than the US$59m recorded in 2001. During the past year contracts were signed with customers in countries including Australia, Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, ...
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NewsHigh speed tunnels broken through
GERMANY: Federal Transport Minister Peter Ramsauer, DB Chief Executive Rüdiger Grube and Sachsen-Anhalt Transport Minster Karl-Heinz Daehre watched the breakthrough of the 6 466 m western bore of the Bibra tunnel on March 3. The 6 970 m Finne tunnel was also holed through on the same day. Three twin-bore ...
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NewsIndustry News in Brief
This month Electro-Motive Diesel will complete a new facility for the rebuilding of traction motors and other electrical equipment at San Luís Potosí in Mexico. 'EMD continues to invest extensively in providing after-sales service', according to CEO John S Hamilton. 'We have previously established turbocharger and engine remanufacturing capabilities, and ...
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NewsPlastic railway bridges
USA: Two short bridges on a freight line near the Fort Eustis Army Transportation Corps base in Virginia, USA, are to be replaced by structures consisting almost entirely of recycled plastic. The plastic materials should allow the weight limit of the structures to be increased to 118 tonnes, giving greater ...