All News articles – Page 51
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NewsShifting sand
IRAQ: US-based Progress Rail Services has shipped two Model 46-6 Kershaw sand removal machines to Iraq to assist Iraqi Republic Railways in clearing lines in the west of the country. Progress Rail will undertake tests on the two machines when they arrive at the port of Um Qasr, and ...
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NewsSiemens makes space for high speed trains
USA: Anticipating a new market for high speed passenger trains in North America, on February 18 Siemens Mobility announced it had purchased 8 ha of vacant land alongside its Sacramento light rail vehicle plant to enable expansion should it win contracts as a result of the federal government's $8bn inter-city ...
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NewsA very small agreement
RUSSIA: RZD has signed a partnership agreement with Rusnano, the Russian state nanotechnology corporation founded in 2007. The agreement creates a strategic partnership to introduce and commercialise nano-technology in the rail industry. RZD and Rusnano will jointly determine the most relevant applications of the technology, and which sub-divisions and ...
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NewsJoint venture to revive DMU manufacturing
USA: A joint venture company has been established to restart production of diesel multiple-units to the designs of the former Colorado Railcar, which ceased operations in 2008. Colorado Railcar's assets were acquired by Value Recovery Group to form US Railcar LLC, which will now restart production through the US ...
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NewsCaspian rail corridor funds agreed
TURKMENISTAN: Two funding agreements have been signed for construction of sections of the 686 km north-south railway which will link Kazakhstan and Iran via Turkmenistan, running inland parallel to the Caspian Sea. On February 18 the Asian Development Bank and the government of Turkmenistan signed a memorandum of understanding under ...
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NewsSiberia across your screen
RUSSIA: Google and Russian Railways have launched a ‘virtual’ Trans-Siberian journey from Moscow to Vladivostok. Anyone with a broadband internet connection will be able to make a 'journey' along the route starting from any city or station without leaving home. Video footage totalling around 150 h was shot through a ...
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NewsMeasuring the Expo extension
USA: Amberg Technologies has introduced its GRP track measurement trolley in the USA, where contractor Balfour Beatty Rail Inc is using it during tracklaying on Phase 1 of the Expo light rail line in Los Angeles. The trolley can be used for a range of alignment tasks, including as-built ...
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NewsCrash investigations underway in Brussels
BELGIUM: Domestic and international train services into Brussels Midi remain severely disrupted as investigations continue into the cause of the fatal train crash at Buizingen during the morning rush hour on February 15. The worst railway accident in Belgium for more than 50 years killed 18 people, including one of ...
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NewsDurflex rights acquired
TRACK: Bayer MaterialScience has acquired global marketing and usage rights to the Durflex trackform technology from Hyperion Verwaltung GmbH. The technology was developed by Hyperion in co-operation with track design specialist Frenzel-Bau. It is based on the use of Bayer's Bayflex polyurethane foam, which is fed into the space between ...
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NewsRFF signs GSM-R concession
FRANCE: Réseau Ferré de France signed its first public-private partnership concession agreement on February 18, covering the installation and operation over 15 years of GSM-R communications systems, which are to be rolled out on 14 000 route-km of the core network by 2015. Winning bidder is the Synerail consortium, bringing ...
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NewsAmtrak plans fleet renewal programme
USA: As part of its annual budget submission to Congress, national passenger operator Amtrak published its long-term fleet renewal strategy on February 15, envisaging total expenditure of around US$23bn over the next 30 years. With the average vehicle age now exceeding 25 years, Amtrak President Joseph Boardman says ‘the need ...
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NewsHigh speed funding package agreed
MOROCCO: An allocation of 20bn dirhams for a high speed line between Tanger and Casablanca is included in the 2010-15 Contract Programme which ONCF Director General Mohammed Rabie Khlie signed with the government on February 1. During a ceremony presided over by King Mohammed VI, Lakhlie also signed an ...
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NewsWagonload alliance launched
EUROPE: Representatives from seven major rail freight operators signed an agreement in Zürich on February 18 to establish a new alliance for the operation of international wagonload traffic. The agreement was signed by the chief executives from CD Cargo, CFL Cargo, DB Schenker Rail, Green Cargo, Rail Cargo Austria, SBB ...
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NewsChinese firm's European bid unsuccessful
POLAND: Warszawa regional operator Koleje Mazowieckie announced that Bombardier Transportation had been selected to supply 11 electric locomotives on February 12, beating low bidder CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive. Bombardier's bid to supply Traxx locomotives for €41m undercut Siemens Mobility's offer of €44m. CSR Zhuzhou had been the lowest bidder at ...
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NewsLow-floor train to boost Lausanne suburban capacity
SWITZERLAND: Invited guests rode on the first of six RBe 4/8 electric multiple-units being built for the metre-gauge Lausanne-Echallens-Bercher railway on February 17, just 14 months after Stadler Rail was awarded the SFr41m contract to supply them. They will enter passenger service from May. Over the past 10 years traffic ...
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NewsRussia to announce high speed line plan
RUSSIA: Next month Russian Railways will unveil detailed proposals for a 'European standard' high speed line, RZD Vice-President Avtandil Gorgiladze told the EurasiaRail 2010 conference in Istanbul on February 10. The Siemens Velaro RUS trains which have been operating Sapsan services between Moscow and St Petersburg since December were designed ...
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NewsWheels on test
CHINA: German test equipment supplier NDT AG has delivered its first AURA ultrasonic wheelset testing rig to Chinese Railways. The first rig is being installed in Chengdu in the west of the country. The equipment, which is already used by Deutsche Bahn in Germany, can inspect both sides of a ...
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NewsUIC signs co-operation accord with World Bank
INTERNATIONAL: A co-operation agreement to support railways in developing countries was signed in Washington DC on February 11 by the International Union of Railways and the World Bank Group. Signed by UIC Director-General Jean-Pierre Loubinoux and Jamal Saghir, Director of the Bank’s Energy, Transport & Water Department, in the presence ...
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NewsWorld infrastructure market February 2010
Argentina: Infrastructure authority ADIF has selected Grupo Roggio, Herso, Ferromel and a joint venture of Comsa, Iecsa and CPC to carry out US$200m of track renewals on 220 km of the Belgrano network. Comsa and Iecsa have begun on a three-year programme to renew track on the Sarmiento ...
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NewsNews in Brief
Getzner Werkstoffe is to supply 390 000 sleeper base pads to reduce vibration from passing trains in the Gotthard base tunnel. The polyurethane pads are being designed to withstand particularly heavy loads, as the tunnel will carry large volumes of north-south transit freight. The Geomet anti-corrosion coating developed by Dacral ...