All News articles – Page 61
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NewsChina strengthens Russian ties
INTERNATIONAL: China’s Ministry of Railways has signed a memorandum of understanding to work with Russian Railways on the development and introduction of high speed trains in the Russian Federation. The MoU covers both the upgrading of existing lines for faster speeds and the construction of dedicated high speed lines. The ...
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NewsNormandie upgrading moves ahead
FRANCE: Plans for improving rail connections to and from Haute-Normandie were announced by Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau during a visit to Rouen on October 15. The long-term aim is to develop a new high speed line linking Paris, Mantes, Rouen and Le Havre, as announced by President Sarkozy on April ...
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NewsMineral line accord signed
MONGOLIA: Surveying and detailed design of a new railway to open up the mineral deposits in the South Gobi area is expected to get underway in November, following the signing of a formal accord between the Transport Ministry and Russian Railways on October 15. The memorandum of agreement was signed ...
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NewsCTL restructures to boost east-west traffic
POLAND: Open access rail freight operator CTL Logistics is to restructure its cross-border operations from December 1, in a bid to boost its share of the rail freight market between Germany, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. CTL Logistics President Krzysztof Sędzikowski announced on October 15 that the company wants to become ...
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NewsTrenitalia orders more Class E464s
ITALY: Trenitalia has awarded a further contract to Bombardier Transportation for an additional 100 Class E464 electric locomotives, to be delivered in 2010-12. Valued at approximately €258m, the contract announced on October 14 includes options for a further 50 locos. Rated at 3·5 MW, the single-ended Class E464 was developed ...
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NewsSNCF outlines TGV growth strategies
FRANCE: SNCF is planning to call tenders shortly for the supply of up to 100 new-generation high speed trainsets, equipped to operate cross-border services following the liberalisation of international passenger services in the European Union. President Guillaume Pepy confirmed on October 11 that SNCF is planning a firm order for ...
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NewsTREM project launched in San José
COSTA RICA: At a meeting in San José on October 7 Transport and Public Works Minister Karla González launched the government’s draft TREM rail concession which is to be tendered by the end of the month.Bids for the right to operate three routes connecting San José to Heredia province, San ...
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NewsPassenger reforms take shape
RUSSIA: Proposals for the reform of Russian Railways’ long-distance passenger business and the creation of a new operating company have been agreed in principle by the RZD management team. The detailed proposals will now be presented to the board of directors for formal approval. Restructuring of the long-distance passenger business ...
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NewsMoatize coal link funded
MOZAMBIQUE: Construction of a second rail link into the Moatize coalfield is expected to get underway before the end of this year, following the announcement of a US$500m package of international funding put together by the government to support local investors. Transport Minister Paulo Zucula says funding from the Dutch ...
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NewsIntermodal accord signed
EUROPE: International consultations will start shortly to find a new operator for the trans-Alpine intermodal services on the Lyon – Torino corridor, following the signing of a bilateral accord between France and Italy on October 9. In a bilateral meeting alongside the European Union council of transport ministers in Luxembourg, ...
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NewsKarachi Circular Railway upgrading approved
PAKISTAN: Conversion of the Karachi Circular Railway into a high-capacity commuter line is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2010, a decade after trains stopped. The revival project approved by the National Economic Council on September 3 could see services resume in 2013. Opened in two phases ...
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NewsNews in Brief
Tracklaying on the 295 km line from Jinghe to Yining and Korgas on China’s border with Kazakhstan was completed last month. The 6bn yuan line through Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region is expected to open in November, and will connect with the China Gateway line opening in 2012. On ...
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NewsMember States warned over First Railway Package
EUROPE: The European Commission is stepping up the pressure on EU Member States over their failure to implement fully or correctly the Directives in the First Railway Package, which are intended to open up the rail freight market to competition. This package includes Directives 91/440/EEC as amended, 95/18/EC as amended ...
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NewsContainers to the Caucasus
ARMENIA: Russian intermodal operator TransContainer has expanded its international network with the launch of its first service to Armenia, in co-operation with the South Caucasian Railway. An initial shipment on October 7 carried containerised traffic for Russian aluminium supplier Rusal. As a subsidiary of Russian Railways, TransContainer is developing its ...
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NewsTrans-Alpine RoLa still growing
SWITZERLAND: Despite the general slump in rail freight and trans-Alpine transit traffic, the international rolling motorway service between Freiburg im Breisgau in southern Germany and Novara in northern Italy is continuing to attract more business, according to René Dancet, Chairman of RAlpin AG. Presenting on October 7 the results for ...
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NewsTurn up and go trial
NETHERLANDS: Metro passengers take it for granted that they can turn up when they like and simply board the next train. There is no need to plan the trip or look at a timetable. From the passenger’s point of view, turn up and go applies to some main line ...
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NewsMaking tracks
ISRAEL: Tracklaying is underway on the 18 km double-track line being built south from Tel Aviv Hahagana to relieve heavy traffic on the roads to Bat-Yam, Holon, and Rishon Le-Ziyyon West. Eliminating the need to travel via Lod will cut Tel Aviv – Rishon Le-Ziyyon journey times ...
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NewsItino clean diesel unveiled
SWEDEN: Bombardier Transportation unveiled its first Itino diesel railcar equipped with C.L.E.A.N. diesel technology at the Elmia Nordic Rail exhibition in Jönköping on October 7, conducting a series of demonstration runs with the prototype train at Jönköping station. The first production trainsets equipped with the Catalyst based Low Emission ApplicatioN ...
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NewsStadler expands to grow
SWITZERLAND: A ground-breaking ceremony on October 2 marked the start of construction of Stadler's IBS Centre rolling stock commissioning facility. It is being built on a former tank farm site at Erlen in the canton of Thurgau, alongside Swiss Federal Railways' Zürich - Romanshorn line. The IBS ...
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NewsStrategic engine delivery begins
NEW ZEALAND: Engine manufacturer Tognum describes as 'strategically important' KiwiRail's decision to specify MTU engines when placing the first diesel locomotive order from a western country with China Northern's Dalian plant. Delivery of the Friedrichshafen-built 20V 4000 R43 engines starts this month and runs to January. 'This is a ...