All News articles – Page 72
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NewsLine 3 completes high speed network
BELGIUM: Line 3 between Liège and the German border was inaugurated on June 12, completing the last link in the star-shaped national high speed network and making Belgium the first European country to have a network of high speed lines linking its borders. Line 3 became available to ...
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NewsSidetrack
INDIA: Ever on the lookout for opportunities to make money, Indian Railways’ Catering & Tourism Corp has come up with the idea of selling bottled water. It is planning to establish a treatment and bottling plant at Ambernath, at the foot of the Malang Hills in Maharashtra state. Water will ...
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NewsWorld rail market June 2009
Australia: Macarthur Coal has awarded Pacific National a long-term contract to haul export coal in Queensland. Running trains on the Goonyella and Blackwater systems from April made PN the first competitor to QR in the state’s export coal market. Czech Republic: Private freight operator OKD Doprava has bought ...
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NewsCambodian rail concession signed
CAMBODIA: The government and a joint venture led by Toll Group signed a 30-year concession agreement covering Royal Cambodian Railways on June 12. The metre gauge rail network is to be operated by a joint venture in which the Australian group has a 55% stake, with the remaining 45% owned ...
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NewsHigh-performance diesels start to enter service
CHINA: Following the successful completion of cold weather trials, the first HXn3 diesel locos are entering service with Chinese Railways.
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NewsTrans-Asian Railway Network Agreement comes into force
ASIA: A ceremony in Bangkok on June 11 marked the entry into force of the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Trans-Asian Railway Network. Drawn up under the auspices of the United Nations Economic & Social Commission for Asia & the Pacific, the agreement aims to facilitate a co-ordinated regional approach to ...
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NewsMontréal may electrify
CANADA: Agence Métropolitaine de Transport and Hydro-Québec agreed on May 5 to invite proposals for a study to determine the feasibility of electrifying four of Montréal’s commuter rail routes totalling 250 km. Only one line, the Deux-Montagnes, is now operated by electric traction. Converting the Dorion, Blainville and Delson routes ...
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NewsTrioTRAIN interoperability project launched
EUROPE: The TrioTRAIN cluster of interoperability development projects was officially launched in Brussels on June 4. Three 'Total Regulatory Acceptance for the Interoperable Network' projects will develop methods for the virtual certification of new vehicles, aiming to reduce certification costs and time-to-market. TrioTRAIN brings together 30 partners co-ordinated ...
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NewsGovernment takes control of London & Continental Railways
UK: The government has taken direct ownership of London & Continental Railways Ltd for a nominal price, Secretary of State for Transport Andrew Adonis announced on June 8, and LCR's financial subsidiaries have also been transferred to the government. This follows last month's clearance by the European Commission of state ...
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NewsGovia retains South Central franchise
UK: The Department for Transport has awarded the next South Central passenger franchise to incumbent Govia, a joint venture of Go-Ahead (65%) and Keolis (35%). The other shortlisted bidders were National Express Group, NedRailways and Stagecoach. The new franchise will retain the name Southern. It runs for five years ...
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NewsBusiest network sees costs rise
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways’ 3 011 route-km network is the busiest in the world, with each km of track carrying an average of 92·7 trains a day during 2008, up from 90·8 in 2007. Total train-path km sold by SBB’s infrastructure division reached 158·7 million, up by 2·5% on the ...
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NewsPilbara miners to combine heavy haul assets
AUSTRALIA: Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton have signed a non-binding agreement to combine their mining, heavy haul rail, port and other iron ore production assets in Western Australia. The June 5 agreement sets out plans to establish an equally-owned joint venture to manage the assets, with 'substantial synergies' expected ...
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NewsDB Schenker to review British Piggyback freight options
UK: DB Schenker Rail (UK) Ltd announced a review of options for Piggyback rail freight services in Britain in June 8, following independent enquiries from a number of freight customers seeing to cut distribution costs. The freight operator said ongoing work to increase clearances is opening up more rail ...
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NewsMerMec to supply high-speed measuring equipment
TURKEY: TCDD has awarded MerMec contracts totalling €9m for the supply and installation of track and overhead line measuring equipment on a CAF trainset operating on the 250 km/h Ankara - Eskisehir line. The line was opened in March as the first phase of a national high speed rail network. ...
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NewsAll change in Ulaanbataar
MONGOLIA: With German and Chinese interests already promoting new railways to tap Mongolia’s extensive mineral reserves, the Russians are now moving to strengthen their influence over the national rail network. Russia’s Ministry of Transport has held a 50% stake in the Ulaanbaatar Railway (UBTZ) since the restructuring of the ...
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NewsPointers June 2009
Australian Rail Track Corp has released the first stage of a federally-funded study into the proposed Inland Railway between Melbourne and Brisbane. The 1 900 km route would follow existing lines via Albury to North Star, from where new track would be laid to Toowoomba and Brisbane. Capital cost would ...
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NewsNew Polish locomotive speed record
POLAND: Siemens has claimed a Polish speed record for a locomotive-hauled train, with a pair of Eurosprinter locomotives reaching 235 km/h between Psary and Góra Wlodowska during trials on the CMK fast line on May 29. The test train comprised two ES64U4 multi-system electric locomotives which Siemens has sent to ...
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NewsOMERS acquires Nordco
NORDCO: Ontario pension fund investor OMERS Private Equity has acquired Nordco from The Riverside Company, which has owned the track maintenance equipment manufacture since 2003. Financing has been provided by GE Capital, Allied Capital and OMERS Administration Corp, but terms of the deal announced on June 1 have not been ...
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NewsMaking the right choices
MOBILITY: Investment in public transport provides the opportunity to tackle the global economic downturn, addressing environmental concerns and building a sustainable urban framework for the longer term.