The Board of Ferrovial Servicios has announced that all conditions relating to its offer for Amey plc (RG 5.03 p324) have been satisfied or waived, and the offer has been declared unconditional. Amey has applied for the cancellation of its share listing on the UK Listing Authority’s Official List with effect from June 26.
French wagon manufacturer Arbel-Fauvet-Rail reported a loss of €2m for 2002, compared with a loss of €10·5m the year before. The Arbel group made a loss of €15·2m in 2002, with turnover down 1·8% on 2001 at €293·7m.
Uzbek Railways’ Andijan works has begun building wagons for domestic oil traffic.
King Vehicle Engineering Ltd has set up an infrastructure maintenance road-rail vehicle division, King Rail Systems. It has signed a partnering agreement with German road-rail technology supplier Zwiehoff, and will integrate the two product ranges.
The Transport Group of international law firm Ashurst Morris Crisp has formed a European Rail Advisory Service of lawyers from across Europe to focus on the impact of liberalisation in the rail market.
ITNET and Prepayment Cards Ltd have formed a strategic alliance to provide smart cards and associated services to transport operators and local authorities.
Safra of France has been awarded a €3·5m contract to refurbish 80 metro cars for RTM of Marseille, as well as 10 LRVs for STAS of Saint-Etienne. Moving into this sector for the first time, the bus body manufacturer is investing €3·46m in new rail facilities at its Albi plant.
An alliance to promote and develop contactless smart card payment technology for applications including mass transit has been announced by Royal Philips Electronics and Visa International.
Dalkia Rail has been formed in the UK as a rail-specific infrastructure services division of Dalkia plc.
COMBINED turnover for members of the French Railway Industry Association reached €2·97bn in 2002, an increase from €1·75bn the previous year. A rise in SNCF rolling stock orders saw turnover in the domestic market increase from €1·1bn to €1·7bn, while export turnover was up from €659·8m at €1·26bn.
AT ITS annual convention in Karlsruhe members of the Association of German Transport Undertakings approved a restructuring of the organisation into five divisions. These cover bus transport; city transport, including tram, metro and suburban; passenger railways, freight operators; and other interested bodies.
