Canada: On September 26 Canadian Pacific shareholders voted 98% in favour of the division of the company into five independent entities from October 1. The companies are CP Rail, Pan-Canadian Energy, CP Ships, Fording Coal and Fairmont Hotels & Resorts.
China: The Ministry of Railways has announced plans for two further nationwide increases in train speeds in 2003 and 2005, as part of the 2001-05 Five-Year Plan.
Czech Republic: CD is taking delivery of three 140 km/h three-car double-deck EMUs from CKD Vagonka and Skoda for use on suburban services. CD plans to order dual-voltage Class 675 derivatives for Brno - Ostrava inter-city services, with a prototype to be built by the end of 2003.
Finland: RHK completed the quadrupling of Helsinki’s western suburban line to Leppävaara in August. VR’s passenger volumes in the Helsinki area increased by 2% between January and August, though long distance journeys fell by the same amount.
France: SNCF has agreed with the Ile de France region a three-year programme to refurbish in 2002-04 further tranches of Paris suburban rolling stock. The scheme covers RIB and RIO stainless steel coaches, Z2N double-deck EMUs and VB2N loco-hauled double-deck outer suburban stock.
The Aquitaine region is pressing for completion of a design study for a TGV line from Tours to Bordeaux with a view to obtaining a Declaration of Public Utility in 2004. A three-year design study into a TGV line from Connerré to Brittany was put in hand on October 1.
Proposals are being developed for a station in southern Paris at or close to Orly airport that would be served by inter-regional TGVs.
Germany: A consortium of Osthannover Railway, Elbe-Weser Railways, Hamburg Transport and Bremen Tramways has been selected to operate regional services on the Hamburg - Bremen and Hamburg - Uelzen routes from 2003.
By the end of 2003 German Railway’s Cottbus works is to re-engine 64 Class 232 freight locos to reduce noise and emissions. DB has an option to re-engine a further 76 locos, which were built by DR in 1973.
Great Britain: EWS has introduced a daily Enterprise freight service from Glasgow’s Mossend yard to the TDG intermodal terminal at Grangemouth.
London commuter operator c2c has taken delivery of the first of 28 Class 357/2 four-car Electrostar EMUs from Bombardier, ordered in July 2000 to augment an initial build of 46 Class 357s.
India: Karnataka Rail Infrastructure Development Corp has set up a Special Purpose Vehicle to build a 142 km broad gauge line between Mangalore and Hassan for Rs2·6bn; it will serve the port of New Mangalore. Work is to begin in April. SPVs are also planned for the Hubli - Ankola, and Gadag - Solapur lines, and for doubling the Bangalore - Mangalore route.
Indonesia: A joint venture of Leighton Asia, PT Adhi Karya, and Itochu Corp has been awarded a US$50m government contract to double track 65 km of the Cikampek - Cirebon line in Java, funded by Japan Bank for International Co-operation.
International: At a meeting on October 1 the Bulgarian and Macedonian transport ministers signed a protocol covering the proposed Skopje - Sofia rail link, which would form part of European Corridor VIII.
Ceremonies will be held on November 16 to mark the reopening of the 9 km cross-border Gronau - Enschede line between Germany and the Netherlands after a 20-year closure. Rehabilitation was completed in September, and revenue service is to start on November 18.
Swiss Federal Railways’ low-floor LRV services from Genève to La Plaine were extended to Bellegarde in France with effect from September 4.
Mexico: The Federal Communications & Transport Secretariat has launched plans for a three-line commuter rail network costing US$624m to serve the northern suburbs of Mexico City. The aim is to start work on a route from Buena Vista to Cuautitlan and Huehuetoca by the end of this year, using existing freight routes. This would be followed by lines from Ecatapec to Naucalpan and San Juan de Aragon to Los Reyes.
Pakistan: PR has prequalified 16 companies for a BOT contract to computerise reservation and ticketing at 22 stations. Proposals have also been invited for the automation of PR’s inventory and procurement management systems.
Spain: Renfe’s suburban passenger business has launched a further 12 Civis limited stop services on routes linking Madrid with Guadalajara, Aranjuez and Villalba.
Switzerland: SBB and Mittelthurgau Railway agreed on September 20 to establish a jointly-owned subsidiary called Thurbo AG, which will run local passenger services from December 2002 over a 550 route-km network in the cantons of Thurgau, St Gallen, Zürich and Schaffhausen. The new company intends to acquire 80 articulated trainsets at a cost of SFr400m.
Thailand: On September 27 Prime Minister Shinawatra rejected plans to revive the Hopewell elevated mass transit project in Bangkok, saying the state cannot afford the scheme. Instead capacity is to be increased on SRT lines.
USA: On October 1 Bethlehem Steel Corp signed an agreement to sell the 84 km South Buffalo Railway to Genesee & Wyoming Inc for $33·1m in cash and $3·3m in assumed liabilities.
Norfolk Southern is to build a 20ha intermodal terminal at the former Philadelphia Navy Yard by 2004. The $16m yard will have a capacity of 60000 lifts/year.
Vietnam: DSVN’s Hanoi North, South and Giap Bat stations are to be upgraded at a cost of 27bn dong by the end of the first quarter of next year.
