All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1004
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NewsCzechs and Slovaks plan freight merger
EUROPE: Czech Minister of Transport Aleš Rebícek and his Slovak counterpart ?ubomír Vážny reached an agreement to plan the merger of national freight operators CD Cargo and ZSSK Cargo on June 23. The ministers agreed to draw up detailed plans and a timetable for the merger, setting out the ...
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NewsWorld infrastructure market June 2008
Bosnia: The OPEC Fund for International Development has signed a US$12m loan agreement with Bhzjk to upgrade the 40 km Sarajevo - Bradina section of the Sarajevo - Ploce line. China: Following the suspension of work during winter, construction has restarted on a 1·2bn yuan rail-served logistics and distribution ...
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Contracts June 2008
Australia: Victoria's Department of Infrastructure has awarded Funkwerk IT York a £2·3m contract to develop timing and fleet management modules for a timetable planning and platform allocation system which will be used by V/Line and Connex. Malaysia: The government has decided not to support an 8bn ringgit proposal by YTL ...
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NewsEssential renewals must pave the way for ambitious expansion strategy
GHANA: Two concessions are under negotiation for privately-funded extensions to open up the north of the country, but Ghana Railways Corp is struggling to operate its residual freight and passenger services. Refurbishment of the Accra - Tema line reflects a welcome government commitment to restore the network to good order, ...
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NewsRolling stock market - June 2008
Bangladesh: Trelleborg Industrial has won a third contract to supply rubber-metal suspension components for the refurbishment of 20-year old wagon bogies. Brazil: Timken has been awarded a long-term contract to provide an on-site bearing reconditioning service for América Latina Logística at its Sorocaba works. Canada: Agricultural products firm Viterra has ...
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NewsBulgaria commissions strategic transport study
BULGARIA: The Ministry of Transport has appointed consultancy Faber Maunsell to produce a national multi-modal transport masterplan. Much of Bulgaria's transport infrastructure is in a poor condition as a result of past underinvestment, but accession to the European Union in January 2007 has made significant funds available, with €2bn ...
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NewsSTAR is born
SWITZERLAND: Stadler has handed over to Aare Seeland Mobil the first Schmalspur Triebzug für Attraktiven Regionalverkehr, or 'narrow gauge railcar for attractive regional transport'. ASM placed a SFr18·5m order for three low-floor three-car EMUs in 2005. They will be used on its 1·2 kV DC metre-gauge line from Solothurn to ...
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NewsPESA delivers DMUs
EUROPE: This month Polish rolling stock manufacturer PESA will deliver the first of 23 three-car DMUs ordered by southern Italian regional railway Ferrovie del Sud Est for use on services from Bari. An initial order for 13 units signed in June 2006 was followed by an option for a further ...
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Working towards a sustainable future
ENVIRONMENT: Despite growing concerns about climate change and energy efficiency, imbalances in the pricing of different transport modes continue to distort the market across Europe. But CER Chairman Aad Veenman sees signs of progress at last.
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NewsNetwork Rail team to study high speed corridors
UK: Citing increasing capacity constraints and projections of strong growth in passenger and freight demand over the next 25 years, Network Rail announced on June 23 that it was launching a 'strategic review into the case for building new rail lines across the network of Great Britain'. A team ...
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Infrastructure services bid
VOSSLOH: On June 18 Vossloh announced it had received an offer for the purchase of its Infrastructure Services business from Vinci Group company Eurovia. The offer for a 100% equity stake amounts to €150m, based on an enterprise value of around €185m. Vossloh AG Chief Executive Werner Andree said the ...
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People in the News - June 2008
Francis Howhas been named Technical Director at the UK´s Railway Industry Association; he replaces Richard Gostling, who plans to retire later this year. Cyrille du Pelouxhas succeeded Olivier Brousse as Managing Director at Veolia Transport. Ian Prosseris to be Director of Railway Safety at the UK´s Office of Rail Regulation. ...
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NewsCuban diesels shipped from China
CUBA: The first 11 of 40 type DF7G-C diesel-electric locomotives ordered from China Northern's February 7th Locomotive Works in Beijing were shipped from the Chinese port of Tianjin on June 12. The rest are due to be despatched from China during August, along with five DF7K-C Bo-Bo shunting ...
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NewsUIC proposes intermodal growth agenda
EUROPE: The International Union of Railways has published Agenda 2015 for Combined Transport in Europe, the concluding report of the Diomis study launched in January 2006 to investigate ways of growing intermodal services. Drawn up by Kombiconsult and K+P Transport Consultants with guidance from the UIC, the study puts forward ...
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NewsRio Tinto to go driverless
AUSTRALIA: Driverless trains will be operating on Rio Tinto's Pilbara heavy haul iron ore railway in Western Australia within five years, the mining company announced on June 16. The first automation trials began in early 2007, initially using segregated tracks at 7 Mile Yard. Following the successful completion of 126 ...
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GE to resignal Rotterdam metro
NETHERLANDS: Rotterdam transport operator RET has selected GE Transportation to undertake the resignalling of the city's 55 km two line metro network. GE said the €62m contract is the company's largest-ever rail signalling order and its first full-scale metro project in Europe. Work will begin in early 2009 to ...
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NewsMexico City metro Line 12 contract awarded
MEXICO: A US$1·7bn contract to build metro Line 12 in Mexico City has been awarded to a consortium led by construction firm Empresas ICA and including Alstom and Carso Infraestructura y Construccion. Running entirely underground, the 24 km Line 12 will have 22 stations serving the southern portion of ...
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NewsRefurbished tram back in Sofia
BULGARIA: The first of 18 Sofia trams to be modernised under a €13·6m contract with Inekon has returned to service in the Bulgarian capital. The 1 009 mm gauge three-section T8-700IT tram has been rebuilt from a twin-section T6M-700 with the insertion of a 360 mm entrance height centre section ...
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Ambitious vision in East Africa
AFRICA: Following closely on the aborted multi-billion-dollar scheme to replace Nigeria's dilapidated 1 067 mm gauge railway with a new standard-gauge network, the East African Community has announced a 'master plan' to do something similar with the metre-gauge lines in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. According to Magaga Alot from the ...
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NewsCádiz tram-train contract
SPAIN: The Andalucía regional government has awarded Sacyr and Prinur a contract worth €52·8m to undertake civil and track work on the 5·8 km San Fernando - Caño Zurraque section of the tram-train route linking Cádiz with Chiclana de la Frontera. Work on this section with eight stops is due ...