All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1016
-
News
Mitsui restructures Dispolok
MITSUI: The locomotive leasing activities of Mitsui Rail Capital Europe and the Displok business which the Japanese group acquired from Siemens in 2006 will be integrated with effect from April 1. Mitsui's shares in Dispolok will be transferred to MRCE, which was established as a European loco leasing subsidiary in ...
-
NewsPointers April 2008
This month is expected to see the start of operations across the Friendship Bridge linking Thailand and Laos. A ceremony was held on February 20 to mark completion of the 3·5 km link between the SRT railhead at Nong Khai and a Laotian terminal near Vientiane. Faced with losses of ...
-
News
Kaohsiung Red Line launched
TAIWAN: Public services began running on the island's second metro network on March 9, following the formal opening of Kaohsiung's 28 km Red Line the preceding day. Heading the list of VIPs riding the inaugural train were Premier Chang Chen-Hsiung and Mayor Chen Chu. Outgoing President Chen Shui-Bien had visited ...
-
News
Software aids timetable architects
CAPACITY: While planning software and simulation tools continue to facilitate the train pathing and dispatching process, delegates at the IT08.rail conference were told that integration and preparation are essential for a successful timetable. Nick Kingsley reports from Zürich.
-
NewsBorder bridges rebuilt
EUROPE: Polish Transport Minister Czezary Grabarczyk and his German counterpart Wolfgang Tiefensee signed a treaty on February 26 that provides for repair or replacement of 13 bridges over the Oder and Neisse rivers forming the border between the two countries. The replacement bridge over the ...
-
News
Freight for sale
ROMANIA: After years of speculation, proposals and counter-proposals, Minister of Transport Ludovic Orban confirmed on March 16 that state-owned rail freight operator CFR Marfa is to be privatised. Established as a stand-alone business during Romania's railway reform programme of 1998-99 (RG 3.07 p155), CFR Marfa was always intended to be ...
-
News
In a hole
AUSTRALIA: March 9 saw the first test train on the 13 km Epping - Chatswood line in Sydney's northern suburbs. Revenue services on the A$2bn underground route had been due to start in June, but RailCorp has postponed the launch until the end of the year because of trackwork problems. ...
-
News
Docklands Light Railway car formally unveiled
UK: Decathlete Dean Macey, Chairman of Britain's Olympic Delivery Authority John Armitt, Mayor of London Ken Livingstone and Transport for London's Managing Director, London Rail, Ian Brown unveiled the first of a new design of train for the Docklands Light Railway on March 13. TfL placed a £50m order ...
-
News
São Paulo airport concession
BRAZIL: Bids are to be invited in May for a 35-year concession to build and operate the long-planned Airport Express rail link in São Paulo, with the aim of having the line in service by the end of 2011. The state government hopes to receive bids for the US$800m finance-design-build-operate ...
-
News
FTD makes insolvency application
GERMANY: Rolling stock builder Fahrzeugtechnik Dessau AG lodged a formal insolvency application with the Dessau Rosslau district court on March 25. Attorney Dr Volkhard Frenzel has been appointed provisional insolvency manager. FTD was taken over by Transmash Holding in 2006, and currently has 168 staff. Recent projects have included ...
-
NewsDelhi Metro exercises €87m car option
INDIA: Bombardier announced on March 28 that it had received a €87m order from Delhi Metro Rail Corp for an additional 84 Movia metro cars. The order is an option on a €427m contract signed in July 2007 which covered the supply of 340 cars, and brings the total number ...
-
News
Editorial vacancy
With the launch of Metro Report International as a quarterly publication, we have a vacancy for an Assistant Editor to take responsibility for MRI, as well as contributing to Railway Gazette International, the leading business magazine for the world rail industry, and its various print and online publications. We ...
-
News
Vázquez loses patience
URUGUAY: Since March 10 state railway AFE has had a new board (p258), the previous incumbents having been suddenly removed by President Tabaré Vázquez. It appears that his administration had lost patience with the slow pace of reform at AFE, where projects to involve the private sector in restoring the ...
-
News
Soaring costs undermine München maglev
GERMANY: Citing severe cost escalation, German Federal Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee joined the President of Bayern Günther Beckstein at a meeting on March 27 to discuss the future of the proposed Transrapid link from Franz-Josef Strauss airport to München Hauptbahnhof (RG 10.07 p591). The meeting concluded with an agreement ...
-
News
Shanghai - Nanjing link approved
CHINA: The National Development & Reform Commission has formally approved the construction of a 300 km high speed line between Shanghai and Nanjing at a cost of 39·5bn yuan. The project is to be funded by the two cities, the province of Jiangsu and the Ministry of Railways. Construction is ...
-
News
Driverless trains to support a prosperous future
DUBAI: With the first line opening next year, Dubai’s automated metro network will provide a superior alternative to the emirate’s increasingly clogged roads. Dominic Ellis looks at one of the Middle East’s most eagerly-awaited engineering projects, underpinning the city’s future economic development
-
News
Sydney metro to serve northwest suburbs
AUSTRALIA: On March 18 New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma unveiled plans for a 38 km metro line with 17 stations to link Rouse Hill in the northwestern suburbs of Sydney with the city centre. Expected to be completed by 2017, the line is projected to cost A$12·5bn to build. ...
-
News
Tramtrack Croydon buy out
UK: Transport for London announced on March 17 than it had reached an agreement to buy Tramtrack Croydon Ltd, holder of a private finance initiative concession to run the 28 km Tramlink light rail system in south London. TfL will pay £98m for the company, with completion of the deal ...