All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1024
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News
Loan guarantee takes TEN risk
THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank and European Commission signed an agreement on January 11 establishing a loan guarantee instrument for investment in Trans-European Transport Network development. The partners are each providing €500m, aiming to support up to €25bn of private-sector investment. EIB estimates that single market and regional integration objectives require ...
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High speed heads for northern Spain
SPANISH PRIME MINISTER José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero joined Development Minister Magdalena Álvarez to formally open the 179·5 km Madrid - Valladolid high speed line on December 22. The following day, when commercial services began, the ministers opened the final section of new line between Madrid and Málaga, the 54·5 km ...
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Salt Lake City loco order
USA: Utah Transit Authority has ordered a further 10 MPXpress diesel locomotives from Wabtec's MotivePower subsidiary, the manufacturer announced on February 6. The locos will be built at MotivePower's plant at Boise in Idaho, for delivery in 2010. They will be deployed on UTA's FrontRunner commuter line between Salt Lake ...
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Algerian signalling contract
NATIONAL railway development authority Anesrif has awarded a €268·5m contract to supply signalling and telecoms for three sections of Algeria's east-west route to a consortium led by Thales. The deal was announced in January after being agreed during the state visit of France's President Sarkozy to Algeria in December. ...
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Pay deal will make DB sale less juicy
RARELY has this column found it necessary to address labour relations in Germany. We turn to the topic in the wake of a bitter 10-month dispute between the management of Deutsche Bahn and the drivers' union GDL. Industrial action halted DB's passenger and freight services on many occasions last year, ...
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NewsAlstom unveils AGV prototype train
THE AUTOMOTRICE à Grande Vitesse demonstrator trainset was unveiled at Alstom's La Rochelle plant on February 5, watched by French President Nicholas Sarkozy and invited guests.Designed for a running speed of 360 km/h, Alstom's next generation high speed train combines articulation with distributed drive. According to the manufacturer the layout ...
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Oradea orders export ULF
THE FIRST order for Ultra Low Floor trams from outside their home city of Wien was announced on January 17, when Siemens Mobility won a €27m order to supply 10 cars to the western Romanian city of Oradea. Based on the shorter variant of the 300 ULF trams now in ...
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Australian branches at risk
UNCERTAINTY surrounds the future of regional freight trains in the Australian states of Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania, which are currently operated by Pacific National. Parent company Asciano told investors in early December that it would cease to provide a range of intermodal and bulk services, primarily serving the ...
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NewsTransmash looks to a growing market
Russia’s principal traction and rolling stock builder has spent the last five years updating its production capabilities as it prepares to compete on the world market. TMH Chairman Dmitry Komissarov explains his vision to Chris Jackson
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NewsTransmash: Family of designs continues to evolve
OVER THE past five years, Transmash Holding has been working to develop new locomotive and multiple-unit types for the Russian market, and in some cases to update the more recent designs it inherited when it acquired its various manufacturing plants. The current main line diesel locomotive being produced at Bryansk ...
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Fret GV prepares to launch
PLANS TO move express freight over the French high speed network firmed up in December with the launch of a 50:50 joint venture between SNCF and La Poste. Formed in November 2006 to conduct technical and market studies, Fret GV has now entered a project planning phase with a view ...
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News
Dubai Red Line tunnels complete
THE RAIL Agency of the Dubai Roads & Transport Authority has announced that tunnelling work on the first section of the city's metro was completed on schedule on January 6. Excavation was undertaken in three stages. The first, which began on January 31 2007 and lasted until September 15, involved ...
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NewsAirport backs personal transit
A PERSONAL rapid transit line is under construction at London Heathrow airport to link the business class car parks with the new Terminal 5. Airport owner BAA is investing £25m in the 3·8 km line, and has taken 'a significant shareholding' in PRT technology company ATA Ltd, which sees the ...
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News
Rochester Signal acquired by Stantec
STANTEC announced on January 9 that it has acquired Rochester Signal Inc, specialist in railway signalling design, programme management, installation and testing for main line and light rail customers. The transit division of Stantec provides long-range planning, design, construction and maintenance services for similar customers in the USA and Canada. ...
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Armenia confirms RZD as concession winner
PRESIDENT of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin was in Yerevan on January 16 for the official award of Armenia's 30-year national rail operating concession to sole bidder RZD. The contract is expected to be signed during February, with Russian Railways' specially-formed 100% subsidiary South Caucasian Railway scheduled to take over Armenian ...
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News
Veloxia confirmed for Buenos Aires - Córdoba
IN THE PRESENCE of French Transport Secretary Dominique Bussereau, on January 16 President Cristina Fernández of Argentina signed a decree awarding construction of the Buenos Aires - Córdoba high speed line to the consortium of Alstom, Iecsa, Isolux Corsán and Emepa. According to the timetable established by Decree 96/2008, the ...
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Shanghai opens five metro extensions
THE SHANGHAI metro expansion programme took a great leap forward on December 29 with the simultaneous opening of five new sections. The entirely new Line 9 opened to link Gui Lin Road with Song Jiang Xin Cheng, a distance of 29·1 km. Line 9 is currently not connected to the ...
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Making the polluter pay
EUROPEAN Commission Vice-President Jacques Barrot emphasised the need for modal shift if the transport sector is to play its part in tackling climate change, when he addressed a Unife seminar on sustainable transport in Brussels on January 22. Barrot confirmed that the Commission will be bringing forward proposals by June ...
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Tracklayers arrive in Ukraine
UKRAINIAN Railways took delivery of two Desec TL 70UZ switch and crossing laying machines at the end of 2007. They have been supplied under UZ’s second contract with the Finnish manufacturer, which followed an international tender backed by the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development. The Tracklayers will be ...
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Strong leadership must focus on project management and costs
WHAT ARE we to make of the veritable shambles which engulfed the UK rail network over the Christmas and New Year period? Three of Network Rail's major engineering projects over-ran, causing disruption and confusion for hundreds of thousands of passengers. The Office of Rail Regulation announced on January 2 that ...