All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 494
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NewsBombardier awarded Metrolink maintenance contract
USA: Southern California Regional Rail Authority has awarded Bombardier Transportation a contract to continue to maintain the Metrolink commuter locomotive and coach fleet for a further eight years from January 1 2017. Bombardier has been providing maintenance services for fleet since 1998. The contract announced on October 1 is ...
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NewsUkrainian Railways fleet modernisation plan
UKRAINE: National railway UZ is to publish a five-year fleet modernisation strategy by the end of October, which it plans to implement following consultation with domestic and international suppliers. The strategy is expected to include a proposal to call tenders for the delivery of between 30 and 50 modern diesel ...
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NewsSamara orders 10 UKVZ trams
RUSSIA: Samara Transport Operator announced on September 27 that it had selected UKVZ to supply 10 trams under a 999·8m rouble contract. The 100% low-floor unidirectional KTM-33 trams are to be purchased through a five-year leasing deal. The estimated cost of the rolling stock is 650m roubles, with the ...
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NewsBucurești metro Line M6 approved
ROMANIA: București city council approved construction of metro Line M6 on September 29. Construction is due to begin next year for completion in 2022. The 14 km route with 12 stations would link the city centre with Henri Coandă International Airport in Otopeni to the northeast. Services would share ...
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NewsHarding to lead Aurizon
AUSTRALIA: Freight operator Aurizon has appointed Andrew Harding to succeed Lance Hockridge as Managing Director & CEO, with effect from December 1. Most recently serving as Chief Executive, Iron Ore, at Rio Tinto, Harding stepped down in July after a 25-year career with the company. The appointment was confirmed by ...
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NewsBozankaya tram carries passengers in Kayseri
TURKEY: Kayseri Mayor Mustafa Çelik and Bozankaya CEO Murat Bozankaya boarded a Bozankaya tram in Kayseri on October 2 for the start of passenger-carrying tests. Bozankaya delivered the first of 30 trams to Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality on March 23. This forms part of a €42m order placed in August ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
TX Logistik has increased its intermodal connections between Padborg in Denmark and Verona in Italy from five to six round trips per week, following an upgrade of its Padborg terminal. 'With daily departures, we offer our customers more flexibility, attractive slots for third parties and are optimally set up in ...
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NewsSeefeld station rebuilding contract signed
AUSTRIA: Transport Minister Jörg Leichtfried joined Tirol Governor Günther Platter, Deputy Governor Ingrid Felipe, Seefeld Mayor Werner Frießer and ÖBB-Infrastruktur Board Member Franz Bauer on September 30 to sign a €22·8m contract for the modernisation of Seefeld station. Preparatory work is due to begin in the autumn, with main ...
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NewsPfefferminzbahn operating contract awarded
GERMANY: The Land of Thüringen's Ministry for Infrastructure & Agriculture has awarded Erfurter Bahn a contract to operate local passenger services on the 22 km Pfefferminzbahn route between Sömmerda and Buttstädt north of Erfurt. The contract announced on September 23 starts in December 2017 and runs until December 2024. ...
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NewsGauge-changing sleeping car for Baku – Istanbul route
AZERBAIJAN: The first of 30 coaches which Stadler Rail is building for use on overnight services on the future Baku – Tbilisi – Kars – Istanbul route was unveiled at InnoTrans 2016. Deliveries are scheduled to start this year and run until mid-2017. The coaches may initially be deployed on ...
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NewsBalfour Beatty acquires Omnicom Engineering
UK: Balfour Beatty announced its acquisition of video and laser infrastructure asset inspection specialist Omnicom Engineering on September 30. Omnicom Engineering’s products include OmniVision, which combines high resolution on-train cameras and pattern recognition software capable of operating at up to 160 km/h to replace manual track inspection. At InnoTrans 2016 ...
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News'Largest rolling stock deal since privatisation' is signed
UK: A contract for leasing company Angel Trains and Commonwealth Bank of Australia to finance a £900m order for 665 Bombardier Transportation electric multiple-unit cars for use on Abellio’s new East Anglia franchise was signed on September 29. Angel Trains said the ‘largest rolling stock deal since the privatisation of ...
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NewsGSM-R activated in the Channel Tunnel
EUROPE: Eurotunnel announced on September 29 that a GSM-R network is now available through the Channel Tunnel. The fixed-link concessionaire said the €48m introduction of GSM-R was the result of ‘six years of detailed project work’, and provides ‘full interoperability with the entire trans-European railway network’. Nokia undertook system integration ...
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NewsSt Petersburg metro extension design contracts awarded
RUSSIA: Moscow-based Metrogiprotrans has won two contracts for preliminary design work for extensions of the St Petersburg metro. A 140m rouble contract covers the first phase of the circular Line 7. This would serve stations at Bolshoy Prospekt-2 (interchange with Line 4), Vasileostrovskaya-2 (interchange with Line 3), Sportivnaya-2 (interchange ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
In response to a suggestion by former French industry minister Arnaud Montebourg that it planned to sell its signalling activities to a Chinese company, Thales said on September 26 that it ‘never had any intention of selling or merging its rail signalling business‘, and it ‘intends to develop this rail ...
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News€94bn investment in FS 10-year strategic plan
ITALY: Investment of €94bn and a doubling of annual revenues are envisaged in a 10-year strategic business plan for the FS Group unveiled in Roma on September 28 by President Gioia Ghezzi and Chief Executive Renato Mazzoncini. Presented to stakeholders including Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Minister of Infrastructure & ...
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NewsNacala Corridor PTC to go live this year
AFRICA: Siemens Rail Automation says that it expects to commission the Positive Train Control signalling system it has installed on the Nacala Corridor linking Malawi and Mozambique ‘by the end of the year’.The supplier says that the Trainguard Sentinel PTC it is supplying to the Corredor Logístico Integrado de Nacala ...
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NewsKnorr-Bremse to take full ownership of ICER Rail
ICER RAIL: Knorr-Bremse announced on September 28 that it would buy out Berkelium Group’s stake in the Pamplona-based braking materials manufacturing joint venture ICER Rail. The acquisition for an undisclosed price is subject to regulatory approval. ‘The complete acquisition of ICER Rail is the next logical step for Knorr-Bremse in ...
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NewsArriva directly awarded new Cross Country contract
UK: The Department for Transport announced on September 29 that incumbent Arriva CrossCountry had been directly awarded a new contract to operate the Cross Country franchise. The most geographically extensive franchise in the UK covers a 2 400 route-km network of long-distance passenger services serving more than 100 stations. ...
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NewsToshkent metro extension work to resume
UZBEKISTAN: Interim President Shavkat Mirziyoyev issued an order on September 22 to resume work on Toshkent metro’s Yunusobod Line extension. Work on the extension has been suspended since 2001. Three stations are to be built north of the current terminus of Shahriston: an underground station at Fayzulla Xojayev and ...