All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 524
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NewsSydney metro funding finalised
AUSTRALIA: The New South Wales government announced on June 20 that it is to provide A$12bn towards the driverless Sydney metro project over the next four years. The funds are being allocated under the state budget published on June 21. NSW is to provide A$6·2bn for the City & ...
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NewsKazakhstan orders train ferry
KAZAKHSTAN: National railway KTZ has awarded Croatian shipbuilder Uljanik a contract to supply a train ferry in 2017, with an option for a second which would be delivered in 2018. A new rail-served Caspian Sea port is under construction at Kuryk south of Aktau with opening planned for December. The ...
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NewsReading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad acquires Locust Valley Line
USA: Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad acquired the 9 km Locust Valley Line in Pennsylvania from Locust Valley Coal Co with effect from June 8. RBMN has operated the line from Laurel Jct to Mahanoy City since it was returned to service in 2006, and said ownership means it ...
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NewsMaryland Purple Line receives TIFIA loan
USA: Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced on June 15 that the Purple Line light rail project in the northern suburbs of Washington DC is to receive an $874·6m Transportation Infrastructure Finance & Innovation Act loan. Financial close has now been achieved on the PPP contract for the ...
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NewsCAF selected for Napoli metro contract
ITALY: CAF announced on June 20 that it had been selected for a six-year framework contract to supply 10 six-car trainsets to operate on Line 1 of the Napoli metro, with an option for 10 more. The purchase is financed by public funds amounting to €98m. CAF’s previous contracts ...
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NewsComparisons are difficult, EU rail price and quality study finds
EUROPE: The European Commission’s Directorate General for Mobility & Transport has published a ‘Study on the Prices & Quality of Rail Passenger Services’ which was commissioned from consultancy Steer Davies Gleave. The study looked at how fares and quality standards are set in the 26 EU member states which ...
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NewsRebuilt tram presented in Lviv
UKRAINE: Lviv tram operator Lvivelectrotrans has unveiled its first rebuilt Tatra KT4 tram. The operator says that a second vehicle is 70% complete, and expects to introduce at least four rebuilt trams into service this year. The KT4s were originally built in 1984 and are being modernised at a ...
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NewsToronto opens Cherry tram extension
CANADA: Vintage trams were brought out for a ceremony on June 18 to inaugurate the first extension to Toronto’s tram network since 2000. Regular services on the 514 Cherry route started the following day. The route follows a newly-built 400 m alignment along Cherry Street running south from King ...
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NewsPesa Link DMU officially handed over to NEB
GERMANY: Pesa officially handed over its first diesel multiple-units for a German customer on June 16. The handover of Link DMUs to Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn at Berlin Friedrichstrasse coincided with a congress marking 25 years since Poland and Germany signed a bilateral co-operation treaty. After the official presentation, two coupled units ...
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NewsRail freight news in brief
The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development and the Silk Road Fund, which has been established to implement China’s Belt & Road initiative, signed a memorandum of understanding on June 15 for institutional co-operation and to inform each other of potential co-investment opportunities. 'Our regions have a funding gap of ...
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NewsCareer Tours at InnoTrans 2016
INNOTRANS: The global rail sector is expanding, meaning companies are constantly in search of talented young professionals. At InnoTrans 2016 students from around the world will be able to participate in Career Tours, taking them directly to the stands of selected exhibitors who wish to make direct contact with ...
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NewsSakhalin gauge conversion to be accelerated
RUSSIA: Russian Railways and the government of Sakhalin have agreed to accelerate the programme to convert the island’s rail network from 1 067 mm to 1 520 mm gauge. The decision to speed up the programme has been spurred by need to replace the life-expired D2 diesel multiple-units built ...
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NewsFinnowagon under development
FINLAND: National railway’s VR freight business VR Transpoint and Austrian company Innofreight have agreed to develop a wagon with a demountable body for use on Finland’s 1 524 mm gauge network. The €10m agreement covers the development of a prototype Finnowagon this year. Once type approval has been obtained ...
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NewsVancouver public transport investment announced
CANADA: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and British Columbia Premier Christy Clark announced a total of C$768m in federal and provincial funding for public transport in the Vancouver area on June 16. Regional transport authority TransLink will provide a further C$125m. The funds form part of the federal government’s C$10bn ...
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NewsFirst C2 metro train enters service in München
GERMANY: The first Type C2 trainset entered passenger service between Kieferngarten and Garching-Forschungszentrum on Line U6 of the München U-Bahn on June 17. Transport operator MVG ordered 21 six-car sets from Siemens in 2010 for €185m. The first rolled out at Siemens’ factory in Wien in April 2013, but ...
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NewsMRCE goes back for more Vectrons
EUROPE: Mitsui Rail Capital Europe has ordered a further 10 Vectron locomotives, Siemens announced on June 17, which will take the leasing company's Vectron fleet to 66. The 6·4 MW multi-system electric locomotives with a maximum speed of 160 km/h will be fitted with ETCS as well as national ...
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NewsBeacon Rail completes Ascendos acquisition
EUROPE: Beacon Rail Leasing announced on June 17 that it had completed the acquisition of Ascendos Rail Leasing, having received clearance from the German competition authorities. The deal to buy Ascendos from Everest Babcock & Brown Opportunities Fund, BOSSAF Rail and the BBSFF EU Rail Lessor subsidiary of ...
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NewsSiemens opens world VAL headquarters in Toulouse
FRANCE: The new world headquarters for VAL driverless light metro systems established by Siemens in Toulouse was officially opened on June 17 by the city’s Mayor, Jean-Luc Moudenc. Occupying 10 000 m2 in the Basso Cambo district in the west of the city, the offices are home to around ...
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NewsMerMec to monitor Finnish infrastructure
FINLAND: Transport agency Liikennevirasto has awarded MerMec a 10-year contract to undertake the inspection and monitoring of its 5 960 km national rail network, with an optional five-year extension. MerMec is to supply and operate a self-contained Roger 800 test car developed specifically for the 1 524 mm gauge network; ...
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NewsDurmazlar’s Green City on test in Bursa
TURKEY: Bursa Mayor Recep Altepe attended the start of passenger tests of new light rail vehicles on the city’s Bursaray network on June 15. The high-floor Green City LRVs have been supplied by local manufacturer Durmazlar. In early 2015 Bursa Metropolitan Municipality placed an order for the LRVs along ...