All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 559
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NewsTesting starts on Nanning metro
CHINA: Passenger-carrying tests started on the first section of metro Line 1 in Nanning on January 20. This followed a week of test without passengers at up to 60 km/h. Revenue services are due to begin on June 28 on the 10·4 km section between Nanning East railway station ...
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NewsWestern DFC electrification contract awarded
INDIA: Dedicated Freight Corridor Corp of India has awarded a consortium of L&T Construction and Japan’s Sojitz Corp a 42-month design and build contract worth Rs12·1bn covering the electrification of the 422 km Vadodara – Jawaharlal Nehru Port section of the 1 490 km Western DFC between Delhi and ...
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NewsBeskyd Tunnel holed through
UKRAINE: A ceremony on January 21 marked the breaking through of the new Beskyd Tunnel, which is being built to eliminate a bottleneck on the otherwise double-track section of Pan-European Corridor V between Lviv and the Hungarian border at Chop. The existing single-track tunnel dates from 1886 and its ...
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NewsSNCF studies options for 'semi high speed' trains in India
INDIA: France’s SNCF has begun working with Indian Railways on a one-year project to study the feasibility of upgrading the 245 km New Delhi – Chandigarh line to permit the operation of ‘semi high speed’ trains at up to 200 km/h, and has agreed to support the pilot projects for ...
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NewsFirst Hill Line opens in Seattle
USA: A soft launch for Seattle’s second tram line was held on January 23. The 4·2 km First Hill Line connects Capitol Hill with Pioneer Square, serving 10 stops. Services are operated with seven bidirectional three-section Inekon trams ordered for $30m. These are equipped with lithium-ion batteries produced by ...
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NewsMumbai – Mediterranean rail and sea corridor agreed
INTERNATIONAL: Railway, shipping and port officials from Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine met in Azerbaijan on January 12 to agree plans for the development of freight transport corridors between the Indian port of Mumbai and the Mediterranean. Three routes are offered. All start with the maritime leg from Mumbai ...
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NewsHyundai Rotem to supply Manila Line 7 cars
PHILIPPINES: Hyundai Rotem is to supply rolling stock, signalling, communications and power supplies for metro line MRT7 in Manila, the company announced on January 22. Under the 530bn won contract from project developer Universal LRT Corp, Hyundai Rotem is to supply 36 three-car trainsets by the second half of ...
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NewsWorld rail infrastructure market January 2016
Argentina: The government has awarded a joint venture of Lemiro Pablo Pietrobini and Savabisa a 2386m pesos contract to restore to operating condition route C15 of the Belgrano network from Perico to Pocitos on the Bolivian border. Belgium: The TramContractors consortium of BAM-PGGM and Cofely Fabricom has signed PPP ...
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NewsWorld rolling stock market January 2016
Australia: Bombardier Transportation is to supply four additional Flexity trams to the Gold Coast under a A$25m contract. The trams are to be used on the Stage 2 extension to Helensvale, and form an option that was part of the original contract signed in 2011 for 14 trams. Austria: ...
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NewsDR Congo rail renaissance in 2016
DR CONGO: SNCC Director General Ilunga Ilunkamba looked forward to 2016 as the year that would see the ‘renaissance’ of the state railway, in his message to staff delivered on December 31. Under the Multimodal Transport Project funded by the World Bank, 38 new locomotives were being acquired and track ...
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NewsStrasbourg starts testing on Line A extension
FRANCE: Test running on an extension of tram Line A in Strasbourg commenced on January 14. Passenger services on the 1·7 km extension south to Illkirch-Graffenstaden are expected to start in the spring. Meanwhile, work continues on the 3·9 km eastern extension of Line D to Kehl in Germany. ...
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NewsUS-Chinese joint venture delivers first wagons
USA: The Vertex Railcar Corp joint venture of US and Chinese companies has delivered the first batch of wagons to be assembled at its plant in Wilmington, North Carolina. This follows Association of American Railroads certification which was announced in late December. The first 30 of 60 sand hoppers ...
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NewsCAF awarded Arriva Rail North rolling stock contract
UK: Spanish rolling stock manufacturer CAF is to supply 281 new vehicles worth £490m for the next Northern franchise, leasing company Eversholt Rail announced on January 22. The order comprises 31 three-car and 12 four-car electric multiple-units, and 25 two-car and 30 three-car diesel multiple-units. The 160 km/h units will ...
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NewsWorld rail market January 2016
France: Giro is to supply Nice transport authority Lignes d’Azur with Hastus scheduling and operations software. SNCF Gares & Connexions has awarded Elior Group a 10-year contract worth €700m to operate 34 catering outlets, including 14 at Paris Nord. Germany: Abellio’s German subsidiaries are to buy their electricity ...
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NewsAlger metro extension contracts awarded
ALGERIA: Two contracts have been awarded for the next extensions of the Alger metro. A consortium of Colas Rail and Kou G C is to undertake the work. Colas Rail will be responsible for trackwork, power supplies, ventilation and smoke extraction, and the ticketing system. It will also act as ...
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NewsFirst Metrolink F125 completed
USA: The first F125 diesel locomotive for Los Angeles commuter rail operator Metrolink is nearing completion at the Electro-Motive Diesel plant in Muncie, Indiana, the operator announced on January 20. Designed for operation at up to 200 km/h, the F125 is EMD’s first new design of passenger diesel locomotive for ...
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NewsCeremony launches construction of Jakarta – Bandung fast line
INDONESIA: President Joko Widowo was joined by Jakarta Governor Basuki Purnama on January 21to lay a ceremonial foundation stone in Cikalong Witan to mark the launch of construction of a 142 km high speed line between Jakarta and Bandung.Indonesian officials had agreed last October to proceed with a ‘business to ...
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NewsAhmedabad breaks ground on second metro line
INDIA: Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel laid the foundation stone for the second metro line in Ahmedabad on January 17. The 17·2 km north-south Line 2 will connect Motera Stadium in the north with APMC in the south via an elevated alignment with 15 stations. The depot would be ...
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NewsLondon Suburban Metro and local input to franchising proposed
UK: The Department for Transport and Transport for London released a consultation document on January 21 proposing the creation of a partnership to ‘provide joined-up strategic direction for the specification and management for passenger services across London and the South East’. The aim would be to increase local input ...
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NewsWorkshop upgrade targets international rolling stock market
LATVIA: International passenger train operator L-Ekspresis has completed an EU-supported €14m three-year modernisation of its coach and wagon maintenance workshop, increasing capacity by a factor of 2½ to 3 000 vehicles/year in an effort to expand in international markets. Board member Rolands Gorodeckis said the workshop modernisation would enable it ...