All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 580
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NewsKim Jong Un inspects North Korean metro trainset
NORTH KOREA: Kim Jong Un, First Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, visited the Kim Jong Thae Electric Locomotive Complex on October 23 to inspect what the official news agency described as a locally-made metro trainset. Pyongyang has two metro lines totalling 22 km, operated using rolling stock acquired ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news in brief
Presenting its financial results for the first nine months of 2015 on October 29, Vossloh AG announced than it was treating its Vossloh Rail Vehicles unit in Valencia as a discontinued operation with effect from September 30. Talks with parties interested in buying the Rail Vehicles unit have been ‘accelerated’, ...
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NewsDieselnetz Südthüringen winner announced
GERMANY: Following a competitive tender, on October 28 the Land of Thüringen named Süd-Thüringen-Bahn as the winner of the next two contacts to operate Dieselnetz Südthüringen local passenger services. Incumbent operator Süd-Thüringen-Bahn is owned by Erfurter Bahn and Hessische Landesbahn. The new contracts will run for 11 years from ...
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NewsQuito metro works contract awarded
ECUADOR: A consortium of Acciona and Odebrecht has been awarded a US$1⋅54bn contact to undertake Phase 2 of the Quito metro, the municipality and project organisation Metro de Quito announced on October 27. The contract covers the construction of 22⋅1 km of tunnels from the bus terminal at Quitumbe in ...
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NewsCongress extends PTC deadline by three years
USA: The potential shutdown of many rail services on January 1 has been avoided, after Congress approved a three-year extension of the federally-mandated December 31 deadline for the installation of Positive Train Control. The installation of PTC by the deadline was not considered feasible by the industry, and without ...
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NewsNTV signs €460m Pendolino contract
ITALY: A €460m contract for the supply of eight Pendolino trainsets and 20 years of maintenance was signed by Flavio Cattaneo, Chief Executive of open access high speed train operator NTV, and Pierre-Louis Bertina, Managing Director of Alstom Transport Italy, on October 29. The first of the 250 km/h Pendolino ...
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NewsFirst South West Trains Class 707 EMU under construction
UK: The first bodyshell for the 30 five-car Class 707 Desiro City electric multiple-units ordered by South West Trains for Windsor – London Waterloo commuter services has been completed at Siemens’ Krefeld factory in Germany. Design work has been finished, and the first EMU is expected to be completed by ...
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NewsSNCF launches digital investment fund
FRANCE: SNCF has launched a €30m SNCF Digital Ventures investment fund, which aims to ‘actively seek and identify digital initiatives that will impact SNCF’s transport business’. The fund will invest in companies that are working with SNCF on innovation, and acquire stakes in companies specialising in areas that ‘are ...
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NewsTfL undertakes further Crossrail 2 consultation
UK: Transport for London has begun public consultation on the route and design of Crossrail 2, a proposed tunnel running under London from Wimbledon in southwest to Tottenham Hale and New Southgate in the north. This would connect existing suburban rail networks at each end. TfL said two previous ...
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NewsTrenitalia planning Paris – Brussels high speed service
EUROPE: Italian national operator Trenitalia has confirmed that it is holding preliminary discussions with its suppliers and relevant regulatory bodies regarding the possible launch of an open access high speed service between Paris and Brussels. Speaking in Milano on October 28, Pietro Diamantini of FS Group's Passenger Division suggested that ...
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NewsEl Paso PCC streetcar modernisation contract awarded
USA: Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority has awarded Brookville Equipment Corp an $18·8m contract to overhaul and modernise six PCC streetcars dating from 1937 for use on the future 7·7 km El Paso Streetcar Project in Texas. Brookville said the aim would be to provide ‘a modern transit solution wrapped ...
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NewsMonitoring tank wagons via satellite
EUROPE: Chemical supplier SABIC is to equip its fleet of 500 chemical tank wagons with ATEX Ovinto Sat M2M tracking and monitoring systems developed by Ovinto based on Globalstar satellite communications technology. Ovinto Sat collates data from various sensors and GPS devices on each of SABIC's wagons, and sends information ...
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NewsRENFE prepares for wi-fi roll-out
SPAIN: National operator RENFE is to equip 89 high speed trainsets as well as 20 suburban stations under the first phase of its wi-fi programme, Development Minister Ana Pastor announced on October 26. Working with its technology partner Telefónica, over the past three months RENFE has been undertaking trials with ...
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NewsMoldova enhances cross-border links
MOLDOVA: National railway CFM has put refurbished diesel multiple-units into service on the route from Chișinău to Iași in Romania, and has signed an agreement with Ukrainian Railways for the reinstatement of the line from the border town of Basarabeasca to Berezyne in Ukraine. Five 1 520 mm gauge ...
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NewsUkrainian Railways becomes joint stock company
UKRAINE: National railway Ukrzaliznytsia was formally registered as a state-owned joint stock company with an authorised capital of 229·9bn hryvnia on October 21. This replaces its previous status as an integral part of the Ministry of Transport, and is intended to give the organisation a more commercial ...
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NewsCanberra consults on future light rail expansion
AUSTRALIA: With construction of the first light rail line in Canberra scheduled to begin next year, the Australian Capital Territory Government has begun public consultation on a ‘clear, strategic and long-term’ vision for future phases of the network. Stage 1 of the Capital Metro will run for ...
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NewsSNTF and Systra to form joint venture
ALGERIA: On October 26 state railway SNTF signed an agreement with French engineering consultancy Systra to form a joint venture specialising in railway systems. With 51% of the Algerian-based company held by SNTF and 49% by Systra, the new joint venture is expected to create around 50 ‘highly qualified’ posts, ...
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NewsDurchmesserlinie project completed
SWITZERLAND: The eight-year Durchmesserlinie project to increase capacity by eliminating the need for east–west trains to reverse at Zürich Hauptbahnhof was officially completed with a ceremony marking the end of Phase 2 on October 26. Phase 1 of the 9·6 km Durchmesserlinie comprised the 4·8 km S-shaped Weinberg Tunnel ...
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NewsHŽ Infra awards upgrading contract
CROATIA: Infrastructure manager HŽ Infra has selected a consortium of DIV, Dalekovod and Zagreb Montaža as preferred bidder to undertake an extensive modernisation of the 38·2 km Dugo Selo – Križevci section of the Zagreb – Koprivnica – Budapest line The project is costed at €199m, including supervision and land ...
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NewsWestfalenBahn Kiss depot opens
GERMANY: Mindener Kreisbahnen officially opened its €10m Minden II depot on October 23. The depot will be used to maintain 13 six-car Stadler Kiss double-deck electric multiple-units which WestfalenBahn is to lease from Alpha Trains. Facilities include Windhoff lifting equipment. The EMUs are to be deployed on Emsland ...