All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 622
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NewsSofia airport metro link opens
BULGARIA: An extension of Sofia metro Line M1 to the airport opened on April 2. Following an official ceremony at 10.00 passenger services began at 13.00, with free travel for the rest of the day. The 5 km section extends the line east from Tsarigradsko Shosse with four stations and ...
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NewsAlgerian coach refurbishment contract confirmed
ALGERIA: National railway SNTF has confirmed a €75m contract for a consortium of Faiveley Transport and Compin to modernise 202 main line and suburban coaches. On March 26 consortium leader Faiveley said it had a €45m share of the contract, including the supply of doors as well as heating, ...
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NewsTram transponder
RFID: Harting has developed an RFID system which enables trams to detect when to switch from overhead electric power to an off-wire operating mode. The transponders can be mounted on the track or platform or embedded in concrete, and provide positioning accuracy of better than 500 mm.
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NewsKončar KEV delivers first production EMU
CROATIA: Končar KEV delivered its first series built Class 6112 multiple-unit to national passenger operator HŽ PP on March 30, following test running on the Zagreb Podsused Tvornica – Tovarnik line. Končar began developing the EMU in 2008, with the aim of targeting the rail operators in former Yugoslavia. A ...
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NewsFeature articles in the April 2015 issue of Railway Gazette International
Feature articles in the April 2015 issue of Railway Gazette International, the leading business journal for railway operators and suppliers, read in 140 countries. Subscribe to Railway Gazette International today. Comment Time to act on tank car safety News Main Line Urban Rail Market Industry ...
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NewsReform to encourage competition
SPAIN: Development Minister Ana Pastor has presented the cabinet with proposals for a package of rail legislation that the government intends to bring to parliament following 'extensive' public hearings involving the rail sector. As well as transposing European Directive 2012/34, the legislation aims to encourage new high speed ...
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News'Imperative need' for Gulf railways to standardise
MIDDLE EAST: The importance of harmonising standards across railway projects to enable the development of a coherent and interoperable network across the Gulf region was highlighted at the 1st International Conference on Railway Interoperability, Standardisation & Harmonisation in the Middle East. The event in Doha on March 30-31 ...
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NewsNanjing metro Line 3 opens
CHINA: On April 1 Nanjing opened metro Line 3, its fourth conventional metro line and sixth overall. The 44·1 km has 30 stations. Running southeast from Linchang, the line crosses the River Yangtse in tunnel between Liuzhoudonglu and Shangyuanmen. It then continues south to Mozhoudonglu, via Nanjing and Nanjing ...
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NewsSNCB Logistics privatised
BELGIUM: Pan-European private equity house Argos Soditic has taken a 66% stake in SNCB Logistics, the freight division of the national railway, as part of a financial restructuring of the operator. The agreement adds €70m to the capital of SNCB Logistics, of which €20m has been contributed by Argos Soditic ...
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NewsBuenos Aires – Rosario service launched
ARGENTINA: Minister of the Interior & Transport Florencio Randazzo was present at the Retiro terminus in Buenos Aires on April 1 to see off the first service to Rosario operated with new traction and rolling stock purchased by the federal government from CNR Changchun of China. ‘Each train has capacity ...
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NewsBattery tram delivered to Seattle
USA: A prototype low-floor tram with off-wire capability has been delivered to Seattle by Czech firm Inekon. The bidirectional three-section Inekon 12 car is fitted with lithium-ion batteries produced by Saft that allow it to run for up to 16 km without overhead wires. Final assembly of the ...
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NewsVIAS awarded Erft-Schwalm-Netz operating contract
GERMANY: Following an international tender, the Rhein-Ruhr and Rheinland transport authorities VRR and NVR have jointly selected VIAS GmbH to operate Erft-Schwalm-Netz passenger services for 12 years from December 2017. The decision was announced on March 26, with a contract to be signed following the 10-day standstill period. ...
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NewsJavid Gurbanov
Javid Gurbanov has been appointed Chairman of Azerbaijan Railways. He succeeds Arif Asgarov, who has become Deputy Minister of Transport.
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NewsTrenitalia orders more Vivaltos
ITALY: Trenitalia has placed an order for a further 70 Vivalto double-deck regional coaches, AnsaldoBreda announced on April 1. The €98m order is an option on a contract signed in March 2010. It covers 14 push-pull driving cars to be manufactured at AnsaldoBreda’s plant in Pistoia, and 56 intermediate coaches ...
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NewsRegional focus underpins YRP expansion
UK: Membership of the Young Rail Professionals networking and ambassadorial organisation has doubled in the past year to reach more than 2 000, Chairman Stephen Head told an audience of corporate supporters in Derby on March 31. Mounting concern over the rail industry’s ability to attract and retain the staff ...
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NewsHonam high speed railway inaugurated
SOUTH KOREA: The 182·3 km Honam High Speed Railway serving the southwest of the country was formally opened by President Park Geun-hye in a ceremony at Gwangju Songjeong station on April 1, attended by many VIPs and invited guests, including the heads of Korea Rail Network Authority and national operator ...
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NewsKapsch CarrierCom signs Algerian telecoms agreement
ALGERIA: National railway SNTF and Austrian telecoms company Kapsch CarrierCom signed an agreement on April 1 establishing the Rail-Telecom joint venture to supervise and maintain railway telecommunications networks. This will include Algeria’s GSM-R network and SDH optic fibre backbone, as well as future infrastructure projects. Rail-Telecom will also facilitate ...
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NewsTransdev wins Leipzig - Chemnitz operating contract
GERMANY: The Mittelsachsen and Leipzig transport authorities have selected Transdev subsidiary Mitteldeutsche Regiobahn to operate Leipzig – Geithain – Chemnitz passenger service E7 (currently RE6) from December 13 2015. The contract covers the operation of hourly services totalling around 1 million train-km/year. It runs until at least December 2023, ...
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NewsLGV Est Phase 2 completed
FRANCE: On March 31 SNCF President Guillaume Pepy joined SNCF Réseau President Jacques Rapoport and other dignitaries as the last rail was welded to mark the completion of construction work on Phase 2 of LGV Est, the high speed line between Paris and Strasbourg. Work on Phase 2, covering the ...
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NewsFoster + Partners to develop Jeddah metro design vision
SAUDI ARABIA: Foster + Partners is to develop the architectural vision for Jeddah’s city-wide public transport master plan under a contract signed by Prince Khalid Al-Faisal bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, Governor of Makkah Province, on March 30. The scope of the contract includes the design of the stations, trains and ...