All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 653
-
NewsFunding agreed for Lyon - Torino test bore
FRANCE: Construction of a 9 km trial bore for the Alpine base tunnel that will eventually form part of the new line between Lyon and Torino in Italy is expected to start in January 2015, following the signature of a funding agreement worth €105∙78m. The agreement was signed in Paris ...
-
NewsSouth Island Line tunnel broken through
CHINA: Excavation of the Nam Fung Tunnel on Hong Kong metro’s South Island Line (East) was completed on October 17. Drill-and-blast works for the 3·2 km tunnel between Admiralty and Ocean Park stations started in August 2012. Around 500 tonnes of explosives were used for 750 blasts, producing approximately ...
-
NewsKarlsruhe welcomes new light rail vehicle
GERMANY: The first two Vossloh Citylink NET 2012 light rail vehicles entered passenger service in Karlsruhe on October 18, with a day of free travel after the ceremonial roll-out the previous day. Karlsruhe transport operators VBK and AVG ordered an initial build of 25 vehicles in October 2011 for ...
-
NewsGauge-changing Free Gauge Train on test in Kyushu
JAPAN: JR Kyushu and the Japan Railway Construction Transport & Technology Agency officially launched test running with the gauge-changing Free Gauge Train prototype in a ceremony at Yatsushiro on October 19. Designated Series 9000 by JR Kyushu, the four-car trainset is being tested between Kagoshima-Chuo and Shin-Yatsushiro on the 1 ...
-
NewsRZDstroy and Alstom to co-operate
RUSSIA: On October 17 Russian Railways subsidiary RZDstroy and Alstom signed a memorandum of understanding for collaboration on ‘innovative development in rail transportation in Russia and other countries’. RZD said the main areas of co-operation would include technical consultation, infrastructure engineering, assessment of design documentation and the management of ...
-
NewsCP ends CSX merger talks
NORTH AMERICA: Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd announced on October 20 that an ‘exploratory conversation’ about a possible merger with CSX Corp had ended, and that no further talks were planned. CP confirmed that it had proposed a merger which it envisaged would create ‘an integrated coast-to-coast combination that would ...
-
NewsStrasbourg orders Citadis trams
FRANCE: Alstom has signed a framework agreement for the supply of 50 Citadis trams to Strasbourg. An initial 12 trams, worth €41m, are expected to enter service by the end of 2016. The trams will be put into service on Line A and Line D, both of which are ...
-
NewsFirst MTR Express inter-city Flirt on test
SWEDEN: Ahead of the launch of MTR Express Stockholm – Göteborg open access services in March 2015, guests including Railway Gazette joined MTR Nordic and Stadler staff on a test run of the operator’s first Flirt Intercity EMU in Switzerland on October 17. MTR Express is part of the Nordic ...
-
NewsLos Angeles takes delivery of P3010 light rail vehicle
USA: Kinkisharyo International formally delivered the first of 78 P3010 light rail vehicles to Los Angeles on October 17. The pilot vehicle will be used for testing before series production begins, with delivery of the first production vehicle due in mid-2015. All 78 LRVs are expected to be in ...
-
NewsParis exercises metro train option
FRANCE: Paris public transport operator RATP has exercised an option for 12 MF01 steel-wheeled metro trainsets to be supplied by a consortium of Alstom, Bombardier Transportation and AREVA TA for lines 2, 5 and 9. The €75m order announced on October 20 is an option on an order placed in ...
-
NewsMauritius selects light rail contractor
MAURITIUS: The Ministry of Public Infrastructure has awarded a partnership of Indian construction company Afcons Infrastructure and CAF a contract to build a 37 km light rail line from the capital Port Louis to Curepipe. Much of the route, known locally as métro leger, would use the alignment of ...
-
NewsFlexi-Pile Cap approved
ELECTRIFICATION: British infrastructure manager Network Rail has approved the use of FLI Structures' Flexi-Pile Cap during the installation of electrification masts. Flexi-Pile Cap is designed for use when driven piles for electrification masts are in a suboptimal location or are misaligned. The problematic pile is cut back and ...
-
NewsRail Industry Training & Recruitment in Brief
Argentina’s Minister for Transport & the Interior Florencio Randazzo has welcomed the first class of 24 graduates to complete an internship course entitled ‘Reviving the Railway Generation’. The course has been hosted at the National Technical University and the University of San Martín. Randazzo said that recovering the skills and ...
-
NewsBrake disc measuring tool
BRAKES: Spanish firm Tecnopraim has developed a laser tool for monitoring the condition of brake discs. ReaDisc is designed to measure surface roughness with micrometre precision, enabling rolling stock operators to identify any abnormal wear and reduce their costs by optimising disc life. Users do not need to ...
-
NewsSerbian Railways and RZD sign route upgrade and DMU deals
SERBIA: Contracts for additional diesel multiple-units and the upgrading of three sections of Trans-European Corridor X were signed by Serbian Railways and the RZD International subsidiary of Russian Railways on October 16, during a visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Serbia’s President Tomislav Nikolić. A US$100m ...
-
NewsAgreement to cut Praha - Linz journey times
EUROPE: Czech infrastructure manager SŽDC and its Austrian counterpart ÖBB Infrastruktur have signed an agreement to cut journey times on the Praha – Linz corridor. Both parties agree that the frequencies and timings are uncompetitive and unsustainable, with a fastest journey time of 4 h 51 min for the 294 ...
-
NewsSiemens signalling for Metrorrey Line 3
MEXICO: The Nuevo León state government has awarded Siemens a €25m contract to provide signalling, telecoms and control systems for Monterrey light metro Line 3, having selected the company as preferred bidder at the end of May. Siemens is to supply CTS/M automatic train protection, two Sicas electronic interlockings, its ...
-
NewsAAE and Knorr-Bremse announce service partnership
EUROPE: The RailServices division of Knorr-Bremse has agreed a deal to supply brake valves to the network of workshops which maintains wagons owned by leasing company AAE. Under the agreement announced on October 14, Knorr-Bremse will supply remanufactured components to the workshops on a just-in-time basis. ‘As we no ...
-
NewsSJ wins Västtågen passenger operating contract
SWEDEN: The Västtrafik, Hallandstrafiken and Länstrafiken transport authorities have awarded national passenger operator SJ a nine-year contract to provide Västtågen commuter and regional services in Göteborg and western Sweden from December 2015 to December 2024. The SKr5bn contract announced on October 14 includes an option for a three-year extension. The ...
-
NewsFirst customer for metre gauge Evolution
BRAZIL: GE Transportation has announced its first order for the Evolution ES43BBi, an eight-axle diesel locomotive with AC traction motors developed specifically for 1 000 mm gauge railways in Brazil. Paper manufacturer Klabin has ordered seven locomotives to be delivered at the start of 2016. The locomotives will be used ...