All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 671
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NewsHo Chi Minh City selects underground contractors
VIETNAM: Ho Chi Minh City Management Authority for Urban Railways has selected a consortium of Shimizu and Maeda Corp to build the underground section of metro Line 1. The 2·6 km underground section of Line 1 will run from Ben Thanh Market to Ba Son Shipyard with three stations. ...
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NewsEskişehir - Istanbul high speed line opened
TURKEY: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan officially inaugurated the fast line between Eskişehir and Istanbul on July 25, completing the 570 km Ankara – Istanbul high speed corridor. The latest section to open comprises 188 km of new alignment between Eskişehir and Köseköy plus a further 56 km of upgraded ...
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NewsTucson Sun Link streetcar opens
USA: The Tucson Sun Link tram line opened on July 25, with three days of free travel. The 6·2 km route links the University of Arizona and the area west of the I-10 highway, with 18 stops. The $196·5m capital cost of the line and related public works was ...
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NewsChicago to restart metro car tender
USA: Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced on July 24 that the Chicago Transit Authority would restart its procurement of up to 846 cars later this year. The contract to supply 7000 Series cars could be worth up to $2bn. In October 2013 CTA issued an invitation to tender for 854 ...
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NewsManchester control centre opens
UK: The Manchester Rail Operating Centre was formally opened by infrastructure manager Network Rail on July 21, one of 12 which will eventually control the entire railway network in Great Britain. The Manchester ROC is initially controlling just the 0·8 km Huyton – Roby section of the Manchester – ...
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NewsNavi Mumbai metro E&M contract awarded
INDIA: A consortium led by Ansaldo STS and including Tata Projects and CSR Zhuzhou has won a €78m turnkey contract for electrical and mechanical systems for the first phase of Navi Mumbai metro Line 1. The contract covers the design, installation, testing and commissioning of the E&M works, which ...
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NewsCrude oil rules to be tightened
USA: The Department of Transportation issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on July 23 setting out ‘comprehensive proposals’ to improve safety in the movement of flammable materials by rail, with a particular focus on crude oil and ethanol. The proposals are based on an Advanced Notice published by the Pipeline ...
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NewsCompete and co-operate, says HKX
GERMANY: Open access company Hamburg-Köln-Express marked the second anniversary of its operations on July 23, saying it has now carried 800 000 passengers on more than 3 000 trains. The second anniversary is ‘is longer than many observers expected’, said CEO Carsten Carstensen. ‘We’re proud of this success.’ However HKX ...
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NewsPrivate operators to be encouraged under railway reform plans
THAILAND: State Railway of Thailand is likely to be abolished under a wide-ranging reform programme planned by the interim military government. Giving a briefing on railway investment in Bangkok on July 23, Dr Chula Sukmanop, Director-General of the Office of Transport & Traffic Policy & Planning, said the government saw ...
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NewsMTR signs agreement with Chongqing
CHINA: MTR Corp signed a memorandum of understanding on July 23 with the Chongqing municipal government for rail and property development in the municipality. Under the terms of the agreement, MTR will discuss the potential for investment, construction and operation of one or more metro lines in the city. ...
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NewsGet Ion-Board
SAFT: The Ion-Board Regen lithium-ion traction battery system designed to capture, store and reuse regenerated braking energy will be launched by Saft at InnoTrans 2014. Saft says this is a significant step in the industrialisation of a modular lithium-ion onboard energy storage concept first shown at InnoTrans 2012. It is ...
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NewsWearable journey planners
GERMANY: Scheduling and journey planning software supplier HaCon has opened a ‘Mobility Lab’ in Berlin which will focus on research and development projects. It will look at smart and wearable technologies, and ways of linking up data on different modes of transport. ‘In addition to opening new markets, we ...
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NewsAnnaba tram contractor selected
ALGERIA: Entreprise du Métro d’Alger has selected a consortium of Daewoo and GS Engineering & Construction to build the first tram line in Annaba. Work is to be completed within 39 months of signing the 43·5bn dinar contract. The city is planning two tram lines, although the start ...
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NewsDriverless trains delivered to Singapore
SINGAPORE: Land Transport Authority has taken delivery of the first new trainsets for the North East and Circle lines from the Shanghai Alstom Transport Co joint venture of Alstom Transport and Shanghai Electric Group. These are the first of 18 trainsets for the North East Line and 24 for ...
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NewsHigh speed line electrification maintenance vehicle on test
CHINA: Trials are underway with an overhead electrification inspection, maintenance and repair vehicle capable of running at up to 160 km/h when travelling to worksites on high speed lines. The multi-functional vehicle has been developed by CNR Beijing February 7 Railway Transportation Equipment Co, based on the Class 711 ...
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NewsNew fleet boosts Sarmiento capacity
ARGENTINA: On July 21 the first seven nine-car EMUs supplied by CSR of China entered service between Once and Moreno on the Sarmiento commuter route in Buenos Aires. Introduction of the new trainsets has enabled capacity to be increased from 241 536 to 399 233 passengers/day, with the number of ...
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NewsHitachi unveils modular EMU designs
UK: Hitachi Rail Europe unveiled full-size mock-ups of its AT100 and AT200 EMU designs in London on July 21. Aimed primarily at the UK market, the two designs are intended to augment the existing AT300 (Class 395/Class 800) design to create a family of trains. These can be configured using ...
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NewsLuxembourg tram funding approved
LUXEMBOURG: Luxembourg city council has approved funding for a tram line and the creation of operating company LuxTram. The cost of the project is expected to be €345·78m, of which two-thirds will come from the central government and one-third from the city council. This is to cover studies, infrastructure ...
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NewsDutch smart ticket roll-out completed
NETHERLANDS: The much-delayed national roll-out of the OV-chipkaart smart card across the rail network was completed on July 9. All passengers are now required to check in and out at station readers using a ticket with either a smart chip or a printed barcode. Testing of the multimodal smart ...
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NewsAir-conditioning compressors
HITACHI APPLIANCES: A wide range of scroll compressors for transport air conditioning systems will be presented by Hitachi Appliances, including the R407C and R134a models. The compressors are in service in more than 24 countries, with applications including high speed rail, commuter, metro, tram and monorail rolling stock. They offer ...