All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 672
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NewsG:Link trams inaugurated
AUSTRALIA: Revenue services began running on the G:Link light rail line on July 21, making Queensland's Gold Coast the first new entrant to the country's tram club for more than a century. The line had been officially inaugurated the previous day by state Transport Minister Scott Emerson and local MP ...
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NewsJeddah metro design contract awarded
SAUDI ARABIA: The government signed a contract with Systra on July 17 for preliminary engineering designs for the Jeddah metro. The value of the 20-month contract is 276m riyals. Last year the Council of Ministers approved a 45bn riyal transport plan for the city, which includes a three-line light ...
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NewsSchleswig-Holstein signs Netz Mitte contracts
GERMANY: The Land of Schleswig-Holstein signed operating contracts for Netz Mitte passenger services with DB Regio and Nordbahn on July 16. The two contracts run for 13 years from the December 2014 timetable change. DB Regio has been awarded Contract A, covering regional express services carrying 22 000 passengers/day ...
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NewsWorld rail market July 2014
Netherlands: On behalf of all operators, NS has awarded Eneco a contract to supply traction electricity in 2015-25. From 2018 the annual requirement of 1·4TWh/year will be entirely supplied from wind power, 50% generated in the Netherlands. North America: DataTraks is to manage Transportation Technology Center Inc’s Trackside Acoustic ...
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NewsWorld rail infrastructure market July 2014
Australia: Transport for New South Wales has appointed Network Rail Consulting to provide systems integration services for its advanced train control programme. Austria: Wiener Linien has awarded Siemens a €40m contract to modernise signalling on metro Line U4, including installation of automatic train control, replacement of five interlockings and ...
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NewsChinese co-operation agreement signed
BRAZIL: A five-year memorandum of understanding for Brazil and China to co-operate on railway projects was one of 32 bilateral agreements signed in Brasília on July 17 during an official visit by President Xi Jinping of China. ‘Our relations are developing with an unparalleled speed in many areas of co-operation’, ...
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NewsFirst Braunschweig Tramino delivered
GERMANY: The first low-floor Tramino tram for Braunschweig arrived in the early hours of July 18 from the Solaris Bus & Coach factory in Poznań. The second and third vehicles are to arrive in the following two weeks, with the remaining 15 trams due by the end of the year. ...
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NewsMTR selected to operate Crossrail services
UK: Transport for London named MTR Corp (Crossrail) Ltd as preferred bidder for the Crossrail operating concession on July 18. The £1·4bn contract will run for eight years from May 2015, with an option for a further two years. TfL will make payments to the concessionaire with a nominal value ...
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NewsProducts & Technology in Brief
Birley Manufacturing, APA Design and Datum Composites have developed a prototype accessible toilet module designed to meet TSI PRM requirements. It has a seals one-piece floor moulding to prevent the leakage of liquids and so reduce the risk of underfloor corrosion. TÜV Rheinland has certified that Huawei’s GSM-R ...
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NewsStadler forms joint venture in Azerbaijan
AZERBAIJAN: Stadler Rail and local partner International Railway Distribution LLC announced the formation of a 51:49 joint venture on July 17. Stadler said it foresees a demand for its products as CIS countries modernise their rail networks and encourage the transfer of traffic from road to rail. Stadler ...
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News€53m loan for Rail Baltica and transit corridors
LITHUANIA: Nordic Investment Bank has signed an 18-year €53m loan agreement with national railway Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai to finance works for the Rail Baltica project and modernisation of the east–west corridors. The loan announced on July 15 will facilitate the construction of a 115 km standard gauge line parallel to the ...
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NewsQueen opens rebuilt Reading station
UK: The rebuilt station at Reading on Network Rail’s Great Western Main Line was officially inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth II on July 17, marking the completion of a four-year project. The station reconstruction forms a key element in the £897m Reading Station Area Redevelopment programme, which is now expected to ...
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NewsChinese high speed line construction one-third cheaper, study suggests
CHINA: Economies of scale accrued through standardisation of construction processes are among the key factors in China’s ability to build high speed railways more cheaply than other countries, a World Bank study has suggested. The World Bank’s paper, entitled High Speed Railways in China: A Look at Construction Costs, suggests ...
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NewsAlpine locomotive bogie
PROSE: A powered bogie developed by Prose for the Gmf 4/4 metre-gauge diesel-electric class locomotives which Schalker Eisenhütte has supplied to Rhätische Bahn will be on show as part of Prose’s presence on the Swissrail Industry Association stand. The bogie is designed for year-round operation in demanding Alpine conditions. ...
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NewsFirst Roca electrification contracts awarded
ARGENTINA: The Ministry of the Interior & Transport has selected Supercemento SAIC as preferred bidder for the first two contracts to be awarded under the project to upgrade and electrify at 25 kV 50 Hz AC the 52⋅6 km between Plaza Constitución and La Plata on the Roca commuter network ...
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NewsSBB overspend funded
SWITZERLAND: SBB announced on June 30 that it had reached agreement with the Federal Office for Transport over the financing of projected overspends in its infrastructure maintenance budget during the five-year plan period 2013-17. Faced with increasing traffic volumes, SBB spent SF129m more than anticipated in 2013, and the ...
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NewsBrno region rail development agreed
CZECH REPUBLIC: A memorandum setting out plans to increase access to rail transport in the Jihomoravský region and provide more options for commuting into Brno has been signed by the Ministry of Transport, infrastructure manager SŽDC, the regional authority, three municipalities and regional transport authority Kordis JMK. ...
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NewsNot just the ticket
TICKETS: A second screen showing real-time passenger information and advertisements is incorporated into 70 FareGo Sales ST|40 ticket vending machines which Scheidt & Bachmann has supplied to Bayerische Oberlandbahn. The TVMs also have a touch-screen interface for buying tickets, an ‘eco mode’ to reduce energy consumption and a glass ...
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NewsLondon Overground EMU shortlist announced
UK: Bombardier, CAF, Hitachi and Siemens have been shortlisted for a contract to supply 39 four-car ‘metro-style’ electric multiple-units for London Overground services, Transport for London announced on July 15. Tenders are to be submitted by the end of October, and TfL expects to announce the successful bidder by ...
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NewsSan Francisco to replace LRV fleet
USA: San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority has recommended the purchase of up to 260 S200 light rail vehicles from Siemens Industry. The 15-year contract would be worth $1·2bn when it is formally awarded later this year, following approval of the SFMTA board on July 15. Siemens beat a rival ...