All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 675
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NewsElia takes charge as FS reports successful year
Italy: RFI Chief Executive Michele Mario Elia has been nominated as the next Chief Executive of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, in succession to Mauro Moretti who was named head of the Finmeccanica group in April (RG 5.14 p68). The appointment was announced at the FS Group annual shareholders meeting in ...
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NewsKeolis and Amey win Docklands Light Railway franchise
UK: On July 4 Transport for London named the Keolis Amey Docklands joint venture of Keolis (70%) and Amey Rail (30%) as the winner of the new franchise to operate and maintain the Docklands Light Railway automated light metro. The contract runs from December 7 2014 until April 2021, ...
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NewsUganda and Rwanda award standard gauge study contract
AFRICA: The governments of Uganda and Rwanda have jointly awarded German firm Gauff Ingenieure a contract to provide consultancy for the preliminary engineering design of a proposed standard gauge railway from Kampala in Uganda to Kigali in Rwanda. The route would parallel the existing metre-gauge Kampala – Kasese line as ...
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NewsTaiyuan – Xi'an high speed line opens
CHINA: The 570 km Taiyuan – Xi'an high speed line opened with a national timetable change on July 1. The Passenger-Dedicated Line cuts journey times between the cities from 10 h to 3 h, and will eventually form part of a 900 km route from Datong to Xi'an designed for ...
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NewsYakutia Railways commissions genset loco development
RUSSIA: Yakutia Railways has awarded a contract for concept development of a genset locomotive to Swiss firm Molinari Rail and Sinara Transport Machines. The 1 520 mm gauge main line freight locomotive would be based on the Russian manufacturer’s TE8 design, and be powered by two diesel engines. Announcing YR’s ...
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NewsHarsco to supply catenary maintenance vehicles to SBB
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has awarded Harsco a contract to supply 59 catenary construction, maintenance and repair vehicles between March 2016 and September 2017. These will replace existing vehicles and expand the fleet, enabling maintenance and repairs to be undertaken more quickly to minimise disruption on the network. ...
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NewsSeries W7 Shinkansen ready to start testing
JAPAN: JR West is preparing to start testing the Series W7 trainsets it is acquiring for use on the Hokuriku Shinkansen which opens for revenue service in March 2015. Two trainsets are being commissioned at Hakusan depot, around 10 km west of Kanazawa, ready for the start of test running ...
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NewsProgress buys Australian track business
AUSTRALIA: The Progress Rail Services subsidiary of Caterpillar finalised the purchase of Pacific Rail Engineering’s track business on June 17. ‘The acquisition of PRE is another step in expanding our global footprint to meet our customers’ needs,’ said Billy Ainsworth, Progress Rail President & CEO. ‘With nearly 25 years of ...
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NewsDon’t squelch oil by rail, says Greenbrier
USA: Announcing provisional orders from ‘multiple customers’ for an initial 3 500 of its Tank Car of the Future flammable products wagons on June 19, Chairman & CEO of The Greenbrier Companies William Furman warned that government regulation must not delay the implementation of new design standards or impede the ...
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NewsIntegrated infrastructure monitoring
TERRA: In collaboration with PC-Soft, Terra will be showing how its scalable multi-sensor platform can be used to undertake the regular inspection of track and infrastructure needed to achieve an optimum maintenance management strategy. Measurements can be processed directly within the Zedas asset lifecycle management system, enabling the planning ...
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NewsEuskoTren orders CAF trainsets
SPAIN: EuskoTren has awarded CAF a €150m contract to supply 12 electric trainsets for the future Bilbao Metro Line 3, and 16 to replace existing Series 200 and 300 units. Each of the metre-gauge electric multiple-units will have three 17 m long cars, giving a total capacity of 296 passengers ...
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NewsTwo Polish tram openings
POLAND: An extension of Toruń’s tram network to the Bielany residential district and Nicolaus Copernicus University opened on June 24. The 1·7 km extension was built by Budimex at a cost of 49·5m złoty, including five stops, a turning loop and upgrades to existing tracks. It is the first extension ...
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NewsKeolis takes over Boston commuter services
USA: Keolis Commuter Services took over from Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Co as operator of Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's 14 Boston commuter rail services with effect from July 1, saying it would improve punctuality, safety, cleanliness and customer service on the fifth largest commuter network in the USA, and the ...
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NewsBlind passengers study new trams
POLAND: Tramwaje Śląskie and disabled persons’ training institute Alfa Prim have organised workshops to enable blind and partially-sighted people to familiarise themselves with the operator’s new Pesa Twist trams, which have a different layout to previous vehicles. The events were held at the tramway’s Zawodzie depot, where users could ...
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NewsBogotá tram-train study
COLOMBIA: The Mayor of Bogotá, Gustavo Petro, has approved the final stage of a feasibility study for a tram-train route serving the capital. The Región Tram project is being developed by a consortium of Vossloh, Torres Cámara and Conconcreto, which envisages that the 2bn pesos scheme could be funded ...
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NewsU-Bahn and tram expansion in Wien 10-year plan
AUSTRIA: A 10-year metro and tram investment package for Wien was unveiled on June 27 by the city’s Transport Councillor Maria Vassilakou and Vice-Mayor Renate Brauner, Executive Councillor for Finance, Economic Affairs & Public Utilities. With the city’s population forecast to reach 2 million inhabitants by 2030, the city council ...
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NewsTitagarh Wagons enters metro refurbishment market
INDIA: Titagarh Wagons Ltd announced its first contract in the metro market on June 16. This covers the mid-life refurbishment of seven eight-car Kolkata metro trains. ‘It is a very important milestone for the group since this marks our entry into the metro coach business segment’, said Umesh ...
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NewsSmart Ticketing Alliance formally established
EUROPE: Transport smart card operators from 10 countries joined five founder members in Brussels to formally launch the Smart Ticketing Alliance on June 24. The international non-profit association is the result of a memorandum of understanding which was signed two years ago. It aims to lead the way towards ...
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NewsHualien – Taitung electrification inaugurated
TAIWAN: Electric train services began running between Hualien and Taitung on June 28, completing the electrification of Taiwan Railways Administration’s East Coast main line. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, President of Taiwan Ma Ying-jeou said the construction period had been cut from seven to five years, despite difficult geological and ...
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NewsAddis Abeba - Djibouti electric locomotives ordered
ETHIOPIA: A contract for CSR Zhuzhou to supply 35 electric locomotives for the future Addis Abeba – Djibouti standard gauge line was signed on June 19. Delivery of the three passenger locomotives and 32 freight locos able to haul trains of up to 4 000 tonnes will begin in October ...