All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 748
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NewsNews in Brief
Germany’s Federal Railway Office has certified DB Systemtechnik as a train operator in its own right. The operation of test and measurement trains had previously been undertaken by parent company DB. As Ouigo low-cost TGV services began operating between Marne-la-Vallée, Marseille and Montpellier on April 2, SNCF announced that ...
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NewsPut a truck on the track
ROAD-RAILER: The 'Trensformer' trailer developed by Dutch firm RENS is an adaptable platform intended to permit a standard road vehicle to operate as a tractor unit on rail wheels. With an adjustable length of between 4125 mm and 5025 mm, Trensformer allows a standard road vehicle, such as a tractor, ...
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NewsChina Northern enters the EU wagon market
CNR JINAN: The first production vehicles from a batch of 40 Type Zags LPG and ammonia tank wagons being built for French leasing company Atir-Rail was rolled out by CNR Jinan on April 28. CNR Jinan said the delivery of wagons to an EU customer was of 'epoch-making significance' for ...
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NewsEBRD supports western investment in Belarus rolling stock plant
BELARUS: The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development is providing the Electric Transport joint venture of Stadler Rail and state-owned Belkommunmash with a €14·5m 10-year loan to support the development of an electric train and tram factory which is under construction at the Fanipol Free Economic Zone near Minsk. The ...
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NewsKazan metro adds three stations
RUSSIA: The Kazan metro opened a three-station northern extension on May 9. This takes the line from its former terminus of Kozya Sloboda to Aviastroitelnaya, with intermediate stations at Yashlek and Severny Vokzal. The only line of the metro now has 10 stations. Severny Vokzal provides interchange with regional ...
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NewsBanedanmark awards upgrade design contracts
DENMARK: Infrastructure manager Banedanmark has awarded Grontmij a €1·1m contract to identify sections of the København - Odense route where speeds could be raised to 200 km/h, with the aim of giving an end-to-end journey time of 1 h. This could require new alignments to remove curves, and changes to ...
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NewsCFR Marfa privatisation bids in
ROMANIA: Three bids to participate in the privatisation of national freight operator CFR Marfa were received by the May 8 deadline, the Ministry of Transport has confirmed. Submissions were received from OmniTRAX Inc, a US-based short line management group; SC Grup Feroviar Român, Romanian's largest private freight operator; A ...
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NewsLoan to fund Egyptian resignalling
EGYPT: The government has signed two loan agreements to fund resignalling to increase capacity on the Benha - Zagazig - Ismailia - Port Said route. Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development is to lend US$100m, and the Arab Fund for Economic & Social Development is to lend US$150m Under ...
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NewsSvilengrad - Turkey upgrading completed
BULGARIA: Caretaker Prime Minister Marin Raykov and caretaker Minister of Transport Kristian Krastev inaugurated the upgraded 19 km section of Pan-European Corridor X between Svilengrad and the Turkish border on May 9. The project undertaken by Czech firm OHL ZS under a €84m contract awarded by National Railway Infrastructure Co ...
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NewsCanadian Pacific increases 2013 capital investment programme
CANADA: Plans to bring forward to 2013 capital spending projects which were previously scheduled for 2014 were announced by Canadian Pacific on May 7. The company said higher than anticipated cash flow projections for the current year will enable it to allocate a further C$75m to C$100m to the ...
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NewsProbably the best suburban station in København
DENMARK: Main consultant and civil engineer Grontmij, railway engineer Atkins and Gottlieb Paludan Architects have been appointed to design a station serving a regeneration area on the site of the former Carlsberg brewery at Vesterbro in København, where brewing stopped in 2008. The new station is due to open in ...
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NewsCompetitive tendering planned for Queensland
AUSTRALIA: The Queensland state government has accepted recommendations to open up the passenger rail operations and infrastructure maintenance markets in its response to the final report of the Queensland Commission of Audit which was set up last year to provide strategic economic advice. In 'A Plan: Better services for Queenslanders', ...
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NewsBlack Sea container terminal upgrading completed
RUSSIA: Container terminal operator NUTEP has completed the latest phase of a programme to upgrade railway facilities at the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. NUTEP has increased its overall monthly block train capacity to 30 trains of 112 TEU by constructing a new yard at the rear of the terminal. ...
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NewsIPL awarded £7m contract to develop ticketing data technology
UK: The Rail Settlement Plan subsidiary of the Association of Train Operating Companies, which supports the provision of network-wide ticket sales, has awarded IT services company IPL a £7m, five-year contract to design, build and support a new Product Management System. To be based on open-source technology, the PMS will ...
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NewsTrinity Industries announces wagon leasing joint venture
USA: The formation of a joint venture which aims to create a wagon leasing fleet worth $1bn by the end of 2014 was announced by Trinity Industries on May 7. Trinity's partners in RIV 2013 Rail Holdings are insurance investor Napier Park Railcar Lease Fund and a co-investor which has ...
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News€450m sustainable transport fund announced
FRANCE: On May 7 Transport Minister Frédéric Cuvillier launched a new funding competition for urban transport projects, including metro, light rail and tram-train schemes. The government is making a total of €450m available for projects outside the Paris region, with a portion specifically reserved for 'innovative projects in the ...
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NewsAKN orders Alstom diesel multiple-units
GERMANY: Schleswig-Holstein regional operator AKN Eisenbahn announced a €60m order for 14 Alstom Coradia Lint 54 diesel multiple-units on May 6. The DMUs are be built at Alstom's Salzgitter plant and delivered in the second half of 2015 to operate on service A1 between Neumünster and Eidelstedt. The two-car units ...
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NewsŁódź launches tram energy recovery system
POLAND: A pilot application of ABB's Enviline Energy Recuperation System is scheduled to go into service on the Łódź tram network this week. The Enviline ERS is installed at a substation and enables current produced during regenerative braking to be returned to the AC grid if there are no accelerating ...
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NewsRio de Janeiro tram contract signed
BRAZIL: RATP Dev and its local partners Companhia de Concessoes Rodoviarias, Odebrecht Transport and Invepar have won the contract to build and operate a 28 km tram network in Rio de Janeiro. The deal announced on May 7 requires the first 14 km section to open by the end of ...
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NewsBeijing metro Line 14 opens
CHINA: The first phase of Beijing metro Line 14 opened on May 5, running 12·4 km from Zhangguozhuang in the southern Fengtai district to Xiju. The first section of Line 14 has seven stations, including Garden Expo Park which will serve the 9th China (Beijing) International Garden Expo which begins ...