All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 758
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NewsNews in Brief
India’s Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved construction of a 121·7 km broad-gauge line from Gevra Road to Pendra Road in Chhattisgarh. The Rs8·4bn project will by undertaken by a special purpose vehicle formed by Ircon International, South Eastern Coalfields and the state of Chhattishgarh. Swiss firm InterRail Holding ...
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NewsAirline training for railway staff
UK: Train operator First Great Western has reached agreement with low-cost airline Flybe for more than 1 000 of its staff to participate in a purpose-designed customer service training course at the Flybe Training Academy near Exeter and at FGW's training unit at London Paddington over the next nine months. ...
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News'No delay' to High Speed 2 as legal challenges dismissed
UK: Under-Secretary of State for Transport Simon Burns confirmed on March 15 that there would be ‘no delay’ to the planned High Speed 2 railway between London and the north of England after a series of legal challenges to the project were dismissed at the High Court ...
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NewsLegal framework to support Islamabad - Istanbul freight
PAKISTAN: The Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail expects that Pakistan will become its 49th member state in September, after the government deposited an application for accession to the COTIF convention on February 21. The convention sets out a legal framework for international rail transport, and Pakistan's accession is ...
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NewsWorld rail market March 2013
China: Construction contractor Samsung-Hsin Chong JV has appointed BMT Asia Pacific to provide system assurance and risk management for the Kowloon City Section of Hong Kong’s Shatin – Central Link project. Mexico: The Secretariat of Communications & Transportation has extended Viabilis’ concession for the Chiapas – Mayab railway from ...
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NewsNS to buy stake in Den Haag city transport operator
NETHERLANDS: National passenger train operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen confirmed on March 13 that it is to go ahead with the purchase of a 49% stake in Den Haag city transport operator HTM. The €45m deal is still subject to final approval from the city council, which would hold a 51% ...
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NewsFour railways save money with a joint train order
SWITZERLAND: Four metre-gauge operators in western Switzerland have jointly selected Stadler Bussnang to supply a total of 17 two and three-car electric multiple-units worth a total of SFr150m. Announcing the orders on March 13, Stadler said joint procurement had saved SFr28m compared to separate competitions and should offer long-term savings ...
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NewsCFL Cargo delivers 60 metre beams by rail
EUROPE: CFL Cargo transported 14 concrete and rolled steel bridge beams each 60·6 m long from ArcelorMittal's Differdange plant in Luxembourg to Dresden-Friedrichstadt in Germany between March 11 and 12. CFL Cargo had not previously moved beams of such length by rail, and so a detailed transport plan had to ...
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NewsKazakhstan plans 1 000 km high speed line
KAZAKHSTAN: National railway KTZ has awarded Systra a contract to oversee the design and construction of a 1 011 km high speed railway between Almaty and Astana. The proposed 1 520 mm gauge single-track line would be suitable for 250 km/h running. A 10 km bridge across Lake Balkhash ...
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NewsOperator sought for Den Haag - Brussels service
NETHERLANDS: Den Haag's city-owned company The Hague Trains Holding has invited expressions of interest in a two-year contract to operate inter-city services between Den Haag and Brussels. An OJEU notice was published on March 13, following informal discussions with six potential operators and approval from the Dutch completion authority for ...
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NewsVale suspends Río Colorado project
ARGENTINA: Brazilian mining company Vale announced on March 11 that it had informed the Argentinian government that it was suspending its Río Colorado project to develop potash deposits in the province of Mendoza. According to the company, 'in the current macroeconomic environment the economics of the project are not ...
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NewsCollins moves to Sydney
Currently Chief Operating Officer of London Underground, Howard Collins has been named CEO of Sydney Trains. The new passenger operator is due to take over RailCorp’s CityRail suburban services from July 1.Collins was responsible for returning the Underground to full service after the 2005 London bombings, and was awarded an ...
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NewsWorld rail infrastructure market March 2013
Brazil: An Alstom-led consortium has won a €20m contract to provide ventilation systems for the 11-station extension of São Paulo metro Line 5 scheduled for completion in 2015. Bulgaria: NRIC has awarded Thales and Kapsch CarrierCom a €35m contract to provide ETCS Level 1 and GSM-R for 133 km ...
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NewsCorte 8 opens on Rio commuter network
BRAZIL: A new station was officially opened at Corte 8 on the Rio de Janeiro commuter network operated by SuperVia on March 11. Located between Gramacho and Duque de Caxias on the route to Saracuruna, the station has been built at a cost of R$10m to serve a local population ...
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NewsTfL seeks Crossrail operator
UK: Transport for London has placed a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union inviting expressions of interest in the concession to operate Crossrail passenger services. Potential operators have until the end of April to respond. The concession would be similar to the existing London Overground inner-suburban contract, ...
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NewsLos Angeles approves streetcar funding
USA: On March 6 Los Angeles City Council approved the provision of $300m over 30 years for the operation and maintenance of a light rail line in central Los Angeles. This follows voters’ approval in December of a tax that is expected to raise $62·5m towards the construction cost. ...
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NewsCN and CP recruit COOs
On February 19 Claude Mongeau, President of Canadian National, announced the promotion of Senior Vice-President Jim Vena (photo) to Chief Operating Officer & Executive Vice-President. He fills the gap left by Keith Creel, who departed CN two weeks earlier to take up the post of President & Chief Operating Officer ...
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NewsAntti Vehviläinen
Antti Vehviläinen has been appointed Director General of Liikennevirasto, the Finnish Transport Agency, for a five-year term. He joins from paper and pulp manufacturer Stora Enso Oyj, where he was Vice-President, Logistics. With extensive transport experience, he has chaired Liikennevirasto’s advisory board since the agency was established in 2010.
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NewsJoel Ortega
Joel Ortega has been named Director of Mexico City’s metro, while Eduardo Venedero becomes Director of light rail operator STE.
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NewsDimitris Sophocleous
Dimitris Sophocleous has been appointed General Manager of Romanian infrastructure manager CFR SA, succeeding Cristian Ghibu.