All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 778
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NewsSiemens and Invensys win Crossrail signalling contract
UK: A consortium of Siemens and Invensys Rail has won contract C620 covering the design, supply and commissioning of communications-based train control for the Crossrail project, promoter Crossrail Ltd announced on November 12. Bombardier Transportation, Invensys Rail, Siemens, Signalling Solutions and Thales were invited to tender for the contract. Bombardier ...
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NewsPlan your timetables the Swiss way
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has appointed VIA Consulting & Development to market, license and support its Open TimeTable software for use by other train operators and infrastructure managers. SBB uses OTT to visualise operational data for analysis, and to help refine timetable planning parameters by identifying factors including reoccurring delay ...
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NewsWagon covers could save fuel
USA: Computer modelling and wind tunnel tests have indicated that using fibreglass covers on freight wagons could improve their aerodynamics sufficiently to bring significant fuel savings, according to Structural Composites of Indiana. The company has established a new business, United Railcar Covers, to handle its activities in the rail ...
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NewsAxiom suspension system approved
EUROPE: DB Schenker Rail (UK) company Axiom Rail has received approval for its TF25E suspension system to operate throughout Europe, following a programme of testing in Germany and France in accordance with EN14363 (UIC518/UIC518-2) at speeds up to 120 km/h and axleloads up to 25 tonnes. Designed for speeds ...
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NewsAnsaldoBreda wins Miami Metrorail train contract
USA: Miami-Dade County Commissioners gave Miami-Dade Transit the formal go-ahead on November 8 to award AnsaldoBreda a $300m contract to supply a fleet of metro cars to replace the current Budd stock on the Metrorail network. The air-conditioned coaches are to have 'an elegant exterior and interior design', with bicycle ...
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NewsSão Paulo consults on metro Line 2 extension
BRAZIL: São Paulo Metro began public consultation for its planned extension of Line 2 on November 7, with the presentation of the environmental impact report into the project. The 14·2 km extension from Vila Prudente to Dutra is intended to serve the northeastern part of the city, including the rapidly-expanding ...
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NewsEBRD backs Almaty light rail PPP
KAZAKHSTAN: A memorandum of understanding for the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development to assist the city of Almaty in awarding a PPP contract for the development of a 'fast tram' line was signed on November 7. The planned 14 km light rail line to replace the existing tram route ...
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NewsNetwork Rail sells plant hire business
UK: Network Rail has completed the sale of its Network Rail (NDS-Plant) Ltd specialist heavy plant and equipment hire business to TXM Plant. Network Rail (NDS-Plant) was formed in November 2011 when the infrastructure manager purchased the rail division of Hydrex Equipment (UK) Ltd from administrators KPMG. This was intended ...
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NewsPresident opens Minsk metro extension
BELARUS: President Alexander Lukashenko officially opened a 5·14 km extension of Minsk metro's Moskovskaya Line on November 6. The extension southwest from Institut Kultury adds three stations at Grushevka, Michalowo and Petrovschina. Passenger services began the following day, with local surface transport revised to feed the metro. The extension is ...
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NewsMalaysian firm to build east-west corridor in Laos
LAOS: Watched by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and Laotian Deputy Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong, a contract was signed in Vientiane on November 5 for construction of a 220 km railway running east-west across Laos from the Thai to Vietnamese borders. Under an agreement with the ...
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NewsDB Netz orders new emergency cranes
GERMANY: Infrastructure manager DB Netz signed contracts totalling €60m for the supply of five emergency rail cranes on November 2. Tatravagonka will provide bogies, Gföllner superstructures and Kirov three 160 tonne and two 100 tonne cranes. DB Netz's emergency crane trains are based at Wanne-Eickel, Fulda and Leipzig. The ...
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NewsEuroMaint Rail expands to undertake coach project
SWEDEN: This month EuroMaint is to begin work on a contract to refurbish 55 second class coaches for national passenger operator SJ. The project will run until the first quarter of 2014, and is an option on a deal for the refurbishment of 160 coaches undertaken in 2009-11. Seats and ...
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NewsDB Systemtechnik awarded technical consultancy contract
DENMARK: DB's rolling stock engineering services business DB Systemtechnik has won a framework contract to provide Danish national passenger operator DSB with specialist technical support for the maintenance and repair of its fleet. The deal announced on November 7 runs for three years, with an option to extend for a ...
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NewsEuroporte and Cerevia launch Bourgogne Fret Service
FRANCE: Bourgogne Fret Service has been launched to serve freight customers in the Bourgogne region. It is owned by Eurotunnel rail freight subsidiary Europorte (67%) and the Cérévia agricultural co-operative (33%). The partners have co-operated since 2010, when Cérévia awarded Europorte a contract to transport 390 000 tonnes of wheat ...
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NewsFirst Vectron handed over to Railpool
GERMANY: The first of six Vectron electric locomotives ordered by leasing company Railpool was formally handed over by Siemens Rail Systems Division CEO Dr Jochen Eickholt on November 7. The Railpool joint venture of HSH Nordbank and KfW IPEX-Bank was the first customer for the Vectron modular locomotive family, placing ...
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NewsSantiago poised to call metro E&M package bids
CHILE: Metro de Santiago expects to invite bids by mid-November for the first of nine contracts for the supply of electrical and mechanical systems to equip its new Lines 3 and 6, which are due to open in 2018 and 2016 respectively. The largest single expansion of the capital’s metro ...
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NewsInteroperability call on Brazil's new freight corridors
BRAZIL: Common standards should be adopted to ensure interoperability across the 10 000 km of new freight railway corridors to be developed by the federal government over the next 15 years, according to national railway industry association Abifer. Speaking on November 6 at the first Metroferroviário conference, being held alongside ...
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NewsBratislava urban transport funding reallocated
SLOVAKIA: The government has allocated €420m to the construction of the first phase of a segregated light rail line from Bratislava Hlavná station to Šafárikovo Námestie and Janíkov Dvor, along with modernisation of the existing tram route to Dúbravka, the purchase of new trams and trolleybuses, and the acquisition of ...
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NewsAlstom to maintain Turkish high speed train fleet
TURKEY: State railway TCDD has awarded Alstom a €22·3m two-year contract to service and maintain its fleet of 12 six-car CAF high speed trains. The 250 km/h trainsets entered service from 2009, and are deployed on the 245 km Ankara - Eskisehir and 310 km Ankara - Konya routes. They ...
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NewsBeijing metro Line 14 PPP concession agreed
CHINA: Beijing municipality and Beijing MTR Corp Ltd initialled a PPP concession covering railway systems and the future operation of metro Line 14 on November 6. The agreement is still subject to approval by government authorities. Beijing MTR Corp Ltd is a joint venture of MTR Corp (49%), Beijing Capital ...