All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 799
-
NewsNS seeks next-generation Sprinter
NETHERLANDS: Bidders have been invited to prequalify for a contract to supply single-deck EMUs for national passenger operator NS. The base order would be for vehicles ‘with a total capacity of approximately 10 000 to 20 000 seats’, with deliveries commencing between October 2016 and October 2017. The next-generation Sprinter ...
-
NewsRio Tinto automation contract confirmed
AUSTRALIA: Train operations on Rio Tinto’s heavy haul iron ore railways in the Pilbara are to be fully automated by 2015 under two contracts announced on July 6. Valued at A$362m in total, the contracts have been exercised under the framework agreement which Rio Tinto signed with Ansaldo STS in ...
-
NewsRDC wins case in Guatemala railway dispute
GUATEMALA: Pittsburgh-based Railroad Development Corp announced on July 5 that it had won its five-year arbitration case against the Republic of Guatemala over the disputed concession to revive and operate the country’s national rail network. On June 29 a tribunal of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes unanimously ...
-
NewsStations for mobile workers
NETHERLANDS: Serviced office company Regus and Dutch national passenger operator NS have opened their first station2station business lounge at Amersfoort station, and are planning to develop a total of 13 drop-in office facilities at inter-city stations by the end of the year. The lounges provide access to office facilities including ...
-
NewsCeremony marks start of Sarmiento tunnelling
ARGENTINA: What Minister of the Interior & Transport Florencio Randazzo described as ‘the most important railway project of the last 100 years’ was officially launched in Buenos Aires on July 2. Under plans announced in 2006, a 33 km tunnel is to be bored between Moreno and Caballito in order ...
-
NewsBombardier licenses Flexity 2 design to China South
CHINA: On July 5 Bombardier Transportation announced the conclusion of a technology licence agreement with the CSR Puzhen subsidiary of China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corp. Under the agreement, Bombardier will provide CSR Puzhen with a 10-year licence to use its technology to manufacture and sell Flexity 2 ...
-
NewsSwiss start work on fourth control centre
SWITZERLAND: The foundation stone for SBB’s new Central Region control centre at Olten was officially laid on July 5, although preparatory work has been underway since last October. The ceremony was attended by Bruno Stehrenberger, Head of Operations at SBB Infrastruktur, the city’s mayor Ernst Zingg and canton Solothurn’s Director ...
-
NewsWi-fi is latest upgrade for SWT Desiro fleet
UK: A £3·2m programme to install wireless internet on the 45 five-car Class 444 Siemens Desiro EMUs operated by South West Trains was announced on July 4. As well as enabling passengers to access the internet and e-mail on the move, wi-fi will enable real-time monitoring of on-train equipment and, ...
-
NewsDiesel locomotives delivered to New York subway
USA: MTA New York City Transit has taken delivery of the first of 28 diesel-electric locomotives ordered from MotivePower for use on works trains when the third rail power supply is turned off. Designated MP 8AC-3 by the manufacturer and R156 by NYCT, the 51 tonne locomotives have been specially-designed ...
-
NewsHKX prepares to take on DB
GERMANY: Open access operator Hamburg-Köln Express expects to launch revenue services between the two cities on July 23, having opened its ticket sales channels on July 4. HKX will initially operate one train per day from Monday to Wednesday in competition with Deutsche Bahn, serving six intermediate ...
-
NewsWagon fleet privatisation proposed
KAZAKHSTAN: The government is developing plans for the Kaztemirtrans freight business of national railway KTZ to transfer ownership of its wagon fleet to the private sector. Because of a shortage of wagons Kaztemirtrans currently uses foreign-registered vehicles for 20% of its traffic, and as neighbouring countries reform their wagon ownership ...
-
NewsUijeongbu inaugurates U Line light metro
SOUTH KOREA: An 11·1 km elevated light metro serving the city of Uijeongbu was officially opened for traffic on July 1, providing an east-west route connecting with north-south services on Seoul metro Line 1. With almost 500 000 inhabitants, Uijeongbu lies 20 km north of the South Korean capital. When ...
-
NewsSound Transit sets budget and timescale for North Link project
USA: Seattle's Sound Transit board approved project scheduling and a $2·1bn budget for the North Link light rail extension from the University of Washington to Northgate on June 28. North Link will be a continuation of the 5·1 km Westlake - Capitol Hill - University of Washington extension, which is ...
-
NewsThree-year investment programme approved
VIETNAM: An investment programme worth US$9·5bn over the next three years has been approved by parliament, paving the way for state railway DSVN to undertake significant modernisation works on key north-south corridors. Due for completion by 2015, the package focuses on raising line speeds to 120 km/h ...
-
News
Gert Frost
Gert Frost (photo) is to succeed Mogens Jonck as Commercial Director at Danish state railway DSB; Frost will continue as CEO of DSB S-tog until a successor is found. Director of Personnel Lone Lindsby has decided to step down, and will be replaced by CEO Jesper Lok on an interim ...
-
NewsOpening in sight?
BRAZIL: Federal railway construction company Valec expects the first section of the North-South Railway, running from Palmas to Gurupi in Tocantins state, to be operational in September this year. This would be followed by Gurupi – Uruaçu in April 2013 and Uruaçu – Anápolis in September of that ...
-
NewsDB Schenker to serve London Gateway
UK: DB Schenker expects to operate four intermodal trains per day from the London Gateway deep-water port when it opens in the fourth quarter of next year. Representing total investment of £1·5bn, London Gateway is being developed by DP World on the site of the former Shellhaven ...
-
NewsSBB to replace maintenance fleet
SWITZERLAND: The Swiss Federal Railways board has approved a SFr606m programme to procure 1750 new infrastructure maintenance vehicles. These will replace the current fleet of 2240 vehicles, which have an average age of 33 years and no longer meet current technical, environmental and safety standards. SBB expects ...
-
NewsIC4s return to service
DENMARK: National passenger operator DSB announced on July 2 that it had received authority to put its troubled fleet of IC4 DMUs back into passenger service. The trains had been withdrawn from traffic in November 2011 after problems were identified with the braking system. DSB has been allowed to run ...
-
NewsIntelligent planning to minimise disruption
AUSTRALIA: RailCorp of New South Wales has awarded Siemens a contract to supply and support 'intuitive' technology designed to optimise timetabling to improve reliability and punctuality on the busy Sydney - Blacktown corridor. 'Our control system is capable of re-routing and prioritising trains automatically in the event of disruption', according ...