All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 803
-
NewsStadler rolls out latest Arriva Nederland multiple-units
NETHERLANDS: The first of 14 Stadler GTW electric multiple-units ordered by Arriva Nederland for use on Vechtdal Lines services was rolled out by the Swiss manufacturer on June 12. Arriva Nederland placed a €140m order for 38 diesel and electric units in June 2010, taking the total number of GTWs ...
-
NewsMacedonian Railways launches fleet renewal programme
MACEDONIA: National train operator MZ Transport has announced details of a planned fleet renewal programme. Tenders are to be called in the third quarter of 2012 for the supply of up to four three-car diesel multiple-units, two three-car electric multiple-units, 150 wagons, the rehabilitation of three electric locomotives and the ...
-
NewsWork starts on Midland Metro extension
UK: Work on the extension of the Midland Metro light rail route that will link Snow Hill and New Street stations in the centre of Birmingham was launched by Transport Minister Norman Baker on June 13. With utility diversion now underway, the 1·4 km route running via Bull Street and ...
-
NewsBulgarian rail freight privatisation process launched
BULGARIA: Plans for the sale of the BDZ Tovarnni Prevosi freight business of national railway operator BDZ EAD were formally announced by the government's Privatisation & Post-Privatisation Control Agency on June 12. The agency said the aim of the sale is to allow the freight business to survive, modernise and ...
-
NewsMetrolink trams reach Oldham Mumps
UK: Manchester Metrolink light rail services reached Oldham on June 13 with the opening of an 11·5 km line from Manchester Victoria under Phase 3a of the £1·4bn Future Metrolink expansion programme. Serving seven intermediate stops, the route follows almost entirely the alignment of the former Network Rail line between ...
-
NewsKlang Valley rapid transit bids submitted
MALAYSIA: Project promoter Mass Rapid Transit Corp has received bids to supply trains, signalling, depot equipment and platform screen doors for the 51 km Sungai Buloh - Kajang MY Rapid Transit line which is under construction for opening in 2017. Changchun Railway Vehicles, CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive and a Siemens/SMH ...
-
NewsDanes to order EMUs in public transport boost
DENMARK: New electric multiple-units and additional double-deck coaches for København commuter services are included in a DKr2·6bn investment package announced by Transport Minister Henrik Dam Kristensen on June 12. The investment forms part of a package of proposals to boost the use of public transport agreed by the government with ...
-
NewsWaterloo light rail engineering consultant appointed
CANADA: The Regional Municipality of Waterloo has appointed Parsons Brinckerhoff as its general engineering consultant for the C$818m project to build a 19 km light rail line and a 17 km bus rapid transit network. The light rail line would run from Conestoga Mall in Waterloo to Fairview Park Mall ...
-
NewsPrimove induction powered tram trial proves a success
GERMANY: Bombardier Transportation has successfully completed testing of its Primove catenary-free power system on a branch of the Augsburg tram network. Primove uses cables between the rails to produce magnetic fields which induce electric current for traction power in pick-up coils mounted underneath the vehicle. The tests were ...
-
News€870m upgrade to increase RER capacity and reliability
FRANCE: Meeting on June 6, the board of Ile-de-France transport authority STIF approved a package of measures to increase capacity and improve reliability on RER Line A, which it says is 'the busiest line in Europe'. A total of €630m is to be spent on infrastructure, including bringing forward ...
-
NewsTrenord orders Alstom commuter EMUs
ITALY: Lombardia regional passenger operator Trenord announced a €67m order for 10 five-car Alstom Coradia Meridian electric multiple-units on June 11. The order is an option on a contract for 14 EMUs which Alstom supplied for Malpensa airport services, but the latest batch will have an interior configured for commuter ...
-
NewsTram ticket lottery
KAZAKHSTAN: In an attempt to reduce the problem of discarded tickets around tram stops, and attract more riders, Pavlodar Tramways has launched a 'lucky ticket' lottery. Passengers are being encouraged to keep their tickets in order to check the numbers against a list of winning tickets to be published ...
-
NewsChicago's South Red Line to be rebuilt
USA: Chicago Transit Authority has announced details of what it says is the one of the biggest projects in its history, a $425m 'complete reconstruction' of the track and trackbed on the southern section of the L metro Red Line between Cermak-Chinatown and 95th/Dan Ryan. The project includes upgrading the ...
-
NewsArgentina - Paraguay rail link restored
INTERNATIONAL: The completion of 29 km of new alignment enabling trains to once again run between the 1 435 mm gauge networks of Argentina and Paraguay was announced on June 7, providing access to a freight terminal in the Paraguayan city of Encarnación. Since April 1990 the two networks had ...
-
NewsNetwork Rail opens The Quadrant:MK
UK: After five years of planning and construction, on June 11 Network Rail's new national centre known as The Quadrant:MK welcomed the first of more than 3 000 employees who are due to relocate to the site in Milton Keynes. Activities being moved to the national centre during the coming ...
-
NewsUrban rail news in brief - June 2012
As sole bidder, incumbent Veolia Transport has been awarded a nine-year contract to operate the public transport network in the French city of Saint-Etienne from July 1. The contracting authority is to pay €287m a year, while Veolia has agreed to contribute €1m towards the acquisition of three new trams ...
-
NewsResearching smarter transit
USA: Under a five-year programme, Cubic Transportation Systems and the University of California at San Diego are to launch a ‘collaborative partnership’ to study next-generation transport technology in cities, with a strong focus on contactless payments and passenger information systems. Cubic has underwritten the partnership with a $500000 grant to ...
-
NewsUniversity launches rail course
AUSTRIA: St Pölten University of Applied Sciences has extended its range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses. A Masters course on Railway Infrastructure Technology is offered over four semesters to provide ‘more detailed knowledge of railway building, track maintenance and installations’. However, the course treats the railway as a single entity ...
-
NewsFerronorte opens to Itiquira
BRAZIL: The Ferronorte network grew by a further 120 km on June 2 when freight operator América Latina Logística officially opened the section between Alto Araguaia and Itiquira in the state of Mato Grosso. The 140 km Itiquira - Rondonópolis route is expected to open by the end of 2012. ...
-
NewsHigh-calibre opening ceremony for InnoTrans 2012
INNOTRANS: More than 1000 leading representatives of the international rail industry are expected at the Palais am Funkturm for the official opening of InnoTrans 2012 on September 18, including Siim Kallas, Vice-President of the European Commission, and Dr Peter Ramsauer, German Federal Minister of Transport. Kallas and Ramsauer ...