All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 811
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NewsBordeaux to Spain high speed line route approved
FRANCE: The transport ministry has approved routes for high speed lines from Bordeaux to Toulouse and the Spanish border, RFF announced on April 6, enabling the infrastructure manager to prepare for a public enquiry which is expected to start in mid-2013. Granting of formal approval for the Grand Projet ...
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NewsKiwiRail puts workshops up for sale
NEW ZEALAND: KiwiRail has decided to put its Hillside Engineering workshops business in Dunedin up for sale, following a reduction in its future workload for rolling stock construction and refurbishment. The railway announced on April 19 that it intended to advertise the business in ‘early May’, with the aim ...
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NewsJakarta - Bandung fast line study
INDONESIA: A Japanese consortium is to undertake a pre-feasibility study into a proposed 144 route-km fast passenger line between Jakarta and Bandung for opening by 2018. Following a co-operation agreement between the Indonesian government and the Japanese Ministry of Land, Transportation & Tourism, the study will be ...
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NewsFirst passengers ride Auckland's Manukau Rail Link
NEW ZEALAND: Passenger services on Auckland's first new rail route for 82 years began on April 15, following a preview day with station tours, train rides, face painting, music and celebrity sausage sizzle on April 14. An inaugural train carrying the Mayor of Auckland had broken a ribbon at Manukau ...
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NewsERTMS accord signed
EUROPE: Additional measures to ‘facilitate’ the deployment of the European Rail Traffic Management System have been agreed by the European Commission and the rail sector, with the signing of a further memorandum of understanding in København on April 16. The signing formed part of an event organised by the Danish ...
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NewsFuel cell locomotive trial
SOUTH AFRICA: Five fuel cell locomotives are under construction as demonstrators for use underground at Anglo American Platinum Ltd's Dishaba mine. Lead contractor Vehicle Projects Inc is undertaking engineering design, fabrication and testing of the fuel cell power plant in the USA. Completed units will be delivered to Trident South ...
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NewsGySEV orders Flirts for upgraded line
HUNGARY: GySEV has ordered four Flirt electric multiple-units from Stadler Bussnang to accommodate growing ridership on the recently upgraded Sopron - Szombathely - Szentgotthárd route in western Hungary. The European Union's Cohesion Fund is meeting 85% of the €20·3m cost of the contract which was signed on April 13. The ...
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NewsBombardier opens Hortolândia monorail factory
BRAZIL: Bombardier Transportation inaugurated a US$15m monorail train manufacturing plant at its Hortolândia site in São Paulo state on April 13. The US$15m facility has been developed over 18 months as the company's global centre for monorails, and will serve local and export markets. Technology has been transferred from Bombardier's ...
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NewsMTR Corp awards signalling, track and electrification contracts
CHINA: Hong Kong's MTR Corp has awarded Alstom contracts with a total value of €71m covering the supply of signalling, track and electrification systems for two metro projects. The track and electrification contracts announced on April 17 are the first which Alstom has won in Hong Kong. One contract covers ...
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NewsSBB calls tenders for Gotthard high speed trains
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has invited tenders for the supply of 29 high speed trains to operate north-south domestic and international services, at an estimated cost of more than SFr800m. Due for delivery from the end of 2017, the trains are intended to cope with an anticipated doubling of traffic ...
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NewsBergen line resignalling moves forward
NORWAY: Infrastructure manager Jernbaneverket confirmed on April 17 that control of its Bergen - Geilo line had been successfully switched to a new control centre. This is a key step in its three-year programme to resignal the entire Bergen - Honefoss route, which is due to be completed by the ...
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News
Daniel Grabauskas
Daniel Grabauskas, formerly CEO of Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, has been selected as Executive Director & CEO of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation.
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NewsGovernment to sell 25% stake in Georgian Railway
GEORGIA: The government announced plans to privatise a 25% stake in state-owned Georgian Railway on April 16. An initial public offering is planned for May, with global depositary receipts to be listed on the London Stock Exchange. GR is a vertically-integrated operator with a statutory monopoly on its 1 600 ...
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NewsGood performance to be rewarded
FRANCE: Paris transport operator RATP faces tougher performance targets under a four-year contract agreed in March with STIF, the organising and funding authority for the Ile de France region. Reflecting demand for more punctual and reliable services, the contract specifies performance levels for the RER and metro with a bonus-penalty ...
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NewsNews in Brief - April 2012
In the light of the March 11 2011 earthquake, East Japan Railway has allocated ¥100bn to improving the earthquake resistance of its infrastructure over the next five years. China’s Exim Bank has approved a US$270m loan to Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Transport for construction of the 27 km Matara ...
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NewsJacks lift Dalian locomotives
NEW ZEALAND: Jacks supplied by UK firm Mechan are being used at KiwiRail's Te Rapa depot, which maintains the DL diesel locomotives suplied by CNR Dalian. An update of a design that has been in operation at Palmerston North for the past decade, the four 30 tonne jacks are being ...
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NewsSun Link streetcar construction begins in Tucson
USA: Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was in Tucson, Arizona, on April 12 for a ceremony to launch major construction works for the Tucson Modern Streetcar project and unveil the Sun Link branding for the new line. The 6·2 km route will run on-street from Arizona Health Sciences Center via the ...
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NewsBuenos Aires metro deliveries begin
ARGENTINA: The initial 10 of a new fleet of metro cars being built by China CNR Corp for Buenos Aires metro Line A arrived in Argentina on April 11. The first of the cars had been rolled out in Shanghai in February. The yellow and grey exterior livery and yellow ...
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NewsRZD supports Serbian Railways modernisation
SERBIA: An agreement for Russian Railways to assist Serbian Railways with the construction of a 68 km electrified line between Valjevo and Loznica and assist with the modernisation of more than 300 km of existing route was signed by RZD President Vladimir Yakunin and ZS Director General Milovan Markovic on ...
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NewsLines 3 and 4 take Montpellier tram network to 56 km
FRANCE: Passengers began using lines 3 and 4 of the Montpellier light rail network on April 7, following an official opening ceremony the day before. Line 3 runs for 19·8 km from Juvignac in the west of the city to Pérols-Etang de l'Or in the southeast, with a branch from ...