All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 865
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NewsÜstra orders 50 light rail vehicles
GERMANY: Hannover transport operator Üstra has ordered 50 high-floor TW 3000 light rail vehicles from a consortium of Vossloh Kiepe and Alstom Transport. The contract announced on April 8 is worth €126m, with half of the cost being met by Land transport agency LNVG. Consortium leader Vossloh values its share ...
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NewsRail attracts Marco Polo funding
EUROPE: Rail accounts for 19 of the 32 projects awarded funding under the latest round of the EU's Marco Polo programme, which aims to support the transfer of freight from road to more sustainable modes. The rail schemes allocated funding by the European Commission on April 5 include the transport ...
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NewsItalian narrow gauge operator orders Stadler trains
ITALY: Ferrovie Appulo Lucane has ordered nine Stadler diesel multiple-units for its 183 km network of 950 mm gauge lines in Puglia and Basilicata. Stadler will deliver four three-car and five two-car units between February and June 2013 under the €43·8m contract signed on March 29. To be ...
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NewsCD orders Pesa regional mutiple-units
CZECH REPUBLIC: Polish rolling stock supplier Pesa Bydgoszcz has signed its first contract in the Czech Republic, a KC1·99bn order to supply national passenger operator CD with 31 two-car diesel multiple-units for regional services. The EU is meeting 40% of the overall cost of the contract signed on March 17, ...
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NewsSytral orders Citadis trams for Lyon T3
FRANCE: Lyon transport authority Sytral has awarded Alstom a €33m contract to supply a further 10 Citadis trams. Options for up to nine more vehicles could increase the contract value to €58m. The 43 m long trams with capacity for up to 400 passengers will operate on route T3, which ...
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NewsNext step in Czech reform programme
CZECH REPUBLIC: All remaining infrastructure activities are to be transferred from national train operator CD to infrastructure manager SZDC on July 1, following government approval of the Ministry of Transport’s proposals on February 9. This is the final step in the separation of infrastructure from operations under a restructuring ...
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NewsDirect sales up at CountryLink
AUSTRALIA: Long-distance passenger operator CountryLink has reported volume sales growth of 9% for the year ending December 2010, which it is attributing to introduction of Amadeus' InternetTrack direct sales software. Web sales now make up 22% of the operator's total revenues, whilst cancelled reservations have fallen by 60%. Amadeus deployed ...
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NewsNews in Brief
Following Asturias and Zaragoza, RENFE has introduced contactless smart card ticketing to its Málaga suburban network, comprising 25 stations and carrying an average of 20655 weekday passengers. The programme has cost a total of €162000. The German Land of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has directly awarded ODEG a two-year contract extension to operate ...
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NewsHelsinki Westmetro project receives EIB funding
FINLAND: The European Investment Bank confirmed on April 1 that it will lend up to €450m to part-finance the 14 km western extension of the Helsinki metro network to Espoo.The loan and guarantee agreements were signed in Espoo by Matti Kokkinen, CEO of Länsimetro Oy, Mayor of Espoo Jukka Mäkelä ...
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NewsFirst contract placed under heavy haul signalling agreement
AUSTRALIA: Rio Tinto Iron Ore has placed its first A$96m firm order for signalling and communications equipment under a five-year framework agreement with Ansaldo STS, the signalling supplier announced on April 7. Ansaldo STS anticipates that the total value of works under the five-year framework agreed in November 2010 will ...
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NewsHSTs are good to 2035
UK: An IMechE seminar on February 21 considered recent work undertaken to establish the long-term mechanical and electrical integrity of the Mk III coaches used in the 200 km/h IC125 diesel high speed trains. Developments were detailed in presentations by senior engineers from operators First Great Western and East ...
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NewsCrossrail restructures as final tunnelling contracts are awarded
UK: Preferred bidders for the two final tunnelling contracts on London’s Crossrail project were announced by project promoter Crossrail Ltd on April 7. Covering construction of the Thames Tunnel between North Woolwich and Plumstead and refurbishment of the Connaught Tunnel under the former Royal Docks, the two contracts are valued ...
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NewsPRASA to order 6 000 vehicles under fleet renewal plan
SOUTH AFRICA: Details of a R97bn large-scale rolling stock renewal plan were set out when Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa held an industry day on April 5 to gauge interest from potential suppliers and financiers. There is an 'urgent' need for new trains to replace life-expired vehicles based on ...
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NewsChengdu Metro orders more cars
CHINA: CSR has signed a 520m yuan contract to supply Chengdu Metro with a third batch of trains, taking its total orders for the city’s metro network to 354 cars. The vehicles are required for the 19·5 km second phase of Line 2.Line 1, which entered trial operation on September ...
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NewsADB supports Bangalore metro
INDIA: The Asian Development Bank has approved a loan of up to US$250m over 18 years for the US$2·7bn metro project currently under construction in Bangalore. Bangalore Metro Rail Corp is building a 42·3 km standard-gauge network in the capital of Karnataka, comprising an 18·1 km east-west line with 17 ...
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NewsNortheast Corridor tops bidding for US high speed funding
USA: There has been overwhelming demand for a share of the $2·4bn of federal high speed rail funding rejected by the Governor of Florida, according to US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. He said on April 6 that 90 applications totalling more than $10bn had been received from 24 states, ...
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NewsPTC scaled back to save $500m
USA: The Federal Railroad Administration has agreed to put forward revised requirements for the roll-out of Positive Train Control, after the Association of American Railroads launched a legal challenge to the original scope (RG 3.11 p31). The Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 requires more than 40 railway operators to ...
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NewsTramlink Nottingham named preferred bidder for NET Phase 2
UK: Nottingham City Council announced on March 29 that the Tramlink Nottingham consortium had been chosen as preferred bidder for the Nottingham Express Transit Phase Two concession, which covers construction of two extensions to the light rail network and operation of the network including the existing Line 1. The government ...
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NewsWork starts on passenger lines
CHINA: Work is underway on the first Passenger-Dedicated Line in Inner Mongolia, a 286 km route linking provincial capital Hohhot with the eastern city of Zhangjiakou. A ceremony on February 28 marked the start of construction on the line, which is designed for 250 km/h running and will have ...