All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 904
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NewsNew York Flushing Line CBTC contract awarded
USA: New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority has awarded Thales a $343m seven-year contract to upgrade the No 7 Flushing Line to communications-based train control. In addition to its core CBTC technology, Thales will supply non-proprietary, free-space wireless radio communication between the train and wayside equipment. Similar open-architecture signalling systems have ...
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NewsCalgary and Edmonton funding confirmed
CANADA: The Alberta provincial government on June 22 made good on a long-standing promise and awarded Calgary and Edmonton C$800m each in transport funding. The money, part of Alberta’s C$2bn ‘Green Trip’ programme, will not come all at once. According to Transport Minister Luke Ouellette, it will be ‘pay-on-progress’.The province’s ...
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NewsBombardier to buy stake in RZD signalling business
RUSSIA: Bombardier Transportation has beaten Siemens to be named the winner of a tender to acquire a 50% less two shares stake in Russian Railways' signalling supply subsidiary United Electrical Engineering Plants, known as Elteza. The share purchase deal is to be completed by the end of the year. Established ...
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NewsMitsubishi and Hitachi to co-operate in urban rail sector
JAPAN: An agreement to co-operate in the international urban rail supply market was announced by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Hitachi on June 22. The companies aim to leverage each other's expertise to strengthen their competitiveness in what they see as a growing world market, and will 'work together as ...
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NewsAfghan rail strategy takes shape
AFGHANISTAN: As work progresses rapidly on Afghanistan's first substantial railway, plans are firming up for a 1000 km standard gauge corridor running across the north of the country. This would give Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and potentially China access to world markets via the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas without requiring transit ...
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NewsRFF control centre open
FRANCE: Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau opened RFF’s Integrated Control Centre for the Rhône-Alpes region in Lyon on June 14. The control centre is one of 15 that RFF is planning to build under a €500m programme of signalling upgrades that is expected to involve replacement of up to 1500 signalboxes ...
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NewsSupervising Swiss tracks
SWITZERLAND: The first integrated control centre on the Swiss Federal Railways network was formally opened in Lausanne on May 21. It will assume supervision of the whole SBB network in the French-speaking part of the country by 2015, with the exception of the immediate area around Lausanne, which will not ...
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NewsPilbara iron ore line approved
AUSTRALIA: Plans to build another 300 km rail link to serve the Pilbara iron ore mining region in Western Australia were approved by the state government on June 24. Premier Colin Barnett said the signing of an agreement with Roy Hill Infrastructure Pty Ltd was ‘a major step forward for ...
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NewsCoupling up
CHINA: The Wabtec Golden Bridge Transportation Technology Co joint venture formed by Wabtec Corp and Hangzhou Golden Bridge Railway Equipment Co to manufacture metro couplings in China has won its first contract. The US$7m order announced on June 22 covers the supply of couplers for Hangzhou Metro cars. 'With this ...
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NewsLowering the bar to London
EUROPE: On June 17 the European Commission cleared the transformation of Eurostar from a co-operative arrangement between SNCF, SNCB and London & Continental Railways into a stand-alone joint venture controlled by SNCF and LCR with SNCB holding a non-controlling stake. Approval was subject to conditions which are intended to lower ...
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NewsFuel cell tram trial
SPAIN: Metre-gauge operator FEVE is planning to start trials with fuel cell traction between Ribadesella and Llovio on its non-electrified Santander - Oviedo route by the end of this year. A hydrogen fuel cell is to be installed in a 1970s tramcar to power four traction motors, capable of ...
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NewsGood business case for Dublin interconnector
IRELAND: With responses to the prequalification tender for the public-private partnership to build Dublin’s cross-city rail link due by July 20, Iarnród Éireann announced on June 22 that a new business assessment had confirmed a ‘strong’ economic case for the Interconnector project, now officially known as DART Underground. The 7·6 ...
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NewsBybanen light rail line opens in Bergen
NORWAY: A fanfare by Bergen’s FMKV Military Band greeted the inauguration of the city’s first tram line by Queen Sonja on June 22. Accompanied by government ministers, the Queen travelled on one of the fleet of 18 orange and white Variobahn trams from Nesttun to Kaigaten, where she alighted and ...
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NewsDelhi Metro opens Gurgaon extension
INDIA: The section of Delhi Metro Line 2 south from Qutub Minar to HUDA City Centre in the satellite town of Gurgaon opened at 08.00 on June 21 with simultaneous train departures from each end. The opening adds 14·5 km and nine stations to the Delhi Metro network, taking ...
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NewsNewag unveils remanufactured shunting locomotive
POLAND: Newag has unveiled a prototype Type 15D shunting locomotive based on a rebuilt Soviet-built TEM2, known as the SM48 in Poland. The underframe, bogies and original traction motors have been retained, but a new generator and 1·5 MW Caterpillar engine fitted to give both more economical operation and ...
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NewsHigh Speed 1 goes on sale
UK: Transport Secretary Philip Hammond invited bids to buy HS1 Ltd on June 21. Currently a wholly -owned subsidiary of the state-owned London & Continental Railways Ltd, HS1 Ltd has a 30 year concession to manage the 109 km high speed line between London and the Channel Tunnel. The ...
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NewsLevel crossing safety campaign
INTERNATIONAL: Rail and road operators in more than 45 countries, together with international associations including UIC, CER and EIM, are stepping up their campaign to improve safety at level crossings, with June 22 designated as International Level Crossing Awareness Day. Many road users and pedestrians are killed or injured at ...
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NewsSkoda Class 380 in service
CZECH REPUBLIC: Skoda Transportation's Type 109E triple-voltage 200 km/h locomotives have begun trial operations, starting with No 380.007 which hauled a 100 km/h CD Cargo freight train from Plzen to Beroun on May 27. Initial 160 km/h passenger operations are expected to begin on routes from Praha to Brno and ...
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NewsWorld rolling stock market June 2010
Australia: UGL has announced orders worth A$100m to supply QR with four C44ACi locomotives and 160 QHBH wagons for use in the Hunter Valley, and 200 VCB wagons for the Bowen Basin. Brazil: Singapore’s ST Electronics has won a S$4·6m contract to supply passenger information systems for 19 six-car ...
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NewsService centre for private operators
GERMANY: A rolling stock maintenance centre is being developed at a former locomotive workshop at Braunschweig in Germany to meet the growing demand for servicing vehicles on behalf of private operators, which now carry around 20% of regional passenger traffic. Opening in 2011, the 15 200 m2 site will specialise ...