All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 936
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NewsMTA capital programme makes progress
USA: The MTA board of directors has approved a draft version of its next five-year capital programme, although the US$28bn plan needs another US$10m to be fully funded. This has now been forwarded to the New York State legislature in Albany for final approval, which MTA officials hope will come ...
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NewsMoatize coal link funded
MOZAMBIQUE: Construction of a second rail link into the Moatize coalfield is expected to get underway before the end of this year, following the announcement of a US$500m package of international funding put together by the government to support local investors. Transport Minister Paulo Zucula says funding from the Dutch ...
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NewsIntermodal accord signed
EUROPE: International consultations will start shortly to find a new operator for the trans-Alpine intermodal services on the Lyon – Torino corridor, following the signing of a bilateral accord between France and Italy on October 9. In a bilateral meeting alongside the European Union council of transport ministers in Luxembourg, ...
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NewsKarachi Circular Railway upgrading approved
PAKISTAN: Conversion of the Karachi Circular Railway into a high-capacity commuter line is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2010, a decade after trains stopped. The revival project approved by the National Economic Council on September 3 could see services resume in 2013. Opened in two phases ...
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NewsNews in Brief
Tracklaying on the 295 km line from Jinghe to Yining and Korgas on China’s border with Kazakhstan was completed last month. The 6bn yuan line through Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region is expected to open in November, and will connect with the China Gateway line opening in 2012. On ...
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NewsMember States warned over First Railway Package
EUROPE: The European Commission is stepping up the pressure on EU Member States over their failure to implement fully or correctly the Directives in the First Railway Package, which are intended to open up the rail freight market to competition. This package includes Directives 91/440/EEC as amended, 95/18/EC as amended ...
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NewsContainers to the Caucasus
ARMENIA: Russian intermodal operator TransContainer has expanded its international network with the launch of its first service to Armenia, in co-operation with the South Caucasian Railway. An initial shipment on October 7 carried containerised traffic for Russian aluminium supplier Rusal. As a subsidiary of Russian Railways, TransContainer is developing its ...
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NewsTrans-Alpine RoLa still growing
SWITZERLAND: Despite the general slump in rail freight and trans-Alpine transit traffic, the international rolling motorway service between Freiburg im Breisgau in southern Germany and Novara in northern Italy is continuing to attract more business, according to René Dancet, Chairman of RAlpin AG. Presenting on October 7 the results for ...
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NewsTurn up and go trial
NETHERLANDS: Metro passengers take it for granted that they can turn up when they like and simply board the next train. There is no need to plan the trip or look at a timetable. From the passenger’s point of view, turn up and go applies to some main line ...
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NewsAecom wins Dallas contract extension
USA: Dallas Area Rapid Transit has awarded Aecom Technology Corp a US$19·3m contract extension for a variety of project control, system integration and staff support services on three LRT lines now under construction. The one-year extension, the first of three that are available under a base contract signed in ...
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NewsToronto Airport link gets environmental nod
CANADA: A long-delayed programme to increase commuter service on the Georgetown Line in Toronto, including a link to Pearson International Airport, was given the go-ahead by Ontario Environment Minister John Gerretsen on October 5 but with numerous strict conditions including the use of clean diesel locomotives. Gerretsen attached 18 ...
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NewsFirst LRVs arrive in Norfolk
USA: The first two of 11 S70 light rail vehicles for The Tide arrived in Norfolk, Virginia, on October 6 from the Siemens plant in Sacramento. The cars were shipped by railway and were twice delayed, first by flooding in Atlanta and then by a derailment that blocked a ...
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NewsMaking tracks
ISRAEL: Tracklaying is underway on the 18 km double-track line being built south from Tel Aviv Hahagana to relieve heavy traffic on the roads to Bat-Yam, Holon, and Rishon Le-Ziyyon West. Eliminating the need to travel via Lod will cut Tel Aviv – Rishon Le-Ziyyon journey times ...
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NewsItino clean diesel unveiled
SWEDEN: Bombardier Transportation unveiled its first Itino diesel railcar equipped with C.L.E.A.N. diesel technology at the Elmia Nordic Rail exhibition in Jönköping on October 7, conducting a series of demonstration runs with the prototype train at Jönköping station. The first production trainsets equipped with the Catalyst based Low Emission ApplicatioN ...
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NewsStadler expands to grow
SWITZERLAND: A ground-breaking ceremony on October 2 marked the start of construction of Stadler's IBS Centre rolling stock commissioning facility. It is being built on a former tank farm site at Erlen in the canton of Thurgau, alongside Swiss Federal Railways' Zürich - Romanshorn line. The IBS ...
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NewsStrategic engine delivery begins
NEW ZEALAND: Engine manufacturer Tognum describes as 'strategically important' KiwiRail's decision to specify MTU engines when placing the first diesel locomotive order from a western country with China Northern's Dalian plant. Delivery of the Friedrichshafen-built 20V 4000 R43 engines starts this month and runs to January. 'This is a ...
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NewsHangzhou Metro places train order
CHINA: Hangzhou Metro has ordered 48 six-car trains from CSR Nanjing Puzhen to work its first line. The 1·8bn yuan contract was signed on September 27 by Hangzhou Metro Group Chairman Ding Di Gang and CSR’s General Manager.Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, is planning a 278 km network with ...
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NewsTram and signalling agreements signed in Kazakhstan
KAZAKHSTAN: Two co-operation agreements were signed by Alstom CEO Patrick Kron on October 6 within the framework of a Franco-Kazakh business forum held during President Sarkozy’s visit to Kazakhstan.Firstly, Kron signed a memorandum of co-operation with the Mayor of Astana for the creation of a tram network as part of ...
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NewsExpansion projects support Queensland growth
AUSTRALIA: Queensland Transport Minister Rachel Nolan announced the completion of a A$49m, 7 km track doubling project in the Central Bowen Basin on September 18. 'Commissioning of the Grantleigh to Tunnel section means nearly 200 km of track has been duplicated on the Blackwater System since 2006, providing additional ...
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NewsEDSA struggles to cope
PHILIPPINES: Having bought out the promoters of Manila’s EDSA project, the government must decide what to do with the capital’s busiest light rail route, amid suggestions that it could be returned to the private sector. Built by Metro Rail Transit Corp, the 168 km MRT3 line along Epifano dos ...