All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 945
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NewsRobots to cut train delays
FIRE FIGHTING: UK defence technology company QinetiQ has been awarded a contract to provide remotely-operated vehicles able to enter unsafe environments to search for acetylene gas cylinders at fire sites near rail routes in London. The initiative aims to reduce the disruption to services caused by the imposition of ...
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NewsChina Gateway construction launched
KAZAKHSTAN: President Nazarbayev formally launched construction of the China Gateway Railway with a ceremony in Zhetigen on August 3. Providing a second rail link to China, the 293 km broad-gauge line will run from Zhetigen to Korgas where there will be facilities for transhipping freight to and from a 295 ...
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NewsCork - Midleton commuter line open for business
IRELAND: A full commuter service between Midleton and Cork began on August 4, following the inauguration of an introductory service on the re-opened line by Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey on July 30. The minister had launched the €75m rehabilitation of the 10 km Glounthaune - Midleton section of ...
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NewsChina South rolls out Hong Kong light rail cars
CHINA: CSR Nanjing Puzhen has rolled out the initial two of 22 light rail vehicles which it is building under the first contract for LRVs to be supplied to Hong Kong from mainland China. A partnership of the Chinese firm and Australia's United Group Rail was awarded the contract ...
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NewsVenezuela rail construction contract agreed
VENEZUELA: China Railway Engineering Corp's Venezuelan subsidiary is to build the planned railway between Anaco and Tinaco under an agreement reached with state railway IFE and the Ministry of Public Works & Housing on July 30. The deal is worth US$7·5bn, making it one of the largest overseas contracts ...
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NewsRotterdam Centraal rebuilding begins
NETHERLANDS: Work has begun to transform Rotterdam Centraal station, with the aim of creating a showpiece facility equalling major stations in Paris, Madrid and London. The completion of Randstadrail and HSL Zuid is expected to lead to a tripling of traffic to 323 000 passengers a day by 2025, requiring ...
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NewsSapsan run marks high speed train depot opening
RUSSIA: A Sapsan high speed train made its first demonstration run on the Moscow - St Petersburg line on July 30, reaching 250 km/h as it carried guests including RZD President Vladimir Yakunin and Governor of St Petersburg Valentina Matviyenko to the formal opening of a maintenance depot in St ...
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NewsNews in Brief
The European Commission has approved a funding and loan guarantee from the Danish state to finance planning of the Fehmarn Belt fixed link. It determined that this does not fall under the scope of rules on state aid, and promotes a project of common interest. Denmark will provide public ...
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NewsMÁV wagon works privatised
HUNGARY: Romanian rail freight, rolling stock maintenance and industrial group Grampet has completed the purchase of MÁV Debreceni Jármujavító, a subsidiary of Hungarian State Railways which operates the Debrecen wagon works. MÁV has made a number of attempts to sell the business since January 2007, eventually negotiating a deal with ...
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NewsNottingham tram extension funding approved
UK: Transport Minister Sadiq Khan travelled to Nottingham on July 31 to announce conditional approval of government funding and a workplace parking levy to finance expansion of the Nottingham Express Transit light rail network. The government's contribution to NET Phase Two is capped at £530·7m in Private Finance Initiative ...
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NewsEC sets out ERTMS deployment deadlines
EUROPE: The European Commission adopted an ERTMS deployment plan on July 22, setting out legally-binding deadlines for the implementation of ETCS and GSM-R on key corridors. Coming into force on September 1, it amends the Technical Specifications for Interoperability for Control-Command and Signalling (TSI CCS) and is intended to co-ordinate ...
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NewsWinners of largest German tender named
GERMANY: Berlin-Brandenburg transport authority VBB has selected DB Regio and Ostdeutsche Eisenbahn as the winners of regional operating contracts with a total value of €1·3bn in the largest rail tendering process undertaken in Germany. VBB managed the tendering on behalf of the Länder of Berlin, Brandenburg, Sachsen-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. ...
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NewsRussia orders international sleeping cars
RUSSIA: RZD has ordered 200 sleeping cars which will be supplied with interchangeable standard and broad -gauge bogies for services to central and western Europe. A contract was signed with Siemens Mobility and Transmash Holding's TVZ subsidiary onboard a Sapsan high speed train on July 30. According to RZD, ...
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NewsFar north heavy haul study
EUROPE: The development of iron ore mines around Pajala in Sweden and Kolari in Finland has spurred the re-evaluation of proposals for the Ishavsbanen, a 312 km line linking Kolari to Skibotn on the Norwegian Sea. A feasibility study by Sweco was presented by a grouping of local authorities in ...
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NewsEnquiry service Tweets train delays
UK: Up-to-the-minute information on disruption to train services is now available from National Rail Enquiries via the Twitter microblogging service. Passengers can 'follow' the main National Rail Enquiries profile to receive updates from across the network, or can select feeds for individual train operators. The messages ('Tweets') include links to ...
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NewsCzech passenger tendering plan
CZECH REPUBLIC:Plans to let 10 to 15-year franchises covering up to three-quarters of the country’s long-distance passenger rail services were unveiled by Transport Minister Gustav Slamecka on July 3. The first contracts could be placed by October. The franchises would be awarded gradually over the next decade, with ...
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NewsLondon Underground issues SSL signalling tender
UK: London Underground issued invitations to tender to prequalified bidders for the contract to resignal the Sub-Surface Lines on July 16. Responses are due by December 18. Following the collapse of Metronet in 2007, LU decided to cancel the original order placed with Westinghouse Rail Systems. According to Richard Parry, ...
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NewsMilano operator orders GTWs
ITALY: Milano-based regional operator FNM has become Stadler's eighth Italian customer, with a €90m order for 19 GTW diesel-electric multiple-units to be delivered in 2011. Stadler is to supply 11 four-car GTW 4/12 units for use on Milano - Molteno - Lecco services, and eight two-car GTW 2/6 units ...
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NewsMadrid airport rail link advances
SPAIN: A joint venture of Ferrovial Agromán and Azvi had been awarded a €47·4m contract for tracklaying, electrification and railway systems installation on the 6·9 km new-build component of the rail link between Madrid Charmartín and Terminal 4 at Barajas Airport, the Ministry of Development announced on July 16. ...
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NewsBuilding on growth
ISRAEL: According to current projections, Israel Railways expects to carry more than 37 million passengers this year, a 5% increase on the 35·1 million handled in 2008, and more than eight times the 4·3 million recorded in 1994. Whilst the economic downturn has slowed the rate of ...