All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 967
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NewsQuébec - Windsor high speed study contract placed
CANADA: The governments of Québec, Ontario and Canada have awarded the EcoTrain consortium a C$3m contract to update previous feasibility studies for high speed rail services along the Québec - Windsor corridor, Transport Canada announced on February 23. EcoTrain comprises Dessau, MMM Group, KPMG, Wilbur Smith & Associates and ...
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NewsWorld infrastructure market February 2009
China: An alliance of Ansaldo STS and Zhejiang Zheda Insigma is to supply CBTC for the 29 km Shenyang metro Line 2 and 14 km Chengdu Line 1. Europe: Replacement of a bridge across the border between Germany and Poland near Frankfurt (Oder) was completed within 10 months of the ...
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NewsLos Angeles light rail advances
USA: A light rail vehicle was towed along the 9·7 km Gold Line Eastside Extension from Los Angeles Union Station to Atlantic Boulevard and Pomona Street on January 27 to check clearances. The $898m extension is on course to open this summer, under budget and several months ahead of schedule. ...
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NewsDubai strengthens safety regulation
UAE: The Dubai Roads & Transport Authority signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the UK Office of Rail Regulation on February 9. The agreement followed RTA’s successful co-operation with ORR to assess and certify safety on Nakheel’s Palm Jumeirah Monorail, which is due to start revenue service in April this ...
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NewsMetrotranvía deal signed
ARGENTINA: Mendoza governor Celso Alejandro signed a 62·4m pesos contract with the Ceosa-Sogesic joint venture to build the 13 km Metrotranvía line on February 11. To be completed in 360 days, the work includes reconstruction and regauging of the former San Martín line from 1 676 mm to 1 435 ...
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NewsA change of partners
EUROPE: SNCB has found a new partner to operate international services to southern France and Spain, reports Laurent Charlier.
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NewsGKB signs €50m Stadler DMU order
AUSTRIA: Graz-Köflacher Bahn placed a €50m order for 13 Stadler GTW 2/8 diesel multiple-units on February 20. Deliveries will run from the second half of 2010 to the end of 2011. The Land of Steiermark is meeting 25% of the cost of the three-section DMUs, which will be deployed ...
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NewsRails under the Bosporus
TURKEY: Five years after the start of construction in Istanbul, work on the long-planned Marmaray link between Europe and Asia is well underway. The project is due for completion in 2011, with trains expected to start running the following year.
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NewsBangalore Metro extension given the go-ahead
INDIA: Bangalore Metro’s Phase 1 extension was given the go-ahead on January 30. The Rs17·6bn project includes a 5·6 km northern section from Yeshwanthpur to Hesaraghatta Cross with six elevated stations and a 3·7 km extension from RV Road Terminal south to Puttenahalli Cross with three elevated stations. The work ...
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NewsContracts February 2009
Africa: A team from Seneca is visiting the Egyptian and Moroccan railways this month to assess proposed investment projects on behalf of the US federal Enterprise Development Network. Canada: Parsons has transferred to 21Net responsibility for providing wi-fi on VIA Rail services between Windsor and Québec. Czech Republic: Private ...
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NewsUrban rail news in brief - February 2009
With a view to starting operations towards the middle of this year, work is now underway on the 72m pesos Ferrourbano project to restore 11·5 km of metre-gauge infrastructure for use by passenger services between Rodríguez del Busto and the Mitre and Belgrano stations in the city of Córdoba in ...
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NewsObama boosts high speed rail and transit spending
USA: At a ceremony in Denver on February 17, President Barack Obama officially signed the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act, a $787bn economic stimulus measure which provides nearly $50bn in direct funding for transport investment. The 1 100-page bill provides $8·4bn for transit, $1·3bn for Amtrak, $8·4bn for high ...
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NewsCoach donation prepares for Laos railway launch
LAOS: Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand is expected to inaugurate the cross-border rail connection on March 5, with public services beginning at 16.20 that day. From March 6 there will be two daily return trips across the Thai-Lao Friendship bridge, taking 15 min between Nong Khai and the ...
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NewsAutomating Brazil’s busiest metro lines
BRAZIL: Work is starting on the resignalling of lines 1, 2 and 3 of the São Paulo metro under a €280m contract awarded in July 2008, paving the way for the introduction of automatic train operation. Chris Jackson discusses the programme with Alstom Transport’s Customer Director Rosangela Tsuruda and Project ...
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NewsBombardier to announce second-generation Electrostar
UK: Bombardier Transportation will unveil design studies for its second generation of Electrostar EMU at the Railtex 2009 exhibition, which is to be held in London on March 10-12. The Electrostar family has become the most successful post-privatisation EMU in the British market, with more than 1 600 ...
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NewsJR East announces hybrid train fleet
JAPAN: East Japan Railway is to introduce a further 10 diesel-battery hybrid DMUs in autumn 2010. The announcement follows the success of three Kiha E200 single-car units developed with Hitachi and launched on the Koumi line in July 2007. The 10 additional DMUs will be used on services ...
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NewsProducts & Technology in Brief
Japan’s Railway Technical Research Institute is assessing the feasibility of detecting faults in level crossing barrier mechanisms by measuring electrical currents during the raising and lowering of faulty barriers and comparing to normal values. Two types of barrier are being used, with the aim of developing a means of identifying ...
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NewsSuccessful tests on Bangkok airport line
THAILAND: Minister of Transport, Sophon Zarum, and State Railway of Thailand Chairman Youtdana Tupcharoen travelled on test run of Bangkok's Airport Express on February 12. In 2005 SRT awarded Siemens Mobility and Thai partners B Grimm and Sino Thai Engineering & Construction the contract to build a 28 km ...
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NewsFaster freight through MidAmerica
USA: Canadian National and Norfolk Southern have announced an initiative to share tracks to create a MidAmerica Corridor which will shorten their routes for traffic between Chicago, St Louis, Kentucky and Mississippi. The plan comprises three elements. Subject to regulatory approval and the signing of definitive agreements, NS will ...
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NewsTubes in the desert
SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Railways Organisation has installed a 900 m section of Tubular Track on its main line between Harad and Al Tawdihiyah. The line carries containerised freight between the Gulf port of Dammam and Riyadh, but sand is a perennial problem and teams are on permanent standby to clear ...