All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 976
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NewsNext ICE3s to have different axle dimensions
GERMANY: DB has signed a contract with Siemens for 15 more ICE3 trainsets. Inked by DB Chairman Hartmut Mehdorn and Siemens Chairman Peter Löscher on December 17 at DB's headquarters in Berlin, the deal is worth €500m. DB's future ICE3 sets will be designed specifically for international services, which ...
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NewsQR to lease diesels
AUSTRALIA: Downer EDI announced on December 12 that it had signed an agreement with Queensland Rail to lease nine GT46Ace diesel locomotives to QR National's expanding standard-gauge intermodal business. The first loco was expected to be delivered before the end of the year, and the remainder by mid-2009. Valued at ...
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NewsPandrol buys Rosenqvist Rail
SWEDEN: Pandrol International has purchased Rosenqvist Rail, a Swedish manufacturer of equipment for the installation and extraction of rail fastenings such as Pandrol's Fastclip. Rosenqvist also designs and builds rail and sleeper handling tools, ballast regulation equipment, trailers and attachments for road-rail vehicles. Pandrol sees Rosenqvist as ...
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NewsWabtec expands presence in China
CHINA: Beijing Wabtec Huaxia Technology has been established as a joint venture of US firm Wabtec and Beijing Huaxia United Friendship New Technology of Electrification Development Co, a local supplier of rail braking components. The company will manufacture friction products for the customers in China. 'The Chinese market ...
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NewsSNCB goes back for more
BELGIUM: SNCB has exercised options for an additional 60 Class 18 electric locomotives and 72 M6 double-deck coaches. An option has been taken up for Siemens to supply a further 60 Eurosprinter ES60U3 electric locomotives at a cost of €222m, with deliveries to run from June 2010 to April ...
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NewsKLW maintains a global perspective
WHEELSETS: Having adopted a single brand for its wheels business last year, Interpipe is emphasising its broad geographical reach. KLW Sales Director Michael Iskov spoke to Nick Kingsley about M&A activity, investment plans and concerns about product approval.
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NewsWorld rolling stock market December 2008
Belgium: Bombardier has been awarded a €168m subcontract to undertake painting, final assembly and testing at its Brugge plant of 115 of the Desiro ML trainsets on order from Siemens for Brussels RER services (RG 5.08 p289). China: Last month China Southern announced orders from the Ministry of Railways for ...
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WMATA fleet renewal
USA: Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority issued a request for proposals on December 4 for the supply of 64 metro cars, with an option for an additional 620. The contract would also include work to refurbish Wmata’s Series 4000 fleet, which is around 25 years old. The 64 new ...
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NewsHelsinki metro to go fully automated
FINLAND: Helsinki city transport operator HKL signed a €100m contract with Siemens Mobility on December 11 covering the complete resignalling of the capital's 21 km Y-shaped metro paving the way for fully-automatic operation by 2013. HKL has been looking at driverless operation for some time, and HKL Chief Executive ...
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NewsMTR signs Shenyang operating agreement
CHINA: MTR Corp, Shenyang municipal government and Shenyang Metro Group have signed an agreement in principle for the Hong Kong metro company to operate and maintain Shenyang Metro lines 1 and 2 for 30 years. Under the November 26 agreement MTR Corp will hold a 49% stake in a ...
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NewsAlstom wins order for 23 Coradia Nordic units
SWEDEN: Local authority owned leasing company Transitio has placed a €148m order with Alstom for 23 four-car Coradia Nordic regional EMUs to be used by Norrtåg in northern Sweden and Västtrafik in Västra Götaland. Ordered as part of a 10-year rail development plan for the north, the 11 ...
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NewsZSSK on the way to rolling stock renewal
Modernisation Slovakia's national passenger operator ZSSK has called three tenders for the supply of new rolling stock, which should help to rejuvenate the railway's fleet and attract passengers after years of falling patronage. Michal Málek reports.
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NewsFriction modifier in use
FRICTION: Last month Rail Polska began fitting Timken’s TracGlide equipment to its fleet of M62 diesel locomotives used on long-haul freight traffic in Poland. TracGlide automatically dispenses a thin friction modifier liquid onto the head of the rail, controlling the quantity to match track conditions and environmental factors. ...
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NewsContracts December 2008
China: Polish firm Rafamet has delivered an additional UFB125N wheel lathe to CSR Sifang under a 3·2m zloty contract. Europe: NedRailways expects to receive regulatory approval this month to acquire Abellio, a German rail and bus operating venture owned by investment firm STAR Capital Partners (75·2%) and the city of ...
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NewsManchester voters reject TIF proposal
UK: Voters in the 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester have voted to reject the plans for transport investment outlined in the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities’ application for funding from the government’s Transport Innovation Fund. The £2·8bn TIF submission would have paved the way for Phase 3B of the expansion ...
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NewsClass 395 whisks minister to London
UK: Transport Minister Lord Adonis accompanied Southeastern Managing Director Charles Horton on a special trip from Ashford to St Pancras International on board a Hitachi Class 395 trainset on December 12. Marking the start of a one-year countdown to the launch of high speed domestic services on High Speed ...
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NewsUIC agrees a way forward
EUROPE: Meeting in Paris on December 5, the Executive Board of the International Union of Railways approved several principles for modifying the association's statutes and governance, designed to overcome disagreements that potentially threatened to split the UIC apart. The proposals were later endorsed by the General Assembly, paving the way ...
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NewsGetting ERTMS into service quicker
ITALY: Experience gained from the installation of ERTMS on two high speed lines has enabled infrastructure manager RFI to accelerate the commissioning of the Milano - Bologna line, which will carry its first passengers this month.
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NewsMTR orders from the Mainland
CHINA: On December 10 Changchun Railway Vehicles signed a HK$1·1bn contract to supply Hong Kong's MTR with 10 eight-car trainsets which will enable an increase in service frequencies on the Island, Kwun Tong, Tsuen Wan and Tseung Kwan O lines. Russell Black, Projects Director at MTR Corp, said it ...
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NewsAGV tests reach 360 km/h
FRANCE: On December 14 Alstom and Eurailtest will complete four weekends of high speed testing of the Pégase AGV demonstrator on LGV Est, one of the few lines where it is possible to reach speeds of 360 km/h. The AGV has already undergone four months of testing at the ...