NEWS
08 Jul 2008 | Gautrain from dream to reality
South Africa The Gautrain rapid rail link between Johannesburg and Tshwane is taking shape, with the first section on course to enter revenue service before the two cities host the 2010 football World Cup. More...
08 Jul 2008 | Left in the dark
ROMANIA: A financial problem over outstanding bills has seen power cut off at railway premises in the south of the country. Infrastructure manager CFR reportedly owes €160m to various electricity companies, including €44m to the local subsidiary of Czech supplier CEZ. CFR blames a shortfall in stat More...
08 Jul 2008 | Carrying commuters in comfort
SOUTH AFRICA: Bombardier's proven Electrostar EMU family is being customised for South Africa, giving a powerful demonstration of modern high-quality rail services. More...
07 Jul 2008 | Testing takes train into Laos
LAOS: State Railway of Thailand began running test trains over the recently-completed rail link into Laos on July 4. SRT plans to operate two test trains a day until July 15, with passengers carried free of charge but unable to alight in Laos until customs facilities are completed. The railway will More...
07 Jul 2008 | A long haul on the Lunatic Express
KENYA: Barely 18 months after the Rift Valley Railways consortium finally took control of the 900 km Kenya-Uganda railway on November 1 2006, pressure is growing for the 25-year concession to be cancelled. RVR is clearly having a tough time, with the railway linking Mombasa with Nairobi and Kampala More...
07 Jul 2008 | Banks agree train lease venture
RAILPOOL: This month HSH Nordbank and KfW IPEX-Bank are to launch Railpool, a joint venture to lease rolling stock to private operators. München-based Railpool plans to place orders for locomotives and passenger and freight vehicles once the company is formally established. 'The aim is to create More...
05 Jul 2008 | Products & Technology in brief
CNR Changchun has completed in-service testing of a CW720 bogie developed for New Zealand's 1 067 mm gauge network. Toll had awarded a contract for the supply of 50 air-sprung bolsterless bogies in March 2007. Manusa has updated its platform screen door range with the addition of the InfoBoard, a More...
04 Jul 2008 | CAF wins Saudi passenger train order
SAUDI ARABIA: On July 4 Spanish rolling stock manufacturer CAF announced it had signed a €104·9m contract to supply Saudi Railways Organisation with eight 200 km/h passenger trainsets. Each set will be formed of a diesel-electric locomotive and five steel-bodied coaches, designed to operate in de More...
04 Jul 2008 | Pointers July 2008
Transport Minister Michael Henry has announced a three-year project to revive the moribund rail network in Jamaica, starting with the main lines linking Kingston, Spanish Town and Montego Bay. A loan from the Chinese government is expected to cover 85% of the US$354m cost, with Chinese manufacturers More...
04 Jul 2008 | DB sacked over S-Bahn quality failings
GERMANY: A dispute erupted in the Ruhr area on June 12 when local transport agency Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr announced that it had decided to cancel its S-Bahn operating contract with DB Regio Nordrhein-Westfalen with immediate effect. An extraordinary resolution to do so had been approved during a More...
