All Railway Gazette International articles in April 2014 – Page 5
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NewsBeijing orders catenary-free trams
CHINA: Beijing Rail Transit Construction & Management Co has awarded CNR Dalian a contract for 31 five-section trams to be delivered by the end of 2014. The 100% low-floor air-conditioned trams are to be used on the Xijiao line in the west of the city, due to open next ...
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NewsSolar power at Valley Metro depot
USA: Valley Metro has awarded Natural Power & Energy a $2·88m contract to install a 780 kW solar generating plant on land and car parking facilities at its light rail operations and maintenance facility in Phoenix, Arizona. The plant will be capable of producing 1·19 million kWh a year, meeting ...
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NewsLiège tram bidders shortlisted
BELGIUM: Société Régionale Wallonne du Transport announced on April 3 that two bidders have been shortlisted to build a tram line in Liège: The Legiaexpress consortium of Vinci Concessions, CFE, Bombardier Transportation and Meridiam Infrastructure Finance II; The MobiLiège consortium of Alstom Transport, BAM PPP PGGM Infrastructure Co-operative, DG Ingra ...
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NewsLanzhou metro construction begins
CHINA: Construction of the first metro line in Lanzhou started on March 28. The 34 km line with 20 stations would cross the Yellow River in twin tunnels. Elsewhere tunnels would be bored through a 200 m deep cobblestone layer. Completion is scheduled for December 2017. The capital of ...
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NewsDutch cabinet approves 15-year rail vision
NETHERLANDS: The cabinet has approved a report commissioned by the Ministry of Infrastructure & Environment which sets out a 15-year vision for the rail network. Known as LTSA II, the strategy envisages spending €18bn on maintaining and managing the existing network, and €10bn on new infrastructure. The main ambition is ...
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NewsPanamá City metro opens
PANAMA: Line 1 of the Panamá City metro was officially opened at 17.00 on April 5, with public service operating between 09.00 and 15.00 the following day. The opening comes 38 months after the start of construction. During the ‘adaptation period’ travel will be free, with passengers receiving guidance on ...
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NewsTimken and United Wagon Co agree Russian bearing joint venture
RUSSIA: US-based bearing supplier Timken and Russian rolling stock manufacturing and leasing company United Wagon Co have agreed to establish a joint venture to produce Timken AP-2 rail bearings in Russia. Timken said both companies see an opportunity to capitalise on growing demand, as the rail industry moves from cylindrical ...
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NewsFeature articles in the April 2014 issue of Railway Gazette International
Comment Making the most of freight capacity News Main Line Urban Rail Market Industry Innovations Pointers Analysis Mixed messages in Brussels Turkish localisation drive takes offIf it ain’t broke, why fix it? Signalling & train control Master Plan targets 2022 Work is ...
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NewsRail Industry Training & Recruitment in Brief
A delegation of management and technical staff from Istanbul Ulasm has visited Barcelona metro operator TMB under a partnership to develop understanding of and competencies in automated metro operation. IU expects to open line M5, its first route with unattended ATO, by early 2016. Pakistan Railways has launched a ...
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NewsAtanas Maina
Atanas Maina has been named Managing Director of Kenya Railways. He replaces Nduva Muli, who was appointed Principal Secretary for Transport in the Ministry of Transport & Infrastructure last year.
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NewsExpress baggage car design approved
RUSSIA: Russian Railways has approved the technical design of 61-4501 and 61-4502 baggage cars developed by Transmashholding’s Tver plant. The stainless steel cars will be suitable for 160 km/h operation, enabling their use in regular and express passenger trains, as well as special postal and baggage services. One version ...
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NewsValdunes enters receivership ahead of sale
VALDUNES: French rolling stock wheel manufacturer Valdunes announced on April 3 that its management had obtained approval for the company to move from the current safeguarding procedure into receivership, 'in order to facilitate the continuity of its activities'. The company said the change in status was 'not a result of ...
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NewsChina Railway Pavilion at InnoTrans 2014
INNOTRANS: More than 20 Chinese companies will be exhibiting together in the China Railway Pavilion at InnoTrans 2014. These will include the leading suppliers in sectors including rolling stock, train interiors and signalling and control systems. The China Railway Pavilion is being organized by the China Academy of Railway ...
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Metro Report InternationalGroundbreaking ceremony launches construction of Riyadh metro
SAUDI ARABIA: Construction of the Riyadh metro was officially started on April 3 with a groundbreaking ceremony led by Riyadh Governor Prince Khaled bin Bandar. Work started at five sites simultaneously. These include King Khaled International Airport, Olaya at the intersection of line 1 and 2, and the site ...
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NewsGuadalajara Line 3 out to tender
MEXICO: Governor of Jalisco state Aristóteles Sandoval has signed off tendering documents for the project to build Line 3 of the Guadalajara light rail network. The 21·5 km route runs on a northwest-southeast alignment and is expected to cost nearly 17·7bn pesos. Around three-quarters of the alignment ...
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NewsSocial media could supplement passenger satisfaction surveys
UK: A research programme by DeltaRail is seeking to analyse train operators’ Twitter traffic to assess passenger satisfaction. It has been running for four months, and has already produced results which correlate with other satisfaction surveys DeltaRail analyses the content of tweets in the form of a ‘word cloud’. Generally, ...
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NewsUrumqi metro construction begins
CHINA: Construction of the first metro line in Urumqi was launched with a ceremony on March 20. Opening is scheduled for 2019. The line will run underground for 27·6 km from the international airport in the northwest to Santunbei in the south, serving 21 stations. Beijing Railway Construction & ...
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NewsHS2 signs up Japanese consultants
UK: HS2 Ltd has signed a contract for consultancy services with Japan International Consultants for Transportation, a company owned 53% by East Japan Railway. The contract with an undisclosed value began on January 31 and runs for four months to May 31. Areas covered by the deal include ways of ...
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NewsTasRail completes wagon fleet renewal
AUSTRALIA: The last of 18 cement, 54 bulk ore, 17 coal and 120 intermodal wagons built by CNR Shenyang in China under a contract placed in late 2012 was ceremonially handed over to TasRail on March 31. The 1 067 mm gauge wagons have Wabtec brakes and SKF bearings. ‘Once ...
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NewsMittelsachsen transport authority orders own EMUs
GERMANY: Transport authority Verkehrsverbund Mittelsachsen has awarded Alstom a €150m contract to supply 29 Coradia Continental 160 km/h electric multiple-units and maintain them for 16 years. The EMUs are to be built at Alstom's Salzgitter plant and are due to enter service in June 2016 on Elektronetz Mittelsachsen II services ...