Asia – Page 104
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NewsConstruction starts on China – Laos railway
LAOS: Ceremonies were held in the northern city of Luang Prabang on December 25 to mark the launch of construction of the 414·3 km rail link from the Chinese border to Vientiane. Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith formally turned the first sod and struck a gong to mark the start ...
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Metro Report InternationalHefei opens metro Line 1
CHINA: The first two phases of Hefei's north-south metro Line 1 were formally opened for revenue service on December 26. From the following day, services are due to operate between 06.30 and 21.30 each day. The capital of Anhui province currently has around 3·5 million inhabitants, with much recent development ...
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NewsShiki-Shima luxury cruise train on test
JAPAN: East Japan Railway is testing a luxury cruise train ahead of its planned launch on May 1. Known as the Train Suite Shiki-Shima (Island of Four Seasons), and bearing the designation Series E001, the 10-car set has an observation car at each end offering passengers unobstructed panoramic views. Three ...
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NewsEMUs enter service in Kazakhstan
KAZAKHSTAN: Four Type EP3D electric multiple-units supplied by Transmashholding’s Demikhovsky Engineering Plant entered service with national railway KTZ this month. They are being used on the 240 km route from Astana south to Karaganda and the 300 km route north from Astana to Kokshetau. The order for the EMUs placed ...
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NewsHokuriku extension route agreed
JAPAN: Plans to extend the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Shin-Osaka via Obama and Kyoto were agreed by the coalition government on December 20. A 125 km section extending the line from its present terminus at Kanazawa to Tsuruga is currently under construction, with completion expected in 2022-23. The government’s decision will ...
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NewsIndian suburban rail development guidelines published
INDIA: In response to an increasing number of requests from state governments interested in the introduction of new suburban rail services, the Ministry of Railways has published draft policy guidelines which states can be use when developing proposals. The strategy envisages that proposals would be led by state ...
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Metro Report InternationalBeijing receives first maglev train
CHINA: CRRC Tangshan delivered the first of 10 maglev trains to Beijing on December 16. These will be used on the ‘medium-low speed’ maglev Line S1 due to open next year. The six-car Linglong trainsets have a maximum speed of 100 km/h and capacity for 1 302 passengers. The ...
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NewsDhaka – Payra railway to be developed by UK company
BANGLADESH: A memorandum of understanding for the development of a 240 km railway to link Dhaka with a planned deep water port at Payra on the Bay of Bengal was signed on December 20 by the government, Bangladesh Railway and London-based company DP Rail. The memorandum gives DP Rail the ...
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NewsSeoul Line 9 train order
SOUTH KOREA: The Seoul Metropolitan Government has awarded Hyundai Rotem a 44bn won contract for the supply of 32 metro cars for use on Line 9 of the city’s metro. To be built at Hyundai Rotem’s Changwon plant, the cars are to be delivered to Seoul by December 2018. ...
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Metro Report InternationalSouth Island Line completed in Hong Kong
CHINA: Hong Kong Chief Executive C Y Leung attended a ceremony at Ocean Park station on December 19 to celebrate the completion of the South Island Line. Ocean Park is one of the four stations on the metro line which is due to open for passenger service on December ...
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Metro Report InternationalQingdao metro doubles in size
CHINA: The length of the Qingdao metro network more than doubled at 18.00 on December 18 when the southern section of the city’s only line opened. The 12·8 km extension of Line 3 runs from Shungshan to Qingdao railway station, serving 12 stations. The first phase opened almost exactly ...
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NewsChina Railway Corp and MTR co-operate to go global
CHINA: State railway group China Railway Corp and Hong Kong-based international transport operator MTR Corp signed a letter of intent to explore strategic co-operation ‘within and outside of’ China on December 16, aiming to support the Chinese rail industry’s ‘Go-Global’ strategy. CRC and MTR are to form a strategic partnership ...
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NewsKlang Valley MRT Line 1 opens
MALAYSIA: Passenger services began at 06.00 on December 16 the first phase of Klang Valley MRT Line 1, after the opening by Prime Minister Najib Razak at Kwasa Damansara station the previous day. The first month of travel is free. The 21 km northern section of the route, also ...
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NewsJohor Bahru – Singapore RTS Link to use metro technology
ASIA: Following their annual retreat, on December 13 Prime Minister of Malaysia Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong welcomed the progress which the bilateral Transportation Links Work Group has made with the developing proposals for the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System ...
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NewsKuala Lumpur – Singapore high speed rail agreement signed
ASIA: A bilateral agreement for the development of the 350 km Kuala Lumpur – Singapore high speed rail project was signed on December 13, when the two countries’ Prime Ministers took part in their annual retreat, which was this year was held at Putrajaya in Malaysia. The agreement was signed ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
GE Transportation confirmed on December 8 that it had purchased Iders Incorporated, an electronics and technology specialist which supplies the GoLINC data processing and storage platform already used on many GE diesel locomotives. The acquisition is the latest step in a partnership that has seen the two companies work together ...
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NewsHigh speed link to Seoul suburbs opens
SOUTH KOREA: The 61 km Sudokwon high speed railway opened for traffic on December 9, with trains initially being operated by new entrant Supreme Railways. The high speed line provides a link from Suseo in the southern suburbs of Seoul to a junction near Pyeongtaek with the existing Gyongbu high ...
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NewsWuhan opens fourth metropolitan PDL
CHINA: The 61·8 km Hankou – Xiaogan Passenger-Dedicated Line was opened for revenue service on December 1. The 200 km/h route with 11 stations is the fourth line of the Wuhan Metropolitan Area Intercity Railway network to be inaugurated. Like the other routes, it is served by a fleet of ...
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Metro Report InternationalBangkok monorail PPP concessionaire selected
THAILAND: The BSR joint venture of BTS Group, Sino-Thai Engineering & Construction and Ratchaburi Electricity Generating has been selected to build and operate two monorail lines in Bangkok under a PPP concession. BSR beat Bangkok Expressway & Metro, the operator of the Blue and Purple metro lines. The concession ...
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Metro Report InternationalChangzhou Metro selects Bombardier signalling
CHINA: The Bombardier NUG Signalling Solutions Co joint venture of Bombardier Transportation and New United Group has won a 226m yuan contract to supply communications-based train control for Line 1 of the Changzhou metro. Announcing the contract on December 6, Bombardier said that it was the first for the ...