Asia – Page 116
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NewsOsaka Loop trains
JAPAN: JR West announced on December 8 that it is to procure 21 eight-car electric multiple-units for the Osaka Loop Line. The Class 323 trains are to replace the older Class 103 and Class 201 EMUs. The Class 103 EMUs, delivered in 1964-84, are to be withdrawn completely from the ...
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NewsToll Group divests Cambodian railway stake
CAMBODIA: Australian logistics group Toll has divested its 55% stake in the Toll Royal Railway joint venture to its local partner Royal Group with effect from December 19. Toll Royal Railway took over the dilapidated metre-gauge network in 2009 under a 30-year concession. The Asian Development Bank and Australian development ...
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NewsInternational Alliance of Rail Vehicle Industrial Design established
CHINA: An International Alliance of Rail Vehicle Industrial Design has been established by CSR Sifang, China Industrial Design Association, European Design Alliance, Tsinghua University and other ‘design agencies, universities and enterprises’ from more than 40 countries including Switzerland, the USA, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and Spain. CSR Corp said the ...
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NewsFrauscher to begin Indian axle-counter production
INDIA: Frauscher Sensor Technology India has received Research Designs & Standards Organisation approval for its ACS2000 axle-counting system, enabling it to begin production at a plant in Mysore which was opened in November. Approval was granted based on the existing CENELEC assessment, proven operation elsewhere and proof of reliability ...
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NewsChangsha – Huaihua high speed line opens
CHINA: The Changsha – Huaihua Passenger-Dedicated Line in Hunan province opened on December 16. Construction of the 416 km route with nine stations began in 2010. The alignment is designed for 350 km/h operation, but trains are currently limited to 300 km/h giving an end-to-end journey time of 1 h ...
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NewsWork starts on Chuo maglev
JAPAN: Central Japan Railway officially marked the start of work on the first phase of its Chuo Shinkansen superconducting maglev line between Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka with ceremonies at the Shinagawa and Nagoya station sites on December 17. According to JR Central, construction work on the 286 km between Tokyo ...
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NewsEastcomtrans and EBRD sign wagon financing deal
KAZAKHSTAN: The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development has signed an agreement to provide Eastcomtrans with a financing package worth US$30m. This will be used to purchase up to 500 open or other wagons for general freight, and for balance sheet restructuring. Eastcomtrans is one of the largest private freight ...
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NewsMitsubishi Electric to build Bangalore factory
INDIA: As part of Mitsubishi Electric Corp’s strategy to achieve annual transport sector revenue of US$2·7bn by 2020, its Mitsubishi Electric India subsidiary is to build a US$8m factory in Bangalore to produce traction inverters, motors and other electrical equipment for rolling stock. Completion is planned by September 2015, ...
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NewsWorld Bank signs US$1·1bn Dedicated Freight Corridor loan
INDIA: The government, World Bank and project promoter Dedicated Freight Corridor Corp of India Ltd signed a US$1·1bn loan agreement to fund the second phase of the Eastern DFC on December 11. The 22-year International Bank for Reconstruction & Development loan has a seven-year grace period. The 1 839 ...
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NewsFrom China to Spain by rail
INTERNATIONAL: The first direct rail freight service to operate between China and Spain arrived at ADIF’s Madrid Abroñigal intermodal terminal on December 9, welcomed by Spanish Development Minister Ana Pastor. Carrying a total of 30 containers, the train had left Yiwu in China on November 18, covering 13 000 km ...
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NewsStandard gauge line reaches Hekou
CHINA: Test running on the 142 km standard gauge line between Mengzi and Hekou in southern Yunnan province began at the start of December. When commercial passenger services start in early 2015, a journey between the provincial capital Kunming and the Vietnamese border should take around 6 h 30 min. ...
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NewsAlstom increases stake in Kazakh joint venture
KAZAKHSTAN: Alstom has acquired a further 25% stake in the EKZ locomotive production joint venture from national railway KTZ. The restructuring now leaves Alstom as the lead shareholder in EKZ, which is based in Astana where it also has a loco production factory. KTZ and Russian supplier Transmash Holding ...
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NewsKorail EMU order announced
SOUTH KOREA: National railway operator Korail has ordered a batch of 22 regional EMUs from Hyundai Rotem at a cost of 154·4bn won, the company announced on December 1. Due for delivery from April 2016 onwards, the trains are intended to operate on two lines which are currently under construction. ...
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NewsTransnet seals MoU with CSR Zhuzhou
SOUTH AFRICA: Parastatal transport holding group Transnet announced on December 4 that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive, paving the way for the Chinese manufacturer to set up facilities to build and maintain electric locomotives in South Africa, and develop other railway equipment for ...
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NewsChinese-backed standard gauge project edges forward
THAILAND: The National Legislative Assembly voted on December 4 by a majority of 187 in favour of approving a memorandum of understanding between the Thai and Chinese governments over the construction of a north-south standard gauge main line corridor. According to the 2015-22 Thai infrastructure development plan, the corridor would ...
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NewsIran – Turkmenistan – Kazakhstan rail link inaugurated
ASIA: The final link in the north-south railway corridor connecting Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan was officially inaugurated on December 3, in a ceremony attended by Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov and his counterparts Hassan Rohani of Iran and Nursultan Nazarbaev of Kazakhstan. The celebrations at Incheh Borun on the border between ...
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NewsEurasian logistics accord signed
INTERNATIONAL: Further steps to improve and expand the operation of international container trains between China, Russia and Europe are envisaged under a co-operation agreement between Russian Railways Logistics and the Zhengzhou International Land Port Development & Construction Co. Signed at an international logistics congress in Zhengzhou on November 27 by ...
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NewsGovernment seeks to accelerate Trans-Sumatra railway project
INDONESIA: President Joko Widodo has reconfirmed the government’s commitment to construction of a 2 168 route-km railway across the island of Sumatra, linking three disparate 1 067 mm gauge networks. Outlining the government’s infrastructure priorities for the 2015-19 period, Widodo said on November 27 that a feasibility study for the ...
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NewsModi opens railway to Mendipathar
INDIA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was joined by Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhu and other dignitaries at a ceremony in the northeastern city of Guwahati on November 29, marking the opening of the railway to Mendipathar. Dispatching the inaugural train remotely from Railway Stadium in Guwahati, Modi outlined the ...
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NewsExpress Rail Link orders CNR trains for 50% capacity increase
MALAYSIA: Kuala Lumpur airport rail link operator Express Rail Link signed an agreement for CNR Changchun Railway Vehicles to supply six electric multiple-units on November 25. They will provide a 50% increase in capacity on the 57 km line, which recorded 20% growth in ridership during 2013 and has experienced ...