Australasia – Page 16
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Metro Report InternationalAlstom completes last Sydney metro train
AUSTRALIA: Alstom has rolled out the last of the 22 driverless Metropolis trains that it is supplying for the Sydney metro at its Sricity factory in India. Alstom is supplying 22 six-car Metropolis driverless trainsets, together with Urbalis 400 communications-based train control, Iconis control systems and Smartlock 400 computer-based ...
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NewsNSW to study regional high speed rail options
AUSTRALIA: The New South Wales state government has commissioned a study of four preferred corridors for high speed rail services, which it believes could transform travel patterns on regional routes radiating up to 300 km from Sydney. Announcing the study on December 3, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said ‘we know ...
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Metro Report InternationalMelbourne High Capacity Metro Trains on test
AUSTRALIA: Testing has started of the High Capacity Metro Trains that Evolution Rail is supplying to operate Melbourne’s suburban network. The Evolution Rail consortium of Plenary, CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles and Downer Group has a PPP contract to supply 65 electric multiple-units for use on the 1 600 mm ...
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NewsMelbourne High Capacity Metro Trains on test
AUSTRALIA: Testing has started of the High Capacity Metro Trains that Evolution Rail is supplying to operate Melbourne’s suburban network. The Evolution Rail consortium of Plenary, CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles and Downer Group has a PPP contract to supply 65 electric multiple-units for use on the 1 600 mm ...
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Metro Report InternationalGold Coast LRT Stage 3A funding pledged
AUSTRALIA: The federal government has agreed to contribute A$112m towards the next phase of the Gold Coast light rail project in South East Queensland, Minister for Cities, Urban Infrastructure & Population Alan Tudge announced on November 5. Provisionally costed at A$670m, the 6·4 km Stage 3A extension from Broadbeach South ...
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NewsKiwiRail electric haulage reprieved
NEW ZEALAND: The government has agreed to fund the refurbishment of 15 locomotives to enable electric haulage of freight trains on the North Island Main Trunk line to continue. The Brush Class EF electric locomotives dating from 1986-88 have become increasingly unreliable, and in December 2016 KiwiRail announced its intention ...
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Metro Report InternationalNewcastle tram testing begins
AUSTRALIA: Powered testing started on the tram route in Newcastle on the night of October 22-23. Daytime testing is expected to commence in the coming weeks, with opening of the 2·6 km route between Wickham and Pacific Park scheduled for early 2019. The first tram arrived last month. ...
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Metro Report InternationalAdelaide tramway extensions open
AUSTRALIA: Two short extensions of the Glenelg tramway in Adelaide opened on October 13. One extension runs 1 km east along North Terrace from Adelaide Railway Station to Art Gallery, University and Botanic Gardens, and operates every day. The other runs 350 m north from Rundle Mall along King William ...
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NewsAurizon agrees revised terms for intermodal sale
AUSTRALIA: Aurizon Holdings Ltd has reached a revised agreement to sell its Queensland intermodal freight business to the Linfox logistics group for A$7·3m, the freight railway operator reported to the Australian stock exchange on October 12 Aurizon had announced its intention in August 2017 to withdraw from the intermodal market, ...
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Metro Report InternationalAuckland City Rail Link fit-out contractor selected
NEW ZEALAND: Project promoter City Rail Link Ltd has selected the Systems Integration, Testing & Commissioning Alliance joint venture of RCR Tomlinson and design partners Opus International Consultants for the interim project alliance agreement covering railway systems for the City Rail Link project in Auckland. SITC will work with ...
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NewsWellington infrastructure spending funded
NEW ZEALAND: A NZ$196m package of improvements to the Wellington regional rail network was announced by Transport Minister Phil Twyford on October 9. NZ Transport Agency funding of NZ$193m is being provided through the National Land Transport Fund to support infrastructure renewals and capacity enhancement under two business cases put ...
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NewsPolymer sleeper research partnership
AUSTRALIA: The University of Southern Queensland has formed a partnership with Austrak and Laing O’Rourke to develop and deploy fibre-reinforced polymer composite materials as an alternative to timber in sleepers and bridge transoms. The A$10m project has been backed by an A$3m grant from the government’s Co-operative Research Centre – ...
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NewsInland Rail PPP concession launched
AUSTRALIA: The public-private partnership to build and maintain a key section of the Inland Rail corridor through southern Queensland was launched on October 4, at an event in Toowoomba attended by federal Infrastructure Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack. Australian Rail Track Corp has invited registrations ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Belgian rail freight operator Lineas has opened an operations centre in Mainz to monitor the approximately 200 trains per week that it operates in Germany. According to Business Development Director Jan Elfenhorst, this will support the expansion of the Green Xpress enhanced wagonload network. The company is also planning to ...
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Metro Report InternationalMore E-Class trams ordered for Melbourne
AUSTRALIA: The Victoria state government announced on September 18 that it had ordered 10 more E-Class trams from Bombardier for A$83m. Bombardier is already supplying 80 low-floor trams from its Dandenong factory under previously placed orders; the 70th of these is expected to arrive in the next few weeks.
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Rail Business UKWorld rail freight news round-up
Germany's Kreisbahn Siegen-Wittgenstein opened the Südwestfalen container terminal in Kreuztal in Nordrhein-Westfalen on September 14. The 18 500 m² facility has two 225 m tracks and a 191 m long siding. The UK Rail Freight Group has called on the government to ensure that freight growth is at the heart ...
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Rail Business UKRail market still growing, confirms UNIFE
INNOTRANS: Steady growth in the demand for railway products and services can be expected for the next six years, according to the 2018 World Rail Market Study compiled for UNIFE by Roland Berger and launched by UNIFE Chair Sabrina Soussan at InnoTrans on September 18. The seventh biennial study ...
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NewsWaratah Series 2 EMUs enter service in Sydney
AUSTRALIA: The first of the Waratah Series 2 double-deck suburban electric multiple-units entered passenger service with Sydney Trains on September 6. All 24 of the eight-car units are scheduled to be progressively introduced by early 2019. Transport for New South Wales ordered the EMUs from Downer EDI in December ...
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NewsAdani scales back Carmichael rail link plans
AUSTRALIA: In a bid to reduce the capital cost of its controversial Carmichael opencast coal mining project in Queensland’s Galilee Basin, Adani Mining announced on September 12 that it had dropped plans to develop an independent standard-gauge railway in favour of a 1 067 mm gauge connection to Aurizon’s existing ...
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NewsMelbourne Airport Rail Link market engagement begins
AUSTRALIA: The state of Victoria began market engagement for the Melbourne Airport Rail Link project on September 12, when Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan invited investors, construction companies and potential operators to register interest in participating in the project. A full business case is currently ...