Australasia – Page 17
-
NewsMelbourne Suburban Rail Loop delivery body created
AUSTRALIA: The government of Victoria has established an authority to deliver the Suburban Rail Loop, and has selected a preferred alignment for the first phase. The 90 km orbital suburban rail line would link existing stations at Cheltenham in the southeastern suburbs and Werribee in the ...
-
NewsHamilton – Auckland commuter service funded
NEW ZEALAND: Daily commuter services are to be introduced on the northern section of KiwiRail’s North Island Main Trunk line between Hamilton and Auckland from mid-2020, following the approval of an NZ$92·4m funding package by the NZ Transport Agency. Combining NZ$79·8m from the national government with NZ$12·6m ...
-
NewsAustralian investment group FSI to buy Patriot Rail
USA: Australian investment group First State Investments announced an agreement to acquire 100% of the equity of short line group Patriot Rail & Ports from SteelRiver Infrastructure Partners on August 26. Terms were not disclosed. Formed in 2006 and acquired by SteelRiver in 2012, Florida-based Patriot now has ...
-
Metro Report InternationalTwo shortlisted for Auckland light rail project
NEW ZEALAND: The government has shortlisted two organisations to develop the City Centre – Māngere light rail project in Auckland, it announced on August 22. It expects to select a preferred bidder early next year. The shortlisted bidders are the NZ Transport Agency, a government body, and the ...
-
Metro Report InternationalAlstom to supply next generation of EMUs to Perth
AUSTRALIA: Public Transport Authority of Western Australia announced on August 19 that it had selected Alstom Transport Australia as preferred bidder to supply the next generation of electric multiple-units to operate on the Transperth network serving the state capital. Details of the A$1·6bn contract are expected to be ...
-
NewsAlstom to supply 252 multiple-unit cars to Western Australia
AUSTRALIA: Public Transport Authority of Western Australia announced on August 19 that it had selected Alstom Transport Australia as preferred bidder to supply the next generation of electric multiple-units to operate on the Transperth network serving the state capital. Details of the A$1·6bn contract are expected to be ...
-
NewsMIRA and PGGM to acquire all of Genesee & Wyoming Australia
AUSTRALIA: Existing shareholders Macquarie Infrastructure & Real Assets and PGGM have agreed to assume full ownership of the Genesee & Wyoming Australia business. This announcement on August 6 follows an agreement for GWA’s parent company Genesee & Wyoming Inc to be acquired by Brookfield Infrastructure and GIC in a ...
-
NewsLoram to acquire Aurizon’s rail grinding business
AUSTRALIA: Loram Maintenance of Way has agreed to purchase Aurizon’s rail grinding business, along with its contracts to serve four customers. ‘Loram recognises substantial opportunities in the Australian rail market’, explained Stephen Mannix, Managing Director of local subsidiary Loram Pty Ltd, when the agreement was announced on August 12. ...
-
NewsSunbury line upgrade package
AUSTRALIA: The Victoria state government has approved the first package of civil works to upgrade the 39·5 km Sunbury suburban line, which forms the electrified suburban section of the Melbourne – Bendigo main line. The upgrading will pave the way for enhanced services following completion of the Metro Tunnel ...
-
NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Genesee & Wyoming subsidiary Freightliner has successfully operated a 4 624 tonne ‘jumbo train’ of aggregates from Merehead in Somerset to Acton in London, which it described as ‘the heaviest freight train currently running in the UK’. This was a trial run ahead of Freightliner taking over the haulage contract ...
-
NewsVossloh sales up as rationalisation progresses
VOSSLOH: Reporting its half-year results on July 25, Vossloh Group announced that sales had increased by 4·6% to €437·1m from €418·1m for the first six months of 2018. An 18·6% increase in orders received to €568·9m had helped to lift the group’s order backlog by 33·7% to €726·9m at the ...
-
Metro Report InternationalCatenary-free tram running tested in Sydney
AUSTRALIA: Dynamic testing has started on the catenary-free section of the CBD & South East Light Rail line in Sydney, Transport for New South Wales announced on July 30. The 2 km section from Town Hall to the northern terminus at Circular Quay is equipped with Alstom’s APS ...
-
Metro Report InternationalRATP Dev enters Australian market with John Holland partnership
AUSTRALIA: RATP Dev and John Holland have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly bid for operations and maintenance contracts for the Sydney Metro West and Sydney Metro Greater West projects. RATP Dev expects to open an office in Sydney to serve as its headquarters for Australia & ...
-
NewsEyre grain lines are not closed, insists GWA
AUSTRALIA: Unequal treatment of road and rail was a major factor behind the decision to suspend services on the 1 067 mm gauge network in South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula, according to operator Genesee & Wyoming Australia. The 700 km network was mothballed at the end of May after GWA’s only ...
-
NewsAuckland City Rail Link contract signed
NEW ZEALAND: The main contract for construction of the tunnels and stations on the Auckland City Rail Link was formally signed on July 19, at an event attended by Transport Minister Phil Twyford and Auckland Mayor Phil Goff.
-
NewsEliwana mine and railway project launched
AUSTRALIA: Fortescue Metals Group held a ceremony on July 5 to officially launch construction of its Eliwana mine and railway in Western Australia. The US$1·275bn project includes the construction of 143 km of railway to connect the Western Hub mining area to the Solomon Hub on the existing 620 km ...
-
NewsAdelaide A-City fleet expansion
AUSTRALIA: The government of South Australia has awarded Bombardier Transportation a contract to supply a further 12 three-car A-City electric multiple-units to increase capacity on the Adelaide suburban network. The order announced on June 28 will take the A-City fleet to 34 units. The 1 600 mm gauge 25 kV ...
-
Metro Report InternationalAdelaide A-City fleet expansion
AUSTRALIA: The government of South Australia has awarded Bombardier Transportation a contract to supply a further 12 three-car A-City electric multiple-units to increase capacity on the Adelaide suburban network. The order announced on June 28 will take the A-City fleet to 34 units. The 1 600 mm ...
-
Rail Business UKGenesee & Wyoming to be acquired in US$8·4bn deal
INTERNATIONAL: A consortium of Brookfield Infrastructure, GIC and Brookfield’s institutional partners has agreed to acquire short line group Genesee & Wyoming Inc in a US$8·4bn transaction. The consortium would pay US$112 per share in cash, with G&W becoming a privately held company. ‘We believe this transaction is an excellent ...
-
NewsPerth’s final B-Series EMU delivered as C-Series procurement underway
AUSTRALIA: The EDI Rail Bombardier Transportation joint venture has delivered the last of 78 B-Series electric multiple-units ordered by Western Australia’s Public Transport Authority, 15 years after the first was unveiled. The final unit is expected to enter service on the Joondalup and Mandurah lines in early July. An initial ...