Australasia – Page 20
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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 ...
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NewsThree bidders prequalify for Perth EMU order
AUSTRALIA: The government of Western Australia has prequalified three bidders for a contract to supply up to 41 six-car electric multiple-units for the Transperth network serving Perth: Alstom Transport Australia;the Momentum West consortium of CAF and UGL;a consortium of EDI Rail and Bombardier Transportation. The government expects to select ...
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NewsMernda extension completed
AUSTRALIA: A public open day on August 19 marked the official completion of an 8 km extension of Melbourne’s South Morang Line to Mernda, with around 6 000 local residents invited to sample a shuttle service on the route. Regular services are due to begin running with the introduction of ...
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Metro Report InternationalMernda extension completed
AUSTRALIA: A public open day on August 19 marked the official completion of an 8 km extension of Melbourne’s South Morang Line to Mernda, with around 6 000 local residents invited to sample a shuttle service on the route. Regular services are due to begin running with the introduction of ...
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Metro Report InternationalWellington trolleybuses to be converted to battery operation
NEW ZEALAND: The Energy Efficiency & Conservation Authority is giving a NZ$763 000 grant for the conversion of 50 Wellington trolleybuses to battery power. Bus operator NZ Bus is to install fast-charging stations at the Karori and Kilbirnie depots, and the converted buses are expected to enter service at ...
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Rail Business UKWorld rail freight news round-up
Nurminen Logistics plans to launch a regular container train service from the port of Helsinki to China via Russia and Kazakhstan in the final quarter of this year. The company reports that demand for Finnish railway transport services grew considerably in H1 2018, boosted by container transport from Finland to ...
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NewsCoastal Pacific service to restart in December
NEW ZEALAND: KiwiRail’s tourist-focused Coastal Pacific service from Christchurch to Picton is to restart on December 1, two years after being suspended as a result of damage to the line caused by the 7·8 magnitude Kaikoura earthquake of November 14 2016. Infrastructure repairs allowed the Main North Line to be ...
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NewsVictoria orders more Alstom EMUs
AUSTRALIA: Transport for Victoria has awarded Alstom a €60m contract to supply a further five X’Trapolis electric multiple-units to increase capacity on Melbourne’s 1 600 mm gauge suburban network. Each of the 145 m long six-car 1·5 kV DC EMUs will have a capacity of 1 238 passengers, with ‘enhanced’ ...
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NewsDriverless heavy haul train completes first iron ore delivery
AUSTRALIA: Rio Tinto completed its first iron ore delivery using a driverless train on July 10. The Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator had granted approval on May 16, and full commercial operation is planned for late 2018. The fully-loaded autonomous train with three locomotives carried 28 000 ...