Australasia – Page 22
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NewsFive consortia shortlisted for Cross River Rail
AUSTRALIA: The Queensland state government has shortlisted ‘a strong field of national and multinational companies’ to bid for the two main works packages to build and equip the A$5·4bn Cross River Rail link in Brisbane, Deputy Premier Jackie Trad announced on February 20. The Cross River Rail Delivery Authority invited ...
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NewsMelbourne opens elevated rail alignment
AUSTRALIA: Revenue services began operating on a new elevated alignment through the Melbourne suburb of Noble Park on February 15, when the Victoria state government’s Level Crossing Removal Authority commissioned the first section of viaduct on the Cranbourne-Pakenham line. A 2·7 km section of the city’s busiest suburban line through ...
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Metro Report InternationalSydney metro train on test
AUSTRALIA: Dynamic testing of the first Sydney metro train has started on the elevated section of the city’s future metro line. Alstom delivered the first of 22 trainsets to the Rouse Hill depot on September 26. Testing is initially taking place in that area, before being expanded to the ...
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NewsUncertainty derails Aurizon’s Galilee plans
AUSTRALIA: Prospects for the construction of rail links to serve controversial mining developments in Queensland’s Galilee Basin coal reserves have been thrown into doubt after heavy haul operator Aurizon announced on February 9 that it had decided to withdraw its application for funding from the federal government’s Northern Australia Infrastructure ...
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NewsAdelaide electrification contract awarded
AUSTRALIA: Electrification of the 40 km Adelaide – Gawler suburban route is set to resume in the coming weeks, following the award of a contract for the first phase of the A$615m project. The South Australia state government announced on January 18 that it had selected Lendlease to complete 25 ...
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NewsBallarat Line upgrading contract signed
AUSTRALIA: Upgrading and capacity enhancement works on the Melbourne – Ballarat line in Victoria are to be completed by late 2019, under a A$551·7m contract announced on January 16. Funded by the state and federal governments, as part of the A$1·6bn Regional Rail Revival initiative, the project is being managed ...
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NewsBombardier to supply more VLocity DMUs
AUSTRALIA: Bombardier Transportation has been awarded a A$146m contract to supply a further nine three-car VLocity diesel multiple-units to Transport for Victoria. Deliveries are scheduled for 2019, and will take the state’s VLocity fleet to 88 units. The 160 km/h DMUs will continue to be manufactured in Dandenong, and will ...
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Metro Report InternationalGold Coast light rail Stage 2 inaugurated
AUSTRALIA: Revenue services began running on Stage 2 of the Gold Coast light rail line on December 18, following an inauguration ceremony the previous day attended by Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, Transport Minister Mark Bailey and Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate. Free rides were offered to local residents and visitors ...
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Metro Report InternationalFirst tram arrives in Canberra
AUSTRALIA: CAF has delivered the first of 14 trams that it is supplying for the network under construction in Canberra. The five-section vehicle was shipped from Spain in October, arriving in Port Kembla before being transported by road to the capital. CAF is part of the Canberra Metro consortium which ...
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NewsNGR EMUs ready to enter service in Brisbane
AUSTRALIA: The first of 75 New Generation Rollingstock trainsets being built by Bombardier for the Brisbane suburban network are expected to begin carrying passengers on December 11, Queensland Rail Chief Executive Officer Nick Easy confirmed on December 6. With 70% of Queensland’s population growth expected in the South-East region, the ...
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NewsNew South Wales fleet replacement advances
AUSTRALIA: Three consortia have been shortlisted for the contract to replace the NSW TrainLink regional rail fleet of XPT, Endeavour and Xplorer trains, the New South Wales state government has announced. The bidders are: Regional Futures, led by Downer; Bombardier Consortium; Momentum Trains, led by CAF. Transport for NSW ...
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NewsHigh Capacity Metro Train mock-up supports design process
AUSTRALIA: The Evolution Rail consortium of Downer, CRRC and Plenary has produced a full-scale mock up of the 65 electric multiple-units for Melbourne suburban services which it is to supply and maintain under the Victorian government’s High Capacity Metro Trains PPP contract. As part of the design process, the 39 ...
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NewsProgress Rail to acquire Downer EDI’s freight activities
AUSTRALIA: Downer EDI announced on November 21 that it had signed an agreement to sell its freight business to Progress Rail for A$109m. The sale of the freight rolling stock, aftermarket and services activities is expected to close in January. It includes customer contracts, 15 facilities including those at Malaga, ...
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NewsARA emphasises the Value of Rail
AUSRAIL: Australia’s rail industry contributed around A$26bn to the national economy in 2016, according to the Value of Rail report launched by the Australasian Railway Association at AusRail Plus on November 21. Prepared for ARA by Deloitte Access Economics, the report is intended to highlight the many ways that rail ...
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NewsSiemens to develop Queensland ETCS hub
AUSRAIL: In a ceremony during the first day of the AusRail Plus 2017 exhibition, Siemens announced on November 21 that it is investing A$4·8m to develop an ETCS technology centre in Brisbane, to support its signalling activities across Australia, New Zealand and the Southeast Asia region. The company said it ...
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NewsFaiveley Transport to supply NSW EMU subsystems
AUSTRALIA: Wabtec Corp subsidiary Faiveley Transport has been awarded contracts totalling more than US$150m to supply subsystems and maintenance services for 56 double-deck electric multiple-units which the RailConnect NSW consortium of Hyundai Rotem, UGL and Mitsubishi Electric Australia is to supply for NSW TrainLink Intercity services. Faiveley sites in Australia, ...
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NewsBattery option in Auckland order for more CAF EMUs
NEW ZEALAND: Auckland Transport and CAF signed a NZ$$133m contract on November 7 covering the supply of a further 15 three-car electric multiple-units from 2019 and the provision of eight years of maintenance. The order is being funded by NZ Transport Agency and Auckland Council. There is provision in the ...
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NewsTasRail selects freight planning software
AUSTRALIA: TasRail has awarded Biarri Rail a contract to supply its Boss MP cloud-based operations planning and scheduling software in a three-stage process which will run until early 2019. ‘If for example we have a new customer that wants to move several million tonnes of freight via rail, we ...
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Metro Report InternationalParramatta light rail Stage 2 plans announced
AUSTRALIA: The New South Wales government announced its preferred route for the second phase of the Parramatta light rail project on October 18. The 9 km preferred route would extend the network to Sydney Olympic Park, diverging from Stage 1 near Rydalmere and running north of the ...
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NewsRio Tinto operates first fully-autonomous test train
AUSTRALIA: Rio Tinto has successfully operated its first fully-autonomous freight train on its iron ore network in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, the company announced on October 2. The 100 km pilot run from Wombat Junction to Paraburdoo was completed without a driver on board. Throughout the trip, the ...