All Australasia articles
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NewsGamuda buys into Australian rail market
AUSTRALIA: Malaysian civil engineering group Gamuda Bhd has agreed to purchase a 50% stake in Australian contractor Martinus Rail Pty Ltd, citing potential opportunities in the country’s pipeline of current and future railway projects. Under the partnership agreement announced on October 2, Gamuda Engineering Australia and ...
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KiwiRail selects polymer sleeper supplier
NEW ZEALAND: KiwiRail has selected Lankhorst Engineered Products as the winner of a contract to supply polymer sleepers over at least three years. The Dutch company said this was a significant breakthrough for its KLP hybrid polymer sleeper design, which it launched internationally in 2014 after ...
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Northland line renovation funded
NEW ZEALAND: The government has approved the first NZ$94·8m tranche of an expected NZ$300m from the Provincial Growth Fund to fund renovation and upgrading works on KiwiRail’s 181 km North Auckland Line between Swanson and Whangarei. Speaking in Helensville on September 5, Regional Economic Development Minister ...
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Victoria expands VLocity fleet
AUSTRALIA: The Victoria state government has ordered a further batch of VLocity diesel multiple-units from Bombardier Transportation, in order to meet growing demand on regional routes radiating from Melbourne. Due to enter service in 2021, the six three-car units will follow on from the nine sets ...
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Hamilton – 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 Aucklandfrom 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 ...
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Alstom 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 ...
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MIRA 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 ...
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Loram 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. ...
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Sunbury 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 ...
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World 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 ...
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Vossloh 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 ...
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Eyre 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 ...
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Auckland 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. Project promoter City Rail Link had selected the Link Alliance ...
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Eliwana 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 ...
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Adelaide 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 ...
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Genesee & 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 ...
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Perth’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 ...
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Rail, metro and tram spending in New South Wales budget
AUSTRALIA: Several rail projects have been allocated funding in the 2019-20 New South Wales budget, which was presented on June 18. The state government is providing A$812m as part of a A$1·8bn package over four years towards the New Intercity Fleet. The RailConnect consortium of Hyundai Rotem, Mitsubishi Electric ...
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Napier to Wairoa line reinstated
NEW ZEALAND: KiwiRail has completed rehabilitation of the 115 km Napier – Wairoa line, which was mothballed in December 2012 following severe storm damage. The project was supported with NZ$6·2m from the Provincial Growth Fund. ’Our next focus is to establish a log-hub in Wairoa so we are ready to ...
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City Rail Link cost management consultant appointed
NEW ZEALAND: Turner & Townsend has been appointed to provide cost management advisory services for the NZ$4·4bn City Rail Link project in Auckland. Last month project promoter CRL Ltd named the Link Alliance of Vinci Construction Grands Projets, Downer, Soletanche Bachy International, WSP Opus, AECOM New Zealand and Tonkin + ...
