All Railway Gazette International articles in December 2009
All articles published this month.
-
NewsNews in Brief
On December 11 Unife and UIC signed an agreement to jointly publish Technical Recommendations which will form voluntary standards applicable to European rolling stock. Russia will become the 44th member of OTIF with effect from February 1. The Cotif convention governing international rail transport will initially apply between the port ...
-
NewsPlanning on the go
POLAND: Staff on Polish inter-city trains can now provide passengers with journey information using HaCon's Hafas Mobile Professional software installed on Casio IT-3100 devices by TK Telekom. Enquiries are entered using a keyboard or with a stylus on the touch-screen, enabling Polish characters to be entered into a fault-tolerant station ...
-
NewsWeight is time
UK: A five-piece steel guard was originally fitted to Bombardier Voyager diesel-electric multiple-units operating in the UK to protect the Cummins engines from flying stones. However, these guards required five people to lift during maintenance, and distortion and metal fatigue meant they could not be refitted. As a result, ...
-
NewsLNVG orders Lint DMUs
GERMANY: Alstom Transport announced a €75m order to supply Niedersachsen transport authority LNVG with a further 28 Coradia Lint diesel mul tiple-units on December 17. The two-car units are to be built at Salzgitter and will enter traffic on regional services in December 2011. They will have space for ...
-
NewsLänsimetro construction launched
FINLAND:The Länsimetro project got underway on November 24, following Helsinki City Council's ratification of the plan to extend the metro network by 13·9 km west from Ruoholahti to Matinkylä in Espoo on November 11. Transport Minister Anu Vehviläinen, Helsinki City Council President Otto Lehtipuu and Espoo City Council Chairman Jukka ...
-
NewsTransitio orders more Contessas
SWEDEN: Rolling stock leasing company AB Transitio announced on December 23 that it had ordered a further 11 three-car Contessa EMUs from Bombardier Transportation at a cost of €96m, with an option for a further five. To be leased by three regional authorities, Lanstrafiken Kronoberg, Kalmar Lans Trafik and Hallandstrafiken, ...
-
NewsStuttgart S-Bahn changes
GERMANY: After 18 months of construction, the extension of Stuttgart S-Bahn route S1 from Plochingen to Kirchheim unter Teck entered service on December 13, as rail timetable changes took effect across Europe. The €32·5m project involved electrification of the section between Wendlingen and Kirchheim and upgrading of track and signalling ...
-
NewsProvincial funding for Ottawa light rail
CANADA: The Ontario provincial government on December 18 announced a C$600m contribution to Ottawa’s C$2·1bn rail plan. The federal government is also expected to make a substantial grant but has yet to decide how much; so far it has committed C$200m. Local officials are hoping for a total of C$600m, ...
-
NewsChinese wagons could be built in Poland
POLAND: PKP Cargo has announced plans for a joint venture with China Northern which would assemble railway wagons at a site in Szczecin. A feasibility study will be completed within three months, Daniel Ryczek, PKP Cargo's director of International Affairs, said on December 10. If this finds that assembly ...
-
NewsVossloh acquires rail services business
GERMANY: Vossloh announced a deal to acquire three rail logistics, welding and preventative maintenance companies on December 14. The LOG Logistikgesellschaft Gleisbau and ISB Instandhaltungssysteme Bahn subsidiaries of Contrack Group and the rail service business of Stahlberg Roensch Group will become a new Vossloh Rail Services business unit within Vossloh ...
-
NewsSeattle rail link reaches Tacoma International Airport
USA: The final 2·7 km section of Sound Transit’s $2·3bn Central Link light rail line opened for revenue service at 10.00 on December 19 following an inauguration ceremony during which a train burst through a ribbon at Sea-Tac/Airport station. The initial 22·4 km of track running south from downtown ...
-
NewsVeolia and Transdev announce merger framework
FRANCE: A framework agreement setting out the financial structure of the company which could be formed through a merger of Transdev and Veolia Transport was announced by their parent companies on December 21. Caisse des Dépôts, Veolia Environnement and RATP plan to use the framework as a basis for consultation ...
-
NewsDouble-decker debut
CANADA: The first trainset composed of double-deck cars made its inaugural trip on Montréal's Mont-Saint-Hilaire commuter line on November 23. The Québec government awarded a C$386m contract for 160 coaches to Bombardier Transportation in December 2007, and the first unit was unveiled at Bombardier's La Pocatière plant on August 21. ...
-
NewsRussian high speed train enters service
RUSSIA: 'This is not just a train and these are not just carriages, this is a different life, different technology, a different means of transport', said Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin before joining passengers on the first Sapsan high speed train service from Moscow to St Petersburg at 19.00 on ...
-
NewsCommission to review Eurostar failures
EUROPE: The Eurostar board announced on December 21 that it had commissioned an independent review of the train failures which brought its cross-Channel rail services to a halt on the night of December 18-19. Responding to a demand by French transport minister Dominique Bussereau, Eurostar said the review would ...
-
NewsSBB Cargo stays independent
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has abandoned plans to team up with another operator in an attempt to strengthen its freight business. Announcing this on December 17, SBB said that SBB Cargo will continue to operate independently, although it will look for opportunities to co-operate with other organisations to develop international ...
-
NewsUrban rail news in brief - December 2009
Veolia Transport has been selected to operate the Valenciennes urban transport network for the period 2010-17. The other bidders were current operator Transdev and Keolis. On November 6 Metro de Santiago inaugurated San José de la Estrella station, which is located between Trinidad and Los Quillayes ...
-
NewsOakland Airport Connector peoplemover contract awarded
USA: The San Francisco BART board voted on December 12 to award a joint venture of Flatiron and Parsons a contract to build a 5·2 km cable-hauled peoplemover linking Coliseum BART station with Oakland International Airport. Doppelmayr Cable Car will supply the vehicles and has been awarded a separate operations ...
-
NewsBombardier to supply 246 Movia cars for Shanghai Line 12
CHINA: Shanghai Rail Transit Line 12 Development Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Shanghai Shentong Metro Group, has signed a 2bn yuan contract with Bombardier and its Chinese partners to supply 246 Movia cars for Shanghai Line 12. The contract, which comprises 41 six-car trains, spare parts and operator training, was ...
-
NewsGE and Transnet sign 100-locomotive deal
SOUTH AFRICA: GE Transportation announced the signing of a contract with Transnet Ltd to supply Transnet freight Rail with 100 C30ACi freight locomotives on December 18. Deliveries are scheduled for 2011-12. The manufacturer says they will be the first diesel-electric locomotives with AC traction equipment in sub-Saharan Africa. They are ...