All Railway Gazette International articles in December 2011
All articles published this month.
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NewsVision 2020 to expand Montreal's public transport
CANADA: Metro expansion and the electrification of commuter routes lie at the heart of a C$168bn strategic plan to improve Montréal’s public transport which has been announced by Agence Métropolitaine de Transport. Vision 2020 contains three metro projects; a Blue Line extension east towards Anjou, a northern extension of the ...
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NewsBART to test vinyl seat covers
USA: PreVail vinyl cushioned seat covers made by Omnova are to be tested in place of wool-based fabric on San Francisco's BART metro trains from April to June 2012. Laboratory tests found a passenger preference for vinyl, and the PreFixx Extreme coating is expected to make the seats easier to ...
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NewsRail win drives Siemens growth
SIEMENS: Hailing the €3·7bn order from Deutsche Bahn for ICx inter-city trainsets as 'the biggest order in the company's history', Siemens AG reported a 24% year-on-year increase in orders at its Industry Sector during the financial year to September 30 2011. Revenue grew 9% to €32·9bn, contributing to a sector ...
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NewsLoan supports wagon component supplier
UKRAINE: EBRD is providing a senior loan of up to US$13m to Lugcentrokuz, a privately-owned manufacturer of wagon and locomotive components including shock absorbers, axles, wheelsets and springs. The bank said the loan will be used to improve LCK's product range, strengthen its position in its traditional CIS market and ...
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NewsListening carefully
UK: Spanish firm Ingeniería para el Control del Ruido has carried out an acoustic study of the C4000 diesel multiple-units which CAF has supplied to Northern Ireland Railways. ICR’s involvement began before the trains were built, with studies to predict the acoustic features of the proposed design and ensure behaviour ...
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NewsNarrow gauge ballast regulator
MALAYSIA: Knox Kershaw has delivered a metre-gauge KNG 800 Ballast Regulator to Malaysia. The US firm has previously built standard and broad gauge machines, but this is its first designed specifically for narrow gauge railways. Available for 914, 1000, and 1067 mm gauges, the 18 tonne KNG 800 ...
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NewsSão Paulo metro cars modernised
BRAZIL: The first of 26 modernised trainsets for Line 1 of the São Paulo Metro was unveiled on December 8. The 30-year-old six-car sets are being refurbished at Bombardier's Hortolândia plant near São Paulo by a Bombardier-led consortium including Tejofran and Temoinsa. São Paulo metro operator CMSP awarded Bombardier a ...
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NewsGenève tram extension opens
SWITZERLAND: Genève inaugurated its latest tram extension on December 10. The 6·5 km double-track Line 14 from Cornavin to Bernex with 13 stops has been under construction since 2008 at a total cost of SFr320m, and opened 51 years after the original tram route to Bernex was closed. The ...
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NewsCoach plant is milestone in Kazakhstan's industrial history
KAZAKHSTAN: National railway KTZ and Spanish rolling stock manufacturer Patentes Talgo have opened their joint production facility in Astana. On December 8 the plant was visited by President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who inspected the first completed cars for KTZ. Talgo and KTZ agreed in 2010 to set up the Tulpar Talgo ...
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NewsEssen orders 27 Flexity Classic trams
GERMANY: Essen transport authority EVAG signed a €72m contract for Bombardier Transportation to supply 27 Flexity Classic trams on December 21. Two pre-series vehicles are scheduled to be delivered in August 2013, with series vehicles following from March 2014. The three-module bi-directional and air-conditioned vehicles will be 30 m long ...
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NewsOurense - A Coruña broad gauge high speed line opens
SPAIN: Development Minister José Blanco officially opened the 149 km high speed line between Ourense and A Coruña on December 10, built at a cost of €3·3bn. The route includes 87·1 km of new construction between Ourense and Santiago de Compostela, built at a cost of €2·55bn. More than 57% ...
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NewsMelbourne Regional Rail Link contracts awarded
AUSTRALIA: Contracts for construction of the Regional Rail Link project in Melbourne with a total value of more than A$1·6bn were announced on December 21. Scheduled for completion by 2016, the Regional Rail Link will provide dedicated tracks for long-distance regional passenger services, which will be separated from suburban services ...
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NewsBEML wins Jaipur metro train contract
INDIA: BEML Ltd has won a Rs3·18bn contract to supply 10 four-car trains for the Jaipur Metro, and anticipates a follow-on order worth Rs600m. Construction of Jaipur Metro Rail Corp’s 9·2 km east-west line from Mansarovar to Chandpole is being managed by Delhi Metro Rail Corp. A ...
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NewsFTA backs Houston and Seattle light rail growth
USA: Representatives of the Federal Transit Administration and the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County signed full funding grant agreements worth $900m on November 28 which will support two extensions to Houston’s light rail network totalling 19 km. Already under construction, the North and Southeast corridors are scheduled to open ...
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NewsUkrainian inter-city train unveiled
UKRAINE: The first of 10 inter-city electric multiple-units being built for Ukrainian Railways by South Korean firm Hyundai Rotem was unveiled in Changwon in the presence of government and railway officials on December 20 Two of the nine-car trainsets are expected to be delivered to Odessa during February, and will ...
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NewsNS concession renewal
NETHERLANDS: Discussions between Nederlandse Spoorwegen and Infrastructure Minister Schultz van Haegen have led to an agreement for the national operator to retain its monopoly concession covering passenger services on the designated core network for a further 10 years from 2015. The concession will be merged with that covering the HSL-Zuid ...
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NewsQueensland's Northern Missing Link coal railway opens
AUSTRALIA: Acting Premier of Queensland Andrew Fraser opened the 69 km Northern Missing Link connecting QR National's Goonyella and Newlands coal railway networks on December 19. Providing a route from mines in the Bowen Basin to the Abbot Point export terminal, the link is the central component of QR National's ...
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NewsPesa wins its first German contract
GERMANY: Pesa Bydgoszcz signed deal to supply 12 two-car articulated diesel multiple-units to Netinera subsidiary Regentalbahn on December 20, the Polish company's first contract win in Germany. The units are scheduled to be delivered between June and December 2014 for use on the Regensburg - Marktredwitz - Schirnding line which ...
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NewsPraha metro extension receives EIB funding
CZECH REPUBLIC: The European Investment Bank confirmed on December 16 that it will lend up to €350m to part finance the 6∙1 km extension of the Praha metro Line A to Motol Hospital. With four new stations, the double-track extension starts from the current terminus at Dejvická in the northwest ...
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NewsDB orders more Twindexx coaches
GERMANY: DB has placed a firm order for a further 18 Twindexx Vario double-deck push-pull coaches, Bombardier Transportation announced on December 20. The €34m contract has been placed within a December 2008 framework agreement, and follows from an order for 135 coaches placed in January 2011. The 160 ...