All Railway Gazette International articles in December 2014
All articles published this month.
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NewsRecord results at Greenbrier
GREENBRIER: US wagon manufacturer The Greenbrier Companies has reported record net earnings of $99·3m and Ebitda of $253·8m for the year to August 31 2014, with revenue of $2·2bn and cash generated from operating activities totalling $136m. The company delivered 16 200 wagons, and received orders for 34 300 valued ...
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NewsModi opens railway to Mendipathar
INDIA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was joined by Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhu and other dignitaries at a ceremony in the northeastern city of Guwahati on November 29, marking the opening of the railway to Mendipathar. Dispatching the inaugural train remotely from Railway Stadium in Guwahati, Modi outlined the ...
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NewsAlstom to equip Guadalajara Line 3
MEXICO: The federal Secretariat of Communications & Transport has awarded Alstom and CPVM, a subsidiary of OHL of Spain, a €380m contract to supply railway systems for Line 3 of the Guadalajara light rail network. Announcing the award on December 1, Alstom said that its share of ...
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NewsBombardier wins next Wien tram order
AUSTRIA: On December 1 public transport operator Wiener Linien announced that it had selected Bombardier Transportation for a €562m contract to supply up to 156 low-floor trams, which will replace its high-floor E2 tram-and-trailer sets. Wiener Linien says that it will also be signing a maintenance agreement, under which its ...
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NewsAMT launches Train de l’Est commuter service
CANADA: Montréal commuter rail operator Agence Métropolitaine de Transport finally began revenue service on its 52 km Train de l’Est route from Montréal Central to Mascouche on December 1, around three years later than previously anticipated. Serving a region with around 700 000 inhabitants, the route had been expected to ...
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NewsGovernment seeks to accelerate Trans-Sumatra railway project
INDONESIA: President Joko Widodo has reconfirmed the government’s commitment to construction of a 2 168 route-km railway across the island of Sumatra, linking three disparate 1 067 mm gauge networks. Outlining the government’s infrastructure priorities for the 2015-19 period, Widodo said on November 27 that a feasibility study for the ...
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NewsSantiago transport investment plans
CHILE: President Michelle Bachelet has announced plans for US$4·2bn in public transport investment, including a new metro line in Santiago. The government has requested a feasibility study from Metro de Santiago for metro Line 7, with a view to construction starting by 2019. Intended to relieve the east-west Line 1, ...
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NewsEurasian logistics accord signed
INTERNATIONAL: Further steps to improve and expand the operation of international container trains between China, Russia and Europe are envisaged under a co-operation agreement between Russian Railways Logistics and the Zhengzhou International Land Port Development & Construction Co. Signed at an international logistics congress in Zhengzhou on November 27 by ...
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NewsHangzhou opens second metro line
CHINA: The second metro line in Hangzhou was opened for trial operation at 09.15 on November 24. Phase 1 of Line 2 runs for 18·3 km from Qianjianglu in the city centre, before crossing the Qiantang River to reach Chaoyang in the southeast, serving 13 underground stations. A limited ...
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NewsSiemens signalling for Beni Mansour – Bejaia upgrade
ALGERIA: Siemens announced on December 2 that its ESTEL joint venture with national railway SNTF had been awarded a contract to supply signalling equipment for the double-tracking of the 90 km Beni Mansour – Bejaia route. Awarded by railway development agency ANESRIF, the contract is worth €95m to Siemens. To ...
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NewsUtrecht selects Uithof Line tram contractors
NETHERLANDS: The Executive Board of Greater Utrecht Authority selected contractors on December 1 to supply the infrastructure and rolling stock for the Uithof tram line. Once approved by the full board, the contracts would be signed on December 23 after the usual standstill period. Royal BAM Group has been ...
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NewsOsijek extends its tramway
CROATIA: A 1·6 km western extension of Osijek’s metre-gauge tram Route 1 opened on November 30. The extension runs along ul Bana Jelačića from the previous Route 1 terminus at the western bypass road into the centre of the suburb of Višnjevac. There are five stops. The construction ...
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NewsVossloh to sell rolling stock division
VOSSLOH: Following ‘a detailed assessment’ of the company’s product range, the Supervisory Board of German track components and rolling stock supplier Vossloh AG announced on December 2 that its Transportation division ‘is no longer defined as core business’. The intention is therefore to sell Transportation ‘in whole or in parts ...
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NewsPrivately-funded US commuter service planned
USA: Plans for the USA’s ‘first privately-funded passenger rail service in almost 100 years’ have been announced by Boston Surface Commuter Railroad Co. This would operate over the Providence & Worcester Railroad between the eponymous cities in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, offering a reliable alternative to unpredictable road journey ...
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NewsBordeaux selects Thales ticketing
FRANCE: Communauté Urbaine de Bordeaux has selected Thales to supply a contactless ticketing system for the city’s public transport network under a 10-year contract. This would provide integrated ticketing for trams, buses and riverboats, as well as park-and-ride sites. Thales is to supply hardware and software that will be ...
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NewsTrimble acquires condition monitoring specialist Nexala
USA: California-based engineering software supplier Trimble announced on December 1 that it had acquired vehicle diagnostics specialist Nexala, which will become part of Trimble’s Engineering & Construction segment. Trimble supplies GPS, optical, imaging and scanning technologies for the construction and maintenance of railway infrastructure, including building information modelling software ...
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NewsBoston to get Green Line extension funding
USA: The Federal Transit Administration is to provide $996m towards the northern extension of Boston’s Green light rail line from Lechmere to Somerville and Medford. Congress is to review the funding agreement for 30 days before it is officially confirmed. The FTA released a commitment letter on December 2, ...
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NewsFRA waives Buy America rules on high speed train prototypes
USA: The Federal Railroad Administration has approved a waiver on Buy America procurement rules covering the supply of up to four high speed trainsets for the US market. The letter dated November 24 is a response to requests from both Amtrak and the California High Speed Rail Authority, who are ...
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NewsIran – Turkmenistan – Kazakhstan rail link inaugurated
ASIA: The final link in the north-south railway corridor connecting Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan was officially inaugurated on December 3, in a ceremony attended by Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov and his counterparts Hassan Rohani of Iran and Nursultan Nazarbaev of Kazakhstan. The celebrations at Incheh Borun on the border between ...
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NewsChinese-backed standard gauge project edges forward
THAILAND: The National Legislative Assembly voted on December 4 by a majority of 187 in favour of approving a memorandum of understanding between the Thai and Chinese governments over the construction of a north-south standard gauge main line corridor. According to the 2015-22 Thai infrastructure development plan, the corridor would ...