All Railway Gazette International articles in February 2009 – Page 4

  • Oleo buffer.
    News

    Brigam buys Oleo International

    2009-02-05T09:59:00Z

    UK: Brigam Ltd has bought Oleo International from the administrators of Wagon plc, which went into administration at the end of last year. The deal includes Oleo Buffers Shanghai Co Ltd in China and Oleo Inc in the USA. 'We have been interested in acquiring Oleo for many years' ...

  • tn_cl-santiago-metro_01.jpg
    News

    Alstom ATC for Santiago Line 1 extension

    2009-02-05T08:00:00Z

    CHILE: Metro de Santiago has awarded Alstom Transport a €5·3m contract to supply, install and commission Sacem automatic train control on the Escuela Militar - Los Dominicos extension which is now under construction. The 3·8 km addition to Line 1 is expected to open by December. Sacem will allow ...

  • SBB train.
    News

    Bahn 2030 vision emerges

    2009-02-05T06:00:00Z

    SWITZERLAND: Further expansion of the national rail network is envisaged in ambitious plans outlined in December by the transport ministry. Following completion of the successful Bahn 2000 investment project, attention switched to a more limited programme of improvements to the rail network known as Zukünftigen Entwicklung der Bahninfrastruktur (RG ...

  • Timetable (Photo: SBB).
    News

    Cisalpino problems continue

    2009-02-05T05:58:00Z

    SWITZERLAND: SBB continues to wrestle with the problems caused by late delivery from Alstom of Class 610 tilting trainsets ordered in 2004 for Cisalpino services to and from Milano. The difficulties have been made worse by frequent faults with the ETR470 sets currently diagrammed for this service, and SBB has ...

  • Eurostar.
    News

    Uncertainty clouds a record year

    2009-02-04T15:00:00Z

    EUROPE: Announcing its 2008 results on January 13, Eurostar reported that it had carried a record 9·11 million passengers in the 12 months, up 10·3% on the year before. Revenue from ticket sales rose by 10·9% to £664m. The leap in traffic followed the switch from Waterloo to St Pancras ...

  • tn_siemens-logo-flags.jpg
    News

    Maribor plant to close

    2009-02-04T13:57:00Z

    SLOVENIA: Siemens' rolling stock plant in Maribor is to close by the end of September, the government said on January 20. Siemens had been negotiating to sell the plant to Heung Il, but the Korean firm pulled out because of the global financial crisis. Subsequent discussions for a sale ...

  • tn_ir-multipleunit-irico.jpg
    News

    Production starts at IRICO rail plant

    2009-02-04T12:00:00Z

    IRAN: Production has begun at Iran Khodro Rail Industries' rolling stock factory at Abhar in northwest Iran, the company announced on February 4. The start of work follows the formal inauguration of the US$45m first phase of the plant by the Minister of Industries & Mines on December 22. ...

  • Money.
    News

    Extra funds will speed up French investment

    2009-02-04T10:00:00Z

    FRANCE: Announcing a further package of measures to relaunch the economy on February 2, Prime Minister François Fillon revealed that an additional €300m is to be invested in the rail network. Addressing the inter-ministerial committee charged by President Sarkozy with revitalising the economy, Fillon said that more than 1 ...

  • Dubai metro train.
    News

    Station names prove profitable

    2009-02-04T07:00:00Z

    UAE: Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority has raised 1·8bn dirham for transport investment by selling the rights to name stations on the Red and Green metro lines. RTA has also awarded a consortium of SMRT Media, Kassab Media and Wellmark Communications a 10-year concession to manage advertising sites on trains ...

  • NSB train.
    News

    20-year GSM-R support contract signed

    2009-02-03T14:09:00Z

    NORWAY: Infrastructure manager Jernbaneverket and Nokia Siemens Networks have signed a 20-year communications support agreement. The contract covers hardware, spares, and software support for the GSM-R mobile network supplied by Nokia Siemens Networks which has been in operation for more than a year. 'The service contract with ...

  • Euskotren train.
    News

    Euskotren renewal

    2009-02-03T11:59:00Z

    SPAIN: Basque regional operator Euskotren and CAF have agreed to research jointly an on-board energy storage system based on supercapacitors, with the aim of installing a prototype on one of the operator’s trains. As part of its Euskotren 21 programme, the railway ordered 27 three-car EMUs from CAF on December ...

  • Santiago metro.
    News

    Systra wins in Santiago

    2009-02-03T08:00:00Z

    CHILE: Systra has been appointed to supervise construction, testing and commissioning of two extensions on the Santiago metro network. The 28 month contract covers the 4 km Line 1 extension to Los Dominicos and the 14 km extension of Line 5 to Maipú. Systra has already started verification of the ...

  • Malmö.
    News

    On the move

    2009-02-03T06:00:00Z

    SWEDEN: Wagon manufacturer Kockums Industrier is to relocate its headquarters and production plant to a former Trelleborg AB factory in the city of Trelleborg over the next year. The company’s current site in a former shipyard in Malmö is to be redeveloped, so Kockums sought a new home. Sites in ...

  • tn_au-QR-coal-train_02.jpg
    News

    Nation Building investment plan

    2009-02-02T12:00:00Z

    AUSTRALIA: The commonwealth government is to inject A$1·2bn into Australian Rail Track Corp as part of a A$4·7bn package of investment in railways, roads and education which was announced by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on December 12. The ‘Nation Building’ spending is intended to boost the competitiveness of the Australian ...

  • Tyne & Wear Metro.
    News

    Tyne & Wear Metro shortlist announced

    2009-02-02T09:54:00Z

    UK: The four bidders shortlisted for a contract to operate the Tyne & Wear Metro were named by owner and current operator Nexus on January 30. A total of nine expressions of interest were received. Invitations to negotiate will be sent to DB Regio Tyne & Wear Ltd, Hong ...

  • GO Transit.
    News

    Growth is key to strategic plan

    2009-02-02T06:00:00Z

    CANADA: Toronto commuter rail operator GO Transit plans to acquire more of the infrastructure used by its trains, rather than relying on trackage rights agreements with the country’s two main freight railroads. The operator already owns some tracks near Union Station and parts of its Barrie, Lakeshore and Stouffville lines. ...

  • tn_generic-tracks-electric_35.jpg
    News

    Rail pioneers honoured in Brussels

    2009-02-01T16:38:00Z

    EUROPE: At a ceremony in Brussels on January 20, Swiss Transport Minister Moritz Leuenberger was presented with the European Railway Award for 2009, to reflect his work in promoting environmentally-friendly transport policies. Presenting the political award on behalf of CER and Unife, European Commissioner for Transport Antonio Tajani said that ...

  • tn_generic-tracks-cz_05.jpg
    News

    Control centre opens

    2009-02-01T11:19:00Z

    ISRAEL: All ISR trains are now controlled and monitored from a single site following the completion of the National Centre of Control & Management in December. Formally opened on January 20, the Masua facility in Haifa replaces 10 regional signalling centres, and will enable more effective management of the network. ...

  • News

    Dieter - February 2009

    2009-02-01T10:37:00Z

    UK: An animal protection charity appealed for information after boxes containing 42 pet rats were found at Chester station last month. ‘We don’t know whether they were left on the platform by mistake or whether they were abandoned, but I’m hoping anyone who knows anything about them will get in ...

  • tn_tram-painted-on-road_03.jpg
    News

    First stone laid for Oran tram

    2009-02-01T07:00:00Z

    ALGERIA: On December 16, Algerian President Bouteflika, accompanied by Minister of Transport Amar Tou, laid the first stone near the future depot at Sidi Maarouf, symbolically marking the start of the Oran tram project. The contract to build the 18·7 km 32 station line was awarded to the Tramnour consortium, ...