All Railway Gazette International articles in February 2016 – Page 2
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NewsUK and Thai universities form railway partnership
INTERNATIONAL: The UK’s University of Birmingham and Thailand’s Suranaree University of Technology have signed a memorandum of understanding to formalise a partnership to provide railway and transport research, education and training. The MOU is intended as the basis for international collaboration between the Birmingham Centre for Railway Research & Education ...
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NewsIncheon Airport maglev starts passenger services
SOUTH KOREA: Passenger services on the first urban maglev line with domestically-developed technology began on February 3. Services on the 6·1 km line between Incheon International Airport and Yongyu with six stations run every 15 min between 09.00 and 18.00, although the operating hours are set to expand in ...
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NewsStagecoach and FirstGroup shortlisted for South Western franchise
UK: Incumbent Stagecoach South West Ltd and FirstGroup’s First South Western Trains Ltd have been shortlisted to bid for the next South Western passenger franchise, the Department for Transport announced on February 4. Around 14% of all UK rail journeys are made on the current South Western network, with ...
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NewsMoscow Small Ring agreement
RUSSIA: Following consultation with the Moscow city government, Central Suburban Passenger Co and Moscow Metro have agreed to transfer to Russian Railways the rights and obligations under the contract to provide services on the Small Ring route. Small Ring passenger services are scheduled to launch on September 2, following ...
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NewsNorway starts passenger service tendering process
NORWAY: The Ministry of Transport & Communications announced on February 4 that it had called competitive tenders for an initial two contracts for the operation of passenger services from December 2018. Tender 1 covers the Sørlandet, Jær and Arendal lines in the south of Norway. Tender 2 covers Trondheim – ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news in brief
Presenting its 2015 financial results on January 28, EMD parent company Caterpillar said ‘continuing weakness in economic conditions in much of the world is expected to be negative for sales of power generation equipment, industrial engines, marine and rail’ in 2016. French company Certifer has established an Australian subsidiary in ...
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NewsChina - Iran container train
ASIA: What is described as the first container train service between China and Iran was launched on January 28, when a train carrying ‘small commodities’ departed from Yiwu for Tehran. The 10 399 km journey via Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan with two breaks of gauge is scheduled to take 14 days, ...
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NewsRecord budget for Israel Railways
ISRAEL: A record budget of 28·3bn shekels for development of the rail network by 2020 was approved by Transport Minister Israel Katz on February 3. Katz said the projects would help to improve links to peripheral areas in particular. Israel Railways said the spending would significantly improve services, with electrification ...
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NewsBombardier to overhaul Maryland commuter coaches
USA: Maryland Transit Administration announced a $36·8m contract for Bombardier Transportation to overhaul 63 MARC III coaches on February 4. The double-deck commuter cars have been in service for coming up to 17 years. ‘Overhauling our MARC III cars is a cost-effective way to improve the safety and reliability of ...
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NewsStrukton Rail takes stake in Dual Inventive
NETHERLANDS: Strukton Rail signed an agreement to take a 50% stake in track worker safety technology company Dual Inventive Holding on February 4. Dual Inventive develops products intended to increase safety, productivity and asset utilisation, including possession management, automated warning, and condition monitoring systems. It has 21 employees and ...
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NewsInnoTrans 2016 booking requests exceed capacity
INNOTRANS: Requests to exhibit at InnoTrans 2016 had exceeded the space available at the exhibition centre by the time the booking deadline closed. ‘The encouragingly high level of demand far exceeds the capacity of our exhibition grounds’, said Exhibition Director Kerstin Schulz. ‘We are making every effort to ensure ...
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NewsCantons back Grimsel Tunnel to link metre gauge networks
SWITZERLAND: The cantons of Bern and Valais and electricity distribution company Swissgrid unveiled a SFr580m plan for the construction of a railway linking the Zentralbahn and Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn metre-gauge networks on February 4. Swissgrid’s high voltage link over the Grimsel Pass is due to be replaced, and the ...
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NewsGuided bus to tram plan confirmed
FRANCE: The municipality of Caen has confirmed its intention to develop a three-line light rail network for opening by the end of 2019. The majority of the tramway would be converted from the existing TVR guided bus network under plans first announced in December 2011, but a feasibility study has ...
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NewsSteelworks locomotive handed over
CZECH REPUBLIC: The first of 20 Class 741.7 diesel-electric locomotives which CZ Loko is to supply to the Czech Republic’s largest steelworks this year under a 10-year leasing and servicing deal was handed over on January 28. The ArcelorMittal Ostrava plant has 190 km of internal railway carrying 1·7 ...
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NewsSBB orders rescue trains
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has awarded a consortium of Windhoff Bahn- & Anlagentechnik and Dräger Safety a SFr38m contract to supply three firefighting and rescue trainsets by the end of 2018. The LRZ18 trainsets will be based at Genève, Melide and Brig to cover the CEVA line, Ceneri base tunnel ...
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NewsHigh-calibre opening for InnoTrans 2016
INNOTRANS: More than 1 000 senior representatives of the railway, scientific and political communities are expected to attend the InnoTrans 2016 opening ceremony in the Berlin exhibition centre’s Palais am Funkturm at 10.00 on September 20. European Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc has announced her intention to be present, along ...
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NewsRambus buys Smart Card Software Ltd
TICKETING: California-based semiconductor and IP products company Rambus Inc has paid £64·7m in cash to acquire the outstanding shares in UK-based Smart Card Software Ltd. This includes Bell Identification’s mobile payment technology and Ecebs’ smart ticketing platform, which are to be incorporated into the Rambus Cryptography Research Division. ‘The secure ...
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NewsMashhad airport metro link open
IRAN: President Hassan Rouhani attended the opening ceremony for an extension of Mashhad metro Line 1 on February 6. Running southeast from Ghadir to Hashemi Nejad Airport with an intermediate station at Parvaz, the 6 km extension cost €206m to build, which was financed by Mashhad Urban Railway Corp. ...
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NewsIzmir suburban extension opens
TURKEY: A 22 km extension of Izmir’s IZBAN suburban rail network opened on February 6, marking the first extension since the two lines opened in 2010. The Southern Line has been extended south from Cumaovası to Tepeköy with six stations. The first 23 km section of the Southern Line, ...
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NewsState Railway of Thailand tests small containers
THAILAND: State Railway of Thailand has launched a trial freight service using 12 foot containers. These are smaller than standard 20 foot containers, and it is hoped this will simplify last-mile transport by road and mean freight can handled at existing stations more easily. The Japanese-backed trials were launched with ...