All Railway Gazette International articles in February 2017 – Page 5
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Metro Report InternationalPrototype snow-clearing tram on test in Moscow
RUSSIA: Moscow tram operator Mosgortrans began testing a prototype maintenance vehicle designed to clear snow from tram tracks on February 13. Testing is to continue for one year. The 10·5 m long bidirectional vehicle, branded Rost, has been supplied by Tikhoretsk-based TMZV. It is equipped with a rotating brush ...
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NewsAlgarve electrification timetable
PORTUGAL: Infraestruturas de Portugal has announced the timetable for electrifying at 25 kV 50 Hz the 46 km Tunes – Lagos and 56 km Faro – Vila Real de Santo António routes in the Algarve as part of its 2020 investment programme. Following design and environmental impact studies, a contract ...
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NewsSerbian infrastructure contractor privatised
SERBIA: The government has sold a 90·6% stake in rail infrastructure construction and maintenance company ZGOP to Kazakh transport infrastructure contractor Zhol Zhondeushi for €3·6m. The contract was signed on February 8. ZGOP is based in Novi Sad and has 290 employees. Austrian, Russian, Chinese, French and Turkish companies ...
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NewsSeibu Railway unveils Series 40000 EMUs with rotating seats
JAPAN: The first of eight Series 40000 EMUs being built for Seibu Railway’s 1 067 mm gauge Tokyo suburban routes was unveiled on February 13. The 10-car sets are scheduled to enter revenue service from March 25. An evolution of the railway’s earlier Series 30000 design, the aluminium-bodied trainsets are ...
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NewsInnoWaggon increases round wood capacity
SWEDEN: Innofreight has handed over the first of 144 wagons which are being supplied under the Austrian company’s largest order to date. These are to be used from July on a 10-year timber haulage contract awarded to Hector Rail by forest products company SCA Skog, which will be the first ...
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Metro Report InternationalSecond phase of Rio de Janeiro tramway opens
BRAZIL: The second phase of the VLT Carioca tramway in Rio de Janeiro opened for trial operation on February 6. Revenue service was meant to begin a week later, but has been postponed. The initial section of Line 2 links Praça XV (Barcas) in the east with Saara, serving ...
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NewsProduction of Devon and Cornwall trainsets begins in Italy
UK: Hitachi announced a 'milestone' in the production of electro-diesel inter-city trainsets for Great Western Railway services from London to Devon and Cornwall on February 15, with the delivery of the first AT300 bodyshell to its plant at Pistoia in Italy. Hitachi is building a total of 93 trainsets for ...
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NewsLille pursues airport tram link
FRANCE: The construction of a 10 km light rail line between Lille and Lesquin Airport via Ronchin is expected to go ahead during the period of the city’s next public transport operating concession, according to the President of the Métropole Européenne de Lille, Damien Castelain. Under development ...
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NewsKnorr-Bremse to supply brakes for Alstom’s Indian locomotives
INDIA: Alstom has awarded Knorr-Bremse a contract to supply the complete braking systems for the 800 Prima twin-section WAG12 electric locomotives which it is to deliver to Indian Railways in 2018-28. Knorr-Bremse is to supply the brake control units, air treatment systems and bogie equipment. These will be based on ...
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NewsLahore Orange Line receives more funding
PAKISTAN: Industrial & Commercial Bank of China has signed an agreement to provide US$20m in short-term financing for the Orange Line metro project currently under construction in Lahore. Work on the Orange Line began in October 2015. In December 2015 China Exim Bank signed a soft loan agreement for ...
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NewsBluetooth-enabled ticket gates demonstrated
UK: Railway Gazette attended a demonstration of Bluetooth Low Energy fare validation technology at Thales UK’s Crawley offices on February 9. Organised by rail standards body RSSB, this showed how Bluetooth could be used to improve the throughput of passengers through a ticket gateline at busy stations.Among the applications being ...
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NewsKano light rail contract signed
NIGERIA: Kano state’s Ministry of Works, Housing & Transport has signed the commercial contract for the construction of a four-line light rail system in the city of Kano, China Railway Construction Corp announced on February 11. The US$1·85bn contract was signed by the state government and a consortium of ...
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NewsImproving Talgo accessibility
SPAIN: Renfe has begun a €5·7m project adapt 15 Series VI Talgo coaches to improve access for passengers with reduced mobility. The seating layout of the vehicles will be modified to provide space for wheelchairs to manoeuvre. Each of the coaches will have two wheelchair spaces with securing points, as ...
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NewsSNCF buys 45% stake in BLS Cargo
SWITZERLAND: BLS has agreed to sell a 45% stake in its freight subsidiary BLS Cargo to SNCF Logistics, the French national railway’s freight business. The deal announced on February 16 is subject to regulatory approval. BLS would remain the majority shareholder with a 52% stake, and Ambrogio Group would retain ...
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Metro Report InternationalFirst Waterloo LRV leaves Bombardier factory
CANADA: The first light rail vehicle for the ION light rail project in the Region of Waterloo left Bombardier’s Thunder Bay plant on February 15. Delivery is expected to take 10 to 12 days. The project promoter aims to unveil the vehicle to the public in April at an ...
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NewsKuala Lumpur – Singapore high speed rail joint development partner appointed
ASIA: Project promoters MyHSR Corp of Malaysia and Land Transport Authority of Singapore have awarded the joint development partner contract for the Kuala Lumpur – Singapore high speed rail project to a consortium of WSP Engineering Malaysia, Mott MacDonald Malaysia and Ernst & Young Advisory Services. There were eight bids ...
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NewsBombardier says turnaround is ‘in full motion’
BOMBARDIER: Announcing Bombardier Inc’s annual results for the year to December 31 2016, President & CEO Alain Bellemare said on February 16 that the company’s turnaround plan was ‘in full motion’. ‘In 2016, Bombardier delivered on its financial commitments’, he said. ‘We met our programme milestones and we’ve positioned the ...
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NewsLund tram project breaks ground
SWEDEN: A groundbreaking ceremony on February 15 marked the start of work on the tram project in the city of Lund. Contractor Skanska is building the 5·5 km route with nine stops, which will connect Lund Central station and the science village. Opening is due in September ...
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NewsStadler signs Merseyrail EMU contract
UK: The contract for Stadler Bussnang AG to supply and maintain 52 electric multiple-units was signed by Liverpool region transport authority Merseytravel on February 16. The deal is worth ‘up to £700m’, including maintenance throughout the EMUs’ expected 35-year lifecycle at the Kirkdale depot which will be designed, built and ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
Alstom, Italy’s Ministry of Economic Development and the Lombardia and Piemonte regions have signed a memorandum of understanding to promote research and development at Alstom’s Savigliano and Sesto San Giovanni sites. There will be investment in the development of an ‘innovative platform for the design and prototyping of regional trains’ ...