All Railway Gazette International articles in February 2018 – Page 4
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NewsFive-year rail supply contract signed
RUSSIA: Steelmaker Evraz has signed a five-year agreement to supply Russian Railways with a total of 3·2 million tonnes of rail worth 111·7bn roubles. The deal which came into force on February 19 covers all types of rail, including specialised products for high-speed and low-temperature applications, rails offering high wear ...
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NewsState aid for freight sidings approved
FRANCE: The European Commission has approved the granting of €60m of state aid for the construction, renewal or extension of freight sidings. The European Rail Freight Association welcomed the decision, saying ‘around 50% of the 2 500 to 3 000 sidings are out of service’, and many industries were ‘facing ...
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NewsMetro do Porto pilots increased passenger capacity
PORTUGAL: Metro do Porto has started a three-month trial of a light rail vehicle with a remodelled interior designed to increase capacity. Growing ridership across the network, which surpassed 60 million passengers 2017, has led the operator to take steps to increase capacity. Metro do Porto says that the ...
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NewsMetrowagonmash metro trains ordered for Baku
AZERBAIJAN: Baku Metropoliten signed a contract with Metrowagonmash on February 16 for the supply of two five-car metro trainsets. Each Moskva trainset will be composed of two end trailers and three powered intermediate cars. They will have asynchronous traction motors, open gangways, air-conditioning, and bicycle and pushchair spaces. ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
The first freight train used the newly built link from Astara in Azerbaijan to the similarly named freight facility on the Iranian side of the border on February 8. Six wagons from Russia were loaded with timber and MDF. Meeting in Ljubljana on February 6-7, representatives of SŽ-Tovorni Promet, HŽ ...
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NewsNetwork Rail commissions cloud-based digital archive
UK: Network Rail has appointed Preservica to create a cloud-based digital archive to preserve and provide secure access to operational information and digital assets. This will include business information generated since 2002, and digitised heritage content including organisational, corporate and operational records such as annual company reports, ...
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NewsTesting begins on second Izmir tram line
TURKEY: Test running has started on the Konak tram line in Izmir. The 12·9 km route was due to open late last year, but has been delayed. Services will operate with a fleet of 21 five-section low-floor trams supplied by the Eurotem joint venture of Hyundai Rotem and Tüvasaş. ...
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NewsSoftware aims to improve KCS fleet utilisation
USA: Kansas City Southern has awarded planning and scheduling tool specialist Biarri Rail a contract to supply its Boss MP Loco cloud-based software to improve locomotive utilisation. ‘We engaged Biarri Rail to perform a proof-of-concept using Boss MP Loco and this clearly demonstrated that we could use the software package ...
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NewsUnited Wagon delivers wagons to Guinea
GUINEA: United Wagon Co’s TikhvinSpetsMash plant has shipped the first of 114 hopper wagons ordered by aluminium producer Rusal following an international tender. The wagons will be used to transport bauxite from the Dian-Dian deposit in the Boké region. The 1 435 mm gauge hopper wagon designed by UWC’s All-Union ...
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NewsPesa signs Gdańsk tram contract
POLAND: The city of Gdańsk and tram operator GAiT signed a contract with sole bidder Pesa on February 15 for the supply of 15 bidirectional Jazz Duo trams, with options for 15 more. The 138·4m złoty contract includes maintenance and staff training, and is 85% co-financed by the EU. ...
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NewsGebze driverless metro tender progresses
TURKEY: Kocaeli Municipality announced on February 1 that 15 consortia had prequalified for a contract to build a driverless metro line linking Gebze and Darıca. Seven of these will now move on to the next phase. Construction is planned to start by mid-2018 on the 15·7 km ...
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NewsVossloh classes Transportation division as 'discontinued operations'
VOSSLOH: Citing advanced discussions for the sale of the Locomotives business unit in Kiel, the executive board of Vossloh AG decided on February 16 to present the last remaining business unit of the Transportation division as ‘discontinued operations’ from December 31 2017. An impairment loss on the carrying amount was ...
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NewsStadler plans Georgian rolling stock plant
GEORGIA: Stadler has signed a memorandum of understanding for the formation of a rolling stock manufacturing joint venture in Tbilisi. The Swiss company plans to work with a local partner which is currently responsible for maintenance of the Tbilisi metro and is financing and building a workshop for the maintenance ...
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Bombardier Transportation delivered 'superior financial performance' in 2017
BOMBARDIER: 'Bombardier closed out the second full year of its five-year turnaround plan with very strong performance', said Bombardier Inc President & CEO Alain Bellemare on February 15, when presenting the group’s annual results for 2017. ‘Because of this solid performance, we begin 2018 with great momentum’, he said. ‘Our ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
The 1520 Group, which includes 38 Russian companies active in railway design and construction projects, has obtained regulatory approval for the purchase of a 50% stake in bridge contractor FSK Mostootryad-47 for an undisclosed price. Bombardier Transportation has awarded DHL Supply Chain a three-year contract to operate the on-site logistics ...
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NewsFinal Singapore metro lines transferred to new concession model
SINGAPORE: Land Transport Authority announced on February 14 that it had concluded discussions with SBS Transit for implementation of the government’s New Rail Financing Framework model on the North East Line and the Sengkang and Punggol peoplemovers. This completes the 10-year transition of the island’s entire rail network to the ...
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NewsSpinetta report urges SNCF to prepare for competition
FRANCE: The national railway must refocus on ‘the areas where it has greatest relevance’: transporting large numbers of passengers within urban areas, and providing high speed connectivity between France’s principal cities. This mission statement is at the heart of a landmark report handed to Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on February ...
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NewsMelbourne opens elevated rail alignment
AUSTRALIA: Revenue services began operating on a new elevated alignment through the Melbourne suburb of Noble Park on February 15, when the Victoria state government’s Level Crossing Removal Authority commissioned the first section of viaduct on the Cranbourne-Pakenham line. A 2·7 km section of the city’s busiest suburban line through ...
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NewsWarszawa Główna reopening contractor selected
POLAND: Infrastructure manager PKP PLK has selected Trakcja PRKiI’s 99m złoty bid for a design and build contract to reopen Warszawa Główna station. The terminus was originally opened in 1945 on the site of a former former freight facility. It is located 1 km west of a previous Warszawa Główna, ...
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NewsEP Cargo orders Traxx locos
GERMANY: Czech open access freight operator EP Cargo has ordered two Bombardier Transportation Traxx AC3 15 kV 16·7 Hz electric locomotives, with the first scheduled to be delivered in late March. The locomotives are to be used by EP Cargo Deutschland to haul fly ash and gypsum to Stralsund from ...