High speed rail industry news – Page 49
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NewsHigh Speed 2 civil works tendering begins
UK: The government launched the bidding process for the construction of High Speed 2 on September 24, with the issuing of a pre-qualification questionnaire for the Tranche 1 main civils works contracts. The seven contracts with a total value of £11·8bn cover construction of the surface route and tunnels ...
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NewsAmtrak selects Alstom for Northeast Corridor train order
USA: Senator Charles E Schumer said on September 21 that the Amtrak board would approve the next day the start of exclusive negotiations with Alstom for a contract to supply the next generation of trains for the Northeast Corridor between Washington DC, New York and Boston. The contract ...
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NewsTanger high speed train depot inaugurated
MOROCCO: The rolling stock depot in Tanger which will maintain and service the country’s fleet of high speed trains was officially inaugurated by King Mohammed VI and French President François Hollande on September 20, at a ceremony attended by ONCF Director-General Mohamed Rabie Khlie and SNCF President Guillaume Pepy. Two ...
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NewsUS-Chinese joint venture to develop Las Vegas high speed line
USA: Private-sector California to Nevada high speed rail project promoter XpressWest and a consortium of Chinese rail industry companies announced on September 17 that they had agreed to create a joint venture to develop, finance, build and operate a 370 km line between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The Southwest ...
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NewsLandbridge design contract extended
SAUDI ARABIA: The Public Investment Fund has extended Italferr’s contract to undertake design work for the planned Landbridge. The Landbridge project comprises a 950 km double-track mixed traffic line running from the Port of Jeddah to Riyadh, where it would connect with the existing railway which would be upgraded ...
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NewsHigh speed beauty contest terminated
INDONESIA: Proposals to develop a 150 km high speed line between Jakarta and Bandung have been dropped, the government announced on September 3. A statement issued by the office of President Joko Widodo confirmed that the government’s priorities were the upgrading of the existing Trans-Java main lines, the Jakarta suburban ...
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NewsChina Railway Corp orders Zefiro380 high speed trains
CHINA: China Railway Corp has ordered a further 15 eight-car CRH380D high speed trainsets from Bombardier Sifang (Qingdao) Transportation for 2·4bn yuan. Announcing the order on September 2, the BST joint venture of Bombardier and CSR Sifang Rolling Stock Co said it had begun delivering an initial batch of 70 ...
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NewsHigh speed links to the northeast completed
CHINA: A 210 km rail link to the North Korean border town of Dandong was opened for revenue service on September 1. This is the first of two high speed lines serving the border region that are scheduled to open this year. Under construction since 2010, the 207 km Shenyang ...
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NewsHigh speed rail priority in 2016 budget
SPAIN: Appearing before a parliamentary committee on August 19, Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Transport & Housing Julio Gómez-Pomar provided details of the rail spending budgeted by the Ministry of Development for 2016. Next year, the ministry is planning to spend a total of €5∙46bn on rail, a 5% ...
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NewsNorthernmost PDL opens in Heilongjiang
CHINA: The country’s most northerly passenger-dedicated line opened for revenue service on August 17, connecting the two principal cities in Heilongjiang province, Harbin and Qiqihar. Operating at up to 250 km/h, the high speed trains have cut the fastest journey time between the cities from 3 h to 85 ...
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NewsOHL wins Follo Line contract
NORWAY: Obrascón Huarte Lain of Spain has signed a contract worth NKr2·3bn with infrastructure manager Jernbaneverket, under which OHL is to build the Langhus – Ski section of the Follo Line as well as a major public transport interchange at Ski. OHL is due to begin work immediately. According to ...
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NewsHigh speed train toilet emptying system delivered
CHINA: The first of Smith Brothers & Webb’s ‘airline-style’ Controlled Effluent Transfer System toilet tank emptying units has been installed at Hong Kong’s Shek Kong depot, which will maintain trainsets used on the future Express Rail Link. The manufacturer says the automated CETS can empty tanks three times faster ...
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NewsHaramain High Speed Rail station track contract awarded
SAUDI ARABIA: Pandrol CDM Track has won a contract to supply its CDM-QTrack embedded track system for installation at the stations on the Haramain High Speed Rail line. Adopting this track form where the rail is continuously supported without fastenings will avoid the need for difficult tamping operations within ...
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NewsGovernment becomes majority shareholder in Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp
TAIWAN: The build-operate-transfer concession for the Taipei – Kaohsiung high speed line and an agreement for developments at stations were terminated with the signing of two agreements by the Ministry of Transportation & Communications and concessionaire Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp on July 27. The agreements are designed to mitigate ...
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NewsDB and SNCF extend Alleo cross-border co-operation
EUROPE: The ceremonial launch of Deutsche Bahn Class 407 trainsets on the Frankfurt to Paris Est route on July 23 was followed by the signing of an agreement to extend DB and SNCF’s Alleo cross-border operating partnership for a further five years to 2020. Around 12 million passengers have travelled ...
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NewsHigh speed line concessionaire TP Ferro in administration
EUROPE: TP Ferro, the company which holds the concession to build, operate and finance the high speed line between Perpignan in France and Figueres in Spain, announced on July 17 that it was applying to be placed into administration on a voluntary basis. The application was made to the commercial ...
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NewsEurostar e300 trainset refurbishment completed
EUROPE: The first of Eurostar’s ‘remodelled and redesigned’ trainsets is expected to return passenger service ‘in the coming weeks’, the cross-Channel high speed train operator announced on July 21. The refurbishment of the Class 373 trains dating from the launch of Eurostar services in 1994 is being undertaken at ...
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NewsHigh speed train tenders called as domestic prototype starts testing
CHINA: Tenders for the supply of 351 high speed trainsets were issued by China Railway Corp on July 17, in what the railway says is the largest train procurement in its history. Covering 228 trainsets for 350 km/h operation and 123 for 250 km/h, at an estimated total value of ...
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NewsCalifornia high speed rail delivery partner appointed
USA: California High Speed Rail Authority has appointed a consortium led by Parsons Brinckerhoff, and including Network Rail Consulting and management consultancy LeighFisher, as its rail delivery partner. The contract for project management and integration services runs to 2022 and has an estimated total value of up to $700m. Network ...
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News‘Beauty contest’ to assess high speed line offers
INDONESIA: The government is to hold a ‘beauty contest’ to evaluate rival bids for construction of a 150 km Jakarta – Bandung high speed line, Co-ordinating Economic Minister Sofyan Djalil said on July 13. Rival offers backed by their respective governments have been put forward by consortia from China and ...