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NewsMoynihan station contract awarded
USA: On May 9 the Moynihan Station Development Corp subsidiary of Port Authority of New York & New Jersey ratified the award of a $147·7m contract to begin conversion of Manhattan’s Farley Post Office building to relieve congestion at the adjacent Penn Station. The award of the construction contract to ...
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NewsQR plans ETCS Level 2 for Brisbane suburban network
AUSTRALIA: Queensland Rail requested expressions of interest on May 9 for the supply of European Train Control System Level 2 lineside and onboard equipment for its South East Queensland electrified suburban network. According to the tender documents, QR is seeking ‘to improve operational safety, improve the capacity of the existing ...
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NewsSBB invests SFr40m in ticket vending machines
SWITZERLAND: Reflecting a growing trend towards automated retail, Swiss Federal Railways has ordered 1 000 ticket vending machines from German supplier Scheidt & Bachmann. Worth around SFr40m, the order will see the first machines installed at Swiss stations in September this year, with deliveries continuing for approximately two years. Scheidt ...
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NewsWork starts on Gilon tunnel
ISRAEL: On April 23 the joint venture of local construction company Danya Cebus and China Civil Engineering Construction Corp began work on a 4·6 km twin-bore tunnel that will carry the new 'Akko - Karmi'el line under Gilon mountain. The ceremony was attended by the Chinese Ambassador to Israel ...
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NewsMetrorail fleet renewal begins
SOUTH AFRICA: Bid documents are now being made available by Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa as it seeks to let two 10-year contracts for the design, manufacture and maintenance of electric multiple-units. PRASA expects to order an estimated 7 224 cars over the next 20 years to replace the ...
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NewsTenders called for US passenger cars
USA: US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced on April 20 that manufacturers had been invited to bid for a contract worth $551m to supply 130 double-deck cars for Amtrak services, under ‘a groundbreaking multi-state effort to jointly purchase standardised rail equipment’. With funding from the Federal Railroad Administration’s High Speed ...
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NewsChinese locos prepare for service
AUSTRALIA: Following successful testing that has included operation at up to 130 km/h and hauling ‘one of the biggest iron ore trains’ between Port Augusta and Adelaide last month, SCT Logistics expects its full fleet of CSR Ziyang diesel locomotives to be ‘up and running’ by June. SCT says that ...
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NewsJakarta - Bandung fast line study
INDONESIA: A Japanese consortium is to undertake a pre-feasibility study into a proposed 144 route-km fast passenger line between Jakarta and Bandung for opening by 2018. Following a co-operation agreement between the Indonesian government and the Japanese Ministry of Land, Transportation & Tourism, the study will be carried out by ...
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NewsSNCF orders 40 Euroduplex sets
FRANCE: SNCF has exercised an option for a further 40 third-generation Duplex high speed trainsets from Alstom Transport under a framework agreed in June 2007. SNCF is already taking delivery of 55 of the 320 km/h multi-system double-deck trainsets, branded Euroduplex by Alstom. The first entered traffic in December 2011 ...
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NewsNortheastern link proposed
THAILAND: The Thai Office of Transport & Traffic Policy & Planning submitted proposals for a 336 km railway from Ban Phai to Nakhon Phanom to the cabinet at a meeting in Udon Thani on February 21. The branch from the existing Nakhon Ratchasima – Nong Khai metre-gauge line would run ...
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NewsAmtrak accelerates in Michigan
USA: On February 7 the Federal Railroad Administration gave Amtrak approval to raise speeds on its passenger services in western Michigan from 152 km/h to 177 km/h. The agreement covers an Amtrak-owned 155 route-km section between Kalamazoo, Michigan and Porter, Indiana which has been equipped with the Incremental Train Control ...
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NewsChiang Mai line included in infrastructure package
THAILAND: Construction of a 750 km standard gauge line from Bangkok to Chiang Mai is the largest single project included in a 400bn baht programme of infrastructure investment announced by the government on January 10. Comprising 128 different work packages for completion by 2016, the programme includes a range of ...
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NewsHigh speed line to Bursa to open by 2015
TURKEY: Transport Minister Binali Yildirim confirmed on December 30 that contracts had been signed to build a 75 km mixed-traffic high speed line from Bilecik to Bursa, and that civil works would start this year. The line is to be built in two sections for opening by mid-2015. The first ...
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NewsReferendum backs Stuttgart 21
GERMANY: Controversial plans to rebuild Stuttgart’s main station look set to go ahead after 59% of voters approved the project in a referendum held by the Land of Baden-Württemberg on November 27. ‘The people have spoken’, said Baden-Württemberg Minister-President Winfried Kretschmann. ‘I accept the results, even if it does not ...
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NewsUS$1bn double-tracking programme to modernise Trans-Java Railway
INDONESIA: Tenders are to be called in December for double-tracking the remaining single sections of the Trans-Java Railway between Jakarta and Surabaya, the Transportation Ministry announced on November 23. The US$1·1bn project calls for doubling of approximately 425 km of single line on the 727 route-km, 1 067 mm gauge ...
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NewsCongress axes inter-city project funding for 2012
USA: The Appropriations Bill setting 2012 funding levels for several government agencies including the Department of Transportation was ratified by both houses of Congress on November 17. The budget sets out the expected level of federal support for existing inter-city rail services run by Amtrak, and outlines funds available for ...
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NewsGrowth & the Capacity Challenge: now available to watch on demand
RAILWAY GAZETTE TV: With demand for passenger and freight movement by rail projected to rise significantly over the coming 20 years, infrastructure managers and train operators across Europe are facing the challenge of squeezing extra capacity from busy networks and building new lines despite financial constraints. Railway Gazette International held ...
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NewsCalifornian high speed plans revised
USA: The California High Speed Rail Authority launched a revised ‘draft business plan’ for its proposed 832 km Phase I of a 400 km/h network connecting San Francisco with Anaheim and Los Angeles. In announcing what it described as a ‘foundation for an economically-viable high speed rail system’, CHSRA has ...
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NewsCeremony launches Tanger – Casablanca high speed project
MOROCCO: A foundation stone was laid in Tanger on September 29 to mark the start of construction of a high speed line to Casablanca. The ceremony was attended by King Mohammed VI and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, reflecting the close relationship between the two countries which has underpinned the project ...
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NewsSNCF takes Westbahn stake
AUSTRIA: On August 23 SNCF confirmed that it had bought a 26% stake in Rail Holding AG, the parent company of open access operator Westbahn Management GmbH. The purchase takes the form of an injection of share capital into Rail Holding, which becomes a three-way joint venture between SNCF ...