Infrastructure news
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NewsAgreement to cut Californian rail project red tape
USA: The California State Transportation Agency and California High-Speed Rail Authority have renewed a 2019 agreement under which the state has taken on the Federal Railroad Administration’s environmental review responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act. California is the only state with NEPA assignment for rail ...
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NewsAustralian ETCS interoperability initiative underway
AUSTRALIA: Wabtec and interstate infrastructure manager Australian Rail Track Corp are collaborating on the development of a set of standards to facilitate the deployment of ETCS technology across the country’s long-distance trunk routes. Wabtec is investigating the capabilities of ARTC’s Advanced Train Management System, with a ...
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NewsWork to replace Susquehanna River Bridge gets underway
USA: A ceremony in northeast Maryland on July 19 marked the start of early construction works for a $2·7bn project to replace the Susquehanna River Bridge which forms a bottleneck on the Northeast Corridor. The 1·3 km double-track bridge incorporating a swing section opened in 1906. ...
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NewsVale completes design of Anchieta – Kennedy railway
BRAZIL: Mining company Vale submitted engineering design documents for the 92∙8 km Ferrovia Kennedy to the Espírito Santo state government in early July. The line from Anchieta to Presidente Kennedy near the border of Rio de Janeiro state will serve Piúma, Iconha, Rio Novo do Sul ...
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NewsNew York East River Tunnel rehabilitation contract awarded
USA: Amtrak has appointed a joint venture of Skanska and E-J Electric Installation Co to undertake the East River Tunnel Rehabilitation Project to modernise the four bores connecting New York Penn Station with Queens. Two of the four single-track tubes require significant repairs to damage caused ...
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Rail Business UK‘TBM in a can’ plan makes progress at HS2 site in west London
UK: Construction of HS2 Ltd’s Green Park Way ventilation shaft at Greenford in west London has entered a crucial phase, as preparations ramp up ahead of the arrival and subsequent recovery of four tunnel boring machines at the site. The TBMs are excavating the 13·5 km ...
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NewsSkanska awarded Empire Corridor bridge replacement contract
USA: New York State Department of Transportation has awarded Skanska a design and build contract for the $634·8m replacement of the Livingston Avenue Bridge connecting Albany and Rensselaer across the Hudson River. The 390 m bridge incorporating a swing section is owned by CSX and leased ...
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Rail Business UKInnovation funding supports sustainable decommissioning of HS2 worksites
UK: HS2 Ltd is to work with SMEs Infinitive Group Ltd and Material Index as part of its efforts to sustainably ‘deconstruct’ worksites along the 225 km of high speed railway being built between London and the West Midlands. The two companies will work with the ...
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NewsVossloh acquires French turnout and signalling contractor
FRANCE: Vossloh has acquired France Aiguillages Services, which provides a range of turnout and signalling installation, inspection and maintenance services and has extensive approvals to undertake work for its biggest customer SNCF. The transaction announced on July 19 includes the LUNEFCF centre which provides training for ...
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NewsÖBB awards €100m ETCS upgrading contract
AUSTRIA: Austrian Federal Railways has awarded Alstom a €100m framework contract covering the upgrading of ETCS onboard equipment on 449 vehicles by 2030. This will include Railjet trainsets and locomotives. There is an initial firm order covering 195 trains, which Alstom will upgrade to ETCS Baseline ...
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In depthKazakhstan: Transit freight drives KTZ expansion
New line construction and fleet renewals have cemented Kazakhstan’s position as a key node in the Eurasian transit market. Further expansion is now in hand, with more investment planned by 2030, reports Vladimir Waldin.
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NewsPorto – Lisboa high speed project and Rail Baltica lead latest Connecting Europe Facility grant allocations
EUROPE: Rail projects are to receive 80% of the €7bn of Connecting Europe Facility co-financing grant funding announced by the European Commission on July 17. Schemes covered include Rail Baltica, the Lyon – Torino and Brenner tunnel corridors, numerous ERTMS deployments and work to better integrate ...
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Rail Business UKFive electrified railway lines at risk from climate change
UK: The 25 kV 50 Hz overhead equipment on five sections of railway needs ‘immediate assessment and renewal’ to address the threat to reliability posed by climate change, according to electrification engineering company Furrer+Frey. The latest update to the company’s Climate Resilience in Rail Electrification report ...
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NewsBayern to award electric-hydrogen-battery tilting train operating contract
GERMANY: Bayern railway authority BEG has launched the process of selecting a company to operate Allgäu regional passenger services using a future fleet of emission-free tilting multiple units which would be able to use overhead electric, hydrogen and battery power. The services are currently operated by ...
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Rail Business UKAutomated detection of lineside vegetation on test
UK: The use of cab-mounted forward-facing CCTV for the automated detection of potentially hazardous lineside vegetation is being tested on the East Coast Main Line. The 12-month trial is being sponsored by infrastructure manager Network Rail, and undertaken in partnership with train operator LNER, rolling stock ...
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Rail Business UKBurnham bullish on Liverpool – Manchester fast line prospects
UK: Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham remains confident that funding remains available for the development of a new Liverpool – Manchester railway serving Manchester Airport and a new underground station in Manchester following the recent change of government. ‘As far as I know there’s no ...
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NewsEast Coast four-tracking contract awarded
SWEDEN: National infrastructure manager Trafikverket has appointed Sweco to assist with capacity expansion on the busy East Coast trunk line between Stockholm and Uppsala. The region to the north of the capital has been growing rapidly, and in 2017 the government commissioned Trafikverket to undertake a ...
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NewsJoint border crossing to accelerate Serbia – Montenegro train services
EUROPE: Montenegro and Serbia opened a joint rail border crossing at Bijelo Polje on the Beograd – Bar line on July 8. All border checks will be undertaken at the Montenegrin station where locomotives are changed, eliminating the separate checks at Vrbnica station on the Serbian ...
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NewsAll contracts awarded for Victoria section of Inland Rail project
AUSTRALIA: John Holland has been awarded a A$470m contract for works on the Beveridge to Albury Tranche 2 section of the Inland Rail project to develop a 1 700 km freight corridor linking Melbourne and Brisbane. The contract includes construction works at Benalla, Euroa, Wandong, Hume ...
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News‘All systems go’ for Hudson Tunnel Project as funding finalised
USA: Project promoter the Gateway Development Commission has secured all of the $16bn of financing needed for the Hudson Tunnel Project to build a second pair of railway tunnels under the Hudson River between New York City and New Jersey. The construction of 4 km of ...