Infrastructure news – Page 116
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NewsPassenger trains start to serve Yakutsk
RUSSIA: Regular passenger trains have started running on the northern section of the Yakutia Railway, following celebrations on July 27 attended by State Counsellor Vyacheslav Shtyrov, on behalf of the President of the Sakha Republic Aisen Nikolayev. Formal approval of the line for passenger operation was granted on July ...
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Metro Report InternationalRobel takes stake in Vogel & Plötscher
GERMANY: Track maintenance plant supplier Robel has taken a majority stake in Vogel & Plötscher GmbH, which specialises in track measurement systems and electric drives. Based at Breisach in Baden-Württemberg, Vogel & Plötscher will continue to trade as an independent business following the acquisition of a 70% stake in ...
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Rail Business UK
UK railway news round-up - August 1
On July 25 TransPennine Express accepted the first of the Nova 2 branded Civity EMUs which are being supplied by CAF and Eversholt Rail. The five-car Class 397 units will enter service later this year on TPE’s services from Manchester and Liverpool to Edinburgh and Glasgow via the West Coast ...
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NewsMonopolies Commission urges more competition on German network
GERMANY: Further separation of infrastructure provider DB Netz from the Deutsche Bahn group is amongst a raft of measures recommended by the Monopolies Commission to enhance quality and competition on the rail network. In its seventh report, published on July 25, the Commission highlights the need for better service ...
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NewsLegal row over track safety rule change
BELGIUM: Infrastructure manager Infrabel said on July 30 that it had been forced to defend itself and changes in its maintenance policy in a case brought before the Brussels Francophone Business Court by freight operator Lineas. Services run by Lineas and other operators had been affected by ...
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Metro Report InternationalCatenary-free tram running tested in Sydney
AUSTRALIA: Dynamic testing has started on the catenary-free section of the CBD & South East Light Rail line in Sydney, Transport for New South Wales announced on July 30. The 2 km section from Town Hall to the northern terminus at Circular Quay is equipped with Alstom’s APS ...
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NewsMixed progress with Czech ETCS tenders
CZECH REPUBLIC: ČD has awarded the first contract for the installation of ETCS on its fleet, but has halted the tendering process for other contracts. AŽD Praha and ČD-Telematika are to equip 102 Class 162 and 362 electric locomotives by 2022 at a cost of KC1·4bn, with 39% of ...
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NewsGovernment plans €86bn spend to renew German network
GERMANY: A 54% increase in spending on infrastructure renewals will see €86bn invested in the national rail network over the next decade, Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer announced on July 26. Unveiling a 10-year plan for 2020-29 which he described as ‘the biggest railway modernisation programme’ in Germany's history, Scheuer ...
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NewsHauts-de-France keen to reopen Abbeville – Le Tréport
FRANCE: Plans are in hand to run competitively tendered passenger services over the Abbeville – Le Tréport line in northern France that was closed in May 2018. In a corrigendum published on July 19 to an April notice in the Official Journal of the European Union the region specified ...
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NewsSakhalin regauging makes progress
RUSSIA: The first 1 520 mm gauge long-distance overnight passenger services on the island of Sakhalin began running on July 18, following conversion of the 500 km Vzmorye – Nogliki route from 1 067 mm to broad gauge. This marks the latest stage in a programme launched in 2003 ...
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NewsEyre grain lines are not closed, insists GWA
AUSTRALIA: Unequal treatment of road and rail was a major factor behind the decision to suspend services on the 1 067 mm gauge network in South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula, according to operator Genesee & Wyoming Australia. The 700 km network was mothballed at the end of May after GWA’s only ...
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Rail Business UK
Trans-Pennine ETCS procurement begins
UK: Network Rail has begun the process of appointing a contractor to supply and maintain ETCS Level 2 for the line between Stalybridge near Manchester and Cottingley near Leeds as part of the Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade Programme. The selected contractor would be expected to maintain the ETCS equipment over ...
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NewsNew lines go ahead as FS infrastructure spending approved
ITALY: A €28bn package of funding for FS Group infrastructure spending was formally approved by the government’s Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning on July 24, the state railway group has confirmed. CIPE has also approved updates to the programme contracts between the Ministry of Infrastructure & Transport and the ...
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NewsIRCON to undertake Sri Lanka railway upgrade
SRI LANKA: A US$91·3m contract for the modernisation of the 130 km Maho – Omanthai line was signed by the government and Indian Railways subsidiary IRCON International on July 18. The 36-month project will raise the line speed from 60 km/h to 120 km/h and eliminate 40 km/h speed ...
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Metro Report InternationalMore trains ordered as tunnelling begins on Singapore Circle Line extension
SINGAPORE: Tunnelling started on the Circle Line Stage 6 extension on July 25 with the launch of the tunnel boring machine at Keppel station. The TBM will bore a tunnel to HarbourFront, and will be followed by two more, expected to be launched in September and October. The ...
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NewsDSB starts driverless S-bane train procurement
DENMARK: State operator DSB has launched a market sounding exercise in preparation for the procurement of a fleet of driverless trains to operate the København S-bane. Building on work now underway to equip the S-bane with CBTC, the government decided in December 2017 to convert the stand-alone 1·5 kV ...
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NewsCement trains start rolling on Tanga – Moshi line
TANZANIA: The revival of freight operations on the country’s 438 km Usambara Railway was marked by a ceremony at Moshi on July 20 attended by Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa. The Tanga – Moshi line has been out of use for 12 years, but the Prime Minister told parliament in ...
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NewsCalifornia High-Speed Rail Authority issues Track & Systems RFQ
USA: California High-Speed Rail Authority has issued a request for qualifications for its Phase I Track & Systems contract, which has an estimate value of $1·6bn. This would cover design, construction, and testing of the trackwork, electrification, signalling, train control and other railway systems for the 190 km route ...
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NewsWorld rail infrastructure market - July 2019
Australia: Laing O’Rourke, Jacobs and Metro Trains Melbourne have signed a A$89m contract to elevate the line at Toorak Road in Melbourne to eliminate a level crossing. e+ Architecture is to plan the refurbishment of Bendigo station in Victoria. Bangladesh: Pandrol is to provide ...
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NewsAuckland City Rail Link contract signed
NEW ZEALAND: The main contract for construction of the tunnels and stations on the Auckland City Rail Link was formally signed on July 19, at an event attended by Transport Minister Phil Twyford and Auckland Mayor Phil Goff.