Infrastructure news – Page 117
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NewsNational control centre approved
IRELAND: The construction of a €135m National Train Control Centre to manage the entire Iarnród Éireann network was approved by the Irish government on July 17. The new centre is to be delivered by IÉ, with government funding provided through the National Transport Authority as part of Project Ireland ...
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NewsFuzhou Changle airport lines approved
CHINA: The National Development & Reform Commission has approved the construction of two railway lines to provide access to Fuzhou Changle International Airport in Fujian province. The Fuzhou – Changle airport line will be 58 km long, running from Fuzhou’s main station to Changle Airport via Nantaidao, Changle, and ...
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NewsConstruction of Uttar Pradesh line approved
INDIA: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the construction of an 81 km line between Sahjanwa and Dohrighat in Uttar Pradesh. The government said the railway would support socio-economic development in the economically underdeveloped area, which is densely populated but lacks roads. Conversion of the existing ...
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NewsElectrification goes live in northern Portugal
PORTUGAL: Prime Minister António Costa and Housing & Infrastructure Minister Pedro Nuno Santos attended ceremonies on July 16 to mark completion of two electrification schemes on routes north of Porto. Both projects are part of the government’s Ferrovia 2020 investment plan. A 14·2 km section of the Porto – ...
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NewsMalmbanan resignalling to support ETCS
SWEDEN: Trafikverket has started work on a three-year project to resignal the Malmbanan heavy haul line between Boden and Riksgränsen with digital interlockings and ETCS at an estimated cost of SKr3bn. According to the infrastructure manager, most of the existing interlockings on the iron ore corridor are more than ...
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NewsETCS Level 2 commissioned on Valladolid – León line
SPAIN: Alstom’s Atlas ETCS Level 2 equipment has been commissioned on the 163 km Valladolid – León high speed line, which opened in September 2015. ETCS and GSM-R have been rolled out as part of a signalling, train control and telecoms upgrading programme which is being undertaken by a ...
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NewsEU to fund Latvian electrification programme
LATVIA: The EU’s Cohesion Fund is to provide €318·5m to support the electrification of the main east–west corridor and the replacement of diesel locomotives. Only around 14% of Latvia’s 1 860 km network is currently electrified, well below the EU average of 55%, with electric traction currently only used ...
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Rail Business UKTrac Rail Transposer machines delivered
PLANT: The first four of 10 Trac Rail Transposer rail handling machines have been delivered to McCulloch Rail by Unipart Rail, seven months after the order. The TRT was developed by McCulloch Rail and manufactured by Unipart Rail in Crewe. It is designed to significantly reduce the time taken to ...
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NewsPoint machine built for winter on the steppe
KAZAKHSTAN: In co-operation with national railway KTZ, the KazElektroPrivod equally-owned joint venture of Alstom and SOP Trade has completed a six-month test of a P80 point machine on a turnout designed by Prommashkomplekt and installed at Shiderty station. The locally-manufactured P80 has a design life of 20 years and is ...
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NewsIowa Northern Railway orders integrated PTC package
USA: Iowa Northern Railway has awarded Wabtec a contract to provide integrated I-ETMS Positive Train Control, LDRS-V digital video recording and data transfer and analytics capabilities across its entire locomotive fleet by late 2020. The order announced on July 10 is the first such contract won by Wabtec since its ...
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NewsEliwana mine and railway project launched
AUSTRALIA: Fortescue Metals Group held a ceremony on July 5 to officially launch construction of its Eliwana mine and railway in Western Australia. The US$1·275bn project includes the construction of 143 km of railway to connect the Western Hub mining area to the Solomon Hub on the existing 620 km ...
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NewsOberösterreich railway investment programme agreed
AUSTRIA: The Land of Oberösterreich and Austrian Federal Railways have agreed an €725m programme of route modernisation, station upgrading and electrification works for 2019-30. This agreement includes the retention of all branch lines, and the roll-out of new singalling and safety systems. ÖBB is to retain ownership of all lines ...
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NewsSouth Coast Rail groundbreaking ceremony
USA: A groundbreaking ceremony at East Freetown in Massachusetts on July 2 officially marked the start of work on Phase 1 of the South Coast Rail commuter project. The $1·047bn project will extend Boston’s Middleborough Line commuter rail services to Taunton, New Bedford and Fall River, the only major cities ...
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NewsFirst track laid on Crimean railway bridge
EUROPE: Tracklaying is underway on the railway which Russia is building to link the mainland to the eastern end of the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014. A bridge across the Kerch Strait has been proposed for many years. Following the annexation, the Russian government awarded Stroygazmontazh ...
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Metro Report InternationalTrams, trolleybuses and a greener depot for Plzeň
CZECH REPUBLIC: Plzeň transport operator PMDP and the European Investment Bank have signed a €50m loan agreement which will be used to finance the purchase of 34 trams and approximately 34 trolleybuses to replace existing vehicles, as well as the modernisation of the Slovany tram depot and power supply infrastructure. ...
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NewsSachsen line reopenings under consideration
GERMANY: Local transport authority VMS is studying options for reviving passenger services to Rochlitz and on the Pockau-Lengefeld – Marienberg line in Sachsen. Servies to Rochlitz ended in 2000, with passengers instead needing to travel by bus to Geithain for connections to Leipzig and Chemnitz. VMS is studying options and ...
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NewsCalifornia High-Speed Rail Authority publishes northern route preferences
USA: California High-Speed Rail Authority has published its recommended alignments for two sections of the planned line in northern California. Public feedback will now be sought before the board makes a decision in September. Draft environmental documents would then be published in December 2019 and March 2020, ahead of a ...
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Rail Business UKAtkins’ digitalisation programme bears fruit as interlocking goes live
UK: The first implementation of Atkins’ digital interlocking technology on a UK passenger-carrying line was commissioned on June 22-23. Atkins’ Strategic Rail Market Director Scott Kelley said the deployment was ‘a step change for the domestic signalling market’, with the project being ‘unique in that it involved new technologies, software ...
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NewsSlovakian upgrade awarded EU funding
SLOVAKIA: The European Union’s Cohesion Fund is to provide €285·5m to support upgrading of the line between Žilina and Púchov near the Czech border. This will fund works to permit 160 km/h running between Púchov and Považská Teplá, the construction of two tunnels and three large bridges and the refurbishment ...
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Metro Report InternationalFTA grant for Dallas light rail capacity improvement
USA: Dallas Area Rapid Transit has signed a $61m grant agreement with the Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration for the lengthening of platforms at 28 stops on the Red and Blue lines. The grant announced on June 27 is part of FTA’s Capital Investment Grants programme. ...













