Infrastructure news – Page 129
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NewsCourt overturns Fehmarn Belt tunnel financing approval
EUROPE: The Court of Justice of the European Union has overturned the European Commission’s approval for the financing model for the Fehmarn Belt fixed link project, finding that procedural errors were made. The Commission must now provide a new approval. Project promoter Femarn A/S told Railway Gazette it had secured ...
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News‘Engineering masterpiece’ Bogibeel Bridge opens
INDIA: The country’s longest combined rail and road bridge was officially opened when Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off a Northeast Frontier Railway inter-city train from Tinsukia to Naharlagun on December 25. The 4·94 km Bogibeel Bridge crosses the River Brahmaputra between the Dibrugarh and Dhemaji districts of the northeastern ...
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NewsIncomplete approvals delay TEX Rail opening
USA: The opening of the 43 km TEX Rail commuter line in Texas was postponed the evening before the planned January 5 launch date, with transport authority Trinity Metro saying it had been unable to get clearance from the Federal Railroad Administration to operate the entire route. A new opening ...
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Metro Report InternationalToshkent elevated metro line under construction
UZBEKISTAN: The first section of an elevated metro line in Toshkent is being built by national railway company UTY to designs by the Boshtransloyiha engineering institute. Starting at the Olmazor terminus of the Toshkent metro’s existing Chilonzor Line, the 7·1 km Sergili Line will run south above Choshtepa, Mirzo Tursunzoda ...
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Metro Report InternationalMTA accepts revised approach to Subway tunnel blockade
USA: New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced on January 3 that it had accepted a series of recommendations put forward by academics and engineering specialists to limit the disruption of a planned rebuilding of the Canarsie/L Subway line’s tunnel under the East River between Brooklyn and Manhattan. The Canarsie/L Subway ...
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NewsXinjiang coal railway inaugurated
CHINA: The 435 km Hongnao Railway in the Xinjiang region was formally opened to traffic on January 1. Approved by the National Development & Reform Commission in 2014, the line is one of the longest in China to be developed using private investment. Running from Naomaohu in the Hami ...
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NewsCotton Belt commuter line construction contract awarded
USA: Dallas Area Rapid Transit has awarded a joint venture of Archer Western and Herzog Contracting a $783m contract to build the 42 km Cotton Belt commuter rail line, with assistance from lead designer Jacobs Engineering. Construction is scheduled to begin this year for completion by the end of 2022. ...
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Metro Report InternationalCAF to supply catenary-free trams to Parramatta
AUSTRALIA: Transport for New South Wales has awarded contracts for the construction and operation of Stage 1 of the Parramatta light rail project. A joint venture of Downer and CPB Contractors has been awarded the A$840m civil works contract, while the A$536m fit-out and operations contract has been signed ...
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NewsRoca signalling contract awarded
ARGENTINA: The Ministry of Transport has awarded a consortium of Alstom (58%) and POSE (42%) a €90m contract to modernise the signalling on the Avellaneda – La Plata, Temperley – Bosques – Berazategui and Bosques – Villa Elisa sections of the 1676 mm gauge Roca commuter network in Buenos Aires. ...
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NewsConcrete Canvas eliminates weeds at Rotterdam inspection point
NETHERLANDS: Concrete Canvas geosynthetic cementitious composite matting has been installed on sections of track at the Rotterdam World Gateway site to prevent the growth of weeds which could obstruct the optical character recognition systems used to identify containers on passing freight trains Concrete Canvas comprises a three-dimensional fibre matrix containing ...
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NewsChengde – Shenyang heads next tranche of PDL openings
CHINA: National operator China Railway Corp has launched passenger services on four more new lines, following on from the five routes that opened on December 25-26 and taking the total length of new line inaugurated this month to more than 2 500 route-km. December 29 saw the start of operation ...
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NewsSeoul starts work on regional express network
SOUTH KOREA: Groundbreaking ceremonies for the northwestern arm of Seoul’s planned three-line Great Train Express network were held at the Kintex exhibition centre in Goyang on December 27. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure & Transport, the GTX network is intended to link outlying suburbs in the north and ...
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NewsWorld rail infrastructure market - December 2018
Canada: The City of Québec and transport authority RTC have awarded Systra Canada a seven-year C$12·5m contract to undertake engineering design for a proposed 23 km tram line. Norton Rose Fulbright Canada is to provide legal services under a separate five-year contract worth C$375 000. Chile: Metro de Santiago ...
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NewsDouble-tracking funded
SWITZERLAND: The federal government approved a SFr23·3m financing agreement on December 14 which will enable Swiss Federal Railways to go ahead with double-tracking the 800 m Goldach – Rorschach Stadt section of the St Gallen – St Margrethen route. Construction permits have already been obtained, and work is expected to ...
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Rail Business UKEviFile speeds Great Western electrification data capture
DATA CAPTURE: Contractor Balfour Beatty has been using a secure data collection platform from Leeds-based EviFile as part of its work to install 25 kV 50 Hz electrification between Bristol and Cardiff. The contractor deployed a customised version of eviFile’s digital progressive assurance methodology to replace a paper-based approach. This ...
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Metro Report InternationalQingdao opens coastal metro Line 13
CHINA: An isolated regional metro line was opened in the eastern port city of Qingdao on December 26. Designated Line 13, but originally known as R3, the Jiaonan line is currently not connected to the rest of the city’s metro network. Starting from Jinggangshan Lu in the Huangdao port district ...
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NewsFive new lines open in two days
CHINA: Revenue services began on two more high speed lines on December 25, with another inaugurated the following day, along with two new mixed-traffic railways. First to open on December 25 was the 293 km Harbin – Mudanjiang Intercity Railway, running southeast from the capital of Heilongjiang province to a ...
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Metro Report InternationalContractor selected to modernise Chicago Red and Purple lines
USA: Chicago Transit Authority has selected a joint venture of Walsh Construction Co, Fluor and Stantec Consulting Services as preferred bidder for Phase One of a project to modernise the Red and Purple metro lines. The $2·1bn project aims to expand capacity on the busiest metro line in Chicago. ...
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Metro Report InternationalContractor appointed to build London Overground extension to Barking Riverside
UK: Transport for London has awarded a joint venture of Morgan Sindall Construction & Infrastructure and VolkerFitzpatrick a contract to build an extension of the Gospel Oak to Barking line which will enable London Overground services to serve the Barking Riverside development area. The contract announced ...
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NewsEBRD funding for Macedonian railway project
MACEDONIA: An agreement providing a further €68·6m of European Union co-financing for the second phase of a planned rail link between Macedonia and Bulgaria was signed in Skopje on December 14. The latest grant will be used to co-finance the construction of the 34 km Beljakovce – Kriva Palanka section ...