Infrastructure news – Page 136
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Metro Report InternationalOrange County Streetcar construction contract awarded
USA: Orange County Transportation Authority has awarded Walsh Construction Co a $220·5m contract to build the OC Streetcar line. Construction of the 6·7 km route between Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center and Harbor Boulevard in Garden Grove is due to begin later this year for opening in 2021. ...
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NewsA1 fast line to Jerusalem opens
ISRAEL: Passenger services on the A1 fast line between Ben Gurion Airport and Jerusalem began with a low-key launch on September 25. Travel is initially being offered free of charge, but must be pre-booked. At present only one of the two tracks is in use and electrified at 25 kV ...
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NewsRail Baltica CEO resigns and condemns governments for 'playing poker’
EUROPE: Baiba A Rubesa resigned as CEO & Chairman of the Management Board of Rail Baltica project promoter RB Rail AS with immediate effect on September 27, and then held a press conference in a personal capacity during which she strongly condemned the ‘different and irreconcilable’ national ...
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Rail Business UKGrayling demands 'root and branch' review of UK railway
UK: A comprehensive review of the rail sector was announced by Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling on September 20. Responding to concerns over the passenger franchising model following the collapse of the Inter-City East Coast franchise, delays and cost over-runs with Network Rail’s investment programme, and operational problems ...
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Metro Report InternationalGrand Paris fit-out contract awarded
FRANCE: Société du Grand Paris has awarded a consortium of Colas Rail (70%) and Alstom (30%) a €155m contract to supply track and rigid catenary for the eastern part of Line 15 South of the Grand Paris Express. The 69-month contract covers 17 km of Line 15 with eight ...
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NewsWorld rail infrastructure market - September 2018
Australia: The Rail Infrastructure Alliance consortium of John Holland, CPB Contractors and AECOM has been selected as preferred bidder for a A$1bn contract for work on the Melbourne Metro Tunnel. Bosnia: AŽD Praha has modernised control and communication equipment on the 90 km Banja Luka - Doboj line under ...
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Rail Business UKBritish Steel rail contract extended
UK: A £200m contract for British Steel to supply approximately 200 000 tonnes of rail to Network Rail was formally signed at InnoTrans on September 19 in a ceremony attended by Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling. The two-year extension to a five-year contract which began in 2014 covers ...
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NewsPepy promises to make SNCF ‘fit for the future’
INNOTRANS: The trade union strike action which has disrupted France’s rail network for much of this year has cost national railway group SNCF €780m, President Guillaume Pepy said at the InnoTrans trade show in Berlin on September 19. Speaking alongside SNCF Réseau President Patrick Jeantet, Pepy nevertheless painted a picture ...
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NewsSamsun – Sivas line to reopen this year after €280m upgrading
TURKEY: Infrastructure manager TCDD has begun testing running on the railway between Samsun and Sivas, which has been closed for upgrading work for the past three years. The line is expected to reopen to traffic by the end of the year. Work began in September 2015 and has involved relaying ...
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NewsBrightline to develop Las Vegas – Los Angeles corridor
USA: Private passenger operator Brightline announced on September 18 its intention to develop a second inter-city corridor linking Las Vegas with southern California. The Fortress Investment Group subsidiary has agreed to acquire the XpressWest project which holds the rights to develop a federally-approved rail corridor paralleling Interstate 15. The group ...
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Metro Report InternationalSydney metro station contract awarded
AUSTRALIA: The New South Wales government has awarded Macquarie Group a A$378·6m contract to develop Martin Place station on the southern section of the future Sydney metro line. Macquarie Group submitted an unsolicited proposal to develop the underground station and buildings above it. The company has appointed Lendlease as ...
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NewsFerrovia Circumetnea slab track contract
ITALY: Contractor CMS has commissioned install WEGH Group to supply its Arianna ballastless track for the Nesima – Misterbianco tunnel, which is being built to put the 950 mm gauge Ferrovia Circumetnea underground in the city of Catania. The contract covers 2·4 km of track, which WEGH Group will ...
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NewsAdani scales back Carmichael rail link plans
AUSTRALIA: In a bid to reduce the capital cost of its controversial Carmichael opencast coal mining project in Queensland’s Galilee Basin, Adani Mining announced on September 12 that it had dropped plans to develop an independent standard-gauge railway in favour of a 1 067 mm gauge connection to Aurizon’s existing ...
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Metro Report InternationalHarsco wins Singapore metro grinder contract
SINGAPORE: Land Transit Authority has awarded Harsco Rail a contract to supply a 16 stone grinder custom designed for Singapore’s metro network. Modifications include electric motors and a small profile to operate in metro tunnels. ‘We have developed a strong partnership and open communication with LTA over the last ...
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NewsMelbourne Airport Rail Link market engagement begins
AUSTRALIA: The state of Victoria began market engagement for the Melbourne Airport Rail Link project on September 12, when Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan invited investors, construction companies and potential operators to register interest in participating in the project. A full business case is currently ...
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NewsDouble tunnel breakthrough on the Follo Line
NORWAY: Tunnel boring machines ‘Dronning Eufemia’ and ‘Dronning Ellisiv’ simultaneously broke through to complete a 9 km northern section of the Follo Tunnel on September 11, a significant milestone in the construction of the 20 km tunnel which will be the longest railway tunnel in the Nordic region. The twin-bore ...
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NewsUrban hubs prioritised in French infrastructure programme
FRANCE: On September 11 Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne outlined her ministry’s infrastructure spending priorities for the decade to 2028. In the rail sector, spending is to be focused on the ‘everyday needs of users’ in keeping with the priorities set out in mid-2017 by President Emmanuel Macron. Offering a ‘clear, ...
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NewsIron ore route electrified
UKRAINE: Vice Prime Minister Volodymyr Kistion ceremonially inagurated electric haulage on the 13·4 km Potoki – Zolotnyshyne route on September 6. The €6·2m project to electrify the line serving a large Ferrexpo open cast iron ore mine had got underway in February, as the first significant electrification project in the ...
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NewsZevenaar – Didam upgrading contract awarded
NETHERLANDS: Infrastructure manager ProRail has awarded Strukton Rail a €40m contract to modernise and double-track the 4 km single track regional line between Zevenaar and Didam. Construction is expected to begin later this year for completion at the end of 2019. The maximum line speed will be increased from 100 ...
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NewsSerbia reopens line to the Bosnian border
SERBIA: Passenger services on the 65 km line from Šabac to Loznica and Brasina on the Bosnian border restarted on September 1, having been suspended since 2005. Services are to be extended to Zvornik Novi in Bosnia-Herzegovina from the December timetable change. Infrastruktura ŽS has rehabilitated the single track ...