Infrastructure news – Page 184
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NewsEIB loan to fund Südbahn upgrading work
AUSTRIA: Austrian Federal Railways and the European Investment Bank signed a €1·8bn loan agreement on November 30 for upgrading work on the Südbahn route between Wien and Graz to 2026. The loan is to be disbursed over the next three years in tranches of €600m. The money will support ...
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NewsFourth Follo Line civil works package awarded
NORWAY: Infrastructure manager Jernbaneverket has awarded two contracts worth in excess of NKr2bn for civil and railway remodelling works as part of the Follo Line project to build a 22 km cut-off to enhance capacity between Oslo and Ski. Running largely in tunnel, the Follo Line is scheduled for completion ...
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NewsNetwork Rail awards East West Rail contract
UK: Network Rail announced on December 4 that it has awarded an alliancing contract to Atkins, Laing O’Rourke and VolkerRail covering the design and construction of Phase 2 of the East West Rail scheme. Involving the reopening of currently disused railway infrastructure between Bletchley and Bicester, Phase 2 would enable ...
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NewsJR Central considers Texas Central investment
USA: Central Japan Railway confirmed on November 23 that it was considering whether to take a financial stake in Texas Central Partners, which is promoting a privately-financed 386 km high speed line between Dallas and Houston. JR Central has been working closely with the promoters, and is acting as technology ...
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NewsCeremony launches Laos railway construction
LAOS: A groundbreaking ceremony in Vientiane on December 2 marked the formal start of construction of a Chinese-backed standard gauge main line running north-south through Laos from the Chinese border to the Thai frontier at Nong Khai. Lao President Choummaly Sayasone ceremonially dug into a pyramid of sand, telling assembled ...
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NewsAlstom and Bombardier win Barcelona ETCS contract
SPAIN: Infrastructure manager ADIF has awarded a joint venture of Alstom and Bombardier an €87⋅9m contract to supply and maintain the first ETCS Level 2 signalling on the Barcelona suburban network, covering the 56 km between L’Hospitalet de Llobregat and Mataró. The works component of the contract is valued at ...
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NewsWabtec to provide Chicago PTC kit
USA: Wabtec Corp has signed contracts worth about $45m with Chicago rail operator Metra and engineering management firm Parsons Transportation Group to provide equipment and services for Positive Train Control for the Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad. This follows the announcement of Parsons as prime contractor for the PTC installation ...
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NewsHS2 to reach Crewe in 2027
UK: Construction of a further section of the planned High Speed 2 route to Manchester is to be brought forward, with the Crewe – Birmingham link now expected to open in 2027, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne announced on November 30. This is six years ahead of the original ...
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NewsBeograd – Budapest upgrading agreements signed
EUROPE: Two agreements for the planned upgrade of the Beograd – Budapest route to provide a double-track mixed traffic line suitable for 200 km/h operation were signed at the Fourth Meeting of Heads of Government of China and Central & Eastern Europe Countries in Suzhou on November 24. This builds ...
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News2·8tr yuan rail spend in Chinese five-year plan
CHINA: Proposals for a total investment of 2·8tr yuan (US$438bn) in new railway construction have been included in the country’s 13th Five Year Plan covering the 2016-20 period, the Economic Information Daily announced on November 27. More than 23 000 km of new line would be constructed, with priority going ...
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NewsSouth Wales Metro consultation to begin
UK: Public consultation on the proposed Cardiff Capital Region Metro programme to develop an integrated network of rail, bus and light rail services is to begin in early 2016, Wales’ First Minister Carwyn Jones announced on November 30. Metro would involve incremental infrastructure improvements and potentially the development ...
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NewsRebuilt Arnhem Centraal station rewrites the rules
NETHERLANDS: A €37·5m ‘Transfer Terminal’ at Arnhem Centraal which architectural practice UNStudio claims ‘rewrites the rulebook’ on station design was officially opened by Sharon Dijksma, State Secretary at the Ministry of Infrastructure & Environment, on November 19. This marks the completion of 20-year project to redevelop the 1950s station area ...
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NewsVIA Rail acquires Brockville Subdivision
CANADA: VIA Rail Canada has acquired the Brockville Subdivision from Canadian Pacific. This comprises 45 km of single track between Smiths Falls and Brockville on the Ottawa – Toronto route in Ontario. ‘This acquisition will strengthen our rail network dedicated to passenger trains in the Ottawa region, where VIA Rail ...
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NewsRZD International signs Iranian electrification contract
IRAN: Russian Railways subsidiary RZD International signed a contract to electrify the 495 km route from Garmsar on the Tehran – Mashhad line to Incheh Borun on the border with Turkmenistan during a visit by Russian’s President Putin to Tehran on November 23. The 36-month contract is worth an estimated ...
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NewsHendy revises Network Rail project timescales as costs rise
UK: The cost of Network Rail’s infrastructure enhancement programme for 2014-19 has increased from £12·8bn to £15·3bn, according to a review by new Chairman Sir Peter Hendy which was published on November 25. He insisted that all of the planned works would still be completed, although some schemes will be ...
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NewsThree Rail Baltica funding agreements signed
EUROPE: Three grant agreements for the Rail Baltica project with a total value of €734m were signed by the EU's Innovation & Networks Executive Agency in Tallinn on November 24. The grants have been awarded under the 2014 call for Connecting Europe Facility funding, and cover planning and construction works ...
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NewsStrong interest in Kuala Lumpur - Singapore high speed line
ASIA: The land transport authorities of Malaysia and Singapore received 98 responses to their request for information for the Kuala Lumpur – Singapore High Speed Rail project, SPAD and LTA jointly announced on November 25. The proposed 330 km line would offer a 90 min journey time. The RFI was ...
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NewsEthiopia – Djibouti railway carries first freight
AFRICA: The first freight train to operate on the new standard gauge railway between Djibouti and Addis Ababa arrived at a temporary unloading facility in Merebe Mermersa, 112 km south of Ethiopia's capital, on November 21.Construction of the railway has not yet been completed, but freight services have been launched ...
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NewsLate braking caused TGV derailment, says SNCF
FRANCE: SNCF President Guillaume Pepy emphasised the ‘over-riding importance of organisational and human factors’ following the publication on November 19 of an initial report into the fatal derailment near Strasbourg on November 14 of a TGV during commissioning trials for Phase 2 of LGV Est-Européenne. The accident claimed the lives ...
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NewsRwanda announces DIKKM railway shortlist
AFRICA: The shortlist for a PPP contract to develop and implement the proposed 1 672 km railway which would link Dar es Salaam in Tanzania with Kigali in Rwanda and Musongati in Burundi was announced on November 17. Rwanda Transport Development Agency is leading procurement on behalf of the ...