Infrastructure news – Page 185
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NewsCabinet approves Chinese-backed standard gauge project
THAILAND: The Thai cabinet approved on November 17 the governance model for the planned north-south standard gauge network, being developed in partnership with China. Construction is due to begin in the middle of next year.Forming part of a trans-ASEAN corridor linking Kunming in southern China with Laos and the gulf ...
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NewsWorld rail infrastructure market November 2015
Brazil: Kirow has supplied a TL70 tracklayer to Vale's Carajás Railroad. Canada: Bombardier Transportation is to supply Cityflo 650 CBTC for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT line in Toronto. Estonia: Contractor Leonhard Weiss RTE is using Pandrol's Fastclip FE fastenings for the 56 km Tapa - Tartu track renewal ...
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NewsSBB inaugurates Olten control centre
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways formally inaugurated its regional control centre at Olten on November 17, in a ceremony attended by SBB CEO Andreas Meyer, the president of canton Solothurn Roland Fürst and the Mayor of Olten Martin Wey. BZ Mitte is one of four regional centres that will eventually manage ...
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NewsBrookfield Rail reaches interim grain deal
AUSTRALIA: Infrastructure manager Brookfield Rail has signed a new track access agreement with Western Australia’s grain handling company CBH Group covering grain train operations in 2016. The contract will replace the current interim agreement which is due to expire at the end of this year, midway through the main shipping ...
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NewsTracklaying starts on Sulawesi railway
INDONESIA: The first track has been laid on the island of Sulawesi to mark the start of railway fit-out on the 145 km standard gauge route being built from provincial capital Makassar to the port of Pare Pare. The start of tracklaying at Lalabata in Barru regency on November ...
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NewsTest train catastrophe on LGV Est
FRANCE: Opening of the 106 km second section of LGV Est-Européenne between Baudrecourt and Vendenheim for commercial services is likely to be delayed, following the high speed derailment of a TGV test train on November 14. SNCF Réseau President Jacques Rapoport told local media that it was ‘reasonable to expect’ ...
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NewsSBB orders locomotives with ‘working and waiting’ cabs
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways’ Infrastructure business has awarded preferred bidder Alstom a €175m contract to supply 47 Prima H4 electro–diesel locomotives. The four-axle locomotives are scheduled to enter service in 2018, and will be used to haul infrastructure trains and for shunting in yards at Lausanne and Limmattal. Alstom ...
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NewsGateway Development Corp to lead trans-Hudson tunnel project
USA: Officials from the states of New York and New Jersey announced on November 12 that a governance model has been agreed to take forward plans for an additional rail tunnel beneath the Hudson river between Newark and New York. A four-party entity known as the Gateway Development Corp would ...
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NewsScope of Shaw Report into Network Rail’s future published
UK: HS1 Ltd Chief Executive Nicola Shaw published a document on November 12 setting out the scope of the report into the future structure and financing of infrastructure manager Network Rail which the government has commissioned her to produce. The Shaw Report will look forward around 10 years from ...
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NewsHaifa railway to go underground
ISRAEL: On November 3 the Haifa municipality approved a US$336m agreement with the Finance Ministry which will enable part of the coastal railway through the city to be rebuilt below ground level. Burying the railway will enable the construction of 7 700 flats, and improve public access to the ...
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NewsEU invites proposals for next round of Connecting Europe Facility funding
EUROPE: The European Commission has issued its second call for proposals under the 2014-20 Connecting Europe Facility, with €7·6bn available to co-fund projects which will improve EU transport infrastructure. Rail-specific focuses in the latest call include funding for projects on the nine designated Trans-European corridors, for interoperability and for ERTMS. ...
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NewsChinese company awarded Montenegro rail upgrading contract
MONTENEGRO: Infrastructure manager ZICG has awarded China Civil Engineering Construction Corp a 15-month contract to undertake track and infrastructure renewals on the 9·9 km Kolašin – Kos section of the route from the Serbian border to the port of Bar, along with 2·4 km of track renewals at Kos station. ...
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NewsInland Rail technical services tender called
AUSTRALIA: The federal government has called tenders for a contract to provide major technical advisory and engineering services for the proposed Melbourne – Brisbane Inland Rail project, and a briefing session is to be held in Brisbane on November 13. In parallel, Infrastructure Australia is considering the business case to ...
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NewsOntario appoints high speed rail advisor
CANADA: On October 30 the government of Ontario announced the appointment of former federal Transport Minister David Collenette as a special advisor tasked with developing high speed rail proposals for the Windsor - London - Kitchener-Waterloo - Toronto corridor. Collenette is to work with public and private-sector stakeholders to assess ...
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NewsCongress extends PTC deadline by three years
USA: The potential shutdown of many rail services on January 1 has been avoided, after Congress approved a three-year extension of the federally-mandated December 31 deadline for the installation of Positive Train Control. The installation of PTC by the deadline was not considered feasible by the industry, and without ...
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NewsMoldova enhances cross-border links
MOLDOVA: National railway CFM has put refurbished diesel multiple-units into service on the route from Chișinău to Iași in Romania, and has signed an agreement with Ukrainian Railways for the reinstatement of the line from the border town of Basarabeasca to Berezyne in Ukraine. Five 1 520 mm gauge ...
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NewsSNTF and Systra to form joint venture
ALGERIA: On October 26 state railway SNTF signed an agreement with French engineering consultancy Systra to form a joint venture specialising in railway systems. With 51% of the Algerian-based company held by SNTF and 49% by Systra, the new joint venture is expected to create around 50 ‘highly qualified’ posts, ...
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NewsDurchmesserlinie project completed
SWITZERLAND: The eight-year Durchmesserlinie project to increase capacity by eliminating the need for east–west trains to reverse at Zürich Hauptbahnhof was officially completed with a ceremony marking the end of Phase 2 on October 26. Phase 1 of the 9·6 km Durchmesserlinie comprised the 4·8 km S-shaped Weinberg Tunnel ...
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NewsHŽ Infra awards upgrading contract
CROATIA: Infrastructure manager HŽ Infra has selected a consortium of DIV, Dalekovod and Zagreb Montaža as preferred bidder to undertake an extensive modernisation of the 38·2 km Dugo Selo – Križevci section of the Zagreb – Koprivnica – Budapest line The project is costed at €199m, including supervision and land ...
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NewsTrans-Laos railway construction could begin in November
LAOS: Construction of the planned standard gauge corridor running north-south through Laos could begin next month, according to officials in Vientiane. The railway would be an extension of China Railways’ existing line running south from Kunming in Yunnan province towards Vietnam. The Chinese and Lao governments agreed to develop ...