Infrastructure news – Page 188
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NewsTurkish GSM-R interoperability testing completed
TURKEY: Italian certification group RINA has successfully completed interoperability testing of the GSM-R base station sub-system access network supplied to national railway TCDD by Huawei, and the GSM-R network switching sub-system core network supplied by Nokia. Huawei said TCDD has typical multi-vendor GSM-R infrastructure, with Nokia, Kapsch and Huawei elements. ...
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NewsVojens – Vamdrup double-tracking completed
DENMARK: Transport Minister Hans Christian Schmidt inaugurated the second track between Vamdrup and Vojens in Jylland on September 7, marking the official completion of a two-year project to remove one of the last sections of single track on the route through Jylland to Germany. The 20 km section has ...
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NewsLandbridge design contract extended
SAUDI ARABIA: The Public Investment Fund has extended Italferr’s contract to undertake design work for the planned Landbridge. The Landbridge project comprises a 950 km double-track mixed traffic line running from the Port of Jeddah to Riyadh, where it would connect with the existing railway which would be upgraded ...
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NewsThales adopts open-source ERTMS testing tool
GERMANY: Signalling and train control supplier Thales Deutschland has agreed to use the ERTMSFormalSpecs open-source modelling tool to test braking curves in the development of its onboard unit for the ETCS Baseline 3 specifications. Tool developer ERTMS Solutions announced on September 9 that it had signed an agreement with Thales ...
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NewsPassenger trains return to the Scottish borders
UK: The first public passenger trains for 46 years ran between Edinburgh and Tweedbank on September 6, when revenue services began over the 48 route-km Borders Railway. The launch of revenue service comes amid a week of celebrations marking the reopening of approximately a third of the former Edinburgh – ...
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NewsDIANA to monitor DB Netz turnouts
GERMANY: Strukton Systems has won a contract to supply more than 90 data loggers for the DIANA remote monitoring and analysis platform which has been developed by infrastructure manager DB Netz to provide supplier-independent asset condition data. Strukton will supply a customised version of its microPOSS data loggers, with ...
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NewsUzbek railway approved
UZBEKISTAN: The government has given the go-ahead for national railway UTY to build a 396·9 km line in 2016-17 to provide a more direct link between Navoi, Kanimekh and Miskin. This would serve the Bukhara and Khorezm regions, and provide additional capacity for north–south freight. The cost is put at ...
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NewsFarnworth Tunnel enlargement delayed by poor ground conditions
UK: ‘Exceptionally poor’ ground conditions have delayed the project to enlarge Farnworth Tunnel to enable electric trains to run between Bolton and Manchester, Network Rail announced on September 4. As a result the completion date has been put back from October 5, ‘possibly until December’. One of the two single-track ...
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NewsParsons awarded Chicago PTC contract
USA: Chicago commuter rail operator Metra has appointed Parsons as prime contractor for the installation of Positive Train Control. The contract announced on September 3 covers the installation of Interoperable Electronic Train Management System, integrating locomotive-mounted GPS, radios, trackside antennas and computers and compatible with 12 railways. Parsons ...
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NewsSapphire Corp to acquire Ranken Infrastructure Ltd
ASIA: The shareholders of Singapore-listed Sapphire Corp approved the 360m yuan acquisition of Chinese rail engineering specialist Ranken Infrastructure Ltd at an extraordinary general meeting on September 2. The deal is expected to be completed by October. Established in 1998, Chengdu-based Rankin undertakes projects in China, India, Bangladesh and Saudi ...
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NewsPomeranian Metropolitan Railway opens
POLAND: Revenue services on the Pomorska Kolej Metropolitalna line serving Gdańsk airport began on September 1, following inauguration celebrations including steam-hauled trains on August 30. The new line is owned by PKM, a dedicated company established by Pomorskie voivodship. Branching from the existing network at Gdańsk Wrzeszcz, it uses ...
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NewsHigh speed links to the northeast completed
CHINA: A 210 km rail link to the North Korean border town of Dandong was opened for revenue service on September 1. This is the first of two high speed lines serving the border region that are scheduled to open this year. Under construction since 2010, the 207 km Shenyang ...
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NewsSolar and wireless automated level crossing commissioned
COLOMBIA: Ferrocarril del Pacífico has commissioned the first of 22 level crossings on the 196 km Buenaventura – Palmira route which are being fitted with automated safety systems by US firm Railroad Signal International, using a solar-powered train detection system from Canadian company Argenia Railway Technologies. Completion of the project ...
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NewsMurray Basin gauge conversion to begin next year
AUSTRALIA: Civil works are expected to begin in the second half of 2016 to convert the freight lines linking Geelong with the Murray Basin from 1 600 mm gauge to 1 435 mm gauge under a A$416m programme being led by the Victoria state government. The Murray Basin Rail Project ...
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NewsCut-off construction contract signed
CROATIA: Contracts for the construction of a 12·2 km cut-off linking Gradec on the Zagreb – Križevci – Hungary line with Sveti Ivan Žabno on the Križevci – Bjelovar branch were signed by infrastructure manager HŽ Infra, Comsa and HF Wiebe on August 26. Work is scheduled to start in ...
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NewsWork starts on Zeebrugge yard
BELGIUM: A groundbreaking ceremony on August 25 marked the start of construction of a new Zwankendamme marshalling yard to serve the Port of Zeebrugge. The yard will increase freight capacity, and also reduce the number of shunting movements required. The yard will be located on a greenfield site to the ...
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NewsFreight line passenger revival
GERMANY: Local freight railway Bentheimer Eisenbahn has called tenders for a contract to provide planning and engineering services for the reintroduction of passenger services on the 30 km Bad Bentheim – Neuenhaus line in Niedersachsen. Passenger trains on the route were replaced by railway-operated bus services in 1974. The ...
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NewsARTC awards National Train Communications System contract
AUSTRALIA: Inter-state network manager Australian Rail Track Corp has awarded Telstra a ‘multi-million dollar’, 10-year contract to provide telecoms services through the National Train Communications System. NTCS was developed as a cost-effective and interoperable voice and data communications network for the 8 500 km inter-state and Hunter Valley networks, using ...
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NewsElectrification to Qarshi completed
UZBEKISTAN: A Talgo 250 Afrosiyob trainset ran from Toshkent to Qarshi on August 22 as part of celebrations marking the completion of work to electrify and upgrade the 140·8 km Marakand – Qarshi section of the 511 km Toshkent – Samarkand – Qarshi route. The project has raised the maximum ...
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NewsBudapest – Esztergom line reopens after modernisation
HUNGARY: National passenger operator MÁV-Start restarted services on the modernised Budapest – Esztergom line on August 20. Renovation of the 53 km route lasted more than three years and cost HF44·5bn, of which 85% was funded from EU sources. Electrification is around 18 months behind schedule and is expected ...