Infrastructure news – Page 197
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NewsDB to invest €700m in Nordrhein-Westfalen
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn has announced plans to spend €700m improving infrastructure in Nordrhein-Westfalen during 2015. Of this, infrastructure manager DB Netz will spend around €550m on the rail infrastructure and a further €137m on station modernisation, including accessibility improvements. Traction energy supplier DB Energie will invest €9m in its ...
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NewsOman Rail project management contract awarded
OMAN: On behalf of the Ministry of Transport & Communications, the Government Tender Board has selected a consortium headed by Spanish engineering contractor Técnicas Reunidas to provide project management consultancy services for the construction of the future rail network. The consortium will review preliminary designs which are being prepared by ...
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NewsBoring of Czech Republic’s longest rail tunnel begins
CZECH REPUBLIC: Boring of the Czech Republic's longest rail tunnel was ceremonially launched on February 3. The two single-track bores under the Chlum and Homolka hills near Kyšice will be 4 150 m long and are the main feature of the modernisation of the Rokycany – Plzeň section of SŽDC's ...
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NewsSensor for smarter track maintenance
UK: In response to a request from infrastructure manager Network Rail, Product Innovation has developed a void meter designed to measure the movement of a rail or sleeper in real time, enabling maintenance crews to attend only when needed. The Void Meter is physically and electronically simple to install, ...
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NewsUnion Pacific announces $4·3bn capital programme
USA: Union Pacific Corp has announced a 2015 capital programme valued at $4·3bn, which it says is an increase of $200m on 2014. UP said the programme would be ‘driven primarily by equipment acquisitions and infrastructure investments’. Spending on Positive Train Control is expected to total $450m, up from ...
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NewsSydney opens South West Rail Link
AUSTRALIA: New South Wales Premier Mike Baird and Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian officially opened the South West Rail Link on February 8, adding a further 11·4 km to the Sydney Trains suburban network. Under construction since 2011, the line diverges from the Sydney – Melbourne main line at Glenfield ...
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NewsArendalsbanen upgraded
NORWAY: The 37 km Nelaug – Arendal branch has reopened following a suspension of services to permit the installation of new signalling and automatic train control systems. The route had previously operated under special rules. However, the installation of modern signalling was seen as vital for its continued long-term operation, ...
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NewsJerusalem fast line track contract awarded
ISRAEL: A US$195m contract to design, build and maintain track and electrical, ventilation and fire safety systems for the tunnels and bridges on the A1 fast line to Jerusalem has been awarded to the Electra Boegl joint venture of Electra, Electra Infrastructures Hasharon Excavators, Signon Schweiz and Max Bögl Bauunternehmen. ...
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NewsLIRR Grand Central Terminal contract awarded
USA: New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority has awarded the GCT Constructors joint venture of Schiavone Construction Co and John P Picone Inc a $404·8m contract to build the future Long Island Rail Road concourse at Grand Central Terminal. The work is part of the $10bn East Side Access project, which ...
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NewsTransdev awarded Tri-Rail maintenance contract
USA: South Florida Regional Transportation Authority has awarded Transdev’s rail infrastructure maintenance business VTMI a $161m contract to inspect and maintain track, signals and bridges on the 115 km Tri-Rail commuter line linking Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. The contract runs for seven years from April 2015. There ...
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NewsEIB signs €950m loan for Italian rail upgrading
ITALY: On February 2 the Economics & Finance Ministry and the European Investment Bank signed a €950m loan agreement to finance infrastructure manager RFI’s planned programme of investment in the conventional network. EIB said the strength of its capital base enables it to make loads on favourable terms, reducing the ...
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NewsHigh speed project cancelled as economy worsens
MEXICO: The federal government has decided to suspend ‘indefinitely’ the project to build a high speed line between Mexico City and Querétaro, Secretary of the Treasury & Public Finance Dr Luis Videgaray announced on January 30. The separate project to build a new railway for passenger and freight traffic between ...
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NewsMurcia high speed line ETCS contract
SPAIN: ADIF has awarded a consortium led by CAF Signalling and including FCC and Revenga a €155m contract to supply and maintain for 20 years the signalling and telecom systems for the 65 km Monforte del Cid – Murcia high speed line. CAF Signalling will supply ETCS Level 2 ...
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NewsRussian Railways plans Ukraine avoiding line as high speed test track
RUSSIA: Russian Railways, engineering organisations and Voronezh State University of Architecture & Civil Engineering are developing plans for a new 140 km double-track electrified line which would avoid the need for trains on the main line to Rostov-na-Donu, Krasnodar and Sochi to pass through a short section of Ukrainian territory. ...
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NewsSiemens to undertake Banbury resignalling
UK: Siemens Rail Automation and Network Rail expect to sign shortly a £40m contract to renew life-expired signalling equipment between Leamington Spa and Heyford. The 22-month project will transfer operation of the signalling areas currently controlled by Banbury North and Banbury South signalboxes to a single workstation at NR’s West ...
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NewsRhomberg Sersa Rail Group takes over Sersa Total Track
CANADA: Rhomberg Sersa Rail Group has become the sole owner of Sersa Total Track Ltd after purchasing the remaining shares from Tim Mann. STT provides a range of track inspection, construction, maintenance and renewal services, with a fleet of heavy maintenance and construction equipment. It is based in Mallorytown, Ontario, ...
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NewsGauge-changer installed at Belarus-Poland border
BELARUS: Belarus Railways has installed a Talgo automatic gauge-changer at Brest station, close the Polish border, and expects to obtain certification for it to be used by Talgo passenger trainsets during the first quarter of 2015 Installation required remodelling tracks and signalling and the installation of electrification equipment. The project ...
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NewsMunicipal Council approves Kuwait section of GCC railway
KUWAIT: The Municipal Council gave its backing for the Kuwaiti section of the planned GCC railway at a meeting on January 21. Responsibility for the project has now been handed over to the Ministry of Communications, which will co-ordinate planning with other ministries. According to the Kuwait News Agency, the ...
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NewsRail maintenance services framework agreed
CROATIA: National rail infrastructure manager HŽ Infrastruktura and Vossloh Rail Services have signed a €4·5m framework agreement covering rail measurement, testing, data analysis and machining services. ‘This contract will help us to extend the useful life of rails and thereby save costs in the medium term’, according to HŽ ...
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NewsHead-hardened rail developed for Siberian temperatures
RUSSIA: Steelmaker Evraz ZSMK has completed federal certification of its HH350 rail, which it says is the first head-hardened rail designed for use at temperatures down to –60°C in Russia’s north and far east. HH350 will be available in lengths from 8 m to 100 m, and is expected ...