Infrastructure news – Page 200
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NewsSouth Wales electrification funding agreement
UK: Agreements to fund electrification in south Wales and devolve the award of the next Wales & Borders rail franchise from the Department for Transport to the Welsh government were announced by Prime Minister David Cameron on November 21. This brings to an end a dispute about which government should ...
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NewsChinese sign US$12bn contract to build Nigerian Coastal Railway
NIGERIA: China Railway Construction Corp and the federal government officially signed the US$11·97bn contract to build the Nigerian Coastal Railway linking Lagos and Calabar at a ceremony in Abuja on November 19. According to CRCC, the deal is the single largest international contract awarded to a Chinese firm. CRCC’s parent ...
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NewsXinjiang high speed line opens
CHINA: The Passenger-Dedicated Line between Urumqi and Hami in the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region of western China opened on November 16. The 530 km route serves stations at Urumqi South, Turpan North, Shanshan North, Tuha and Hami. Construction of the line began in January 2010. The alignment through the Gobi ...
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NewsSBB awards Eppenberg tunnel contract
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways announced on November 14 that it had awarded a SFr273·7m contract for the construction of the 3 km Eppenburg tunnel, the key element in the SFr855m project to four-track the busy Olten – Aarau line by 2020. The contract awarded to the ARGE Marti Eppenberg ...
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NewsRhomberg Sersa buys Balfour Beatty infrastructure operations
EUROPE: As part of an ongoing restructuring programme, Balfour Beatty Rail announced on November 14 that it had agreed terms to sell three more of its rail infastructure activities in mainland Europe. Subject to approval by the relevant competition authorities, the track division of Balfour Beatty Rail GmbH Deutschland, (BB ...
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NewsSelf-propelled wagon prototype
CROATIA: A self-propelled wagon fitted with a 55 kW diesel generator and hydraulic transmission giving it the ability to move around worksites at up to 100 km/h under remote control has been developed by RZV Čakovec and partners. The prototype has two ballast hoppers which can be hydraulically tipped in ...
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NewsVidiwave wins Colas Rail on-track plant CCTV contract
UK: Following a nine-month development programme and 12 months of rigorous field trials, Vidiwave has been awarded a contract to supply specialised CCTV systems for Colas Rail’s entire UK track maintenance fleet. The mobile CCTV equipment manufacturer has been working with Colas Rail since 2011 to develop an inspection ...
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NewsChina approves three new lines
CHINA: The National Development & Reform Commission approved plans for the construction of three lines serving Tibet, Inner Mongolia and Shanxi on October 30. The Tibetan line is to start at Xierong on the Lhasa – Xigaze route which opened in August, and will run eastwards for 402 km to ...
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NewsHokkaido Shinkansen tracklaying completed
JAPAN: JR Hokkaido held a ceremony at Kikonai station on November 1 to mark the completion of tracklaying for the Hokkaido Shinkansen, which will bring high speed train services onto the country’s northern island in 2016. JR Hokkaido President Osamu Shimada was joined by Hokkaido Governor Harumi Takahash to ...
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NewsHigh speed contract award cancelled
MEXICO: President Enrique Peña Nieto has instructed the Secretariat of Communications & Transport to run a new competition for the contract to build a 210 km high speed line between Mexico City and Querétaro, citing the ‘doubt and disquiet’ that had arisen from the decision to award a 50∙8bn pesos ...
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NewsSuriname railway plan announced
SURINAME: Detailed proposals for a rail link between the capital Paramaribo and Onverwacht were announced by the government on November 5. Strukton Systems has completed a feasibility study and preliminary designs for the project and is a possible construction contractor, although there is no date as yet for the award ...
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NewsEdinburgh - Glasgow electrification contracts awarded
UK: Infrastructure manager Network Rail announced on November 5 that it had awarded Costain and Morgan Sindall the main civil works and electrification contracts for the Edinburgh – Glasgow Improvement Programme. The alliancing contracts have a total value of £250m, and follow on from earlier contracts covering detailed design. The ...
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NewsAfghan railway tendering begins
AFGHANISTAN: The Afghanistan Railway Authority has invited expressions of interest in three performance-based contracts to operate, maintain and manage the 75 km railway from Hairatan on the Uzbek border to a freight terminal near Mazar-i-Sharif. Responses from ‘experienced, high calibre and competent national and international’ companies should be submitted to ...
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NewsContract awarded for Mexico City – Querétaro high speed line
MEXICO: On November 3 the federal Secretariat of Communications & Transport announced that a consortium including China Railway Construction Corp and CSR had been selected for the turnkey contract to build, operate and maintain a high speed line between Mexico City and Querétaro. Including rolling stock and other railway equipment, ...
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NewsNetwork Rail acquires leased freight sites from operators
UK: Infrastructure manager Network Rail completed the acquisition of the head leases for 105 sites from three freight operators on October 31, saying this would make the sites ‘more readily available to the growing number of rail freight operators and end users, increasing competition and supporting growth’. The transactions cover ...
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NewsTest train runs through Delft tunnel
NETHERLANDS: Infrastructure manager ProRail ran the first test train through a 2·3 km tunnel beneath Delft on November 1, ahead of its planned opening for passenger services in spring 2015. The tunnel and a new station with 340 m long platforms 8 m underground will replace the ...
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NewsNorth Galilee Basin Rail project management consultant appointed
AUSTRALIA: The Adani Mining subsidiary of Indian power and infrastructure group Adani has appointed Parsons Brinckerhoff as project management consultant for its A$16·5bn Carmichael integrated mine, port and railway project in Queensland. The coal development includes the construction of the North Galilee Basin Rail line, a privately-owned multi-user 388 km ...
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NewsPassenger trains return to Rosario in 2015
ARGENTINA: Minister of the Interior & Transport Florencio Randazzo visited the city of Rosario in Santa Fe province on October 30 to inspect progress with infrastructure works being undertaken to reintroduce passenger services to Buenos Aires next year. As well as 517 km of track renewals, the programme has involved ...
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NewsTracklaying completed in Gotthard base tunnel
SWITZERLAND: The completion of tracklaying in the 57 km Gotthard base tunnel was marked with a ceremony at 12.00 on October 31, when the concrete was poured for a ‘Golden Sleeper’, 54 m from the southern portal at Bodio. Noting that it is now possible for diesel-hauled trains to run ...
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NewsRail Baltica agreement signed
EUROPE: Agreements to establish an equally-owned company to co-ordinate the construction of the Rail Baltica standard gauge line between the Polish border and Tallinn were signed by representatives of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia on October 28. ‘This is the largest-scale joint project in the history of our country, and ...