Infrastructure news – Page 202
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NewsRoad-rail fire engines protect Diabolo link
BELGIUM: In order to respond to emergencies on the underground sections of the Diabolo link to Brussels Airport, infrastructure manager Infrabel has acquired two road-rail fire-fighting vehicles at a cost of €3m. To be based at fire stations in Brussels and Zaventem, the vehicles will be able to travel at ...
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NewsTrack renewals completed for Chicago – St Louis upgrade
USA: Governor of Illinois Pat Quinn joined officials from Union Pacific and Amtrak in Granite City on September 22 to mark the completion of track renewals on UP’s Chicago – St Louis route, marking ‘a significant milestone’ in the programme to upgrade the route for passenger services to operate at ...
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NewsNexans signs SBB cable framework
SWITZERLAND: Nexans announced on September 24 that it had signed a five-year framework agreement with SBB for the supply of signalling and balise power supply cable. The agreement is worth €35m in total. From next month, Nexans is to provide over 7 000 km of cable for infrastructure upgrade projects ...
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NewsButler extension opens in Perth
AUSTRALIA: The first scheduled service on the 7∙5 km extension of the Transperth network from Clarkson to Butler departed from Butler station at 11.51 on September 21. Built at a cost of A$221m, the Butler extension has opened ‘several months early and A$20m under budget’, according to the Government of ...
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NewsHigh speed line included in India-China railway action plan
INDIA: The Railway Board and China’s National Railway Administration signed a three-year memorandum of understanding and action plan for technical co-operation on September 18, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping. Potential areas of co-operation include training 100 Indian Railways staff in heavy ...
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NewsCross-border revival
EUROPE: Work is underway to reopen the 7·4 km line between Đurmanec in Croatia and Sveti Rok ob Sotli in Slovenia. The line closed in 1994 owing to the poor condition of the infrastructure and the problems of managing the border crossing following independence. The scope of the €6·6m ...
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NewsCeneri base tunnel dispute resolved
SWITZERLAND: The Federal Supreme Court has upheld two appeals by the preferred bidders against the Federal Administrative Court’s decision to block the award of two contracts for fitting out the 15·4 km Ceneri base tunnel. The losing bidders for the contracts had appealed to the Federal Administrative Court, which ruled ...
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NewsRAI introduces automatic train protection
IRAN: Railways of the Islamic Republic of Iran confirmed on September 12 that it had put its first automatic train protection system into ‘definitive operation’ on its 926 km main line between Tehran and Mashhad, following the completion of a 31-month installation programme. RAI has been steadily upgrading its signalling ...
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NewsLevel crossing framework deal
CROATIA: Infrastructure manager HŽ Infrastruktura and Altpro signed a four-year framework contract for the supply of 200 sets of level crossing equipment on September 11. The contract includes barriers, warning lights and automation systems. Altpro said its bid was selected as the best technical and commercial offer, ...
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NewsBelgrano reopening
ARGENTINA: On September 11 Minister of the Interior & Transport Florencio Randazzo joined Governor of Jujuy province Eduardo Fellner to welcome first freight train to arrive in Palpalá, following work to restore a section of the 1 000 mm gauge Belgrano network to operating condition. ‘In 120 days of intense ...
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NewsNanchang - Changsha high speed line opens
CHINA: The 342 km Passenger-Dedicated Line running east–west between Nanchang in Jiangxi province and Changsha in Hunan opened on September 16. The line serves Nanchang South, Gao’an, Xinyu North, Yichun, Pingxiang North, Liling East and Changsha South stations. The opening cuts travel times from 3½ h to 1½ h, with ...
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NewsAlstom-RZD consortium signs Serbian signalling contract
SERBIA: A consortium led by Alstom and RZD International and including local partner Institut Mihajlo Pupin has signed a contract to supply signalling systems for an upgrading of a section of the Beograd – Pančevo route by the end of 2016. This project is designed to support an increase in ...
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NewsNetwork Rail officially opens ‘biggest railway control centre’
UK: Network Rail’s Rail Operating Centre in York was formally inaugurated by local Member of Parliament Hugh Bayley on September 12. The largest of 12 centres being built to manage Great Britain’s entire rail network, the York ROC will eventually control signalling and rail operations on the East Coast Main ...
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NewsTEN-T funding bids invited
EUROPE: The European Commission’s Innovation & Networks Executive Agency announced on September 11 that it had opened the bidding for €11·9bn of funding to improve European transport links under the revised TEN-T programme. Member state governments have until February 26 to submit proposals, with the selected projects to be announced ...
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NewsCN inaugurates Winnipeg training centre
CANADA: Canadian National’s C$35m employee training centre in Winnipeg was officially inaugurated on September 9. President & CEO Claude Mongeau said ‘this state-of-the-art training centre is a cornerstone in CN’s workforce renewal, which this year will see the hiring of more than 3&bsp;500 employees across our North American network. It ...
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NewsMalpensa Terminal 2 rail link contract awarded
ITALY: Main construction works for an extension of Milano’s Malpesa Express airport rail link from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 is set to get underway shortly, following the award of the €77m contract to Itinera. Terminal 2 handles six million passengers a year, around a third of the airport’s traffic, ...
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NewsTCDD awards national control centre contract
TURKEY: National railway TCDD has awarded Indra a €43m contract to build a control centre in Ankara which will manage traffic and equipment on the high speed lines as well as support the planning of operations and infrastructure upgrading across the entire network. Indra is to supply the DaVinci traffic ...
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NewsWSP Global to buy Parsons Brinckerhoff
PARSONS BRINCKERHOFF: Balfour Beatty announced an agreement to sell its New York-based global professional services division Parsons Brinckerhoff to WSP Global Inc on September 3. Shareholder approval is expected in Q4 2014. Subject to closing adjustments, the deal is worth US$1·35bn, less US$110m of cash to be retained within Parsons ...
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NewsUlaanbaatar Railway modernisation strategy
MONGOLIA: An agreement outlining a strategic partnership for the development of Ulaanbaatar Railway was signed by the Minister of Roads & Transportation Amarjargal Gansukh and Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin on September 3. By March 1 2015, the ministry and RZD are to agree to terms of reference and ...
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NewsWabtec acquires signalling design company C2CE
AUSTRALIA: Wabtec Corp announced its acquisition of Perth-based C2CE on September 3. C2CE provides signalling design, project management and installation services, and is active in the industrial power distribution and communications sectors. It has 200 employees at offices in Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and Hong Kong, with annual sales of about ...