Infrastructure news – Page 203
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NewsSecond Mansky tunnel bore opens
RUSSIA: Contractors Stroy-Trest and SK Most handed a ceremonial key to Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin on August 26 to officially open a 2 465 m second bore built to increase capacity at Mansky tunnel on the Tayshet – Abakan line. Capacity in the Krasnoyasrk region has been restricted ...
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NewsReclassification nationalises Network Rail
UK: National infrastructure manager Network Rail has been formally designated as a part of central government with effect from September 1. This coincides with a change in European accounting rules from the same date, requiring what NR called ‘a statistical change’ to reclassify its debt from the private to the ...
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NewsNetwork Rail awards buildings and civils framework contracts
UK: Infrastructure manager Network Rail announced the award of building and civil works framework contracts worth a total of £250m to seven suppliers on August 28. The agreements cover more than 1 000 maintenance, renewal and enhancement projects which are to be undertaken on NR’s Scotland and London North ...
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NewsReading viaduct ready for tracklaying
UK: The structure of a £45m viaduct which is being built as part of the £895m remodelling of the Great Western Main Line through Reading has been handed over to infrastructure manager Network Rail by construction contractor Balfour Beatty, ready for tracklaying by Carillion. The 320 concrete beams for ...
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NewsCeneri base tunnel delay warning
SWITZERLAND: Opening of the 15·4 km Ceneri base tunnel could be delayed by two years to December 2021 as result of tendering disputes, AlpTransit Gotthard warned a supervisory committee of the Swiss parliament on August 28. The project promoter said that the effects that any such delay would have ...
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NewsKirow cranes shipped to China
CHINA: Six Kirow Multi Tasker KRC 2880 construction and accident recovery cranes are being delivered from Germany to China, and a further 20 KRC 1680 cranes are to follow next year. Kuehne & Nagel is responsible for freight forwarding and booking of the initial six cranes, which were transported from ...
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NewsJerusalem fast line tunnel holed through
ISRAEL: The first bore of the 11·6 km twin-bore tunnel for the A1 fast line to Jerusalem was holed through on August 26. The tunnel between Yittla Creek and Mevaseret Zion in the suburbs of Jerusalem will be the longest in Israel. The contractor is a joint venture of Shafir ...
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NewsOman Rail Co invites civil works bids
OMAN: The government’s railway project promoter Oman Rail Co has formally invited 18 pre-qualified international consortia to bid for the civil works contract for the Sohar – Al Buraymi first phase of the planned 2 244 km national network. A total of 34 consortia bringing together 95 local and international ...
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NewsSRO signs Dammam – Riyadh upgrading contracts
SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Railways Organization has awarded China Railway Construction Corp a 123m riyal contract to renew 78·4 km of the Dammam – Riyadh freight line within 21 months, and local contractor Al Mobty a 391m riyal contract to double the 241 km single track section between Hofuf and Haradah. ...
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NewsTrans-Kazakhstan railway opens
KAZAKHSTAN: President Nursultan Nazarbayev gave the signal to launch operations on east-west and north-south lines totalling 1 200 km on August 22. Speaking to staff at stations along the routes from a teleconference in Zhezkazgan, Nazarbayev said the opening of two routes on the same day was a first ...
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NewsLasers produce 3D map of French railways
FRANCE: A StreetMapper mobile laser scanning system has been used to produce detailed three-dimensional maps of several hundred kilometres of the French rail network to support studies for modernisation and electrification works. The StreetMapper was developed by 3D Laser Mapping and IGI, and is operated by FIT ESIC. The companies ...
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NewsMontpellier Sud de France station bidder selected
FRANCE: Infrastructure manager RFF has selected a consortium led by Icade as preferred bidder for the public-private partnership contract to design and build Montpellier Sud de France station. The station on the new line between Nîmes and Montpellier is due to open in the fourth quarter of 2017. It ...
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NewsTendering starts for high speed line to Querétaro
MEXICO: During a ceremony held in the city of Querétaro on August 15, federal Secretary of Communications & Transport Gerardo Ruiz and Querétaro state governor José Calzada formally signed off tendering documentation for the project to build a high speed line between Mexico City and Querétaro. Representing an investment in ...
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NewsWorld rail infrastructure market August 2014
Australia: Laing O’Rourke Construction Australia has been appointed managing contractor for A$45m of preliminary works for Sydney’s A$1·6bn CBD & South East Light Rail project. Ethiopia: Huawei is to provide its Mass Transit eLTE communications for the Addis Abeba light rail project. France: RFF has signed a 12-year ...
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NewsTibet railway opens to Xigaze
CHINA: A 253 km line from Lhasa west to Xigaze was formally opened on August 15, with the first passenger train scheduled to run the following day. The new line will reduce the journey time between Tibet’s capital and second largest city from 4 h by road to around 2 ...
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NewsBorders Railway tracklaying begins
UK: A ‘major construction milestone’ in the £294m Borders Railway project to reinstate the Edinburgh – Tweedbank route was announced on August 13, after the first section of track was laid in Bowshank Tunnel near Galashiels. Slab track is being installed through the 200 m long 19th century tunnel ...
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NewsGroundbreaking starts trans-Sulawesi railway construction
INDONESIA: Minister of Transportation Evert Erenst Mangindaa attended a groundbreaking ceremony in Siawung on August 12 to formally launch construction of the 145 km Makassar – Pare Pare first phase of the planned trans-Sulawesi railway network The line is to be built under the MP3EI national infrastructure programme. It ...
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NewsSolar powered level crossing for remote locations
AUSTRALIA: V/Line has installed its first solar powered level crossing, at Huntly on the Bendigo – Echuca line in northern Victoria. The site is 1·2 km from the nearest power source, and digging trenches for underground power cables would be expensive and risk disturbing local flora. The 18 solar ...
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NewsStudies for 4 676 km of new railway
BRAZIL: On August 8 the Ministry of Transport appointed a total of 20 sole or joint-venture bidders from the private sector to undertake technical feasibility studies for new railways totalling 4 676 km. For each of the six routes, the ministry has appointed up to 14 bidders to prepare studies, ...
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NewsTwo interested in Cowra Lines revival
AUSTRALIA: Transport for New South Wales has received submissions from Australian Rail Partners and Cowra Rail Co in response to its call for private sector proposals to reopen the 200 km Cowra Lines on a commercially-sustainable basis under a fixed-term licence. Operations between Blayney and Demondrille and Koorawatha and ...