Infrastructure news – Page 207
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NewsRailway seeks help following catastrophic floods
BOSNIA: The Chief Executive of Željeznice Republike Srpske, Dragan Savanović, has appealed to the international rail industry for help with repairing the ‘enormous damage’ caused by ‘catastrophic and devastating’ flooding which hit the Balkans on May 15. The floodwaters have swept away track and electrification, damaged maintenance machinery and flooded ...
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NewsCaspian corridor agreement
ASIA: A tripartite agreement to complete the 167 km missing section of the planned north–south corridor along the west of the Caspian Sea was reached by the heads of the national railways of Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia during the 60th meeting of the Council for Rail Transport of CIS States ...
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NewsSiemens wins more Hungarian ETCS work
HUNGARY: National infrastructure agency NIF has awarded three contracts for installation of ETCS Level 2 to Siemens. They cover two sections of the route between Ferencváros near Budapest and Gyoma in the east of the country, and the route between Ferencváros and Szekesfehervar to the southwest.Siemens expects to control around ...
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NewsCumbernauld electrification completed
UK: Electric passenger services began operating between Glasgow and Cumbernauld on May 19, following commissioning of 50 km of 25 kV 50 Hz electrification between Springburn and Cumbernauld. Electrification was undertaken by Carillion as part of a £80m upgrade of the route. Completion sees the number of services on the ...
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NewsNetwork Rail awards track renewals contracts
UK: On May 12 infrastructure manager Network Rail announced preferred bidders for five regional contracts to undertake plain line and switch & crossing track renewals during Control Period 5 running until March 31 2019, when over 7 000 track-km is due to be replaced. To be phased in 'over late ...
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NewsQueensland backs Carmichael heavy haul coal railway
AUSTRALIA: Queensland’s government has approved Adani Mining’s proposed A$16·5bn Carmichael coal mine and rail project, subject to environmental and social conditions. ‘This project has the potential to be the largest coal mine in Australia and one of the largest in the world’, said Deputy Premier and Minister for State ...
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NewsMombasa - Nairobi standard gauge line funding agreed
KENYA: An agreement to finance the construction of a 609 km standard gauge railway between Mombasa and Nairobi was signed on May 11 by Cabinet Secretary for the Treasury Henry Rotich and the President of China Exim Bank, Li Ruogu. China Exim Bank is to meet 90% of the US$3·60bn ...
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NewsMaglev Shinkansen work to start this year
JAPAN: Construction of JR Central’s Chuo Shinkansen between Tokyo Shinagawa and Nagoya using superconducting maglev technology is expected to start towards the end of this year, possibly in October or November. The date will depend on satisfactory completion of the environmental impact assessment process following the publication of a ...
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NewsAgreement to continue VIA Rail service in New Brunswick
CANADA: An agreement has provisionally been reached to support the continued operation of VIA Rail’s Ocean service over a 71 km section of the former New Brunswick East Coast railway, Federal Transport Minister Lisa Raitt announced on May 12.The Ocean runs three times per week between Montréal and Halifax, but ...
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NewsCompressed nitrogen used to slide 800 tonne subway into place
UK: An 800 tonne reinforced concrete underpass box 28 m long, 7·6 m wide and 4·0 m high with 0·5 m thick walls was installed through an existing railway embankment at Rochester during a four-day blockade on April 18-21. According to infrastructure manager Network Rail, this was the first ...
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NewsNigerian Coastal Railway framework agreement signed
NIGERIA: The Federal Ministry of Transport and China Civil Engineering Construction Corp signed a framework agreement to go ahead with the Coastal Railway project on May 5. Detailed negotiations will now take place before the conclusion of a final construction contract, which the China Railway Construction Corp subsidiary estimates ...
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NewsADIF awards Mediterranean Corridor signalling contract
SPAIN: Infrastructure manager ADIF has awarded a consortium of Bombardier Transportation and Thales a €44m contract to supply signalling for the second phase of the Mediterranean Corridor upgrade programme, covering the Almussafes – Valencia – Castelló de la Plana route. Bombardier’s €27m share of the contract includes the supply ...
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NewsKuala Lumpur airport rail link extended to KLIA2
MALAYSIA: A 2·14 km extension of Kuala Lumpur’s airport rail link opened along with a new terminal for budget airlines on May 2. The KLIA2 terminal replaces a previous facility which required passengers arriving at the airport’s main terminal by rail to change to a shuttle bus. Rail link ...
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NewsMelbourne Rail Link in A$14·5bn rail funding announcement
AUSTRALIA: 'The largest investment in transport infrastructure in Victoria's history' was announced by the state's coalition government in its 2014-15 budget on May 6. The A$24bn of planned road and rail infrastructure spending includes A$14·5bn for rail, with the biggest rail projects being the Melbourne Rail Link and the Cranbourne ...
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NewsAtlas Railroad Construction reorganises to grow
USA: Genesee & Wyoming Inc's Atlas Railroad Construction subsidiary is to be reorganised into a region-based commercial and operating structure, intended to facilitate expansion into the Midwest, Southeast and Southwest of the country. As part of this reorganisation, Atlas is relocating its headquarters from Bridgeville, Pennsylvania to Jacksonville, Florida. ‘Moving ...
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NewsRail.One opens Iowa sleeper factory
USA: Lieutenant Governor of Iowa Kim Reynolds inaugurated Rail.One’s concrete sleeper factory in Clinton on April 29. The company has invested $22m in building the plant, which was completed in under 12 months and is expected to produce 600 000 sleepers a year for the North American market. ‘The plant ...
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NewsSlovakian ERTMS contract awarded
SLOVAKIA: Infrastructure manager ŽSR has awarded contracts for the provision of ERTMS on the 250 km route from Bratislava to the Czech border via Žilina and Čadca by the end of 2015. General contractor AŽD Praha will provide ETCS Level 2 on the 37 km section from the Czech ...
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NewsPakistan Railways invites proposals for standard gauge line study
PAKISTAN: Proposals for a bankable feasibility study into building an electrified railway running 107 km from Islamabad to Murree and Muzaffarabad have been invited by Pakistan Railways. A pre-bid conference is to be held on May 7 and proposals are due to be submitted by May 31. PR envisages that ...
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NewsAuckland launches electric suburban services
NEW ZEALAND: Auckland Transport’s first electric trains began revenue operation on April 28, when operating concessionaire Trandev Auckland switched its half-hourly Southern Line service between Britomart and Onehunga from DMUs to EMUs. The electrification was formally launched by Auckland Mayor Len Brown on April 27 with a ...
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NewsADIF awards €410m high speed line signalling contract
SPAIN: ADIF’s high speed line business ADIF Alta Velocidad has awarded a consortium of Alstom, Bombardier and Indra Sistemas a €410m contract to supply and maintain signalling, train control and telecommunications systems including GSM-R for the Valladolid – León and Venta de Baños – Burgos high speed lines. The contract ...