Infrastructure news – Page 217
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NewsWorld rail infrastructure market August 2013
Canada: Track Tec’s KolTram business is to deliver turnouts and other track components for the construction of Vancouver’s Evergreen Line. China: CNR has received orders to supply 16 ‘rail ambulance’ 160 km/h catenary repair vehicles. Denmark: Banedanmark has appointed Systra and COWI to develop a delivery strategy for ...
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NewsLebanese railway revival to be studied
LEBANON: Tenders for a study into the feasibility of rebuilding the disused railway from Beirut north along the coast to Tripoli are to be invited by the European Investment Bank during September. The standard gauge line linking Haifa, Beirut and Tripoli was built by Allied forces during World War II. ...
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NewsOslo tunnel plans to be studied
NORWAY: Proposals for a second cross-city tunnel to relieve the busy rail link through the centre of Oslo are to be examined as part of a study commissioned by the Ministry of Transport & Communications on August 14. Infrastructure manager Jernbaneverket, national road agency Statens Vegvesen and the greater Oslo ...
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NewsIsrael Railways electrification plan approved
ISRAEL: A US$3·2bn programme to electrify 420 km of existing and planned railway was approved by the Committee for National Infrastructure on August 12. The first lines to be electrified at 25 kV 50 Hz would be the future 23 km 'Akko - Karmi'el route and Tel Aviv - Jerusalem ...
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NewsThe tines they are a-changin’
TAMPING: Plasser & Theurer has developed a new design of tamping tine which can be fitted to existing machines, where it will give a longer service life and thus be more cost-effective than existing designs. It features a slimmer shaft to reduce penetration resistance, and the underside of the tine ...
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NewsBrazilian high speed rail tendering postponed
BRAZIL: A one-year postponement of tendering to supply railway systems for the 510 km Rio de Janeiro - São Paulo - Campinas high speed line was announced by Transport Minister César Borges on August 12. Bids for the Trem de Alta Velocidade contract were due to be submitted this month ...
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NewsGroundbreaking launches Rastatt tunnel project
GERMANY: A groundbreaking ceremony was held in Niederbühl on July 30 to launch a €693m project to build a new double-track alignment through Rastatt. This forms part of a programme to provide four tracks in place of two to increase capacity on the Rhine Valley corridor between Karlsruhe and Basel. ...
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NewsQueensland approves Galilee Basin coal railway
AUSTRALIA: Following a review of environmental studies, on August 9 Queensland's Coordinator-General approved Waratah Coal's A$6·4bn project to develop a mine near Alpha and build a heavy haul railway to port facilities at Abbot Point. The state approved the proposal subject to 'strict development and operating conditions'. Federal approval is ...
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NewsTwo depots designed for Desiro City fleet
UK: Siemens has awarded VolkerFitzpatrick a contract to design, build and commission two depots to maintain the 1 140 Desiro City EMU cars which the Cross London Trains consortium is to supply for Thameslink services though London. The depots at Hornsey in north London and Three Bridges in West Sussex ...
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NewsStrukton wins Södra stambanan maintenance contract
SWEDEN: National transport agency Trafikverket has awarded Strukton Rail a contract to maintain the 680 track-km northern section of the Södra stambanan route, one of the busiest rail corridors in Sweden linking Stockholm and Malmö. The contract announced on August 9 runs for five years from May 1 2014. It ...
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NewsLocal railway to be electrified
CZECH REPUBLIC: Zeleznice Desná's 22 km independently-owned line from Šumperk to Kouty nad Desnou and Sobotín is to be modernised and electrified at 3 kV DC in 2014-15. The aim is to cut journey times from 35 to 19 min and attract more tourists to holiday and sport resorts. The ...
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NewsLake District electrification plan
UK: On August 9 Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin confirmed the government's support for plans to electrify the 16 km single-track branch from Oxenholme station on the West Coast Main Line to Windermere. Subject to a business case confirming that the £16m project offers value for money, infrastructure ...
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NewsRift Valley Railways train control upgrade
AFRICA: Rift Valley Railways has begun a US$9·3m roll-out of automated train warrants and GPS-based train location on its network in Kenya and Uganda, employing technology supplied to rail operators in Brazil, Argentina and South Africa. The Translogic integrated logistics management platform will provide detailed information on train positions and ...
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NewsNumedalsbanen reactivated for logging traffic
NORWAY: Infrastructure manager Jernbaneverket has announced that the 30 km Kongsberg - Flesberg section of the Numedalsbanen route is to be permanently reactivated to meet increased demand for forest product transport. Vegetation clearance, tamping and rehabilitation of the 27 m steel Lyngdalselva bridge is scheduled to be finished for ...
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NewsFinal section of Stockholm Citybanan tunnel sunk into place
SWEDEN: The third and final section of the Söderström immersed tunnel was lowered into place in central Stockholm on August 6. The tunnel connecting the islands Riddarholmen and Södermalm forms part of the SKr16·8bn Citybanan, a 6 km deep-level line being built to carry suburban rail services beneath central Stockholm. ...
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NewsFirst test train through the Marmaray tunnel
TURKEY: A ceremonial first test train ran through the Marmaray tunnel between Kazliçesme on the European side of Istanbul and Ayrılıkçesme on the Asian side on August 4, with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the controls. 'This project is not the project of the century, but it is the ...
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NewsSaudi Landbridge design contract awarded
SAUDI ARABIA: The Ministry of Finance's Public Investment Fund has appointed the Italferr engineering consultancy subsidiary of Italian national railway group FS to undertake design work for the US$7bn Landbridge project. Development of the planned 950 km double-track mixed traffic line between Riyadh and Jeddah Islamic Port is being managed ...
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NewsFurther safety measures follow Santiago de Compostela crash
SPAIN: The Ministry of Development announced on August 2 that the ASFA train protection system is to be installed to enforce speed limits on the national network, following recommendations made by rail accident investigation commission CIAF in advance of its report into the derailment at Santiago de Compostela on July ...
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NewsMercosur to fund Uruguay rail upgrade
URUGUAY: The Mercosur trading block of South American countries is to make US$83·5m of ‘structural convergence’ funding available to improve freight transport between Uruguay and Argentina, under an agreement signed in Montevideo on July 11. This will go towards a US$127·3m project to upgrade railway infrastructure between Piedra Sola and ...
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NewsMoreton Bay Rail Link construction contract awarded
AUSTRALIA: Queensland's Department of Transport & Main Roads awarded Thiess Contractors a A$650m contract to build the Moreton Bay Rail Link on August 1. The 12·6 km double-track electrified suburban line will connect the growing Moreton Bay region with the greater Brisbane rail network at Petrie. Six stations are to ...