Infrastructure news – Page 218
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NewsRhein-Ruhr-Express funding agreement
GERMANY: The federal government has committed to including the first phase of the Rhein-Ruhr-Express project in its 2014 budget. This would include funding for modernisation of the Köln-Mülheim -Langenfeld-Berghausen line as well as upgrading works in Dortmund. 'The marathon negotiations are finally crowned with success' said Nordrhein-Westfalen Transport Minister Michael ...
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NewsFunding for €1·5bn Emmerich - Oberhausen upgrade signed
GERMANY: A funding agreement for a €1·5bn upgrade of the 73 km Emmerich - Oberhausen line which links the Betuwe Route and North Sea ports with the Ruhr area and Rhine Valley freight corridor was signed on July 24. A third track is to be laid from ...
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NewsStandard gauge to reach Marijampole
LITHUANIA: National railway LG has signed contracts for the standard gauge line from Poland to the current break-of-gauge at Šestokai to be extended as far as Marijampole. This forms an initial stage of the Rail Baltica project to provide a standard gauge route linking Poland and the wider EU ...
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NewsChinese loans to fund locomotives and electrification in Belarus
BELARUS: An order for electric locomotives and a loan to fund railway electrification were among the agreements signed during President Lukashenko's official visit to Beijing in July. The state-owned Export-Import Bank of China is to provide a loan to cover 85% of the US$116·9m cost of the 18 locomotives, which ...
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NewsElectrification training centre opened
UK: Carillion has opened an electrification training centre at Crewe which includes a purpose-built overhead line span and associated components. Carillion is part of Network Rail’s electrification 'framework panel' and is undertaking enabling works on the Edinburgh - Glasgow Improvement Project in Scotland; it also has a partnership agreement with ...
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NewsDovrebanen upgrading works reassigned
NORWAY: Celebrations were held on July 3 to mark the holing through of the 3·9 km Ulvin tunnel, which forms the centrepiece of a project to upgrade and realign a key section of Jernbaneverket's Dovrebanen main line between Oslo and Trondheim. The 17 km section between Minnesund and Kleverud is ...
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NewsWorld rail infrastructure market July 2013
Algeria: A consortium of Condotte d’Acqua and Rizzani de Eccher has awarded Ansaldo STS a €40m contract to supply ETCS Level 1 and 2 and conventional lineside signalling for the 130 km line under construction between Oued Tlélat and Tlemcen, along with a traffic control centre in Oran. Belgium: ...
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NewsVolkerRail awarded Betuwe Route maintenance contract
NETHERLANDS: Betuwe Route infrastructure manager Keyrail has awarded VolkerRail a contract to maintain the 160 km dedicated freight corridor linking Rotterdam with the German border. VolkerRail will be responsible for planning and implementing maintenance of the line for five years from October 1 2013. The call for tenders in ...
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NewsSuburban EMU converted into mobile ERTMS laboratory
UK: A Class 313 suburban electric multiple-unit leased from Beacon Rail has been converted into a mobile laboratory as part of infrastructure manager Network Rail's ETCS programme. Alstom's Wembley depot has fitted dual-system 25 kV 50 Hz/750 V DC unit number 313 121 dating from 1976-77 with on-train ETCS equipment, ...
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NewsMore RFF routes go live under GSM-R PPP
FRANCE: GSM-R digital train radio was brought into service on 150 km of routes in eastern France during the night of July 6 to 7, infrastructure manager RFF has announced. A total of 29 base stations are now operational on the Dijon – Montbéliard route, as well as between Besançon ...
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NewsMerMec inspection cars for New South Wales
AUSTRALIA: Transport for NSW is taking delivery of two Roger 800 track inspection cars from MerMec of Italy. The 22·5 m long steel-bodied vehicles are each powered by a pair of underfloor-mounted 390 kW MTU diesel engines with hydrodynamic transmission, giving a maximum speed of 140 km/h. Axleload is 18 ...
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NewsMaintaining the Modern Railway: now available to watch on demand
RAILWAY GAZETTE TV: The importance of good design and installation of trackwork to improve long-term resilience and maintainability was emphasised by all three speakers during the Railway Gazette TV interactive debate on ‘Maintaining the Modern Railway’, which was sponsored by Plasser & Theurer and streamed live from the London Stock ...
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NewsFinal Toronto airport rail link construction contract awarded
CANADA: Regional transport agency Metrolinx has awarded EllisDon Corp a C$23·8m contract to build a dedicated platform on the west side of Toronto Union station for use by the future Union Pearson Express airport service to Toronto Pearson International Airport. The platform will have platform edge doors, a customer service ...
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NewsRFF starts work on Lorraine control centre
FRANCE: Infrastructure manager RFF has begun work on a new control centre for the Lorraine region at Pagny-sur-Moselle, due to enter service on April 5 2015. It is one of 16 that are to be built across the network by 2030, which by centralising control functions currently shared between 1 ...
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NewsGovernment backs Auckland City Rail Link project
NEW ZEALAND: The government announced its backing for transport projects including the NZ$2·86bn Auckland City Rail Link on June 26. The 3·4 km route would run through twin tunnels up to 45 m below the surface to connect the current Britomart terminus with the Western Line at Mt Eden, ...
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NewsWestern Dedicated Freight Corridor contract awarded
INDIA: Dedicated Freight Corridor Corp of India Ltd has awarded a consortium of Larsen & Toubro and Japan’s Sojitz a 66·7bn contract covering civil and track works, freight terminals and bridges on the 626 km Rewari – Iqbalgarh section of the 1 483 km Western DFC, which will link Delhi ...
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NewsHitchin flyover opens
UK: Network Rail announced on June 26 that the first passenger services had begun to use the flyover at Hitchin, built at a cost of £47m to avoid the need for services to Letchworth, Cambridge and King's Lynn to cross the three other tracks of the East Coast Main Line ...
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NewsTaiwan high speed rail extension contract signed
TAIWAN: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Toshiba, in co-operation with Mitsui & Co, have signed a ¥20bn turnkey contract with Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp to provide trackwork and E&M systems for the Nangang extension, it was announced on June 24. The extension will connect Taipei Main station with Nangang, ...
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NewsSoto del Rey to join Madrid suburban network
SPAIN: On June 19 the Ministry of Development announced the start of public consultation on proposals to extend the Madrid suburban network to Soto del Rey. The consultation period runs for 30 days. Extending route C4 from its present northern terminus at Colmenar Viejo to Soto del Rey would involve ...
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NewsAnsaldo STS awarded Algerian ETCS contract
ALGERIA: A consortium of Italian civil engineering companies Condotte d'Acqua and Rizzani de Eccher has awarded Ansaldo STS a €40m contract to supply ETCS equipment for the 130 km line under construction between Oued Tlélat and Tlemcen. Announcing the deal on June 19, Ansaldo STS said the scope of the ...