Infrastructure news – Page 227
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NewsTesting starts on northernmost PDL
CHINA: Test running on the Harbin – Dalian Passenger-Dedicated Line commenced on October 8, when the first train was dispatched from the new Harbin West station at 07.30. Designed for operation at up to 350 km/h, the 921 km line has been under construction since August 2007, at a cost ...
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NewsHitachi opens rail research centre
UK: A European Rail Research Centre is to be opened in London by Hitachi, the company announced on October 10. Initially to be located within Hitachi Rail Europe’s offices in the centre of the city, the centre will form part of Hitachi Europe’s Transportation Energy & Environment ...
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NewsNorth Metro Rail Line design contract awarded
USA: Denver Regional Transportation District has appointed AECOM to assist with final design of the first two sections of the 29 km North Metro Rail Line commuter project, which will link SH7/162nd Avenue, Northglenn, Thornton and Commerce City in Denver's northern suburbs with Union Station. Under the contract announced on ...
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NewsForth bridge to be replaced
AUSTRALIA: Tasmania's state-owned railway TasRail has awarded VEC Civil Engineering a contract to replace the Forth River Rail Bridge. The deal announced on October 5 is the latest in a series of bridge replacement contracts with a total value of A$20m won by VEC, which is to build new bridges ...
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NewsTest running on Venezuelan line to start this month
VENEZUELA: Test running is expected to start this month on the 128·8 km rail link between Puerto Cabello and La Encrucijada, according to Franklin Perez, President of the state railway authority Instituto de Ferrocarriles del Estado. Reporting progress with the government's National Railway Development Plan on September 24, Perez said ...
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NewsZhengzhou - Wuhan high speed line opens
CHINA: Completion of the latest phase of the Beijing - Guangzhou Passenger Dedicated Line was marked with simultaneous departures of 380AL trainsets from each end of the Zhengzhou - Wuhan section at 08.59 on September 28. The 536 km route links Wuhan in Hubei province with the city of Zhengzhou, ...
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NewsJR East restores Tokyo’s historic station building
JAPAN: East Japan Railway reopened the historic station building at Tokyo Station on October 1 following a five-year restoration costing ¥50bn. A formal ceremony on September 30 to mark the occasion was cancelled because of an impending typhoon. One of the Japanese capital’s most famous buildings, the 335-m long station ...
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NewsAmtrak to update its catenary inspection system
USA: Amtrak has awarded a contract to MerMec Inc for an advanced catenary inspection and video surveillance system to replace its existing equipment used to monitor the overhead line installations on its electrified Northeast Corridor. The new system will be installed on Amtrak's high speed inspection coach, which operates as ...
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NewsHigh Output Concrete Train supports electrification
UK: Contractor Balfour Beatty Rail is using a High Output Concrete Train with mixing units commissioned from Nurock Mixers to produce electrification mast foundations for Network Rail's electrification programme between Liverpool and Manchester. HOCT is designed to be used instead of delivering pre-mixed concrete to the nearest access point. ...
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NewsCompliance software for Danish ETCS roll-out
DENMARK: Comply Serve’s ComplyPro e-collaboration project software is to be used by all partners in the Danish national ERTMS programme, including Banedanmark, Siemens, Thales, Alstom and project consultants. To be supplied in English, ComplyPro will integrate all of the project’s requirements, including sponsor, system and design in one open ...
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NewsSiemens enters Positive Train Control market
USA: Siemens has decided to enter the market for Positive Train Control equipment with a version of its Trainguard communications-based train control system. The company announced on September 24 that the Trainguard PTC equipment had successfully completed field trials at the Transportation Test Center in Pueblo. Developed ...
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NewsRebuilt Ådalsbanan officially reopened
SWEDEN: Minister for Infrastructure Catharina Elmsäter-Svärd officially opened the upgraded Ådalsbanan between Sundsvall and the southern end of the Botniabanan on September 14. The minister marked the event by inserting the last piece in a jigsaw puzzle map of the Stockholm – Umeå route. During the course of the SKr6·6bn ...
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NewsCasablanca – Kénitra upgrading starts
MOROCCO: A ceremony on September 25 attended by King Mohammed VI marked the start of modernisation of the Casablanca – Kénitra main line to increase capacity by around 50%. National railway ONCF has cited strong growth in passenger numbers on the Tanger – Marrakech axis in recent ...
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NewsPPP for new GO Transit maintenance facility
CANADA: On September 20 the federal government and the province of Ontario announced their support for a public-private partnership to build a new rolling maintenance facility for commuter operator GO Transit in Whitby. The federal government is to provide up to C$94⋅8m and Ontario 75% of the final project cost. ...
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NewsVossloh to supply Tours – Bordeaux track components
FRANCE: Vossloh AG announced on September 20 that it had been awarded a contract worth €60m to supply fully-equipped switch systems and rail fastenings for the Tours – Bordeaux high speed line. Awarded by TSO and Eurovia Travaux Ferroviaires, responsible for tracklaying on the 340 km project, the deal will ...
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NewsLarvik – Porsgrunn construction begins
NORWAY: Minister of Transport and Communications Marit Arnstad fired the first salvo on September 19 to mark the start of upgrading work on the Larvik - Porsgrunn section of the Vestfold line between Oslo and Skien. The NKr6·1bn project will see the construction of a 22 km double-track suitable for ...
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NewsHuawei wins Ashgabat – Turkmenbashi GSM-R contract
TURKMENISTAN: Huawei announced on September 18 that it had been awarded a contract to supply GSM-R, SDH, data communications and telephone systems for an upgrade of the Ashgabat – Bereket – Turkmenbashi route. The contract has been awarded by Jiangsu Guotai, general contractor for the telecommunications upgrade. To provide voice ...
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NewsWorld rail infrastructure market September 2012
Australia: With KBR as designer, John Holland is to grade-separate rail and road access to the Port of Esperance, with the railway to be put into a tunnel. Fortescue Metals Group has awarded Norfolk Group and GE Transportation an A$56m contract to supply radio-based signalling for the track-doubling project ...
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NewsTendering starts for Brasilia – Goiâna studies
BRAZIL: Federal transport agency ANTT has begun tendering for studies to build a new passenger and freight railway from Brasilia to Anápolis and Goiâna. Interested parties have been invited to submit expressions of interest by October 22. As well as preliminary technical and economic studies, consultancy work now out to ...
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NewsWatch a bridge being built
USA: The first of four underbridges has been built in 51 h as part of a $25·7m project to enable pedestrians to cross legally and safely the San Diego - Los Angeles - San Luis Obispo rail corridor in Encinitas, California. The LOSSAN corridor carries more than 50 passenger and ...