Infrastructure news – Page 233
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NewsArad upgrading contract awarded
ROMANIA: Infrastructure manager CFR SA has awarded a €300m contract to upgrade the 41 km line from the Hungarian border to Curtici and Arad by June 2014. The EU-backed project includes installation of ETCS Level 2 and renewal of track and electrification equipment to enable passenger trains to run ...
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NewsCameroon rail master plan unveiled
CAMEROON: Economy, Planning & Regional Development minister Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi has announced details of a national railway master plan ‘to provide Cameroon with a low-cost, integrated and efficient transport network’. The programme was developed in partnership with South Korea firms Korpec and Chunsuk Engineering, and is to be followed ...
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NewsMadrid - Ourense high speed PPP contracts awarded
SPAIN: Two PPP contracts for the supply and installation of railway equipment on the Madrid - Ourense high speed line were approved by the board of infrastructure authority ADIF on March 30. Both contracts include maintenance over a period of 25 years. A consortium of Ferrovial Agromán, Tecsa, Vías y ...
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NewsCalifornia revises high speed plans again
USA: The California High Speed Rail Authority released a third substantially-revised business plan on April 2, covering construction of an initial 480 route-km of dedicated high speed tracks between Merced and the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles. CHSRA's original vision of a 1 100 km network running from ...
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NewsRAI commissions new turntable
IRAN: It is not often that we receive reports about the commissioning of new turntables, but on February 29 one was formally inaugurated at Mashhad by Mohammad Hadi Ziari, President & Director-General of national railway RAI. In the past, single-ended diesel locomotives had been turned at Mashhad using a triangle. ...
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NewsBurundi and Rwanda railway study
AFRICA: Canarail has been awarded a C$4m contract to undertake studies for the second phase of a proposed railway from Dar es Salaam to Rwanda and Burundi. The study is being funded by the African Development Bank through the Rwanda Transport Development Agency, which is representing the transport ministries of ...
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NewsAll Aboard Florida plan announced
USA: Florida East Coast Industries Inc has announced that it is to produce an 'investment grade' ridership study for a $1bn privately owned, operated and maintained inter-city passenger service carrying business travellers and tourists between Miami and Orlando. Revealing outline plans for All Aboard Florida on March 22, property and ...
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NewsLongest single-piece level crossing installed
NETHERLANDS: Strukton installed the Netherlands' longest level crossing slabs at Zoeterwoude over the weekend of March 24-25. The level crossing carries heavy lorry traffic, requiring a durable design. Voestalpine Railpro prefabricated and delivered 36 m long concrete slabs with pre-mounted rails for each track. A heavy crane was used ...
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NewsETCS Level 2 on test in Madrid
SPAIN: The start of trials of ETCS Level 2 on the cross-city tunnel between Atocha, Sol and Chamartín in Madrid was marked on March 26 when Development Minister Ana Pastor travelled by train from Tres Cantos to Sol. According to the ministry, this is the first application of ETCS Level ...
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NewsNetwork Rail awards ETCS development contracts
UK: Framework agreements for the development and design of ETCS for applications on Network Rail have been awarded to Ansaldo STS, Infrasig, Invensys Rail and Signalling Solutions Ltd, the infrastructure manager announced on March 27. Starting in April, the collaborative agreements cover a one-year development phase to 'confirm' the design ...
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NewsAmey awarded Great Western electrification contract
UK: Network Rail has awarded Amey a five-year contract to install 25 kV 50 Hz electrification on the Great Western Main Line. The contract covers the line from Maidenhead near London to Bristol and Cardiff, along with the routes to Newbury and Oxford. Announcing the contract on March 26, Amey ...
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NewsHigh speed programme axed
PORTUGAL: The Ministry of Economy & Employment announced on March 21 that the country's high speed programme had been 'definitively abandoned'. This followed a ruling by the Court of Auditors that the concession awarded to the ELOS consortium to build the eastern section of the Lisboa - Madrid route between ...
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NewsAtkins awarded Mälarbanan upgrade design contract
SWEDEN: Trafikverket has appointed Atkins to undertake design work for a major upgrade of the Mälarbanan route to increase rail capacity in the greater Stockholm region. Inter-city, regional and commuter services on the Stockholm - Västerås - Örebro route use the same pair of tracks over the 20 km between ...
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NewsParis Saint-Lazare station reborn
FRANCE: A day of celebrations including dancers, horseriders and art activities for children on March 21 marked the completion of a 10-year programme to refurbish Saint-Lazare station in Paris. Undertaken at a total cost of €250m, this has been 'the largest station renovation project undertaken by SNCF for 15 ...
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NewsLondon King's Cross western concourse opens
UK: Following an official ceremony on March 14 the 7500 m2 western concourse at London King's Cross opened to passengers on March 18, providing a significant increase in passenger capacity at the East Coast Main Line terminus. The main feature of the new concourse is a 20 m high semi-circular ...
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NewsSBB steps up ETCS rollout
SWITZERLAND: SBB is on course to commission its first live installation of ETCS Level 1 Limited Supervision in July, as part of its national roll-out strategy which will see ETCS fitted to the entire network by the end of 2017. Last September SBB awarded a €125m contract to Siemens for ...
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NewsSBB backs TransRUN new line plan
SWITZERLAND: The Swiss Federal Railways board has formally approved the TransRUN plan to build a new direct alignment between Neuchâtel and La Chaux-de-Fonds on the line to Morteau. Replacing the existing line which suffers from tight curves and high maintenance costs, the direct line would cut the Neuchâtel - La ...
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NewsWorld rail infrastructure market March 2012
China: IHI Corp has awarded Thales a contract to resignal Hong Kong airport’s 25 km automated peoplemover with SelTrac CBTC. Denmark: On January 31 Banedanmark signed the two main line ETCS Level 2 contracts totalling DKr5·8bn with preferred bidders Thales/Balfour Beatty Rail and Alstom (p41). Alstom is also preferred ...
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NewsInfrabel commissions Belgium's first ETCS Level 1 installation
BELGIUM: Trains began running under Belgium's first installation of ETCS Level 1 on March 6, following an official inauguration by federal Minister of Public Enterprises Paul Magnette, SNCB Chief Executive Marc Descheemacker and Infrabel CEO Luc Lallemand on March 2. While ETCS is in service on the high speed lines ...
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NewsBidding begins on København - Ringsted new line
DENMARK: Infrastructure manager Banedanmark has shortlisted six companies for the first civil works on the 56 km København - Ringsted line to the west of the capital. The design and build contract for five bridges is due to be awarded by mid-year, with all of the main contracts to be ...