Infrastructure news – Page 234
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NewsHigh-output trackbed paving system supplied to New York
USA: Rhomberg Bahntechnik's Heber high-output concrete paving system is to be used to lay the trackbed for the No 7-Flushing Line extension of the New York Subway. Bregenz-based Rhomberg Bahntechnik is to supply its Heber concrete rail paver to RailWorks Transit under a €0·5m contract. The self-propelled trackbed paver features ...
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NewsETCS Level 1 goes live in Madrid
SPAIN: The Ministry of Development announced on March 1 that ETCS Level 1 signalling had been brought into use on RENFE suburban route C4 in Madrid, running from Parla in the south via Atocha, Sol and Chamartín to Colmenar Viejo north of the capital. According to the ministry, this is ...
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NewsADB and JICA sign Uzbekistan electrification loans
UZBEKISTAN: The government has signed two international loans which will be used to complete 25 kV electrification of the 831·5 km north - south route between Toshkent and Termez by July 2017. On February 16 Asian Development Bank signed a US$100m loan to fund work on the 140·8 km section ...
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NewsGSM-R to support open access on Czech freight corridor
CZECH REPUBLIC: Infrastructure manager SŽDC has awarded Kapsch CarrierCom a contract to design and supply GSM-R communications for the 172 km Decín - Ústí nad Labem - Melník - Vsetaty - Kolín route by June 2013. The contract announced on February 20 includes 22 new and seven existing base stations. ...
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NewsTehran - Mashhad electrification project launched
IRAN: The Minister of Roads & Urban Development attended a ceremony to officially launch work to electrify the Tehran - Mashhad line on February 1. The first phase of the upgrading project is expected to take 24 months to complete. Electrification and infrastructure upgrades will raise the top speed of ...
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NewsSZDC invites bids for construction of Plzen - Rokycany line
CZECH REPUBLIC: Infrastructure manager SZDC has invited bids for its largest ever contract, covering the construction of a new alignment between Plzen and Rokycany which will replace the sinuous 20·2 km existing route to reduce Praha - Plzen journey times by 6 min. The project forms part of SZDC's Corridor ...
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NewsNortheastern link proposed
THAILAND: The Thai Office of Transport & Traffic Policy & Planning submitted proposals for a 336 km railway from Ban Phai to Nakhon Phanom to the cabinet at a meeting in Udon Thani on February 21. The branch from the existing Nakhon Ratchasima – Nong Khai metre-gauge line would run ...
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NewsSiemens signs Kazakh electrification agreement
KAZAKHSTAN: A €230m framework for Siemens to supply electrification equipment and assist with the modernisation of more than 40 traction substations was included in a series of trade agreements signed when President Nazarbayev visited Germany in February. Siemens signed the agreement with Kazakh national railway KTZ and the TemirZhol Electrification ...
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NewsRio Tinto to introduce driverless trains by 2014
AUSTRALIA: Rio Tinto confirmed on February 20 that driverless trains would begin running on its Hamersley and Robe River iron ore network in Western Australia’s Pilbara region during 2014, under an A$518m investment package which forms part of the group’s ‘Mine of the Future’ strategy. Rio Tinto is currently investing ...
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NewsWorld rail infrastructure market February 2012
Australia: Macmahon Holdings has begun construction of Fortescue’s 81 km Solomon Rail Spur in the Pilbara under a A$330m contract which includes four major bridges. Completion is scheduled for this year. Austria: Niederösterreich transport authority Növog has awarded the Arge Bahnbau consortium of R&Z Bau and Leonhard Weiss a ...
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NewsContract signed for final section of new Djibouti - Ethiopia railway
DJIBOUTI: The government has awarded China Railway Construction Corp a contract to build its 100 km section of the new standard gauge railway which will replace the out-of-use metre-gauge line from the coast to Addis Abeba in Ethiopia. Announcing the US$505m contract covering the Djibouti section of the route on ...
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NewsNew line to Bamako
SENEGAL: Speaking in Thiès on January 5, President Abdoulaye Wade announced the construction of a standard gauge route between Dakar and Bamako in Mali that would enable Senegal 'to be at forefront of progress, with electric trains'. In the meantime, a major upgrading and construction programme would be launched ...
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NewsRío Colorado contract
ARGENTINA: This month a joint venture of Skanska and local companies Chediack and Milicic will start work on a 570m pesos railway construction contract awarded by the Potasio Río Colorado subisidiary of Brazilian mining company Vale. Responsible for civil works on 83 km of railway including 29 bridges, Skanksa ...
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NewsSatellite train location project launched
ROMANIA: A European project to demonstrate a satellite-based train control system suitable for low-traffic railways has been launched on the 27 km Brasov - Zarnesti branch line operated by RCCF-Trans. Although satellite positioning is common in the aviation and maritime sectors, the International Union of Railways says it has not ...
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NewsSmart moves in California
USA: Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit has awarded a joint venture of Stacy & Witbeck and Herzog a $103m contract to build the first stage of the Smart commuter line in the North Bay area of California. Smart will use a 110 km out of use Northwestern Pacific Railroad right ...
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NewsContract awarded for Ethiopian electric railway
ETHIOPIA: The second of three major contracts covering the construction of a 656 km standard gauge railway to replace the out-of-use metre-gauge line linking Addis Abeba with Djibouti has been signed by the government's project promoter Ethiopian Railway Corp. Under the 1·18bn birr deal signed on on December 16, China ...
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NewsEsbjerg electrification approved in four-point Danish transport plan
DENMARK: Electrification of the main line from Lunderskov west to Esbjerg heads a four-point programme of rail investment approved by the government and opposition parties on February 7. The 56 km electrification project is to be completed in 2015 at a cost of DKr1·19bn. This will enable DSB to procure ...
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NewsFirst tenders by April under $35bn Qatar rail programme
QATAR: In April invitations to tender will be issued for four tunnelling packages worth US$2bn to US$3bn each for the first sections of a planned 213 route-km metro in greater Doha. These contracts launch a US$35bn programme to construct an integrated rail network across the Gulf state by the ...
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NewsZonguldak line upgrading contract awarded
TURKEY: The Central Finance & Contracts Unit has awarded a €220m contract for modernisation of the 415 km line running from Irmak, east of Ankara, to the Black Sea port of Zonguldak. A consortium of Yapi Merkezi and MÖN Insaat ve Ticaret will undertake infrastructure rehabilitation and track renewals, with ...
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NewsAmtrak accelerates in Michigan
USA: On February 7 the Federal Railroad Administration gave Amtrak approval to raise speeds on its passenger services in western Michigan from 152 km/h to 177 km/h. The agreement covers an Amtrak-owned 155 route-km section between Kalamazoo, Michigan and Porter, Indiana which has been equipped with the Incremental Train Control ...