Infrastructure news – Page 239
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NewsSpanish consortium wins Haramain High Speed Rail contract
SAUDI ARABIA: The AlShoula Consortium of two Saudi and 12 Spanish companies was declared the winner of a €6·74bn contract to supply railway systems and rolling stock for the Haramain High Speed Rail project on October 26. The contract covers track, 25 kV 50 Hz electrification, signalling and telecoms for ...
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NewsEtihad Rail awards phase one civils contract
UAE: The Civil & Track Works contract for the 266 km first phase of the national rail network has been awarded to a consortium of Italian firms Saipem and Tecnimont and local company Dodsal Engineering & Construction, Etihad Rail announced on October 26. The 3·3bn dirham contract covers design, procurement ...
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NewsKiwiRail orders tamper/regulator pairs
NEW ZEALAND: Harsco has won an order to supply KiwiRail with three paired sets of tampers and ballast regulators in the second half of 2012. They will be the first to have Harsco's Jupiter control system in both vehicles, enabling paired sets to be driver from either vehicle for movement ...
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NewsDenver commuter rail PTC contract awarded
USA: Wabtec has signed a $63m contract to provide Positive Train Control for the three commuter rail lines which the Denver Transit Partners consortium led by Fluor Enterprises is to build and operate under the Eagle P3 project. Announcing the deal on October 21, Wabtec said its Wabtec Railway ...
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NewsNo bids for Brazilian high speed line
BRAZIL: Federal surface transport agency ANTT announced on October 8 that tendering for a concession to build, operate and maintain a 510 km high-speed line between Rio de Janeiro and Campinas had been cancelled as no bids had been received. The ANTT board has decided that work on the ...
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NewsElectrification programme approved
UKRAINE: National railway UZ has approved a five-year programme of electrification for 2011-16 covering 1562 km. At present 9877 km of the network is electrified, or 44% of total route length. The plan is costed at 173bn hryvnia and includes both 3 kV DC and 25 kV 50 Hz AC ...
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NewsGrowth & the Capacity Challenge: join the debate
EUROPE: With demand for passenger and freight movement by rail projected to rise significantly over the coming 20 years, infrastructure managers and train operators across Europe are facing the challenge of squeezing extra capacity from busy networks and building new lines despite financial constraints. Railway Gazette International will be holding ...
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NewsPPP model to fund Moscow – St Petersburg high speed line
RUSSIA: The Russian government has confirmed its support for a public-private partnership backed by Russian Railways to construct a 658 km high speed line between Moscow and St Petersburg. Speaking in London on October 20, Denis Muratov, Chief Executive of RZD’s high speed rail agency Skorostnye Magistrali, ...
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NewsKashmir tunnel breakthrough
INDIA: The 10·96 km Pir Panjal tunnel in Jammu & Kashmir state was holed through on October 14. On completion it will be the longest railway tunnel in India, connecting the isolated Kashmir Valley line which opened in 2008-09 with the national network at Udhampur. The tunnel is being ...
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NewsEU funding plan builds on TEN-T revisions
EUROPE: Rail and port expansion projects lie at the heart of a €50bn spending plan to improve Europe's transport, energy and digital networks unveiled by the European Commission on October 19. This will form a key element in the EU budget for 2014-20. The Commission said the Connecting Europe Facility ...
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NewsLED signal conversion kit
UK: Following successful trials, UK infrastructure manager Network Rail has granted full approval for the SL35 LED Light Engine which has been introduced by Howells Railway Products as a direct replacement for signal filament lamps. The Light Engine is compatible with existing electrical and lamp proving systems, offering ...
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NewsWorld infrastructure market October 2011
Australia: Ansaldo STS has won a A$7·3m contract to supply signalling and train control systems for Pacific National's Greta Train Support Facility in the Hunter Valley. The NSW government has awarded a consortium led by Aecom and including Parsons Brinckerhoff, Grimshaw and Cox Architects a contract to design the ...
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NewsSaudi Landbridge to go ahead as state project
SAUDI ARABIA: On October 10 the Council of Ministers decided to proceed with the Saudi Landbridge east-west freight line as a state-funded project. The line linking Dammam on the Gulf with Jeddah Islamic Port on the Red Sea will be state owned and financed by the ...
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NewsFederal funding to upgrade Chicago – Detroit
USA: Federal Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced on October 5 the award of a US$196·5m grant to Michigan Department of Transportation for track and signalling improvements on the Kalamazoo – Dearborn section of the Chicago – Detroit line, which are intended to cut Amtrak journey times between the two cities ...
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NewsSølvegade 40 goes up for sale
DENMARK: As national passenger operator DSB struggles to restore its finances, new Chief Executive Christian Roslev has announced plans to sell the company’s iconic headquarters building in København. The 240-year old former barracks at Sølvgade 40 has been national railway’s headquarters for the past 83 years, but the idea of ...
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NewsRZD to increase 2011 investment spending
RUSSIA: Presenting the Russian Railways results for the first nine months of 2011 in Moscow on October 5, RZD President Vladimir Yakunin confirmed that the railway was planning to increase its capital spending for the current year by 18%. The railway had initially approved an investment programme totalling 349bn roubles, ...
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NewsRishon Le-Ziyyon West line opens
ISRAEL: Revenue services began running on the new suburban line between Tel Aviv Ha'agana and Rishon Le-Ziyyon Moshe Dayan on September 26, after industrial action over plans to outsource rolling stock maintenance disrupted the formal inauguration scheduled for the previous day. Transport Minister Yisrael Katz and ISR General Manager Boaz ...
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NewsLocal funding for Chinese rail projects
CHINA: The National Development & Reform Commission has approved the Hechi – Nanning railway project submitted by the Ministry of Railways and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The 225 km line is priced at 22·7bn yuan, with funding to be split equally between the ministry and the regional government. Hubei Provincial ...
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NewsTurnout converter
UK: The Points Converter launched by Zonegreen enables hand-operated turnouts to be converted to powered and remote control, helping to streamline the operation of depots, reducing the need for stop-start operations and also reducing the risk of staff accidents. ‘The system is made up of two parts’, explains Technical Director ...
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NewsCamera helps spot overhead line defects
UK: Infrastructure manager Network Rail has provided electrification equipment maintenance crews with 30 cameras which can be used to identify overhead line defects without needing to turn off the power. Supplied by Kongsberg Maritime Ltd, the cameras can be attached to the overhead cables, where they are held steady by ...