Infrastructure news – Page 244
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NewsChuo maglev project endorsed
JAPAN: Central Japan Railway announced on May 27 that it had received a directive from Transport Minister Akihiro Ohata 'to proceed with construction' of the planned 550 km Chuo Shinkansen maglev line between Tokyo and Osaka. Under discussion since the early 1970s, this is now expected to cost in excess ...
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NewsOne on, one off
GUINEA: Construction of a 650 km railway linking planned iron ore mines at Simandou to a new port near Matakang is set to go ahead, after Rio Tinto’s Simfer subsidiary signed a US$700m mining agreement with the government on April 22. The current administration is reviewing all ...
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NewsTracklaying begins on Northern Missing Link
AUSTRALIA: Tracklaying has begun on the 69 km Northern Missing Link in central Queensland, QR National announced on May 24. The A$385 connection between the existing 1 067 mm gauge Goonyell and Newlands coal networks is being built as part of the A$1·1bn Goonyella to Abbot Point expansion project, which ...
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NewsHanzeboog open for traffic
NETHERLANDS: A replacement bridge over the IJssel at Zwolle has been built as part of the €1bn Hanzelijn project for a new Zwolle - Lelystad line to improve links from Amsterdam to the northeast from late 2012. Designed by Quist Wintermans Architekten and built by Wellink Züblin, the ...
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NewsSumatra coal railway on course for 2014 opening
INDONESIA: Joint venture company Bukit Asam Transpacific Railway has launched the land acquisition process for its 307 km coal railway in southern Sumatra, Special Advisor to the Board Dr Julison Arifin told the Modern Railways conference in Bangkok on May 24. Intended as a heavy haul railway to move coal ...
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NewsPhosphate trial marks completion of North-South line
SAUDI ARABIA: Completion of the initial phase of the North-South Railway was announced by Minister of Finance and Chairman of the Public Investment Fund Dr Ibrahim Al-Assaf on May 24. Trial operations on the 1 392 km 'Mineral Route' section of the NSR had begun the previous day, with ...
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NewsInvensys Rail awarded Salisbury - Exeter resignalling contract
UK: Invensys Rail announced on May 25 that it had been awarded Network Rail's Salisbury to Exeter Signalling Recontrol contract, covering replacement of life-expired signalling equipment on the 145 km route with three Solid State Interlockings and the transfer of control to the Basingstoke Area Signalling Centre. Control of ...
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NewsPassenger trains return to Jamaica
JAMAICA: Passenger services are set to restart in the first week of July, following an inaugural train from May Pen to Linstead on April 16 which carried 200 guests including schoolchildren enjoying their first train ride. Transport & Works Minister Michael Henry cut a ribbon to mark ...
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NewsHigh Speed in the UK: Making the Case
UK: With the government embarked on an extensive programme of public consultation for the proposed High Speed 2 between London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, Railway Gazette International will be holding a live debate on Wednesday June 8 to discuss the prospects for high speed rail development in ...
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NewsMalawi ore corridor agreement
AFRICA: Brazilian mining company Vale signed a memorandum of understanding with the Malawian government in April covering construction of a 100 km rail link from Blantyre to the Moatize coalfields in neighbouring Mozambique. This would provide a 900 km rail corridor from the mines, through Malawi, to the port of ...
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NewsConstruction begins on Chinese rail projects
CHINA: Construction of a 250 km/h Passenger-Dedicated Line between Chongqing, Qianjiang, Zhangjiajie, Changde and Changsha is set to start this year for opening in 2015, Chongqing Municipal Development & Reform Commission has announced. Meanwhile, construction of the 256 km Dezhou - Dajiawa line in Shandong province has now begun, ...
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NewsCurved concrete castings
USA: Oldcastle Precast is supplying concrete platform sections for the rebuilding of Boston's Morton Street station as part of Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's $37m Fairmount commuter rail rehabilitation project. Each of the 47 platform sections for Morton Street is 9·7 m long by 3 m wide. The station is situated ...
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NewsDB plans two north-south freight corridors
GERMANY: DB Netz and the Federal Ministry of Transport are discussing plans to develop and finance two north-south freight corridors. Speaking at the iaf Congress in Münster on May 18, Dipl-Wirtsch Inf Oliver Kraft, Chairman of DB Netz AG, said priority had been allocated to an eastern corridor running ...
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NewsInterest sought in Gobi rail project
MONGOLIA: Expressions of interest in financing, building and operating a 1 100 km east-west railway have been called by national railway shareholding company MTZ. The line was approved by parliament last year, and is to be developed in four sections: from Dalanzadgad via Tavan Tolgoi and Tsagaan Suvarga to Saynshand ...
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NewsPomeranian Metropolitan Railway funding agreed
POLAND: The project to introduce a local service between Gdansk, Gdansk Airport and Gdynia has received additional funding from the EU's Operational Programme Infrastructure & Environment, meaning the EU will meet 612m zloty of the 914m zloty cost of the works. The project involves a mix of reopenings and new ...
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NewsProjects approved in China
CHINA: Further rail projects have been authorised, despite the problems at the Ministry of Railways and media concerns about the cost of the massive expansion programme. The National Development & Reform Commission has approved the proposed 329 km double-track line from Qianjiang in Chongqing province to Zhangjiajie and Changde in ...
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NewsBeijing - Shanghai high speed test runs begin
CHINA: Trial running over the full length of the Beijing - Shanghai high speed line began on May 11, with CRH380A trainsets being used for a month of staff familiarisation, fault simulation and emergency drills before the opening ceremony which is planned for the end of June. The 1 ...
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NewsLaHood confirms recipients for Florida’s rejected high speed grants
USA: Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced further high-speed rail grants totalling US$2bn on May 9, reallocating the funding previously allocated for the Orlando – Tampa project in Florida which was rejected by the state’s governor. According to DoT, 24 states, the District of Columbia and Amtrak submitted nearly 100 applications ...
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News1 200 tonne bridge launched at 7 mm a second
UK: A steel bridge 71 m long and weighing 1 200 tonnes was positioned across Borough High Street in central London on April 29-May 1. It forms part of a 507 m viaduct being built to remove a major rail bottleneck at the west end of London Bridge station. Network ...
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NewsSecond cross-city line goes ahead
GERMANY: Preliminary works for construction of a second S-Bahn cross-city line in München are to start this year. This follows signature of an agreement on April 8 to fund the €1·77bn project which is due for completion in 2017 in time for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, should München be ...