Infrastructure news – Page 252
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NewsHammond backs high speed lines to Leeds and Manchester
UK: Transport Secretary Philip Hammond announced the government's preferred option for a high speed rail network north of Birmingham in a speech to the Conservative Party conference on October 4. Development of proposals for a London - Birmingham line started under the previous Labour government, and the new government will ...
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NewsWiring proposals put forward
ISRAEL: At the end of August the National Infrastructure Committee released a railway electrification plan valued at US$1·32bn, excluding rolling stock, which would see most lines electrified within 10 years. Government approval is to be sought next year, following consultation with local authorities. The first stage covers ...
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NewsYakutia Railway reaches the Lena river
RUSSIA: Ceremonies were held on September 25 to lay a ‘silver rail’, marking completion of the next stage of the Yakutia Railway between Berkakit, Tommot and Yakutsk. The celebrations were held at Kerdem on the south bank of the Lena river, opposite the town of Pokrovsk which lies around 150 ...
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NewsHigh speed study contracts awarded
NORWAY: Infrastructure manager Jernbaneverket announced on September 30 that six contracts had been awarded for consultancy work on the country’s high speed line development programme. A mix of international and Norwegian firms have been selected to undertake studies that are intended to form the foundation for future development. Launched by ...
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NewsAmtrak proposes Northeast Corridor high speed line
USA: Amtrak has set out a vision of a 680 km 'world class' high speed line to increase capacity on its Northeast Corridor, cutting Washington - Boston journey times from more than 6½ h to around 3 h. The 'concept plan' published on September 28 would see the line ...
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NewsWork starts on Tibet railway extension
CHINA: Construction of a 253 km railway from Tibet's capital Lhasa to its second-largest city Xigaze formally began on September 26, when officials laid a ceremonial foundation stone and watched cultural performances. Construction is expected to take four years at a cost of 13·3bn yuan. The single-track line will pass ...
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NewsDevelopment projects get the go-ahead
BANGLADESH: The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council approved 10 rail development projects worth a total of 19·9bn taka on September 9. The government is to provide 12·6bn taka, with the rest coming from international aid. Rolling stock procurement will include 10 broad gauge diesel-electric locomotives at a cost ...
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NewsAirport maglev demonstration line
SOUTH KOREA: A ground-breaking ceremony was held at Incheon International Airport on August 3 to mark the start of work on a 6·1 km maglev demonstration line (RG 5.08 p296). The line will have six stations and a maintenance depot. Maximum operating speed will be 110 km/h. ...
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NewsAgreement signed for north-south corridor
AFGHANISTAN: An agreement to undertake detailed surveys for a railway linking Kabul with Uzbekistan and Pakistan was signed by Afghanistan’s Minister of Mines Wahidullah Shahrani and China Metallurgical Group Corp (MCC) on September 22. The contract specifies that MCC will construct a railway, if feasible, from northern Pakistan to Hayratan ...
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NewsCoal railway project approved
INDONESIA: Another rail and port project has been approved to reach coal reserves in southern Sumatra, with an agreement between the regional government of Sumatra Selatan, state-owned coal miner PT Bukit Asam and India's Adani Enterprises group covering a US$165bn project to build a 250 km railway to transport 35 ...
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NewsMaintenance in a changing market
INNOTRANS: SNCF launched its Masteris brand on the international market in Berlin on September 22. Masteris has been created partly in response to the opening up of the European rail market, as open access operators – especially freight operators – have a growing need for third-party maintenance services.Currently employing 15 ...
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NewsGirona tunnelling makes progress
SPAIN: The completion of the first section of a 2∙9 km bored tunnel that will carry the high speed line between Barcelona and the French border under the city of Girona was marked by an official visit on September 17. Joining Development Minister José Blanco were ADIF President Antonio González, ...
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NewsFive-year rail plan ratified
AZERBAIJAN: President Ilham Aliyev has ratified the state programme on the development of the railway system for 2010-14, setting out projects which will be undertaken using US$450m allocated by the World Bank and a €215m credit from the Czech Export Bank. Draft laws are being prepared for institutional reform in ...
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NewsMajor contract award for LGV Est Phase 2
FRANCE: RFF has awarded a major civil works contract for Phase 2 of LGV Est européene, the high speed line connecting Paris with Strasbourg. The 7∙5 km Lot 47 is to be built by the Dodin Campenon Bernard Construction joint venture including Spie Batignolles, Vinci and Cegelec under a contract ...
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NewsChina to build Iran line
IRAN: China's Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun visited Tehran on September 12 to sign an agreement worth a reported US$2bn for Chinese firms to build a 580 km railway running west from Tehran through Hamadan, Malayer and Kermanshah to the Iraqi border town of Khosravi. There will also be a ...
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NewsSiemens resignals key freight route
ALGERIA: Railway development agency ANESRIF has awarded a consortium of Siemens, Estel Rail Automation and local telecommunications supplier Infratele a €27m contract to resignal 43 km of SNTF infrastructure linking the industrial centre of Senia with the port of Arzew. Including four stations, work is due for completion in 2012. ...
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NewsCross-border upgrade
EUROPE: The heads of the German and Polish national railways met in Warszawa on September 8 to discuss improvements to cross-border co-operation, including plans for high speed services from Berlin to Poznan. The meeting was hosted by DB Chief Executive Rüdiger Grube and his PKP counterpart Andrzej Wach. Agreement was ...
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NewsTrains return to Krimml
AUSTRIA: Pinzgauer Lokalbahn services returned to Krimml on September 12, the day after a tracklaying completion ceremony marked the restoration of the 760 mm gauge line which had been damaged by serious flooding in June 2005. The future of the line beyond Mittersill had been in doubt, but the Land ...
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NewsAngolan railway rehabilitation progress
ANGOLA: A step forward in the rehabilitation of the war-damaged railway network was made with the launch of a twice-weekly freight service on the 190 km Luanda – Dondo route at the end of July. Dondo is the terminus of a branch from the 424 km route from Luana to ...
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NewsNorfolk Southern opens Heartland Corridor
USA: The Heartland Corridor gauge enhancement project to provide faster transit times between Virginia's ports and Chicago was officially completed when Norfolk Southern operated the first double-stack intermodal service on the route on September 9. The former Norfolk & Western main line across Virginia, southern West Virginia and Ohio had ...