Infrastructure news – Page 254
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NewsWorksite asset logistics
NETHERLANDS: Plant hire company New Rail Vision deployed Ritco's GeoRailManager asset location system with 100 GPS units to provide round-the-clock tracking during a 52 h possession on the Eindhoven - Venlo line last month. Safelines was appointed to manage all movements made by seven contractors to and from the 21 ...
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NewsWire Wizard at work
GERMANY: The OVHWizard from Dr D Wehrhahn Messsysteme für die Qualitätssicherung uses ultrasound to measure the height and position of overhead contact wires to help identify wear. Measuring runs can be evaluated on site or at the office, with data displayed graphically or tablulated. Deutsche Bahn has certified OVHWizard ...
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NewsSri Lankan contracts placed
SRI LANKA: The government has signed a contract for China National Machinery Import & Export Corp to build the first phase of the 110 km Matara – Kataragama line along the south coast. The initial section will run 30 km east from Matara to Beliatta, with four stations, and is ...
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NewsVossloh to supply Libyan track components
LIBYA: General contractor China Civil Engineering Construction Corp has awarded Vossloh contracts to supply rail fastenings and turnouts for 1 300 km of the future rail network in the west of Libya. The two contracts have a total value of €115m and deliveries will run to 2012. 'These two major ...
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NewsJapanese loan for second phase of Dedicated Freight Corridor
INDIA: Japan International Co-operation Agency signed a further loan agreement for the 1 483 km Western Dedicated Freight Corridor on July 26, making the planned route between Delhi and Mumbai Japan's largest official development assistance project. The latest loan provides the Indian government with ¥1·6bn repayable over 40 years to ...
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NewsVictorian investment
AUSTRALIA: On July 12 Victorian Premier John Brumby unveiled the routes for two rail links in Melbourne as part of the A$38bn Victoria Transport Plan launched in 2009. The A$4·3bn Regional Rail Link involves the development of a new commuter service from West Werribee to the city, entailing construction ...
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NewsInvensys Rail wins Thameslink core resignalling contract
UK: Network Rail has awarded Invensys Rail a £32m contract for resignalling the Thameslink route through central London. On completion, this will allow the operation of 24 trains/h between Loughborough Junction and Kentish Town. Under the contract announced on July 26, Invensys Rail will design, supply and commission the signalling. ...
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NewsFinal tender issued for LGV Bretagne
FRANCE: Infrastructure manager RFF confirmed on July 21 that it had issued the final tender documents to the three bidders shortlisted for the ‘partnership contract’ to build LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire between Le Mans and Rennes. The three consortia led by Bouygues, Vinci and Eiffage have been given until ...
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NewsChina funds Argentina's rail revival
ARGENTINA: Chinese companies are to undertake route upgrades and supply rolling stock under a series of major contracts signed in Beijing on July 13, during the first state visit by President Cristina Fernández. With 85% of funding provided by China Development Bank, CMEC is to undertake a three-stage US$10bn upgrade ...
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NewsRFF agrees terms for Tours – Bordeaux PPP concession
FRANCE: Infrastructure manager Réseau Ferré de France confirmed on July 15 that it had completed negotiations with the Vinci-led LISEA consortium over the PPP concession to build LGV Sud Europe Atlantique between Tours and Bordeaux, which it describes as ‘the largest railway project in Europe’, with a total cost of ...
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NewsWork underway on Ashkelon - Be’er-Sheva line
ISRAEL: Infrastructure works for the 60 km Ashkelon - Be’er-Sheva line were formally launched by Israel Railways on July 4. The US$500m project has been designated as of national importance and is scheduled for completion in early 2015. Initial work has already been undertaken on the Ashkelon ...
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NewsADIF awards Valencia contracts
SPAIN: The latest package of contracts to be let by ADIF for the high speed line connecting Madrid with Valencia, Alacant and Murcia includes installation of electrification equipment on the 167 km between Albacete and Alacant, awarded to a joint venture of Balfour Beatty Rail Ibérica, Cobra and SEMI for ...
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NewsShort line operator buys infrastructure contractor
USA: RailAmerica completed the $24m acquisition of Atlas Railroad Construction Co on July 1. RailAmerica President & CEO John Giles said the deal would enable the short line operator to benefit from an expected increase in infrastructure spending as part of rail upgrading and government stimulus programmes. Founded in 1954, ...
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NewsShanghai - Nanjing high speed line opens
CHINA: High speed services between Shanghai Hongqiao and Nanjing were launched with a ceremony hosted by Governor of Jiangsu province Luo Zhijun on July 1. The line is designed for running at up to 350 km/h, cutting the fastest journey time between the cities by around 80 min to ...
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NewsBulgaria to Turkey wiring underway
BULGARIA: Work is underway to electrify and upgrade the 19 km link between Svilengrad and the Turkish border. Part of the government's EU-backed Operational Programme for Transport which aims to fully integrate Bulgaria into wider EU transport networks, the project is being undertaken by Czech firm OHL ZHS under a ...
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NewsRio - São Paulo high speed rail bidding ready to start
BRAZIL: Bid documents for the concession to build and operate the proposed high speed line between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo are expected to be issued before July 9, according to the Director of the government’s land transport directorate Agência Nacional de Transportes Terrestres. ANTT director Bernardo Figueiredo ...
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NewsBlack Sea bullet plan
GEORGIA: President Mikheil Saakashvili outlined his vision for fast trains to cut the 360 km Tbilisi - Batumi journey from 8 h to less than 3 h on May 31. Opening a construction base in Batumi for the upgrading of GRZ's main line, he said modern transport and communications were ...
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NewsFyra launch delayed again
NETHERLANDS: A further year's delay to the launch of high speed domestic services on HSL-Zuid has been confirmed by Transport Minister Camiel Eurlings, who has admitted to the Dutch parliament that there is no prospect of the AnsaldoBreda V250 trainsets entering revenue service before the December 2011 timetable change at ...
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NewsBanedanmark awards national GSM-R contract
DENMARK: Infrastructure manager Banedanmark has selected Nokia Siemens Networks and Ramboll Telecom for a turnkey contract to replace its analogue radio communications with GSM-R. The contract announced on June 29 is part of the national resignalling programme which will see ETCS Level 2 installed across the network in 2015-21. Nokia ...
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NewsAfghan rail strategy takes shape
AFGHANISTAN: As work progresses rapidly on Afghanistan's first substantial railway, plans are firming up for a 1000 km standard gauge corridor running across the north of the country. This would give Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and potentially China access to world markets via the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas without requiring transit ...