Infrastructure news – Page 257
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NewsHigh speed track dynamics study
UK: A three-year research project on the Development of Design Guidelines for High-speed Railway Track began on April 14, funded by a £480 000 grant from the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council. To be led by Dr Peter Woodward of Heriot Watt University and Professor Mike Forde from the ...
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NewsWorld infrastructure market April 2010
Angola: China Railway 20 Bureau Group has begun rehabilitation of 540 km of the Benguela Railway between Munhango and Luau, employing 300 Chinese technicians and 300 Angolans. The 220 km to Luena is to be completed by May. China: MTR Corp has awarded Leighton Asia and Macmahon Holdings ...
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NewsRail Baltica feasibility study gets underway
EUROPE: A study has begun into the feasibility of building a standard gauge railway linking Tallinn in Estonia with Latvia, Lithuania and the Polish border. On April 6 the tri-national steering committee for the Rail Baltica project held its first meeting with consultancy AECOM, which has been selected to undertaken ...
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NewsMajor rehabilitation gets underway
DR CONGO: Belgium-based African rail operator Vecturis is assisting with an ambitious World Bank supported project to rehabilitate the Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Congolais network. The project was officially launched by President Joseph Kabila last November. Work planned for 2010 includes renewal of track between Tenke and Kisanfu ...
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NewsWien broad gauge agreement signed
EUROPE: A further agreement for the construction of a 1 520 mm gauge railway from Kosice in Slovakia to an international logistics terminal at Wien was signed by the Russian, Ukrainian, Slovak and Austrian railway authorities during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Bratislava on April 6. The four-country joint ...
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NewsRailway to south Sudan reopens
SUDAN: Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir and First Vice-President and President of the Government of Southern Sudan Salva Kiir Mayardit reopened the railway to Wau on March 11, a month before elections are due to be held. A train had run on the Babanousa - Aweil section on September 25. The ...
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NewsRZD launches Moscow - St Petersburg high speed line project
RUSSIA: Proposals for the construction of a 660 km high speed line linking Moscow and St Petersburg were unveiled by Russian Railways at a high-level conference in St Petersburg on April 1. The event was attended by representatives from various state bodies, the Russian scientific and business sectors. According to ...
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NewsWestern reopening to encourage regional development
IRELAND: Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey formally launched Ireland's first revival of an inter-city route on March 29. The following day a regular service of five daily return trains ran between Limerick and Galway for the first time since 1976. The €106·5m Phase 1 of the project to reopen the ...
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NewsChina plans heavy haul coal line
CHINA: The Ministry of Railways has started planning for a third heavy haul railway corridor to carry coal from mines in Inner Mongolia to a new port on the Bohai Sea. Work has already started on a coal export terminal at the port of Huludao in Laioning province, around 150 ...
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NewsStalin's Polar line revived
RUSSIA: Construction of a 355 km railway to link existing railheads at Salekhard and Nadym in northwest Siberia began in March, following the allocation of state funding and the award of construction contracts. The 243bn rouble railway is part of the Ural Industrial - Ural Polar regional development project. The ...
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NewsRFF selects Vinci to build Tours – Bordeaux LGV
FRANCE: Infrastructure manager RFF has announced its intention to start exclusive negotiations with a Vinci-led consortium to build and maintain the 340 km Tours – Bordeaux high speed line under a PPP concession. The consortium, led by Vinci and including Caisse des Dépôts and Axa, was selected from a shortlist ...
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NewsCeneri base tunnel blasting begins
SWITZERLAND: A first blast on March 10 launched the main drive for the 15·4 km Ceneri base tunnel, which will complete a low-gradient north – south route through the Alps in conjunction with the Gotthard base tunnel. Construction is being undertaken by a consortium of Società Italiana per Condotte ...
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NewsPartnership to develop Emirates rail projects
UAE: Deutsche Bahn and Al Masaood Group signed a memorandum of understanding in Abu Dhabi on March 29 under which they will form a strategic partnership to plan, build and operate future railways in the United Arab Emirates. Various metro and tram proposals are currently being developed in UAE, while ...
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NewsTiger grants support infrastructure upgrades
USA: Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood announced the 51 transport projects which have been selected for Tiger grants under the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act on February 17. The largest rail grants awarded under the $1·5bn Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery federal stimulus programme went to support rail infrastructure upgrades ...
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NewsScottish rebuild progress
UK: Preliminary works have begun for the Borders Railway scheme to reopen the Edinburgh - Tweedbank section of the Waverley route to Carlisle, which closed in 1969. The 56 km of reinstated line will be designed, built, financed and maintained by a not-for-profit company backed by Transport Scotland. Prospects for ...
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NewsLGV Est contract awarded
FRANCE: The first contract for civil engineering work on the second phase of the Ligne à Grande Vitesse Est européenne was approved by the board of Réseau Ferré de France on March 18. Under a package valued at €78·9m, a consortium of Guintoli, Maia Sonnier and NGE GC has been ...
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NewsFirefighting stations to cut Eurotunnel costs
EUROPE: Following the completion of its 20th bi-national safety exercise in the Channel Tunnel on the night of March 13-14, Eurotunnel said this had 'confirmed the need to implement our Salamander project, which relates to the installation of four permanent fire suppression stations in the Tunnel'. The strategy has been ...
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NewsAll systems go as Gautrain prepares for World Cup opening
SOUTH AFRICA: Test running has started in earnest on the 20 km first phase of the Gautrain line between Sandton and OR Tambo International Airport. Opening has been set for June 8, subject to a final technical 'go/no-go' decision in April. The original timescale would have seen the Bombela consortium ...
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NewsParsons Brinckerhoff awarded US high speed rail contracts
USA: Engineering consultancy Parsons Brinckerhoff has been awarded contracts to manage high speed and inter-city passenger rail development projects in Illinois, Ohio and Florida, parent company Balfour Beatty announced on March 16. Illinois Department of Transportation has appointed PB as programme manager for the project to introduce 176 km/h passenger ...
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NewsFirst 14 km of Libyan rail network in place
LIBYA: The first 14 km of track has been laid for the 554 km Surt - Banghazi railway, Russian Railways has announced. RZD is building the line parallel to the Mediterranean coast under a €2·2bn contract signed in April 2008, and President Vladimir Yakunin visited the construction sites on ...