Infrastructure news – Page 267
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NewsAnsaldo STS signs €153 signalling agreement
AUSTRALIA: Ansaldo STS and Australian Rail Track Corp have signed an alliance agreement covering signalling works to increase the capacity and efficiency of coal lines in New South Wales and Victoria. Ansaldo STS said the agreement will generate €153m in revenue over three years. The works include control systems ...
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NewsMiami airport Metrorail extension contract
USA: The Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners has approved a $360m contract for construction of the 3·9 km Airport Connection Metrorail extension. This will run from the existing station at Earlington Heights to an intermodal centre adjacent to Miami International Airport which will provide interchange with Tri-Rail and local ...
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NewsShanghai - Hangzhou high speed line groundbreaking
CHINA: A groundbreaking ceremony in Shanghai on February 26 marked the formal start of construction works on a 160 km passenger dedicated line which will halve journey times between Shanghai and Hangzhou to 38 min from 2011. The line forms one side of a triangular high speed network which ...
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NewsInner Mongolia coal line
CHINA: The construction of a 350 km railway from Baotau in Inner Mongolia to Ganqimaodu on the Mongolian border has been launched by Shenhua Group Corp. The 4·7bn yuan line is expected open in 2011, and will have the capacity to carry 60 million tonnes of coal and copper ...
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NewsResearch cuts 25 kV insulator failures
INDIA: A better understanding of processes, materials and standards used by manufacturers of solid core porcelain insulators has the potential to cut mechanical failures from five to two a year per 10 000 installed. The higher service reliability should help Indian Railways lift annual freight tonnage from 800 to 1 ...
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NewsFree travel marks opening of Epping - Chatswood link
AUSTRALIA: The Epping to Chatswood rail link in the northern suburbs of Sydney opened on February 23, with New South Wales Premier Nathan Rees joining state Transport Minister David Campbell to ride the first train. The link is currently being operated as an Epping - Chatswood shuttle, with trains ...
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NewsWorld infrastructure market February 2009
China: An alliance of Ansaldo STS and Zhejiang Zheda Insigma is to supply CBTC for the 29 km Shenyang metro Line 2 and 14 km Chengdu Line 1. Europe: Replacement of a bridge across the border between Germany and Poland near Frankfurt (Oder) was completed within 10 months of the ...
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NewsQuébec - Windsor high speed study contract placed
CANADA: The governments of Québec, Ontario and Canada have awarded the EcoTrain consortium a C$3m contract to update previous feasibility studies for high speed rail services along the Québec - Windsor corridor, Transport Canada announced on February 23. EcoTrain comprises Dessau, MMM Group, KPMG, Wilbur Smith & Associates and ...
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NewsRails under the Bosporus
TURKEY: Five years after the start of construction in Istanbul, work on the long-planned Marmaray link between Europe and Asia is well underway. The project is due for completion in 2011, with trains expected to start running the following year.
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NewsObama boosts high speed rail and transit spending
USA: At a ceremony in Denver on February 17, President Barack Obama officially signed the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act, a $787bn economic stimulus measure which provides nearly $50bn in direct funding for transport investment. The 1 100-page bill provides $8·4bn for transit, $1·3bn for Amtrak, $8·4bn for high ...
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NewsCoach donation prepares for Laos railway launch
LAOS: Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand is expected to inaugurate the cross-border rail connection on March 5, with public services beginning at 16.20 that day. From March 6 there will be two daily return trips across the Thai-Lao Friendship bridge, taking 15 min between Nong Khai and the ...
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NewsTubes in the desert
SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Railways Organisation has installed a 900 m section of Tubular Track on its main line between Harad and Al Tawdihiyah. The line carries containerised freight between the Gulf port of Dammam and Riyadh, but sand is a perennial problem and teams are on permanent standby to clear ...
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NewsWires going up in Iran
IRAN: Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin attended a ceremony marking the formal start of work to electrify the line from Tabriz to Azarshahr on February 9. The 46 km line linking central Tabriz to the university town of Azarshahr is being electrified at 25 kV 50 Hz under a ...
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NewsGSM-R preferred bidder named
FRANCE: Infrastructure manager RFF announced on February 13 that it had selected a preferred bidder for the first major PPP project on the French rail network. The tDF consortium has been chosen to negotiate the final details of a 15-year concession to fund and install GSM-R across the network. The ...
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NewsTaking a fresh look at TEN-T
EUROPE: ‘We have come to the conclusion that the situation is in need of review’, confirmed Jonathan Scheele, Director of Transport Logistics & Trans-European Networks at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy & Transport. He was participating in a panel debate on European corridors at the fourth Eurailfreight conference organised ...
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NewsRhB studies Albula tunnel replacement
SWITZERLAND: Rhätische Bahn is developing proposals for a comprehensive renewal or replacement of the Albula tunnel on the Chur - St Moritz line. Opened in 1903, the 5 865 m tunnel is the highest transalpine bore at 1 800 m above sea level. A major examination in 2006 found ...
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NewsDedicated Freight Corridor construction launched
INDIA: Chairman of the United Progressive Alliance ruling coalition Sonia Gandhi formally launched the construction of the eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor in a ceremony at Rohtas in Bihar on February 10 (RG 6.08 p383). The eastern DFC will run for 1 279 km from Ludhiana to Sonnagar via Kanpur ...
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NewsBelgrano revival continues
ARGENTINA: President Cristina Fernández visited Barranqueras in Chaco province on December 29 to mark officially the re-opening to freight traffic of a 199·7 km section of the metre-gauge Belgrano network between the river port and Avia Terai. Following the reopening of the Pichanal - Joaquín V González route (RG 1.09 ...
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NewsFigueres - Girona to go dual gauge
SPAIN: Infrastructure manager ADIF has awarded a joint venture of Alstom, Acciona and Comsa a €93·8m contract to upgrade the double-track 41 km Girona - Figueres route and convert one line to dual gauge. Alstom's €40·4m share of the 16 month contract includes supplying Atlas 1000 ETCS Level 1 ...
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NewsSarmiento tunnel funded
ARGENTINA: Work to place the Sarmiento commuter route in Buenos Aires underground is expected to start in mid-2009, following the signature on December 23 of a contract between the federal government and the consortium of Iecsa, Odebrecht, Comsa and Ghella named as preferred bidder on January 23 2008. Costing 4·07bn ...