Infrastructure news – Page 268
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NewsFreight development plan
SPAIN: Development Minister Magdalena Álvarez has presented the cabinet with a €4·72bn development plan to make rail freight more competitive. The plan’s key objective is to create a basic freight network to improve service reliabilty, linking terminals that will be open to traffic 24 h a day, 365 days a ...
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NewsAl Rajhi wins Makkah - Madinah civils contract
SAUDI ARABIA: The Al Rajhi Alliance has won the 6·79bn riyal design and build contract for civil works on the Haramain High Speed Rail project. Work is scheduled to begin in March on the 444 km high speed line linking the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah ...
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NewsBahn 2030 vision emerges
SWITZERLAND: Further expansion of the national rail network is envisaged in ambitious plans outlined in December by the transport ministry. Following completion of the successful Bahn 2000 investment project, attention switched to a more limited programme of improvements to the rail network known as Zukünftigen Entwicklung der Bahninfrastruktur (RG ...
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NewsExtra funds will speed up French investment
FRANCE: Announcing a further package of measures to relaunch the economy on February 2, Prime Minister François Fillon revealed that an additional €300m is to be invested in the rail network. Addressing the inter-ministerial committee charged by President Sarkozy with revitalising the economy, Fillon said that more than 1 ...
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News20-year GSM-R support contract signed
NORWAY: Infrastructure manager Jernbaneverket and Nokia Siemens Networks have signed a 20-year communications support agreement. The contract covers hardware, spares, and software support for the GSM-R mobile network supplied by Nokia Siemens Networks which has been in operation for more than a year. 'The service contract with ...
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NewsNation Building investment plan
AUSTRALIA: The commonwealth government is to inject A$1·2bn into Australian Rail Track Corp as part of a A$4·7bn package of investment in railways, roads and education which was announced by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on December 12. The ‘Nation Building’ spending is intended to boost the competitiveness of the Australian ...
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NewsControl centre opens
ISRAEL: All ISR trains are now controlled and monitored from a single site following the completion of the National Centre of Control & Management in December. Formally opened on January 20, the Masua facility in Haifa replaces 10 regional signalling centres, and will enable more effective management of the network. ...
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NewsAlstom awarded ERTMS service contract
SWITZERLAND: Alstom has signed its first service contract with Swiss Federal Railways. The €22m deals covers the maintenance of Alstom ATLAS ETCS Level 2 equipment fitted to trains using the Mattstetten - Rothrist section of the Bern - Zürich route, for which Alstom also supplied trackside equipment. The company's ...
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NewsSiemens awarded £24m cab GSM-R contract
UK: Infrastructure manager Network Rail has awarded Siemens a £24m contract to supply and install GSM-R cab radios for the majority of train cabs over the next three years. The Railway Communications System digital network will replace analogue Cab Secure Radio and National Radio Network equipment. Siemens, Network ...
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NewsWorld infrastructure market January 2009
Australia: Under a A$1bn five-year contract placed by RailCorp, the Novo consortium of Laing O’Rourke, O’Donnell Griffin and Connell Wagner will undertake work on Sydney’s CityRail network, upgrading the Lidcombe - Granville corridor, commissioning two turn-backs, remodelling junctions and strengthening traction supplies. Canada: Toronto Transit Commission has awarded Aecom ...
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NewsContract placed for next stage of Libyan network
LIBYA: On January 22 China Railway Construction Corp announced it had signed a US$805m contract to build a further 172 km of the planned Libyan rail network. Work on the line from Tripoli to Ras Ejder on the Tunisian border is scheduled to take 54 months. In 2008 CRCC ...
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NewsRail to benefit from Obama stimulus
USA: Following his inauguration on January 20, President Barack Obama is pushing ahead with legislation to fund a national economic stimulus package. The new administration reportedly wants to see the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act passed by both the House and Senate in Congress and be ready for the President’s ...
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NewsCzechs to outsource infrastructure maintenance
CZECH REPUBLIC: State-owned infrastructure manager SZDC has called bids for a 8½ year contract worth an estimated KC35·8bn to maintain the national network between July 2009 and December 2017. The outsourcing programme covers 60% to 70% of SZDC’s total annual expenditure, and following previous analysis it is hoping for ...
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NewsHigh Speed Two to consider UK options
UK: Giving the government's backing for controversial plans to build a third runway at London Heathrow airport on January 15, Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon announced the formation of a body to consider the case for a London to Scotland high speed line. A decision on major electrification projects on existing ...
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NewsSakhalin link proposed
RUSSIA: Visiting Tokyo on January 14, Transport Minister Igor Levitin issued an invitation for Japanese companies to participate in Russian transport infrastructure projects, highlighting in particular the planned rail link between the mainland and the island of Sakhalin. According to Vice-Minister Andrei Nedossekov, the government has allocated US$370m in ...
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NewsADIF heads for profit
SPAIN: As well as directing Europe’s largest high speed line construction programme, infrastructure authority ADIF has been set the amibitious target of moving into profit by 2010. Robert Preston put the questions to ADIF President Antonio González.
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NewsPKP PLK awards signalling contract
POLAND: Infrastructure manager PKP PLK has awarded a consortium led by PKP Energetyka and including Bombardier a contract to supply Interflo 200 signalling equipment for the section of the Warszawa - Gdynia main line through Tczew. Bombardier's share of the contract is worth €20m, and covers the provision of ...
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NewsAntwerpen - Aachen freight corridor is fully electrified
BELGIUM: The electrification of the cross-border link between Montzen and Aachen West was formally inaugurated on December 12. Dr Harry Hondius reports.
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NewsDisplay wall commissioned
VIDEO WALL: Siemens and Barco have commissioned a rear-projected video wall at the Namur signalling centre of Belgian infrastructure manager Infrabel. A similar wall was already in service in Brugge, and a further 12 are to be installed across the country by 2012. The wall ‘presents operators with all key ...
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NewsLevante line takes shape
SPAIN: Construction and fitting out works are proceeding apace on the high speed line which will link Madrid with Valencia and the Murcia region.