Infrastructure news – Page 270
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News
Barcelona station contracts awarded
SPAIN: Catalunya’s infrastructure manager Ifercat has awarded concessions to build and manage 26 stations on Barcelona metro Line 9 to two consortia headed by FCC and Dragados. Both concessions will last for 30 years after completion of the civil works, and will inject private financing into the project budget. Ifercat ...
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NewsBotniabanan freight starts
SWEDEN: Freight traffic is now running on a 26 km section of the Botniabanan between Örnsköldsvik and Husum, using 4 km spur to serve M-Real’s pulp and paper mill in Husum. Chief Executive of Botniabanan AB Lennart Westberg told 220 guests at the inauguration event held on October 16 that ...
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NewsHoon backs electrification strategy
UK: There are signs that the long drought in railway electrification since privatisation may soon be over. Around a third of Network Rail's 15 810 route-km is currently electrified, including 3 220 km at 25 kV 50 Hz and 1 995 km using 750 V DC third rail. Much of ...
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NewsAccords signed to bring broad gauge to Wien
SLOVAKIA: In a ceremony at the Dobra container transfer terminal near the Ukrainian border, Minister of Transport Lubomir Vazny signed a Memorandum of Intent on November 25 with Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin and Deputy Director of Ukrainian Railways Michael Kospjuk for the construction of a 1 520 mm gauge ...
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NewsLoan targets western China development
CHINA: The Asian Development Bank has announced a US$300m loan towards the US$8·6bn cost of building a 820 km railway from Lanzhou in Gansu province, through Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces to the manufacturing city of Chongqing. Intended to bolster economic growth in poorer areas of western China where nearly 17 ...
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NewsEuro 2012 deadline catalyses network upgrade
POLAND: The unexpected decision to name Poland as co- host of the UEFA European football championship in 2012 has focused attention on ensuring passenger services are able to meet the anticipated demand. A raft of improvements to inter-regional lines and major stations is now underway, as Ryszard Piech explains.
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NewsIntercontinental Bridge of the Horns proposed
RED SEA: Ambitious proposals have been revealed for a bridge across the Bab al-Mandib, or Gate of Tears, between Djibouti and Yemen. The US$20bn Bridge of the Horns would be 28·5 km long, with three 2·7 km suspension spans, the longest in the world. It would carry ...
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NewsBurundi rail project to begin next year?
AFRICA: Burundi's Minister of Transport, Post & Telecommunications Philippe Njoni announced on November 5 that he expects a five-year, US$4bn international rail project to commence in 2009. The proposed 691 km railway will run from Bujumbura in Burundi and Kigali in Rwanda to Isaka on Tanzania's metre gauge Dar-es-Salaam ...
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NewsAmbitious upgrading plans take shape
SLOVENIA: Up to €9bn will be spent over the next 15 years to upgrade Slovenia's trunk rail corridors, under a programme being developed by the Ministry of Transport.
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NewsLiefkenshoek PPP reaches financial close
BELGIUM: Work is to start on November 12 on construction of the Liefkenshoek Connection serving the port of Antwerpen, following the signing of a PPP concession for the project. Infrastructure manager Infrabel confirmed on November 5 that it had reached financial close on the deal, under which LocoRail NV will ...
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NewsPlastic track installed in Germany
SLEEPERS: A service life of at least 50 years is expected from the Eslon Neo Lumber FFU Polyurethane sleepers which Voestalpine has installed on private sidings serving a chemical plant at Leverkusen in Germany. The 74 m turnout has 136 sleepers between 2 200 and 4 500 mm long. They ...
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NewsIranian links make progress
ARMENIA: Construction of a rail link to Iran is likely to be pushed forward with Russian backing, following the recent conflict between Russia and Georgia. At a meeting in Sochi in September, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev discussed the project with his Armenian counterpart Serch Sarkissjan as part of a co-operation ...
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NewsPoland prepares to take the high speed plunge
POLAND: An invitation to bid for a high speed line feasibility study is due to be issued by the end of the year, kicking off a process that could see a Y–shaped route enter service in 2019.
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NewsRoom on the Rails
NETHERLANDS: An ambitious vision for a massive increase in traffic on the national rail network by 2020 was unveiled by Transport Minister Camiel Eurlings on September 3. The government is projecting a 5% annual increase in rail patronage, as well as further growth in rail freight. HSL-Zuid and the Betuwe ...
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NewsCapacity boost is needed
DENMARK: September 22 saw the start of a public enquiry into plans by the national rail authority Trafikstyrelsen into ways of expanding capacity on the country’s busiest line between København and Ringsted. The project was launched in 1998, when the former rail infrastructure authority Banstyrelsen recognised that the existing main ...
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NewsNorrström Tunnel contract placed
SWEDEN: Banverket has awarded NCC Construction the SKr1·5bn contract for the Norrström tunnel, the section of the Stockholm Citybanan project between Riddarholmen and Gamla Brogatan. The work will be carried out under a new partnership model with Banverket. The contract covers the construction of a two-platform City station beneath ...
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NewsMarmaray tunnel completed
TURKEY: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an joined ceremonies in Istanbul on October 13 to mark completion of the immersed-tube tunnel which will carry the Marmaray rail link under the Bosporus. After removing the last seal from the final segment, Erdo?an was able to walk through the tunnel ...
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NewsAnsaldo STS wins in Turkish market
TURKEY: State railway TCDD has named a joint venture of Ansaldo STS subsidiaries Ansaldo Segnalamento Ferroviario and Ansaldo Trasporti Sistemi Ferroviari as the preferred bidder to design, supply and commission signalling and telecommunications equipment on two routes. The €126m contract to be signed next month gives Ansaldo STS its ...
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NewsPlanning a railway to the High Plateau
ALGERIA: The bidding process for construction of the High Plateau line is due to start this autumn.
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NewsWork starts on Beijing – Shijiazhuang line
CHINA: October 7 saw the formal start of construction work on the 281 km Passenger-Dedicated Line between Beijing and Shijiazhuang. The project is expected to be completed within four years, at an estimated cost of 43·8bn yuan. Parallelling the existing main line between the two cities, the PDL is expected ...