Infrastructure news – Page 273
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NewsBeijing - Tianjin high speed line opens for business
CHINA: Tickets for high speed services between Beijing and Tianjin went on sale on July 31, the day before the formal opening of the 117 km line. Testing was successfully completed on June 30, since when 100 000 km of trial running has been undertaken without passengers. Regular services will ...
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NewsFunding agreed for LGV Bretagne
FRANCE: On July 29 Minister for Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development & Planning Jean-Louis Borloo signed an agreement establishing the funding mechanism and provisional construction timetable for a 132 km extension of the TGV Atlantique high speed line from Le Mans to Rennes. Costed at €3·4bn, the project also involves ...
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NewsHeavy haul in the high north
CANADA: Within a few years, Baffin Island in the Arctic archipelago will see construction of the world's most northerly railway, currently being designed by Canarail. The harsh environment poses daunting challenges in terms of design, construction and operation.
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NewsFortescue opens the world's heaviest haul railway
AUSTRALIA: A remarkable iron ore railway has been built across the Pilbara region in record time. John Kirk reports.
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Madrid - Valencia contracts awarded
SPAIN: Infrastructure authority ADIF has awarded 14 contracts worth a total of €430m for construction of the high speed line that will connect Madrid with Valencia, Alacant and Cartagena. On the branch to Cartagena, two civil works contracts worth a total of €83·3m have been awarded to Pavasal, Obrum and ...
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NewsGautrain from dream to reality
SOUTH AFRICA: The Gautrain rapid rail link between Johannesburg and Tshwane is taking shape, with the first section on course to enter revenue service before the two cities host the 2010 football World Cup.
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NewsCarrying commuters in comfort
SOUTH AFRICA: Bombardier's proven Electrostar EMU family is being customised for South Africa, giving a powerful demonstration of modern high-quality rail services.
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Testing takes train into Laos
LAOS: State Railway of Thailand began running test trains over the recently-completed rail link into Laos on July 4. SRT plans to operate two test trains a day until July 15, with passengers carried free of charge but unable to alight in Laos until customs facilities are completed. The railway ...
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NewsEIB funds Warszawa - Gdynia upgrade
POLAND: Infrastructure manage PKP PLK signed a €400m loan agreement with the European Investment Bank on June 30. The money will fund the modernisation of the main line between Warszawa, Gdansk and Gdynia to enable trains to run at up to 200 km/h. Current speed restrictions on the 350 ...
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NewsNetwork Rail team to study high speed corridors
UK: Citing increasing capacity constraints and projections of strong growth in passenger and freight demand over the next 25 years, Network Rail announced on June 23 that it was launching a 'strategic review into the case for building new rail lines across the network of Great Britain'. A team ...
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Ambitious vision in East Africa
AFRICA: Following closely on the aborted multi-billion-dollar scheme to replace Nigeria's dilapidated 1 067 mm gauge railway with a new standard-gauge network, the East African Community has announced a 'master plan' to do something similar with the metre-gauge lines in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. According to Magaga Alot from the ...
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Africa miners in the railway market
AFRICA: As two European companies start work on short-term contracts to rescue the existing railway networks in the Democractic Republic of Congo, word reaches us of ambitious plans to build more than 3 000 km of new railway in that country, together with further spending on roads, hospitals and hydro-electric ...
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UK high speed rail development fund announced
UK: High speed rail pressure group Greengauge 21 announced a £750 000 strategy development programme at a Rail Forum event in Birmingham on June 13. The work programme will examine five broad corridors linking Britain's major urban areas: London - Birmingham - ManchesterLondon - ...
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NewsLong-term TGV plans
FRANCE: Legislation being drawn up following the national environmental summit at the end of 2007 (RG 12.07 p743) confirms that another 2 000 km of high speed lines will be launched by 2020. New lines listed in the first of three draft laws unveiled on April 30 by Jean-Louis Borloo, ...
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NewsChina Gateway rail contract awarded
KAZAKHSTAN: Eurasian Natural Resources Corp has signed a US$775m 28-year concession agreement to build and operate the 298 km Zhetigen - Korgas rail link between Kazakhstan and China. The China Gateway Project to create a second rail link between the countries is a key element of the Kazakh government's infrastructure ...
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Consultants appointed in Oman
OMAN: Consultants have been appointed to undertake a study into the feasibility of building a 200 km freight railway between the port of Suhar and a planned container terminal at Birka to the north of the capital Masqat. Minister of National Economy Ahmed Macki told the local media on April ...
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NewsWork on Tanger - Kénitra high speed line to start soon
MOROCCO: Work is to begin this year on the first phase of a high speed line master plan costing 100bn dirhams which is predicted to increase rail patronage from 52 to 133 million passengers a year by 2030. According to ONCF's Director Strategy & Development Azzedine El Amraoui, the ...
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Inland Railway study
AUSTRALIA: The federal government has commissioned an economic feasibility study to develop an optimum alignment for an inland railway between Melbourne and Brisbane. Transport & Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese announced on March 28 that A$15m has been allocated for the study, which ARTC is to complete by August 2009. At ...
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Upgrade package approved
AZERBAIJAN: The World Bank has approved a US$450m financing package to support the modernisation of the national rail network, with particular focus on the 550 km east-west corridor linking Baku with the Georgian capital Tbilisi (RG 1.08 p50). The Bank said on March 27 that the Railway Trade & ...