Infrastructure news – Page 276
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NewsFortescue spends to make up lost time
AUSTRALIA'S Fortescue Metals Group is due to receive shortly the last of 820 wagons ordered from China to carry iron ore on the 310 km heavy haul railway that it is building between its mine at Cloud Break and Port Hedland in the Pilbara region. The last wagon was due ...
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NewsChina rolls out 300 km/h trainset
THE FIRST Chinese-built high speed trainset capable of 300 km/h operation was rolled out at Sifang Locomotive works on December 22. The design is derived from East Japan Railway's E2-1000 Shinkansen trains, and follows from a batch of 60 CRH2 sets developed by a Kawasaki-led consortium and assembled by Sifang ...
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NewsLGV expansion plans firm up
RESEAU Ferré de France has chosen three groups to compete for the PPP concession to finance and build the Sud Europe Atlantique high speed line from Tours to Bordeaux (RG 6.07 p363). The contract for the 300 km project is due to be signed in early 2009. The Bouygues group ...
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Gulf rail links beckon
ONE REGION that has long harboured ambitions for an international rail network is the Gulf, although there has been little progress to report. With Saudi Arabia forging ahead with its north-south mineral line, east-west Landbridge and Western Railway (RG 8.07 p465), others are keen to join the party. Reports surfaced ...
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NewsTaiwan's high speed line takes off
A celebration on October 24 marked the formal completion of the high speed line between Taipei and Kaohsiung. THSRC Chairman Nita Ing talks to Chris Jackson about the challenges of transforming the company from a builder to an operator and paying off the US$16bn cost of the world's biggest BOT ...
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News‘Depot mark 2’ promises faster maintenance of faster trains
Andrew Grantham reports from Eurostar Engineering Centre Temple Mills
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NewsEurlings puts back HSL-Zuid 'Go' date
AS WE have reported before, the prospects for a start of passenger services on HSL-Zuid with the December 2007 timetable change have been declining steadily. Now it is official: Dutch Transport Minister Camiel Eurlings has confirmed that the start of revenue operation had been postponed indefinitely. On October 4 ...
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NewsBrussels Diabolo PPP agreement signed
BELGIUM: The first PPP in Belgium reached financial close on September 28, allowing infrastructure authority Infrabel to announce the formal go-ahead for the long-planned Diabolo project, which will improve rail links to Brussels Airport and Antwerpen. Infrabel is working with private-sector investors HSH Nordbank AG and Babcock & Brown, who ...
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NewsLondon Crossrail gets the go-ahead
PRIME Minister Gordon Brown gave the go-ahead for London's long-awaited Crossrail project on October 5, with details of the funding package announced by Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling four days later. The total cost was put at up to £16bn, allowing for inflation during construction and inclusive of land, ...
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Corus wins Gautrain rail contract
SOUTH AFRICA: Steelmaker Corus announced on October 1 that it had won a €16·5m contract to supply the 20 000 tonnes of rail needed for the Gautrain project in South Africa. The first rails will be produced at the Corus steel works at Hayange in France this month, and shipped ...
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Six on Western Railway shortlist
SAUDI Railways Organisation announced on June 25 that six of the seven bidding groups had been shortlisted for a BOT concession to build the 444 km Western Railway high speed line linking Makkah, Jeddah and Madinah. Transport Minister Dr Jobara Al-Suraisry expects that tenders will be invited in the next ...
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NewsExpress Link moves ahead
FEASIBILITY studies for the planned Express Rail Link between Shenzhen and Kowloon were submitted to the Hong Kong government at the end of June. The project covers a 28 km alignment from Futian in Shenzhen to a terminus in West Kowloon. Outline details of the project were ...
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Afghan rebuild underway
AFGHANISTAN: Ceremonies were held at Towraghondi in Afghanistan and Serhetabat in Turkmenistan on July 11, marking the start of work to rehabilitate 2 km of cross-border railway. The cost of the reconstruction is put at US$550 000, which Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov told Afghan President Hamid Karzai his country will ...
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NewsBetuwe Route opens for business
The dedicated freight route running for 160 km between the port of Rotterdam and the German border finally welcomed its first commercial services on June 18.
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NewsManaging rail degradation on the Malmbanan
An upgrading programme started in 1998 and due to be completed by 2010 is allowing the introduction of heavier axleloads on Sweden's heavy haul iron ore line, permitting gross train weights to be increased to more than 8 000 tonnes. But the transition requires careful management if degradation of the ...
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NewsInfrastructure research
A THREE-YEAR research programme into Track-Train System Availability was officially launched at Eurotunnel's Coquelles terminal on April 26. Eurotunnel is working with I-Trans, RFF, Corus, Sculfort and other industry and academic partners to develop and test new products and analysis systems, with a particular focus on improving track quality and ...
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Yakutsk Railway heads for the Lena
Construction work is pressing ahead on the new line through Russia’s Sakha Republic, which is in on course to reach Yakutsk in 2010
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Mokpo high speed line moves ahead
Construction of South Korea's second high speed line starts this year, underlining the government's commitment to invest in the national network. The 230 km line will put the port city of Mokpo less than 2 h away from Seoul
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Exposing the real infrastructure cost drivers
Why are life-cycle infrastructure costs five times lower in the USA than in the Netherlands, but are 50% to 200% higher in Japan and Hong Kong? Jan Swier* shows how these huge cost differences can be explained, allowing them to be predicted more accurately OVER THE LAST 10 years, Netherlands ...
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NewsLevel 2 to be installed on Nürnberg - München corridor
A decision to fit ETCS Level 2 on DB's main line between two major cities in south Germany means that three separate signalling and train control systems will operate in parallel on one route