Infrastructure news – Page 32
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NewsZillertalbahn hydrogen plan dropped in favour of battery traction
AUSTRIA: Plans to replace diesel traction on the narrow gauge Zillertalbahn with hydrogen have been dropped in favour of battery operation. Decarbonisation is planned as part of the railway’s medium-term investment programme for 2025-30, and could save an estimated 900 000 litres of diesel per year. ...
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Rail Business UKArmitt criticises ‘blurred picture’ for rail development in wake of HS2 axe
UK: ‘It hasn’t been a great six months for rail’, suggested Sir John Armitt, Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission, in his keynote address to the Northern Transport Summit on March 21. Armitt was among a raft of policymakers and transport officials at the event who ...
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NewsAmtrak appoints contractor for $53m Unified Operations Center
tn_us-amtrak–baltimore-penn.jpg USA: Amtrak has selected Wohlsen Construction to build its Unified Operations Center in Wilmington, Delaware. The $53m UOC will provide integrated 24/7 monitoring and management of national operations, as well as dispatching for the mid-Atlantic Division covering the Washington – Philadelphia – Harrisburg corridor. It ...
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NewsManila passenger services suspended to accelerate commuter rail construction
PHILIPPINES: March 27 marked the last operation of passenger services for five years in the Manila metropolitan area in order to accelerate construction of the North-South Commuter Railway. Philippine National Railways suspended its diesel-worked operations on the Governor Pascual – Manila Tutuban and Tutuban – Alabang ...
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NewsAmtrak adopts Delivery Partner model to deliver Baltimore tunnel project
USA: Amtrak has awarded its first Delivery Partner contract, covering the $6bn Frederick Douglass Tunnel programme which it says is its single largest capital project. This covers the rebuilding of 6 km of the Northeast Corridor through central Baltimore, with the central element being two new bores ...
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NewsSiemens Mobility awarded Toronto infrastructure maintenance contract
CANADA: Greater Toronto area transport agency Metrolinx has awarded Siemens Mobility a contract to provide track, signalling and right-of-way maintenance services for its Central Region. The contract starts this summer. It builds on existing contracts covering the provision of similar services for the West Region, and ...
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In depthInterview: ‘Digital pioneers must prioritise simplicity’
Swedish start-up Strainlabs is one of the founding participants in the Vossloh Connect digital ecosystem. Vossloh’s Head of Digital Pierre-Henri Bougeant and Strainlabs’ CEO Csaba Madru explain the partnership and why in rail digitalisation, simplicity is key.
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NewsBritish Steel for the Suez Canal on tracks
EGYPT: British Steel has won a multi-million-pound contract to supply 9 500 tonnes of rail from its Scunthorpe plant in the UK for use on the 250 km/h Green Line railway. This corridor will link Mersa Matruh on the Mediterranean coast with Alexandria, the New Administrative ...
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Metro Report InternationalSeoul Metro to operate GTX-A when it opens on March 30
SOUTH KOREA: Seoul Metro has been selected as operator for Line A of the capital’s Great Train Express commuter rail network, ahead of the opening of the first section on March 30. When complete, the 82 km line with 11 stations will link Unjeong in the ...
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NewsPassenger services to be restored on Porto orbital line
PORTUGAL: Agreement has been reached to restore passenger services on an orbital line in the northern suburbs of Porto. The first trains are expected to begin running this year, following a 13-year hiatus. A protocol to restore passenger services was signed at São Mamede de Infesta ...
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NewsSwiss parliament agrees more long-term rail projects
SWITZERLAND: Parliament has approved a number of key changes to the national railway long-term investment programmes known as Ausbauschritte 2025 and 2035. The changes add around SFr3bn to the cost, taking the total to SFr23bn.
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Rail Business UKBreakthrough completes boring of High Speed 2’s longest tunnel
UK: On March 21, tunnel boring machine Cecilia broke through the north portal of the Chiltern Tunnel on High Speed 2.
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NewsSpanish dual gauging project makes progress
SPAIN: Infrastructure manager ADIF Alta Velocidad has enlarged the 558 m Gaintxurizketa tunnel between Errenteria and Irun as part of a project to provide a dual gauge link between the French border and the start of the future ‘Basque Y’ 1 435 mm gauge high speed ...
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NewsMoon railway concepts commissioned
MOON: The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has commissioned Northrop Grumman to develop a concept for a railway to transport humans, supplies and resources on the Moon. The study is to define the interfaces and resources required to build a lunar rail network; draw up ...
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Rail Business UKHope Valley blockade signals completion of Sheffield – Manchester upgrading scheme
UK: The final stage of the £137m Hope Valley Capacity Scheme is due to be finished on March 25, enhancing capacity for passenger and freight trains in the Sheffield – Manchester corridor.
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NewsSNCF Réseau awards major track renewal contracts
FRANCE: Infrastructure manager SNCF Réseau has awarded four major track renewal contracts designed to provide suppliers with increased visibility of future work. Eiffage Rail and Captrain will renew 49 turnouts on the Atlantique, Nord-Europe and Sud-Est high speed lines in a contract which runs for four ...
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NewsJoint venture to manage upgraded Baku – Tbilisi – Kars railway
ASIA: An equally-owned binational joint venture is to be set up to manage the Azeri and Georgian sections of the Baku – Tbilisi – Kars railway once current upgrading works are completed. Azerbaijan’s and Georgia’s state railways currently hold sole responsibility for the sections of line ...
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NewsHigh speed rail bypass contract awarded
SPAIN: High speed rail infrastructure manager ADIF Alta Velocidad has awarded Sacyr Construcción a €49m contract to build the first section of a 19 km bypass around the town of Loja on the Antequera – Granada high speed line. Trains currently use a single track, dual ...
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In depthDecarbonisation: Accelerating the electrification task
Network Rail is now deploying UK-based Gripple’s SwiftLine Rail Dropper, which the supplier believes will speed up key steps in the installation of overhead electrification equipment.
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NewsMalmbanan iron ore railway reopens after derailments
SWEDEN: Iron ore trains on the single-track railway between Kiruna and Narvik resumed on March 6 following two recent derailments. Toma Bačić reports.