Infrastructure news – Page 54
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NewsNanning – Chongzuo PDL opens
CHINA: The 121 km Nanning – Chongzuo Passenger-Dedicated Line opened on December 5. With a line speed of 250 km/h, the route cuts the journey time between the two cities from 2 h 36 min to 52 min.
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NewsVenezia Marco Polo link let as RFI pushes ahead with airport rail connections
Italy: Infrastructure manager RFI has awarded a €428m contract to construct a rail line to Venezia’s Marco Polo Airport, while it called tenders for rail links to Brindisi Salento Airport and Bergamo’s Orio al Serio airport.
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In depthGreece: Rail revival struggles to gain momentum
Despite a macroeconomic recovery and an injection of EU funding for infrastructure, Greece’s rail recovery is still facing headwinds, typified by the low-key launch of Pendolino services between the country’s two principal cities. Toma Bačić reports from Athens.
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NewsWork starts on Gaspésie realignment
CANADA: Work has started on the reconstruction of a section of the Gaspé Railway in Québec, as part of a programme to restore freight and passenger trains to the Gaspé peninsula. VIA Rail long-distance passenger trains between Montréal and Gaspé were suspended in 2011 owing to ...
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News$9bn to fund Northeast Corridor upgrading
USA: The Department of Transportation is making available nearly $9bn in funding to support infrastructure renewals and expand passenger services along Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor
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Metro Report InternationalFour tram-train studies commissioned
SPAIN: Catalunya operator FGC has awarded four contracts for studies to estimate the construction costs, potential demand and operating characteristics for proposed tram-train networks totalling 280 km. Ayesa Ingeniería y Servicios has been awarded a €88 200, eight month contract for the study of a proposed ...
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NewsChinese east-west high speed line inaugurated
CHINA: A further 91 km section of the Yuxia high speed line was opened on December 26, with the start of revenue services between Changde and Yiyang.
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In depthAustralia: Reshaping Brisbane’s rail connections
With construction of the Cross River Rail link well underway, Queensland’s state government has unveiled a comprehensive strategy for development of Brisbane’s regional rail network to accommodate projected population growth. Chris Jackson explores the proposals.
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NewsMetre-gauge line to be resignalled
SPAIN: ADIF has awarded Thales a 27-month contract worth €20·8m to supply ASFA Digital ATP to replace telephone block working on the 101 km single track, non-electrified Ortigueira – Ribadeo section of the Oviedo – Ferrol metre gauge line along the north coast. Existing colour light ...
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NewsRegioPanter EMUs enter service on electrified regional line
CZECH REPUBLIC: Electric services have begun running on the Olomouc – Uničov – Šumperk line, which is to become SŽ’s first regional route to be controlled exclusively using ETCS.
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NewsVIA Rail establishes High Frequency Rail project office
CANADA: National passenger train operator VIA Rail has established VIA HFR – VIA TGF Inc to act as a dedicated project office for development and delivery of the High Frequency Rail project. This envisages the provision of dedicated tracks for 200 km/h electric passenger trains on ...
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NewsNext phase of Kosovo rail modernisation gets underway
KOSOVO: Work has begun to modernise the 34 km Mitrovicë – Fushë Kosovë line as the second stage of a €208m three-phase programme to enhance the corridor linking North Macedonia with Serbia. The route is part of the Western Balkans core rail network and an extension ...
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NewsFirenze high speed station and tunnel contract awarded
ITALY: Infrastructure manager RFI has awarded a contract valued at more than €1bn to a consortium of Impresa Pizzarotti & C and Saipem for work on the Milano – Roma high speed line through the northern part of Firenze.
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NewsHigh speed line opening boosts international rail axis
GERMANY: ‘Stuttgart and Ulm are moving closer together, but also Paris and Budapest’, said Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg Winfried Kretschmann at the official inauguration of the 59∙6 km Wendlingen – Ulm high speed line two days before revenue services started with the December 11 timetable change. The importance ...
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NewsKyrgyz Railways to increase climate resilience
KYRGYZSTAN: National railway KTJ is to replace wagons, undertake climate mitigation works and promote economic inclusion using €11m of financial support which has been arranged by the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development. The package comprises a 12-year sovereign bank loan of up to €8m, plus ...
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NewsKing opens Norway’s longest railway tunnel
NORWAY: Bane Nor’s 22 km Follobanen high speed line between Oslo and Ski was officially opened by King Harald V on December 12, the day after the start of revenue operations with the annual European timetable change.
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NewsNext phase of Korea’s Central Inland Line approved
SOUTH KOREA: The government has given the go-ahead for construction from 2026 of the final Mungyeong – Gimcheon section of the Central Inland Line medium high speed corridor. The 250 km/h, single-track Central Inland Line is being developed in phases to link Seoul with Gimcheon on ...
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Metro Report InternationalLisboa – Cascais suburban line voltage conversion contract awarded
PORTUGAL: A €31·6m contract for the modernisation of the Lisboa Cais do Sodré – Cascais suburban line and the conversion of its electrification from 1·5 kV DC to 25 kV 50 Hz has been awarded to the Spanish-Portuguese Comsa/Fergrupo consortium. The re-electrification will make the line ...
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NewsKlagenfurt – Weizelsdorf line electrified
AUSTRIA: A €50m 18-month project to modernise and electrify the 12·1 km Klagenfurt – Weizelsdorf line was completed when the route re-opened for revenue services with the December 11 timetable change. The line is Route S3 of the Kärnten S-Bahn network. According to operator ÖBB, the ...
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Rail Business UKMidlands Rail Hub upgrade package dubbed ‘biggest step possible in levelling-up the Midlands’
UK: Sub-national transport body Midlands Connect has published Going for Growth, proposing up to £1·5bn of new or improved infrastructure in 2025-30 to ‘transform east-west connections in the Midlands’ by facilitating the operation of more than 100 extra trains. The outline business case for the ‘biggest ...