Infrastructure news – Page 78
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Rail Business UKCrossrail 2 and major infrastructure investment still required on South West Main Line despite Covid-19 effect, warns Network Rail
UK: A report issued by Network Rail indicates that the expected drop in commuter and business travel caused by Covid-19 will not be sufficient to remove the need for major infrastructure investment on the South West Main Line serving London Waterloo, including potential resumption of work on Crossrail 2.
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NewsVossloh awarded Norwegian turnout framework contract
NORWAY: Infrastructure manager Bane NOR has awarded Vossloh Nordic Switch Systems a framework agreement for the supply of switches and crossings, as well as spare parts for existing turnouts, and the development of a range of switches for heavy haul lines. The agreement includes the just-in-time ...
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NewsETCS Level 2 goes live on Roskilde – Køge – Næstved line
DENMARK: All trains on the Roskilde – Køge – Næstved line in Sjælland began operating using ETCS Level 2 with effect from August 3, after infrastructure manager Banedanmark commissioned the next phase of its national Signalling Programme.
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NewsSoft launch for Bangkok’s Red Line suburban services
THAILAND: State Railway of Thailand held a soft launch for Bangkok’s Red Line elevated metre-gauge suburban rail corridor on August 2, offering three months of free travel before the start of full commercial services in November. Services on the Red Line were inaugurated by Prime Minister ...
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NewsGerman associations seek more competition in second rail reform
GERMANY: An alliance of industry associations has called for a major reform of railway policy that would introduce full vertical separation of infrastructure and operations and foster more on-rail competition. In a position paper published on August 2, seven organisations assert that climate change objectives can only ...
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NewsUIC Extreme Weather taskforce gets to work
INTERNATIONAL: The International Union of Railways’ Taskforce on Extreme Weather Conditions has been launched, and will initially focus on addressing the impact of heavy rain and floods. Strong winds are proposed as a focus for next year, and earthquakes in 2023. UIC’s Safety Platform decided to ...
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NewsCPTM locomotive rolled out
BRAZIL: Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos has received the first of two diesel-electric locomotives that will be used for hauling maintenance trains on São Paulo’s 1 600 mm gauge suburban network.
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NewsKarawanken tunnel reopened
EUROPE: Cross-border rail services have resumed on the Villach – Ljubljana route between Austria and Slovenia, following the completion of a 10-month refurbishment of the Karawanken tunnel. Dating from 1906, the 7 975 m bore had been closed to all traffic from September 7 ...
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NewsPort Botany freight capacity enhancement contracts awarded
AUSTRALIA: Australian Rail Track Corp has awarded two contracts for works to increase freight capacity on the Port Botany line in Sydney. John Holland has been awarded a design and build contract for the Botany Rail Duplication project to double-track the remaining 2·9 km of single ...
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NewsADIF AV lets contract to build first section of Cantabrian high speed line
SPAIN: ADIF Alta Velocidad has awarded Sacyr Construcciones a 36-month contract worth €77∙3m to for civil works on a 20∙8 km section of high speed line between Palencia Norte and Amusco.
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NewsSecond Baikal tunnel bore opened
RUSSIA: President Putin has inaugurated the second bore of the Baikal tunnel, built as part of a double-tracking project which will increase capacity on the Delbichinda to Daban section of the Baikal – Amur main line from 17 to 85 trains each way per day. ...
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NewsFriesen Bridge replacement project gets underway
GERMANY: A ceremony has been held to symbolically launch work to build the largest swing bridge of its kind in Europe, which will replace the Friesen Bridge over the River Ems near the Dutch border which was irreparably damaged by a cargo ship in December 2015. ...
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In depthComment: Modal shift still key to rail’s green agenda
In the transport sector, the urge to decarbonise is manifesting itself in an increasingly frenetic push for the roll-out of hydrogen fuel cell and battery technology to replace internal combustion in everything from cars to small aircraft. These offer significant potential for decarbonising rail too, but should not be prioritised over the need to deliver modal shift from more polluting forms of mobility, argues our Managing Editor Nick Kingsley.
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NewsBrno selects ‘grand and human, monumental and tangible’ design for new main station
CZECH REPUBLIC: The city of Brno has selected a team of Benthem Crouwel Architects and urban design company West 8 as the winner of an international competition to design a new main station in the Trnitá urban redevelopment area. Completion is envisaged in 2032-35 at a ...
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NewsCollapsed bridge replaced in two days
RUSSIA: A bridge on the trans-Siberian line has been replaced within two days of being destroyed by flooding. The bridge between Kuenga and Ukurey collapsed on July 23. Trains had already been suspended after structural faults were identified, with local passengers being transported by bus between ...
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News‘Enormous potential’ to cut CO2 emissions with battery traction
GERMANY: A strategy for widespread adoption of battery-electric trains for local and regional passenger services has been put forward by Germany’s Railway Industry Association. With academic input from the technical universities of Berlin and Dresden, the report is presented as a background and position paper intended ...
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NewsEgyptian signalling equipment commissioned
EGYPT: Alstom has installed and commissioned a Smartlock 400GP electronic interlocking, Iconis SCADA and an 11 kV substation at Quseia to cover a 15 km section of the 240 km Beni Suef – Asyut line along the Nile to the south of ...
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Rail Business UKThales to develop ETCS data security system
UK: Network Rail has appointed Thales to develop and implement an Online Key Management System to secure the exchange of critical data between trackside and in-cab ETCS equipment. ‘The online element of this solution is truly innovative, having not yet been implemented elsewhere in the world, ...
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NewsFinancing agreed for Ghana’s Western railway upgrade
GHANA: Loans totalling €600m have been signed to finance construction of a 100 km section of 1 435 mm gauge line on the Western Railway corridor running inland from Takoradi Harbour to Huni Valley. The existing 1 067 mm gauge Western Railway runs from Takoradi to ...
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NewsStandard gauge freight terminal opens in Lithuania
LITHUANIA: The Kaunas Intermodal Terminal opened to commercial freight traffic on July 19, with Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė amongst the guests at a ceremony welcoming the arrival of a 1 435 mm gauge train loaded with containers and semi-trailers from the Netherlands. Work began in spring ...