Infrastructure news – Page 8
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NewsEU recovery funds underwrite two more Italian route modernisation schemes
ITALY: As part of an intensive investment programme underpinned by EU funding, infrastructure manager RFI has awarded two route enhancement contracts totalling €633m. Under a €374·2m contract announced on October 31, a consortium of Eteria Consorzio Stabile Scarl and Salcef is to double-track the 9 km ...
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NewsRevised California high speed rail track and electrification design RFQ issued
USA: California High-Speed Rail Authority has released a new request for qualifications for a contract to provide design services for the track and overhead electrification systems. The contract has an estimated value of up to $131·2m, plus options. It would cover high-level designs for track and ...
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NewsAustria announces €21bn rail investment plan
AUSTRIA: The federal government has announced a €21·1bn railway infrastructure investment plan for 2024–29, an increase on the previous plans to spend €19bn in 2023-28. This includes the addition of projects worth €1·5bn. ‘With this framework investment plan, we are securing the railway expansion programme in ...
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NewsBari – Martina Franca line electrified
ITALY: Ferrovie del Sud Est has completed electrification of the 81 km line running from Bari through Casamassima and Putignano to Martina Franca. This will save 1 900 tonnes of CO2 a year, FS Group subsidiary FSE said when the electrification was inaugurated on October 16. ...
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NewsAI looks for patterns to identify track and wheel faults
TRACK: ZF Group has started using vibrations and artificial intelligence to monitor track condition, wheel fatigue and damage. Connect@rail uses ZF’s heavy duty inertia sensors to detect potential irregularities from rail surface defects and wheel faults. AI is used to filter out common events such as ...
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NewsCalifornian coastal railway to be relocated inland
USA: San Diego Association of Governments has selected HDR in partnership with Mott MacDonald and SMEs to undertake environmental clearance and advanced conceptual engineering for a project to replace a section of coastal railway by a new inland alignment. The LOSSAN Rail Realignment Project would bypass ...
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In depthItaly: Accelerating ERTMS deployment offers great benefits
Italian infrastructure manager RFI has launched an accelerated programme to equip the entire national network with ETCS by 2036. National ETCS Project Manager Nazzareno Filippini explains the thinking behind the strategy.
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NewsGotthard Base Tunnel repairs could take until September 2024
Source: SBB SWITZERLAND: The 57 km Gotthard Base Tunnel may not fully reopen until September 2024, 13 months after a derailed freight train badly damaged the track in the western bore. In an update on November 2 Swiss Federal Railways said the damage to the world’s ...
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NewsPandrol launches Common Interface to futureproof non-ballasted track
INTERNATIONAL: Pandrol has launched a Common Interface System for ballastless track, so that the fastenings can be adapted quickly and affordably to meet changing performance requirements.
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NewsNamibian railway modernisation loan approved
NAMIBIA: The African Development Bank has approved a US$196·4m loan to support the second phase of Namibia’s Transport Infrastructure Improvement Project. The loan approved on October 31 will cover 51·8% of the total cost, leaving the Namibian government to provide the remaining 48·2%. The project aims ...
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NewsNijmegen – Roermond upgrading and electrification contract awarded
NETHERLANDS: Infrastructure manager ProRail has awarded Swietelsky Rail Benelux a contract to upgrade, partly double-track and electrify the 88 km Nijmegen – Roermond line. The Maaslijn is one of the longest and most intensively used diesel-operated single-track lines in the Netherlands, with the Arriva-operated services carrying ...
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Rail Business UKRegulator approves Network Rail’s £43·1bn five-year plan
UK: The Office of Rail & Road has published its final determination setting out how Network Rail plans to use the £43·1bn being made available to fund infrastructure operation, maintenance and renewal during the five-year Control Period 7 starting on April 1 2024. Network Rail has ...
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Rail Business UKAutomated cliff monitoring protects Dawlish railway
UK: Smart cameras, sensors, Telent’s MICA workforce automation platform and Purple Transform’s SiYtE insights software have been combined to alert staff to safety risks where the railway at Dawlish runs below potentially unstable cliffs. IoT sensors fitted along the cliffs detect any rock fall and send ...
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NewsIndian Railways completes Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor
INDIA: Indian Railways has completed construction of the 1 337 km Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor linking Ludhiana in the state of Punjab to Sonnagar in Bihar, enabling it to operate freight trains with heavier trailing loads at higher average speeds.
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NewsCroatian rail infrastructure project funding signed
CROATIA: Rail infrastructure manager HŽ Infrastruktura and the European Climate, Infrastructure & Environment Executive Agency have signed Connecting Europe Facility funding agreements for two projects. The first is the double-tracking and modernisation of the Ivanić-Grad – Popovača and Popovača – Kutina sections of the Dugo Selo ...
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NewsDouble-tracking towards Thai-Laos border funded
THAILAND: The Prime Minister’s Office formally approved State Railway of Thailand’s request for 29·7m baht to double-track the Khon Kaen – Nong Khai railway line on October 16. The 167 km long metre-gauge north-south route runs to Nong Khai near the border with Laos. It handles ...
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Rail Business UKZero on-site emission overhead line renewals
UK: Infrastructure manager Network Rail has completed a four-night overhead line equipment renewal project at Royston which, for the first time in its Eastern Region, was undertaken with the worksite producing no carbon emissions. Hybrid engineering vehicles operated solely in battery mode, welfare facilities were powered ...
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NewsTesting starts on next phase of Hokuriku Shinkansen
JAPAN: Trial running has started on the next section of the Hokuriku Shinkansen, which is scheduled to open for revenue service on March 16 2024.
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Rail Business UKNetwork Rail to study composite sleeper profiles
UK: Network Rail has awarded Dutch company Lankhorst Rail a contract to assist with the development of the next generation of railway sleeper. The infrastructure manager plans to use Lankhorst’s KLP composite sleepers manufactured from recycled plastic reinforced with steel to investigate the bending stiffness, flexibility ...
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NewsDhaka – Bhanga railway across the Padma Bridge opens
BANGLADESH: The 82 km line from Dhaka to Bhanga via the 6·2 km Padma Bridge was inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on October 10, ahead of the start of commercial services on November 1. The Prime Minister said the inauguration of the line marks a ...