Australia: Laing O’Rourke Construction Australia has been appointed managing contractor for A$45m of preliminary works for Sydney’s A$1·6bn CBD & South East Light Rail project.
Ethiopia: Huawei is to provide its Mass Transit eLTE communications for the Addis Abeba light rail project.
France: RFF has signed a 12-year contract for Atos to supply Mistral NG software for the 16 regional control centres that are due to replace 1500 signalboxes and 21 control centres across the network by 2030.
India: Jindal Steel & Power is to supply 88 000 tonnes of rail for the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor. Because IR does not have suitable wagons for transporting the 260 m lengths, JSPL has obtained a special freight train operator licence and will order three rakes of wagons under IR’s policy of permitting investment in dedicated fleets.
Israel: GRE is to provide tender design and design management services for the railway systems element of the Tel Aviv – Jerusalem fast line project.
Latvia: LDz has awarded a Bombardier/Belam consortium a €42m contract to modernise signalling at Rga Širotavas marshalling yard to increase the current capacity of 6000 wagons/day by 40% by the end of 2015.
Poland: PKP PLK has appointed CH2M Hill to carry out feasibility and design studies for electrification of the 30 km Wgliniec – Görlitz route.
Kraków airport authority has awarded Zakad Techniczno-Budowlany Polbau a 13·5m złoty contract to build a new station by March 2015, under an upgrading programme which includes double-tracking and electrification of the rail link.
Romania: Arcada, Metabet CF and Compania Construcii Feroviare have been awarded a 122·6m lei contract for track upgrading on two bridges over the Danube on the Bucuresti – Constanta route. Installing UIC60 rails with vibration damping baseplates will reduce noise and permit 22·5 tonne axleloads at an increased speed of 80 km/h.
Saudi Arabia: Systra has been awarded a 276m riyal, 20-month contract to provide preliminary designs for the Jeddah metro.
Slovakia: A 70: 30 consortium of Duham and ZUE is to rebuild tram tracks in Košice to prepare them for tram-trains that are envisaged to run by 2020. The €41·4m contract covers the route between Nám Maratónu Mieru and the main station, to be completed by July 31 2015.
Spain: The Ministry of Development has awarded a joint venture of Ansaldo STS and Instalaciones Inabensa a €57m contract to deploy and maintain ETCS Level 2 signalling on the 51 km La Robla – Pola de Lena route, including the Pajares base tunnel.
ADIF Alta Velocidad has awarded a joint venture of Andaluza de Traviesas and Travipos a €87m contract to supply 90000 sleepers with rail fastenings for the 536 km Mérida – Badajoz section of the high speed line between Madrid and the Portuguese border.
ADIF has awarded Vías y Contratas a €37m contract to build a station for suburban services at Mirasierra, between Pitis and Ramón y Cajal on the route from Madrid Chamartín to Pinar.
Switzerland: SBB has exercised a SFr100m option for Harsco to supply 59 electrification construction and maintenance vehicles between March 2016 and September 2017. These will replace existing vehicles and expand the fleet, enabling work to be undertaken more quickly to minimise disruption.
UK: Kapsch CarrierCom has been awarded a £7·7m contract to implement a Tetra digital radio network on the Tyne & Wear Metro.
Network Rail has awarded a Colas Rail/Morgan Sindall joint venture a £20m contract to refurbish roof spans 1 to 3 at London Paddington station.
