All Railway Gazette International articles in January 2008
All articles published this month.
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News
Tracklayers arrive in Ukraine
UKRAINIAN Railways took delivery of two Desec TL 70UZ switch and crossing laying machines at the end of 2007. They have been supplied under UZ’s second contract with the Finnish manufacturer, which followed an international tender backed by the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development. The Tracklayers will be ...
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News
Strong leadership must focus on project management and costs
WHAT ARE we to make of the veritable shambles which engulfed the UK rail network over the Christmas and New Year period? Three of Network Rail's major engineering projects over-ran, causing disruption and confusion for hundreds of thousands of passengers. The Office of Rail Regulation announced on January 2 that ...
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News
Optimising contact wire life on the Hanze Line
Computer modelling studies aimed at optimising life-cycle costs led to modification of the design of the 1·5 kV DC catenary for the Hanze Line between Lelystad and Zwolle, permitting the maximum speed to be increased from 160 to 200 km/h
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News
Chinese trains for Buenos Aires
A DECREE SIGNED BY President Fernández of Argentina on January 15 confirmed an order worth US$121·6m that will see Chinese suppliers build 24 diesel-electric locomotives and 160 passenger cars for the San Martín commuter network in Buenos Aires. The new rolling stock is to be supplied by builders China South, ...
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NewsBergen signs Variobahn order
THE CITY of Bergen has signed a previously-announced €35m contract ordering 12 Variobahn trams from Stadler Pankow, with an option for a further 20. Closure of the deal was confirmed on January 29 by Stadler, which will be responsible for maintaining the cars for eight years. Similar to ...
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News
Opening up Afghan trade route to Iran
Construction of a 191 km railway from Iran to Herat in Afghanistan, with the prospect of an extension across Afghan territory to Sher Khan Bandar, promises to stimulate trade with Central Asia. Murray Hughes reports
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News
Train tests Eurasian Landbridge
A CONTAINER train arrived in Hamburg on the morning of January 24 after a 15-day, 9 954 km journey from Beijing through Mongolia, Russia, Belarus and Poland. The train was a demonstration for the 'Eurasian Landbridge' proposed by the six national rail operators, which have agreed to develop a ...
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News
Work begins on Beijing - Shanghai line
CEREMONIES on January 18 marked the start of work on the 1 318 km Beijing - Shanghai high speed line. Construction is expected to take five years, with work proceeding from 40 sites. The Ministry of Railways had announced the results of bidding for the civil works on January 3: ...
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News
Sarmiento goes underground
WITH A BID OF 3·38bn pesos, on January 23 a consortium of Iecsa, Odebrecht, Comsa and Ghella was named as the preferred bidder for the first phase of a project to place underground the 32·6 km section between Caballito and Moreno of the Sarmiento commuter route in Buenos Aires. ...
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News
Arcelor Mittal goes open access
A SUBSIDIARY of steel producer Arcelor Mittal has become the eighth company to be granted a licence by the Spanish Ministry of Development to operate freight trains on the national network. Arcelor Mittal Siderail is the first private company to be issued with a licence covering the operation of between ...
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NewsNanjing Metro places €85·5m train order
A CONSORTIUM of Nanjing CSR Puzhen Rail Transit, Alstom Transport and the SATEE joint venture of Alstom and Shanghai Electric Group has won a €85·5m contract to supply a further 126 trains for Nanjing Metro Line 1. The partners will supply 21 six-car Metropolis trainsets for an 18 km ...
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News
Market January 2008
Australia: Downer EDI Rail has awarded Knorr-Bremse a €140m contract to supply and maintain doors and braking systems for 626 EMU cars being built with Hitachi for the Reliance Rail PPP contract to supply trains for Sydney suburban services. Thales will supply communications and CCTV. Austria: Rail Cargo Austria's wagon ...
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News
Finance January 2008
Bulgaria: BDZ has placed a €120m bond issue to fund debt repayment and wagon upgrades. Further issues are planned under a programme running to 2017. Canada: The federal government has announced a C$27m contribution to the C$93m Asia-Pacific Gateway & Corridor Initiative which includes the construction of a CPR intermodal ...
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News
Networkers get a traction transplant
Working in partnership with HSBC Rail and Brush Traction, Hitachi is replacing key drive components to improve the performance of 97 Networker EMUs used on routes in southeast London and Kent
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News
Delhi awards airport rail link PPP contract
DELHI METRO Rail Corp has awarded a 30-year build-operate-transfer PPP contract for the Airport Metro Express Line to a consortium formed of utility company Reliance Energy and Spanish rolling stock manufacturer CAF. The 22·7 km line will link New Delhi station with Indira Gandhi International Airport via intermediate stations ...
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News
EIB funds Spanish ERTMS
THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank has agreed to provide €530m to Spanish national operator RENFE, releasing an initial tranche of €340m under a 25-year loan agreement last month. The remainder is to be made available during 2008. The funding will be used to acquire 140 Civia EMUs for suburban services, as ...
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News
Metro and light rail news January 2008
Austria: Wiener Linien has placed a €135m order for 15 six-car metro trainsets with a consortium of Siemens, Bombardier and Elin EBG Traction. It is a second option on an agreement signed in 1998, with delivery scheduled for 2009-11. Chile: On December 10 weekday express services were introduced between Plaza ...
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News
RZD adopts long-range development strategy
An ambitious 25-year plan for the evolution of the Russian rail network was formally adopted on November 24, reports Boris Lukov
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News
Border gap to be filled
WORK is to start this year on a new rail link between Switzerland and Italy. Agreement between the two governments to establish a 17·7 km route by 2013 was reached in November, with the Swiss parliament and the Canton of Ticino splitting the SFr134m cost of the Swiss part of ...
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NewsDB buys into UK passenger market
UK: German national railway Deutsche Bahn AG confirmed on January 21 that it is to acquire Laing Rail, subject to approval from the UK government's Department for Transport, Transport for London and the Office of Rail Regulation. Laing Rail owns Chiltern Railways, which will become part of DB Regio AG, ...