All Railway Gazette International articles in January 2010
All articles published this month.
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NewsTransit City LRT groundbreaking
CANADA: A groundbreaking ceremony was held on December 21 for the 14 km Sheppard East light rail route in Toronto, the first of seven Transit City projects to get underway. Starting from the existing Don Mills terminus of the Sheppard subway, the line will run east along Sheppard Avenue to ...
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NewsMetro-North Railroad M-8s on show
USA: The first two-car set of M-8 EMUs for Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line went on public display for the first time on December 24. The State of Connecticut is paying almost $700m for 300 vehicles to replace the oldest cars in the existing fleet and expand capacity. In addition, ...
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NewsConstruction control
SWITZERLAND: Transtec Gotthard has awarded Funkwerk Information Technologies a seven-year contract worth in excess of SFr8m covering automatic location detection and train control equipment for construction trains in and around the Gotthard base tunnel. The equipment is based on Funkwerk's AlisterCargo electronic interlocking, which is already in use in a ...
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NewsObama names inter-city rail projects to share $8bn
USA: President Obama announced the high speed and inter-city rail projects which will share $8bn of federal funding during a visit to Tampa, Florida, on January 28. States and local communities were able to compete for the money which was announced in April 2009 as part of the American Recovery ...
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NewsHeavy haul hand over
SWEDEN: The first of a second batch of Bombardier Transportation IORE 2 x 5·4 MW twin-unit electric locomotives was handed over to the Malmtrafik i Kiruna AB heavy haul rail subsidiary of mining firm LKAB on January 26. Nine similar locomotives delivered in 2000-04 are now hauling iron ore trains ...
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NewsHunter Valley loco and wagon orders
AUSTRALIA: QR announced A$126m of orders for locomotives and wagons on January 28, to support Hunter Valley coal haulage contracts awarded by Peabody Energy Australia and Felix Resources. UGL Ltd is to supply 15 Class 5020 C44ACHi diesel locomotives between December 2010 and May 2011 at a cost of A$93m, ...
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NewsRecession-hit wagon deal is revised
USA: The Greenbrier Companies and General Electric Railcar Services have reached an agreement to reduce an order for 11900 tank and hopper wagons which was signed in 2007 when trade was booming, but which GERS sought to cut back once the recession hit demand. The contract has been reduced to ...
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NewsConstruction of Afghan railway launched
AFGHANISTAN: A ceremony on January 22 marked the start of construction of a 75 km rail link from Uzbekistan to the city of Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan. The line is being built by Uzbek national railway UTY, which said it will be 'a vivid testimony to the friendly relations between ...
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NewsFujian gets to work
CHINA: A 275 km railway paralleling the coast between Fuzhou and Xiamen in Fujian province opened for freight traffic on December 31, and 200 km/h passenger services are expected to follow in April. The line has 18 stations and has been designed for speeds of up to 250 km/h. Fujian ...
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NewsGenève chooses the Tango
SWITZERLAND: Genève public transport operator TPG has placed an order worth SFr154m for 32 Stadler Tango trams. The contract includes two options for a further 14 and 10 vehicles.The bi-directional six-section vehicles will be 44 m long and 2 300 mm wide with a capacity of 261 passengers, including 88 ...
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NewsPraha metro extends
CZECH REPUBLIC: A consortium of Metrostav and Hochtief CZ has won a KC18·7bn contract to build a 6 km western extension of Praha metro Line A from Dejvická to Motol, with intermediate stations at Cerveny Vrch, Veleslavín and Petriny. Work should start in March 2010 for comp letion in 2015-16. ...
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NewsFEVE promotes Cartagena tram project
SPAIN: Following FEVE President Angel Villalba's commitment to Parliament last October to convert the metre-gauge line between Cartagena and Los Nietos to a tram route, FEVE issued a €16m tender on December 30 for four vehicles to operate the service. Whilst awaiting their delivery, which will take 18 months, FEVE ...
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NewsMontréal reopens Métro car bidding
CANADA: Société de transport de Montréal and Transport Québec announced on January 22 that the procurement of a new fleet of rubber-tyred Métro cars would be put out to tender again. According to Montréal Mayor Gérald Tremblay, STM will now invite bids for 765 cars with an option for up ...
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NewsVR keeps monopoly for now
FINLAND: The Ministry of Transport has signed an agreement giving state railway VR a 10-year monopoly on long-distance passenger services. Local trains are covered by a separate agreement which runs for one year, as liberalisation of this market has not been ruled out. The contracts followed a review of the ...
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NewsSiemens preferred bidder for ICx inter-city train deal
GERMANY: The high-profile ICx programme to renew DB's inter-city fleet took a decisive step forward on January 25, when DB Chairman Rüdige Grube announced the selection of Siemens as preferred bidder for a framework agreement. Detailed negotiations will now begin, with the aim of signing a firm contract this summer. ...
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NewsLeipzig exercises Flexity tram option
GERMANY: Leipzig transport authority LVB placed a €29m order for a further nine Bombardier Transportation low-floor trams on January 21. Following the delivery of 24 Flexity Classic trams in 2005-07, LVB has now exercised an option for nine more of the five-module, 12-axle vehicles, which are customised to suit LVB's ...
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NewsOlympic Line tram launched
CANADA: Mayor of Vancouver Gregor Robertson launched 60 days of free travel on the 1·8 km Olympic tram line on January 21. The temporary service between Granville Island and the Olympic Village will run every 6 to 10 min between 06.30 and 00.30 for the period around the Olympic and ...
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NewsIndustry News in Brief
The Fabryka Pojazdów Szynowych rolling stock manufacturing subsidiary of H Cegielski Poznan has been sold for 58m złoty to Polish industrial development agency ARP, which will restructure the business before selling it on to private investors. Changzhou Railcar Propulsion Engineering R&D Centre is to market Nomad Digital's technology ...
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NewsCNR Shanghai IPO
CHINA: China's largest railway and metro vehicle manufacturer raised 13·9bn yuan with an IPO in Shanghai in December. Beijing-based China Northern described it as 'a milestone in the development of CNR', which is particularly strong in the production of metro cars. CNR sold 2·5 billion shares at 5·56 yuan, the ...
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NewsAAE and Faiveley sign brake agreement
EUROPE: Faiveley Transport Customer Services has been awarded a five-year 'multi million euro' contract to overhaul Faiveley brake systems on 4 400 wagons owned by leasing firm AAE. Faiveley said the contract is 'a significant step forward' in the development of its German Service Centre. AAE has a fleet of ...