All Railway Gazette International articles in January 2012 – Page 4
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NewsCeremony launches Swazilink rail project
AFRICA: A sod-turning on January 12 ceremonially launched work to develop a 146 km rail connection between Lothair in South Africa and Sidvokodvo Junction in Swaziland. The Swazilink project includes upgrading of the existing lines at each end. This will provide landlocked Swaziland with a direct western rail connection with ...
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NewsHigh performance rail milling train ordered
CHINA: The Ministry of Railways ordered a rail milling train from a joint venture of Maschinenfabrik Liezen & Giesserei and China Railway Large Maintenance Machinery Co on December 28. To be supplied with 18 months, the train will have a working speed of up to 2 km/h and incorporate a ...
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NewsBrazilian wagon plant announced
BRAZIL: Production is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2012 at new wagon plant which Usiminas Mecânica is building on a 102 000 m2 site at Congonhas in the state of Minas Gerais. This follows the signature of a memorandum of understanding with RCC Holding which is ...
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NewsGE Transportation invests in engine facilities
USA: Investments of $35m in a new plant to remanufacture diesel engines in Grove City, Pennsylvania, and an additional $37m in its existing engine facility there were announced by GE Transportation on December 27. The company is expecting demand for remanufacturing services to increase significantly, driven by routine locomotive overhaul ...
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NewsBeijing metro lines open
CHINA: The first phase of Beijing metro Line 9 and two other extensions were opened on December 31, with over 126 000 passengers carried on the first day. The three routes are officially being operated as a trial service for the fist 12 months, pending formal approval. The new lines ...
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NewsCentral California Traction gets low-emissions locomotive
USA: Central California Traction Co has taken delivery of a Brookville Equipment Corp low-emissions locomotive under a government-backed programme to cut pollution in the San Joaquin Basin. The GP38 has three Cummins QSK-19 engines with TMV controls in a genset configuration, branded CoGeneration by Brookville. The dynamic braking recovers ...
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NewsTransnet orders more GE locomotives
SOUTH AFRICA: A contract for a further 43 GE Transportation C30ACi diesel-electric general freight locomotives was signed at Transnet Rail Engineering's facility in Koedoespoort on January 10, taking Transnet's total order to 143. 'The acquisition of these locomotives is part of our fleet renewal programme, a key element of our ...
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NewsChina's easternmost line opens
CHINA: A railway from Qianjin to Fuyuan at the easternmost point of China in Heilongjiang province was opened on December 6. The initial freight services will be joined by passenger trains during 2012, with eight daily return services. The 169 km line is designed for 120 km/h running and has ...
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NewsGovernment to go ahead with High Speed 2 plans
UK: In a statement released on January 10, Secretary of State for Transport Justine Greening confirmed that the government would press on with the first phase of the planned 540 route-km High Speed 2 following an extensive public consultation. Noting that this was ‘one of the largest national consultations ever ...
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NewsSeinäjoki to Vaasa electrification completed
FINLAND: National railway VR launched electric services on the 75 km line between Seinäjoki and Vaasa on December 12. Electrification at 25 kV 50 Hz has permitted the introduction of direct express services from Helsinki, with a daily return Pendolino as well as inter-city trains. Ratatek was main contractor for ...
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NewsTamping in three dimensions
GERMANY: Launched at its training centre in Bingen am Rhein last month, Deutsche Plasser's three-dimensional tamping machine simulator is claimed to be the first of its kind in the world. The simulator includes a number of authentic parts from a Plasser & Theurer continuous-action tamper to create a realistic operating ...
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NewsShenyang to build 65 km tram network
CHINA: Shenyang municipality signed an agreement with CNR Corp on December 1 for the development of a 40bn yuan tram network. The 65 km five-line network will connect Taoxian Airport, Shenyang South high speed rail station, National Games Village and Olympic Sports Centre. Segregated surface alignments are planned, with grassed ...
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NewsDesign flaws and poor management caused Wenzhou collision, report confirms
CHINA: Investigators have confirmed that 'serious design flaws' in the signalling and train control equipment, along with 'sloppy management and the mishandling of a lightning strike' were among the reasons for the collision between two high speed trains near Wenzhou on July 23 2011 in which 40 people died. Originally ...
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NewsIndustry News in Brief
Steelmaker ArcelorMittal and Kazakh national railway KTZ signed a memorandum of understanding in November setting out plans for a joint venture to produce up to 400000 tonnes of long products a year, around half of which would be R-65 rails for the domestic and export markets. KTZ will contribute up ...
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NewsTrack maintenance venture formed
AUSTRALIA: Reflecting a growing market for rail infrastructure work, notably on heavy haul freight railways and urban passenger networks, Leighton Contractors and Swietelsky have formed a joint venture to provide track construction, maintenance and renewal services. LS Rail brings together Leighton's expertise in the Australasian rail market with Swietelsky's ...
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NewsCrenshaw/LAX light rail line gets go-ahead
USA: Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has been given the green light by the Federal Transit Administration to proceed this year with the $1∙7bn Crenshaw/LAX light rail line running between the Expo Line on Exposition Boulevard and the Green Line at Aviation/LAX. Metro had already invited proposals in December ...
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NewsChinese 500 km/h supertrain on test
CHINA: CSR Qingdao Sifang unveiled an ultra high-speed test train in December. As foreshadowed in the January 2011 edition of Railway Gazette International, the six-car trainset is intended to give engineers the opportunity to research train and track behaviour at speeds up to 500 km/h. Researchers will explore fields including ...
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NewsDirect Rail Services orders 15 Vossloh EuroLight UK locomotives
UK: Open access freight and charter operator Direct Rail Services announced an order for Vossloh España to supply 15 EuroLight UK mixed traffic diesel-electric locomotives on January 5. The contract includes options for future orders, but commercial details are not being disclosed. DRS said the locomotives are scheduled to be ...
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NewsGuangzhou - Shenzhen high speed line opens
CHINA: The 102 km Guangzhou to Shenzhen Passenger-Dedicated Line opened on December 26. It is the initial phase of the 146 km Guangzhou - Hong Kong high speed route which is scheduled for completion in 2015. The 20·4bn yuan first phase links Guangzhou South and Shenzhen North stations via Qingsheng, ...
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NewsMatterhorn Gotthard Bahn orders more panoramic trains
SWITZERLAND: Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn has awarded Stadler Rail a SFr106m contract to supply further rolling stock to increase capacity and improve accessibility on its metre-gauge network. The contract signed on December 23 includes one four-car and six three-car Komet 11 kV 16·7 Hz electric multiple-units. Designed by Stadler in conjunction ...