All Railway Gazette International articles in January 2015 – Page 3
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NewsVoestalpine acquires Sydney Trains' track component business
AUSTRALIA: Following a competitive tender, Sydney Trains has selected Voestalpine VAE Railway Systems to buy its Bathurst Rail Fabrication Centre track component and rail welding plant. ‘A 2012 review of the BRFC found it to be a solid business that would benefit from the innovation and technology of private ...
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NewsPatient globalisation bears fruit
KNORR-BREMSE: Knorr-Bremse Group has announced ‘best ever’ sales of €5·2bn for 2014, a year-on-year increase of 21%. Expanding markets saw orders up 18% to a record €5·5bn. The Rail Vehicle Systems division achieved ‘substantial growth’, with sales of €2·98bn compared to €2·25bn the previous year. This was primarily due to ...
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NewsFreiburg breaks ground on tram extension
GERMANY: A groundbreaking ceremony took place on January 15 for the Rotteckring tram extension in Freiburg. The 1·9 km extension is to branch off the existing Route 2 at Siegesdenkmal and run south to Kronenstraße, with five stops. The first phase, to Stadttheater, is due to open in 2017, ...
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NewsNew competition for Mexico City – Querétaro high speed line
MEXICO: Tendering for the project to build a 210 km high speed line between Mexico City and Querétaro began again on January 14 when the Secretariat of Communications & Transport published ‘pre-bidding documentation’ for a contract including civil works, railway systems and rolling stock. SCT is aiming to award the ...
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NewsVeolia awarded Halle - Goslar contract
GERMANY: The Sachsen-Anhalt and Braunschweig transport authorities have awarded Veolia Verkehr a contract to operate Halle (Saale) – Aschersleben – Halberstadt – Wernigerode – Goslar passenger services for three years from December 2015. The service is to be branded as Harz-Elbe-Express Line 4, replacing the current Deutsche Bahn RE4. ...
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NewsNanjing metro Line 5 MoU signed
CHINA: Nanjing city authorities signed a memorandum of understanding with property developer Greenland Group on January 14 for the financing of metro Line 5. The developer is to invest 31·3bn yuan in the metro project, in return for the rights to construction and associated property development along ...
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NewsAlstom wins €100m Egyptian signalling contract
EGYPT: Egyptian National Railways has awarded Alstom a €100m contract to supply and maintain for five years signalling equipment for the line running 240 km south along the Nile from Beni Suef to Asyut. Deliveries will start in 2016 and the new signalling is due to be operational by January ...
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NewsDB Regio awarded S-Bahn Rhein-Neckar contract
GERMANY: Following an international tender, on January 15 the Baden-Württemberg, Rheinland-Pfalz Süd, Bergstraße and Saarland transport authorities jointly awarded incumbent DB Regio Südwest a contract to operate S-Bahn Rhein-Neckar Lot 1 services for 17 years from December 2016. The contract covers the operation of passenger services totalling 8 million ...
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NewsOnboard adhesion monitoring
UK: TRL and Balfour Beatty are co-operating on a trial to use instrumented wheelsets to monitor acceleration data from a Class 159 diesel multiple-unit used by South West Trains. The project partners are assessing how best to interpret the acceleration data to assess any correlation with poor railhead adhesion. TRL ...
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NewsWorld rail market January 2015
France: Thales is to supply a contactless ticketing system for Bordeaux under a 10-year contract. RATP has signed an agreement with mobile phone operator Free that will see 3G and 4G coverage rolled out across the stations and trains of the Paris metro as well as RER lines A ...
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NewsJernbaneverket takes over freight terminals to promote competition
NORWAY: Infrastructure manager Jernbaneverket has acquired the freight terminals previously owned by the RailCombi subsidiary of NSB’s CargoNet business, and is to make them available for use by any operator. The purchase covers terminals in Narvik, Bodø, Fauske, Mo i Rana, Trondheim, Bergen, Kristiansand, Drammen and Alnabru (Oslo). ‘Whereas terminals ...
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NewsDüsseldorf signalling upgrade
GERMANY: Düsseldorf light rail operator Rheinbahn has commissioned Siemens to upgrade the signalling on the 11 km Stadtbahn tunnel in the city centre. Siemens is to provide Trainguard ZUB 222 train protection for semi-automated operation; this will monitor the vehicle’s speed continuously during driver operation. Controlguide Vicos operations control ...
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NewsStandard gauge line construction to start ‘in September’
THAILAND: A series of meetings between Thai and Chinese government officials on January 20-21 is expected to pave the way for construction of Thailand’s planned 1 435 mm gauge main lines to begin by September. Speaking in Bangkok on January 18, Thai Transport Minister Prajin Juntong set out a provisional ...
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NewsSeattle gets TIFIA loan
USA: The Federal Transit Authority announced on January 16 that it is to provide a $1·33bn Transportation Infrastructure Finance & Innovation Act loan to Seattle transport authority Sound Transit. The loan will contribute to the construction of the 23 km East Link light rail extension, which is also receiving ...
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NewsFinland to drop GSM-R in favour of domestic radio system
FINLAND: The Cabinet Committee for Economic Policy has backed plans for the Finnish rail industry to stop using the current GSM-R network and switch over to VIRVE, a TETRA encrypted communications system launched in 2002 and used by the government, emergency services and military. According to the Ministry of ...
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NewsLoan funding for new freight operator
URUGUAY: Latin American development bank CAF has approved a US$45m loan to Servicios Logísticos Ferroviarios, a new freight operating company formed by state railway AFE and national development corporation CND. With US$11⋅5m of local match funding, the CAF loan will be used over the next two years to purchase new ...
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NewsRhenus Group to take majority stake in Crossrail
EUROPE: Rhenus Group expects regulatory approval in mid-February for a deal to acquire a 50·1% stake in Swiss trans-Alpine operator Crossrail AG for an undisclosed price. Current shareholders LKW Walter, Hupac, Le Jeune Capital Partners, Bertschi and MSC will continue to maintain holdings, and the Crossrail management team and ...
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NewsCK Investments to buy Eversholt Rail leasing company
UK: An agreement for CK Investments to buy 100% of rolling stock leasing company Eversholt Rail Group was announced on January 20. The transaction with an equity value of £1·1bn and enterprise value of £2·5bn is expected to close in March, subject to regulatory approval from the European Commission. ...
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NewsCompin capital increase funds Fainsa acquisition
FRANCE: Equistone Partners Europe and French state investment agency Bpifrance announced on January 20 that they were participating in a €10m capital increase for the holding company that controls Compin, enabling the latter to acquire Spanish seating manufacturer Fainsa. This is the first investment made by Bpifrance via the ...
