All Railway Gazette International articles in January 2015 – Page 4
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NewsKapsch awarded western Czech GSM-R contract
CZECH REPUBLIC: Infrastructure manager SŽDC has awarded Kapsch CarrierCom a €14·7m contract to install GSM-R communications on the 185 km Beroun – Plzeň – Cheb – German border route by late 2016. Kapsch will supply technology based on the 3GPP Release 4 core. ‘The Czech Republic is an important ...
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NewsDolnośląskie awards new operating contract
POLAND: Dolnośląskie voivodship has awarded its in-house train operator Koleje Dolnośląskie a new eight-year contract to continue to operate local passenger services. The 500m złoty contract covers services totalling 35 million train-km/year which are currently operated by KD. It also has provision for KD to potentially take over other ...
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NewsCrossrail 2 consultants appointed
UK: Transport for London has appointed four consultancy teams to develop plans for Crossrail 2 and help to make the case for funding. Each team would be responsible for a specific area. These are: Engineering and technical: Arcadis Hyder, Weston Williamson, Vinci Construction, Interfleet, First Class Partnerships, Dr Sauer ...
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NewsUK plans world-class railway supply industry
UK: On January 21 the Rail Supply Group published ‘Fast Track for Growth’, a ‘vision statement’ for the development over the coming months of a long-term rail industrial strategy including ‘a clear implementation plan’. Bringing together government and the supply industry as well as train operators, Network Rail and HS2 ...
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NewsKB Holding makes Vossloh takeover bid
GERMANY: KB Holding GmbH announced an offer to acquire the entire stock of Vossloh AG on January 20. It currently holds 29·99% of the shares, and German law requires a takeover offer to be made once a stake reaches 30%. KB Holding said it intends to offer a price based ...
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NewsHead-hardened rail developed for Siberian temperatures
RUSSIA: Steelmaker Evraz ZSMK has completed federal certification of its HH350 rail, which it says is the first head-hardened rail designed for use at temperatures down to –60°C in Russia’s north and far east. HH350 will be available in lengths from 8 m to 100 m, and is expected ...
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NewsJinan metro work to begin this year
CHINA: The National Development & Reform Commission has announced that construction of the Jinan metro is to begin this year. The US$7bn first phase includes three lines totalling 81 km. A 26 km line with nine stations would serve the west of the city and cost US$2bn to build. ...
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NewsKochi metro contracts awarded
INDIA: Kochi metro project manager Delhi Metro Rail Corp has awarded Alstom the electrification, signalling and telecoms contracts for the Kochi metro. The €34m signalling and telecoms contract includes Alstom’s Urbalis 400 CBTC signalling, as well as radio, CCTV, passenger information displays and a passenger announcement system. ...
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NewsMetro do Porto operating contract award
PORTUGAL: Transports Ciutat Comtal has been selected to operate and maintain Porto’s light metro and bus networks for 10 years, subject to final approval by the government. A concession held by Prometro SA ended on December 31 2014. TCC is a joint venture of the privately-owned Barcelona tram operator ...
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NewsKKR buys ticket retailer Trainline
UK: Investment firm KKR announced its acquisition of online ticket retailer Trainline from Exponent Private Equity on January 22. Financial details are not being disclosed. Trainline is licensed to sell rail tickets on behalf of all UK Train Operating Companies, Deutsche Bahn and Trenitalia. KKR said Trainline had the ...
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NewsHelsinki metro automation called off
FINLAND: On January 19 Helsinki city council backed a December 18 decision by the board of city transport operator HKL to terminate the metro automation contracts signed with Siemens in 2008-09. HKL said negotiations with the supplier had failed to agree a way that the troubled project could be completed ...
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NewsRail freight capacity boost for North Sea ferry services
NETHERLANDS: Work is to begin shortly on a rail freight capacity enhancement project at Europoort which is being developed jointly by the Port of Rotterdam, ERS Railways and ferry companies P&O Ferries and Stena Line. The aim is to double rail capacity from 26 to 32 trains/week by early March, ...
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NewsRail maintenance services framework agreed
CROATIA: National rail infrastructure manager HŽ Infrastruktura and Vossloh Rail Services have signed a €4·5m framework agreement covering rail measurement, testing, data analysis and machining services. ‘This contract will help us to extend the useful life of rails and thereby save costs in the medium term’, according to HŽ ...
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NewsAqaba Railway awards wagon repair contract
JORDAN: Aqaba Railway Corp has signed a 10-month contract for King Abdullah II Design & Development Bureau and Jordan Advanced Machining Co to rebuild 35 accident-damaged wagons at a cost of 665 000 dinars. An initial wagon was rebuilt free of charge by JordanAMCO, and underwent three months of trial ...
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NewsProducts & Technology in Brief
DB Netz has installed novel noise barriers on the Möhrenbrücke bridge near Treuchtlingen. Totalling 680 m in length, the aluminium barriers provide not only a sound baffle adjacent to the tracks but extend to a depth 2 m below rail level to mitigate the spread of noise off the bridge. ...
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NewsHong Kong awards CBTC contract
CHINA: MTR Corp has awarded a consortium led by Thales and including Alstom a €330m contract for signalling upgrades on seven metro lines. The contract covers the installation of communications-based train control on the Tsuen Wan, Island, Kwun Tong, Tseung Kwan O, Tung Chung and Disneyland Resort lines, as ...
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NewsCNR Dalian orders MTU engines for Transnet fleet
SOUTH AFRICA: Rolls-Royce has announced a major order valued ‘in the range of €100m’ for its MTU business to supply CNR Dalian and its South African business CNRRSSA with 232 engines for use on locomotives ordered by Transnet Freight Rail. The Type 20V 4000 R63L engine is a variant ...
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NewsBombardier and Alstom selected for SNCB double-deck order
BELGIUM: A consortium of Bombardier and Alstom has been selected as the sole shortlisted bidder for a framework contract to supply up to 1 000 double-deck coaches at an estimated cost of €1bn, federal Minister of Mobility & Transport Jacqueline Galant told parliament on January 23. Scheduled for delivery between ...
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NewsSNCF appoints supervisory board chief
The French government has selected industrialist Frédéric Saint-Geours, formerly head of brands at PSA Peugeot Citroën, to lead SNCF’s new supervisory board.Following the passing of the French railway reform act through parliament in July, SNCF has been restructured into a ‘mother’ public body (SNCF) and two ‘daughter’ institutions: infrastructure manager ...
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NewsMastermind of high speed steps down
François Lacôte retired last year after an exceptional career in France’s rail industry. A graduate of the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, he was responsible for Locomotives and Multiple-Units in SNCF’s Rolling Stock department before taking on responsibility for the TGV programme in 1982. He managed the development and ...
