All Railway Gazette International articles in July 2008
All articles published this month.
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NewsBeijing - Tianjin high speed line opens for business
CHINA: Tickets for high speed services between Beijing and Tianjin went on sale on July 31, the day before the formal opening of the 117 km line. Testing was successfully completed on June 30, since when 100 000 km of trial running has been undertaken without passengers. Regular services will ...
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NewsFunding agreed for LGV Bretagne
FRANCE: On July 29 Minister for Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development & Planning Jean-Louis Borloo signed an agreement establishing the funding mechanism and provisional construction timetable for a 132 km extension of the TGV Atlantique high speed line from Le Mans to Rennes. Costed at €3·4bn, the project also involves ...
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NewsInterfleet appointed 'shadow operator' for Sydney metro
AUSTRALIA: Premier of New South Wales Morris Iemma announced the appointment of Interfleet Technology to oversee planning of the A$12bn North West Metro on July 27. Interfleet Technology will be 'shadow operator' during the development and design of the proposed 38 km metro line between central Sydney and ...
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NewsBeNEX places €100m Coradia order
GERMANY: Alstom announced a €100m order for 26 Coradia Continental regional EMUs on July 30. The 21 three-car and five four-car trainsets have been ordered by BeNEX, the company established by Hamburger Hochbahn to bid for operating contracts beyond the Hamburg area and now 49% owned by Babcock & ...
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NewsThree bids for Athens metro contract
GREECE: Attiko Metro and the Ministry for the Environment, Physical Planning & Public Works have received three bids for a contract to supply 17 six-car trainsets for Athens lines 2 and 3. Technical and financial offers were submitted by AnsaldoBreda, CAF and a partnership of Hyundai-Rotem and Hanwha. The ...
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NewsVTG buys wagon manufacturer
GERMANY: Leasing firm VTG announced an agreement to acquire the wagon manufacturing assets of Graaff Group on July 29. Graaff had filed for insolvency in March, owing to 'difficulties in handling a large order and the tight liquidity situation.' Graaff's wagon plant at Elze near Hannover has an annual ...
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NewsSharing tracks in Sydney
AUSTRALIA: High-profile passenger operators battle for train paths with other urban, regional and national passenger and freight carriers. Sydney provides a case study of issues that confront rail operators across the globe.
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NewsSkoda shows locomotive for the third millennium
CZECH REPUBLIC: On July 24 Skoda Transportation's Plzen works unveiled the long-awaited prototype for a fleet of 20 type S 109E electric locomotives ordered by Czech Railways. Marking Skoda Transportation's re-emergence as a major player in the European rail industry, the triple-voltage 200 km/h 109E is the first mainline ...
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NewsEnergy metering is on the way
EUROPE: One compelling message to emerge from IQPC's Greener Rail conference in London on July 17-18 was that on-train metering of electric power use is coming in one form or another. As soaring energy costs reinforce more subtle pressures to cut CO2 emissions, the realisation that what can't be measured ...
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East End Corridor construction
USA: Houston's $1·3bn Metro Solutions expansion programme took a significant step forward on June 30 with the start of construction along the East End Corridor, one of five planned extensions to the existing single-route light rail network. The 6·4 km East End Corridor will run from Magnolia Transit Center to ...
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Trial running to Jinzhou
CHINA: Test running has commenced on a 14·3 km extension of the Dalian Fast Rail Link. The first trains took to the branch on July 8 after the extension was handed over by the China Railway Electrification Bureau, which led the construction project. The present Line 3 provides a suburban ...
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NewsFaiveley to supply Matangi EMU brakes
NEW ZEALAND: Faiveley Transport has won a contract to supply brake controls, bogie brakes and air generation equipment for 45 two-car EMUs which are being built by a consortium of Hyundai Rotem and Mitsui for use on Metlink suburban services in Wellington. Called 'Matangi' from a Maori word for 'wind', ...
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NewsArcapita now owns Freightliner
UK: Clearance from the European Commission has enabled investment bank Arcapita to acquire the entire issued share capital of Freightliner Group Ltd. Completion of the deal took place on July 24, and Arcapita now has outright ownership of Freightliner Group and its subsidiaries. The shares were previously held by 3i, ...
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NewsScott Wilson buys Benaim
BENAIM: Scott Wilson announced on July 24 that it had acquired civil, structural and geotechnical consultancy Benaim in a cash and shares deal worth up to £5·5m. The companies have worked together on projects including the East London Line Extension and Malaysia's KLIA Express airport rail link. Significant recent ...
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NewsTram tender in trouble
CANADA: Plans to replace Toronto's tram fleet were thrown into disarray on July 18 when Toronto Transit Commission unexpectedly rejected both of the bids it had received on June 30. TTC had issued a Request for Proposals to supply 204 new 100% low -floor vehicles worth around C$1·25bn to replace ...
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NewsCoal loco commissioning underway
AUSTRALIA: The first two of 45 Class 3800 locomotives being supplied to QR by Siemens will enter service on coal trains in the Goonyella region next month. The 1067 mm gauge 25 kV AC electric locos are being commissioned at QR's Jilalan depot, having arrived in Brisbane on June 23 ...
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NewsOn-train internet acquisition
SWEDEN: On-train internet technology company Icomera announced an agreement to acquire UK hardware supplier Moovera Networks on July 22. 'For some time now Moovera and Icomera have been addressing the same markets from different directions,' said Moovera founder Jim Baker. 'While Icomera has focused on sophisticated and complex ...
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NewsHeavy haul in the high north
CANADA: Within a few years, Baffin Island in the Arctic archipelago will see construction of the world's most northerly railway, currently being designed by Canarail. The harsh environment poses daunting challenges in terms of design, construction and operation.
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NewsSiemens to concentrate production on three sites
INTERNATIONAL: Around 2 500 jobs will be lost worldwide in a reorganisation of the Mobility division announced by Siemens on July 23. Rail vehicle manufacturing will be concentrated at three centres of competence in Germany and Austria, and the company will dispose of the former CKD Dopravní plant at Praha-Zlicín. ...