All Railway Gazette International articles in July 2016 – Page 2
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NewsDakar Train Express Régional contracts
SENEGAL: State investment and public works agency APIX has selected preferred bidders for the construction of the Train Express Régional, a planned 1 435 mm gauge double-track line to be built in two phases to link Dakar with Diamniadio (36 km) and Blaise Diagne International Airport (a further 19 km). ...
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NewsKuala Lumpur – Singapore high speed line technical adviser appointed
MALAYSIA: The Ministry of Finance’s high speed rail project delivery company MyHSR Corp has appointed CH2M as its technical adviser for the Kuala Lumpur – Singapore line. The award of the contract follows the signing on July 19 of a memorandum of understanding between the governments of Malaysia and ...
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NewsNew tram on test in Volgograd
RUSSIA: PK Transportnye Systemy’s Vityaz-M tram has started test running on the Metroelektrotrans fast tram line in Volgograd. The three-section Type 71-931M tram, was unveiled at the Innoprom trade fair earlier this year. The 100% low-floor tram is 27·5 m long with capacity for 260 passengers, including 60 seated, ...
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NewsGeorgian Railway unveils Stadler EMUs
GEORGIA: ‘Today we are witnessing the beginning of a new stage in the development of Georgian Railway’, said Director General Mamuka Bakhtadze on July 22 when two of the four Kiss double-deck electric multiple-units being supplied by Stadler were unveiled to the public at Batumi Centrali station. Bakhtadze said GR ...
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NewsFurrer+Frey to launch reduced-size overhead conductor bar
FURRER+FREY: Swiss electrification specialist Furrer+Frey will be launching a reduced size overhead conductor bar at InnoTrans 2016. Along with smaller supporting cantilevers, Mini-ROCS is intended to facilitate the electrification of very small or tight tunnels. The company’s Rigid Overhead Conductor-rail System has now been adopted for more than 300 projects ...
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NewsDenver commuters make a B Line for new service
USA: July 25 saw the opening of the first phase of the B Line in Denver. The electrified commuter route links Union Station with Westminster to the northwest, sharing the corridor with Union Pacific. Built under Denver Regional Transportation District’s FasTracks programme, the 9·6 km route is the initial ...
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NewsPresident inaugurates Abuja – Kaduna railway
NIGERIA: The 187 km standard gauge line between Kaduna and Abuja was inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari on July 26. Nigerian Railway Corp had begun a period of trial operation on June 15, with passengers carried free of charge until the inauguration day when fares of N500 in standard class ...
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NewsHigh speed test centre grant must be repaid
SPAIN: The government has been ordered to recover money provided to infrastructure manager ADIF for the construction of a high speed test track near Málaga, following an investigation by the European Commission which concluded that this state aid was incompatible with EU rules. The government had planned to use its ...
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NewsKraków completes ex-Wien light rail vehicle rebuild
POLAND: City transport authority MPK Kraków marked the completion of the conversion of ex-Wien Line U6 light rail vehicles into street-running trams on July 15. MPK Kraków’s workshops converted the E6 motor cars and C6 trailers into 40 three-section EU8N trams. The middle section supplied by Autosan is low-floor, ...
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NewsTEM28 shunting locomotive on test
RUSSIA: A prototype TEM28 diesel shunting locomotive built at Transmashholding’s Bryansk Engineering Plant is undergoing four months of trials at Russian Railways’ Penza depot, where its performance is being compared with the earlier TEM18 design under identical operating conditions. The six-axle TEM28 is assembled with five modules containing the 895 ...
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NewsSmart machine to be launched at InnoTrans
PLASSER & THEURER: Under the slogan 'the smart machine', Plasser & Theurer is to launch a newly developed universal two-sleeper tamping unit for both plain line and turnouts at InnoTrans 2016. The 8x4 is intended to combine the flexibility of the universal split-head single-sleeper tamping units with the faster output ...
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NewsLyon – Torino tunnelling launched
EUROPE: The 2 400 tonne TBM ‘Federica’ that is now at work on a 9 km test bore for the Lyon – Torino project was launched by Prime Minister of France Manuel Valls during a ceremony held at Saint-Martin-La Porte on July 21. A total of 443 people are at ...
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NewsStadler selected for St Petersburg fast tram order
RUSSIA: St Petersburg fast tram concessionaire Transportnaya Koncessionnaya Kompanya has selected Stadler as preferred bidder to supply 23 three-section bidirectional Metelica trams. This replaces earlier plans for five three-section and 20 five-section trams. The trams will be 33·5 m long with capacity for 260 passengers, and Stadler will provide ...
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NewsBucurești tram funds allocated
ROMANIA: An amendment to the București city budget for 2016 has allocated €7·3m to transport authority RATB. Most of this will be used to modernise and procure trams. Modernisation work on 10 trams, budgeted at €4·2m, will include the replacement of the middle section with a low-floor middle. Bogies, ...
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NewsHigh-tech track
VOESTALPINE: Track and turnout supplier Voestalpine will be promoting the synergies between its Rail Technology and Turnout Systems businesses at InnoTrans, with a particular focus on digitisation and optimised asset management. The group will be launching an interactive tool to evaluate the life-cycle costs of different rail procurement and maintenance ...
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NewsSingapore to pilot account-based ticketing
SINGAPORE: Land Transport Authority and Mastercard have signed a partnership agreement for the launch of account-based metro and bus ticket payment by the end of this year. They aim is to attract at least 100 000 users for the pilot deployment. Mastercard customers will be able to use their contactless ...
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NewsSeamless station-to-train wi-fi roaming goes live
UK: ‘Seamless’ wi-fi which enables passengers to move from station to on-train networks without needing to reconnect their devices was launched by Chiltern Railways on July 25. On arrival at one of 28 stations from London Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street, passengers log on to the free wi-fi connection ...
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NewsThree Chinese metro plans approved
CHINA: The National Development & Reform Commission has approved metro plans in three cities. Qingdao's second phase of metro development would add 181·7 km to the 50 km first phase now under construction; 40% of the cost is to be met by the government. All planned lines will be operated ...
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NewsRail freight news in brief
Union Pacific Corp has reported Q2 2016 net income of nearly $1·0bn, compared to $1·2bn for Q2 2015. Operating revenue was down 12% on the same period last year at $4·8bn and operating income down 15% at $1·7bn. ‘While the second quarter was again challenging from a volume perspective, we ...
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NewsSidi Bel Abbès tram on test
ALGERIA: The first tram for Sidi Bel Abbès has started dynamic testing on 4 km of the first 14·5 km of the city’s tram route, which is due to open for passenger service in late 2016. The CITAL joint venture of Alstom, Ferrovial and Entreprise Métro d'Alger is producing ...