All Railway Gazette International articles in July 2016 – Page 3
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NewsNine - Valença electrification underway
PORTUGAL: Minister of Planning & Infrastructure Pedro Marques attended a ceremony at Barcelos station on June 24 to officially launch the €83∙2m project to electrify the 90∙8 km route between Nine, north of Porto, and Valença on the Spanish border. Tendering for the initial 42∙7 km between Nine and Viana ...
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NewsGovernment decides on TET network
FRANCE: On July 21 the government announced the implementation of its ‘route map’ for the Trains d’Equilibre du Territoire, the conventional long-distance passenger services operated by SNCF that include overnight and inter-regional trains. While TET services still perform an essential role in some parts of the country, the government says ...
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NewsD-Train to enter service on Coventry - Nuneaton line
UK: Vivarail announced on July 22 that an agreement had been reached for its prototype Class 230 D-Train diesel multiple-unit produced by rebuilding redundant London Underground vehicles to enter passenger service on the Coventry – Nuneaton line. The three-car DMU will be leased to West Midlands Combined Authority, maintained by ...
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NewsBrno takes delivery of new trams
CZECH REPUBLIC: Škoda Transportation has delivered the first two Elektra trams to Brno, with the remaining 18 to come by the end of the year. The KC1·2bn order for five-section low-floor trams from Škoda’s 13T family was placed in December 2015 as an option on a framework agreement dating ...
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NewsTibet signalling upgrade contract
CHINA: Qinghai–Tibet Railway Co has awarded Alstom and Casco a €15m contract to upgrade signalling systems and increase capacity on the 1 145 km Golmud – Lhasa route by the end of August 2018. Alstom said the Incremental Train Control System contract announced on July 19 was its first since ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news in brief
Harsco Corp expects to record an operating income of US$1m for Q2 2016, including an estimated loss provision of US$40m related to maintenance equipment contracts with Swiss Federal Railways. Harsco said this reflected increased vendor costs, ongoing discussions with SBB, increased estimates for commissioning, certification and testing ...
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NewsChinese high speed network to double in latest master plan
CHINA: The government’s National Development & Reform Commission released the medium and long-term plan for China's railways on July 20, covering the period 2016-25 with an outlook to 2030. By the end of 2015, China had 121 000 km of main line railways, of which 19 000 km are considered ...
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NewsFirst Honolulu metro phase 2 contract awarded
USA: Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation announced on July 19 that it had awarded a contract for the next phase of the city’s light metro line to a joint venture of Shimmick Construction, Traylor Bros and Granite Construction. Worth $874·8m, the design-build contract covers 8·4 km of elevated alignment ...
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NewsLagos metro train unveiled
NIGERIA: CRRC Dalian has unveiled its first metro train for Lagos. The Type B set is based on the design for Tianjin metro Line 2, but with four cars rather than six. Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority ordered 15 trainsets from CRRC Dalian in January 2015 for ...
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News£1bn Metro and regional rail strategy agreed in northeast England
UK: The North East Combined Authority has approved a Metro & Local Rail Strategy that outlines £1bn of planned investment in the Tyne & Wear Metro and main line passenger services over the next 20 years. Regional transport agency Nexus is due to submit a detailed business case by ...
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NewsHector Rail orders Siemens Vectron locos
SWEDEN: Hector Rail has ordered five Siemens Vectron locomotives equipped for use in Scandinavia. Two of the locomotives are already built and are to be delivered this year, while three more which are to be delivered next year will have last-mile diesel engines and remote controls, potentially removing the ...
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NewsDenver R Line testing begins
USA: The first light rail vehicle ran under its own power on the R Line in Denver on July 19. Denver Regional Transportation District is currently carrying out systems testing on a section of the route, ahead of opening later this year. The 16·9 km alignment is an extension ...
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NewsSofia metro extension opens
BULGARIA: An extension of Sofia metro Line M2 was opened by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov on July 20. The 1·3 km underground alignment south from James Bourchier to Vitosha took two years to build. Construction cost €26·4m, of which €22m came from EU funds for the 2014-20 budget period. ...
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NewsMetro extension works begin in Singapore
SINGAPORE: Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan attended a groundbreaking ceremony for two further stages of the city’s metro network on July 21. Work has started on the East Coast section of the Thomson-East Coast Line. The 13 km extension is being built in two phases. The seven stations from ...
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NewsFirstGroup awarded its first US rail contract
USA: UK-based FirstGroup has signed its first rail contract in North America, covering the operation and maintenance of Denton County Transportation Authority’s 34 km A-train commuter line which connects Denton with Dallas in Texas. The contract awarded to FirstGroup’s North American subsidiary First Transit is scheduled to come into ...
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NewsDieselnetz Ulm interim operating contract awarded
GERMANY: Bayern railway agency BEG and Baden-Württemberg's Ministry of Transport & Infrastructure are to directly award incumbent DB Regio a new contract to continue to run Dieselnetz Ulm services for three years from December 2016, with an option for a further year. The contract covers regional services totalling 1·5 million ...
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NewsHIMA safety controllers at InnoTrans 2016
MINA: The centre of attention at HIMA’s InnoTrans 2016 stand will be its commercial off-the-shelf HIMax and HIMatrix vibration and shock resistant controllers with CENELEC SIL 4 approval for use in safety-critical applications such as electronic interlockings, level crossings, sensor-monitored doors, electronically-controlled anti-slip systems, driver vigilance devices and remote controls. ...
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NewsComsa wins Roslagsbanan double-tracking
SWEDEN: Regional transport authority AB Storstockholms Lokaltrafik has awarded a €26m contract to Spanish construction company Comsa for double-tracking a 5·2 km section of the 891 mm gauge Roslagsbanan network to the northeast of the capital. Under an expansion strategy adopted in 2010, SL is planning to introduce more frequent ...
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NewsGliwice intermodal freight facilities upgraded
POLAND: Silesian Logistics Centre has completed three projects intended to create a modern logistics hub at the inland port of Gliwice, which is connected by a 41 km canal to the River Odra and thus the Baltic Sea. A new warehouse was inaugurated in June, increasing storage at the site ...
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NewsGabon rail upgrade funding agreed
GABON: The World Bank Group’s International Finance Corp has agreed to provide railway concessionaire Société d’Exploitation du Transgabonais with €52·5m of debt financing to boost the capacity, efficiency and reliability of the rail network, while the Proparco private sector financing arm of the French Development Agency is ...