All Railway Gazette International articles in June 2006
All articles published this month.
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NewsVenezuela plans US$2·2bn spend
A CONSORTIUM OF Italian companies Astaldi, Impregilo and Ghella has been selected by the Venezuelan government to build two new lines following the signature of a co-operation agreement between Italy and Venezuela. Once contracts worth a total of US$2·2bn have been signed, work on the 252 km San Juan ...
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Paris MF2000 order placed
JULY 2007 has been set as the target date for delivery of the first series-built MF2000 metro cars for Paris. The consortium of Alstom, Bombardier and Areva TA announced on May 10 that RATP had ordered an initial batch as part of its framework contract for 161 five-car sets.Valued at ...
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Nürnberg - Ingolstadt opens at 300 km/h
READY FOR this month's football world cup, German Railway inaugurated its upgraded route between the two Bavarian venues at Nürnberg and München on May 13. DB Chief Executive Hartmut Mehdorn was joined for the celebrations by Federal Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee, the Premier of Bayern Edmund Stoiber, local Transport ...
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NewsSmart card accord
NEWLY-APPOINTED UK Secretary of State for Transport Douglas Alexander and Mayor of London Ken Livingstone announced on May 10 that they had reached agreement to expand the use of Transport for London's Oyster smart card ticketing to suburban rail services. Introduced in 2003, there are now more than 5 million ...
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ALL acquires Brasil Ferrovias
AMERICA Latina Logística is to take control of the Ferronorte, Ferroban and Novoeste concessions after signing an agreement on May 9 to purchase parent company Brasil Ferrovias from shareholders Funcef and Previ, both pension funds. Under a deal worth R$1·41bn, former shareholders in Brasil Ferrovias will be granted a 20% ...
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Plasser & Theurer’s technical advances to keep ahead
THREE THOUSAND active patents lie at the core of Plasser & Theurer’s track maintenance machinery business, giving it a good foundation to develop new technologies. More than 13 000 machines have been supplied to 103 countries in the 53 years since the firm was founded. A privately-owned company, Plasser & ...
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Funding agreed for Basque Y
ON APRIL 24 two agreements were signed by the Spanish government, the Basque regional government and infrastructure authority ADIF, establishing the division of funding and other project responsibilities for the Y-shaped high speed network linking Bilbao, Vitoria and San Sebasti
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AGV nose to boost profile
COMPOSITES specialist Stratiforme is working for Alstom on the front end design of the AGV demonstration train (RG 12.05 p763). The company expects to deliver the nose components for the 350 km/h trainset by early 2007. Stratiforme is currently supplying nose cones and other components for SNCF's TGV fleet. It ...
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Change in Alice
FURTHER upheavals can be expected in the Australian rail sector with the news that a stake in the Adelaide - Alice Springs - Darwin rail link is up for sale.Operator Freight Link announced at the beginning of May that it was looking for ’a long-term strategic partner’ through the sale ...
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State stake in Alstom sold
BOUYGUES is to purchase the 21% stake in Alstom which has been owned by the French state since July 2004 under the government’s rescue agreement (RG 6.04 p369). The stake will be acquired at a price of €68·21 per share, representing an investment of €2bn, to be funded from available ...
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Nanjing - Hangzhou approved
CHINA’S MINISTRY of Railways announced on May 9 the go ahead for construction of a 300 km/h passenger railway between Nanjing and Hangzhou, with the aim of starting work by the end of this year.Due to be completed by 2010, the 251 km line is expected to cost 20·3bn yuan. ...
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DART expansion approved
WORK WILL start this year on two extensions to the DART light rail network in Dallas, following approval by the Federal Transit Administration of a $700m Full Funding Grant Agreement. This is intended to support a $2·4bn programme that will double the network to 150 km by 2013. With an ...
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Portland picks Avanto for MAX
ON May 10 the TriMet board approved a $75m contract with Siemens Transportation Systems for 21 S70 Avanto light rail vehicles, with an option for another three. Intended to operate the Interstate 205 and Portland Mall extensions of the MAX light rail network that are scheduled to open in September ...
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Overcoming the maintenance backlog
Spoornet has budgeted to spend R514m on infrastructure maintenance projects in the 2006-07 financial year. Much of this will be invested in the primary freight corridors used by the General Freight Business.R103m will be spent on tamping, screening and ballast renewal to improve the lateral stability of the track, reduce ...
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Separation battle
WHEN Federal Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee called in January for a ’constructive debate’ over the form in which Deutsche Bahn AG should be privatised, he no doubt foresaw that there would be some pretty heated discussion.There have been no fisticuffs yet, but a clear, if predictable, separation of views has ...
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Beijing signal contracts signed
BEIJUNG metro operator BMOC has awarded a €28m contract to Alstom for resignalling Line 2 in time for the 2008 Olympic Games. Working with its joint venture subsidiary Casco and Electrification Engineering Bureau, Alstom will equip 23 route-km with its Urbalis radio-based CBTC and Eurobalises to provide intermittent back-up. The ...
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Bombardier wins Chicago race
ON MAY 10 the Board of Chicago Transit Authority approved the purchase of 406 metro cars from Bombardier Transit Corp in a deal valued at $577m. They will be CTA's first cars to have AC propulsion and regenerative braking. The contract covers a base order of 206 vehicles ...
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NewsBordeaux tram extensions underway
Less than three years after the first phase of the Bordeaux light rail network was inaugurated, works are well advanced for several extensions which will almost double the length by 2008, reports Chris Heaps
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Master Plan will transform Nord-Pas de Calais network
AT LEAST €1535m is to be spent on improvements and modernisation of the rail network in Nord-Pas de Calais.Projects include a €650m regional high speed line stretching for around 70 km between Lille, Valenciennes and Aulnoye, for which a pre-feasibility study is currently in hand. Other short sections of new ...
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NewsI-Trans spearheads rail investment push in Nord-Pas de Calais
Revival of railway research, construction of a major testing centre and a 20-year investment programme in track and trains are on a shopping list of railway development activities in Nord-Pas de Calais. Murray Hughes reports from Lille and Valenciennes