All Railway Gazette International articles in June 2014 – Page 2
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NewsTopping out ceremony for South Island Line (East) depot
CHINA: A topping-out ceremony for Wong Chuk Hang depot on Hong Kong’s 7 km South Island Line (East) project was held on June 24. The 40 000 m² depot is the first in Hong Kong to be designed for unattended train operation. Completion of the depot structure will enable ...
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NewsSydney automated metro operator selected
AUSTRALIA: The Northwest Rapid Transit consortium has been selected as preferred bidder for the Operations, Trains & Systems contract for the North West Rail Link automated metro in Sydney, New South Wales Premier Mike Baird announced on June 24 The consortium comprises MTR Corp (Australia), John Holland, Leighton Contractors, UGL ...
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NewsCustomisable trams, predictive maintenance and local partnerships
ALSTOM: The latest version of the Citadis tram family, two Coradia regional multiple-units, a freight locomotive, a predictive maintenance tool and the Atlas range of ERTMS technology will the highlights of Alstom’s indoor and outdoor presence at InnoTrans 2014. Alstom will reveal a version of its Citadis tram which it ...
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NewsAmadeus targets a wider rail market
TICKETING: A hands-off ticket machine, expansion into Asia, Russia and the Middle East and plans to enter the commuter ticketing market were highlighted by transaction processing specialist Amadeus at its Rail Forum held in Wien this month. While Amadeus’ rail business has so far focused on long-distance and high ...
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NewsLusail tram contract signed
QATAR: Railway project promoter Qatar Rail has awarded a consortium of Alstom and QDVC the €2bn main contract for the construction of a four-line tram network in Lusail. Opening of the Yellow Line is planned for 2018, with the Green, Red and Purple lines to follow in 2020. ...
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NewsFlushing out faster
CHINA: Smith Brothers & Webb is to install its Britannia automated emptying system for controlled-emission train toilets at the future Shek Kong high speed train depot on Hong Kong’s Express Rail Link. This will be able to evacuate 800 l of effluent in 8 sec, allowing a single operative ...
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NewsAmtrak and California abandon joint rolling stock procurement
USA: Plans to undertake a joint procurement of high speed trainsets have been shelved by Amtrak and the Californian High Speed Rail Authority. Amtrak said on June 23 that meetings with representatives of the rolling stock supply industry had indicated that the requirements were too diverse to be met by ...
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NewsSwap bodies to carry mail by rail
FRANCE: The post office announced on June 19 a three-year €100m investment programme that will see mail moving by rail in swap bodies from a new terminal to be built at Bonneuil-sur-Marne in the southeastern suburbs of Paris. Due to open towards the end of 2015 at a cost of ...
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NewsAlstom to focus on transport after GE deal
ALSTOM: The board of Alstom has unanimously recommended that shareholders accept a deal with GE which would see the French company sell its energy activities and focus on transport, with the acquisition of GE’s signalling business and international collaboration with GE in the rail sector. The deal is subject to ...
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NewsLiquefied gas wagon under development
EUROPE: Leasing company VTG and cryogenic liquid storage and transport specialist Chart Ferox are jointly developing two prototype wagons suitable for carrying liquefied natural gas by rail. It is envisaged that two wagons could replace four lorries or five tank containers on the roads, with insulation to permit storage times ...
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NewsNews in Brief - June 2014
Switzerland’s Federal Office of Transport has given its approval to a SFr50m project to convert TPF’s 5·5 km Bulle - Broc-Fabrique branch from 1000 mm to 1435 mm gauge, to enable Fribourg RER services to be extended to Broc. Due to be executed in 2016-21, the project would be ...
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NewsPresident Aquino renews PNR charter
PHILIPPINES: The corporate charter of national operator Philippine National Railways was extended by a further 50 years on June 18, when President Benigno Aquino signed into law Republic Act 10638. PNR was established as the state railway in 1964, tasked with managing the 1 067 mm gauge main line network ...
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NewsTacna – Arica reopening studies
PERU: Government investment agency ProInversión has invited bids for a contract to undertake studies for reopening the 60 km railway that connects the city of Tacna with the port of Arica in Chile. Out of service since May 2012 due to poor track condition, the 1 435 mm gauge Tacna ...
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NewsWorld rolling stock market June 2014
Austria: Steiermärkische Landesbahn has acquired three CityShuttle coaches from ÖBB for school trains. Azerbaijan: Alstom and Baku Metro have signed a ‘memorandum of mutual co-operation’ to develop metro cars for new lines and the gradual replacement of the existing fleet. A final agreement is to be signed within two ...
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NewsMechi - Mahakali Electric Railway construction launched
NEPAL: Minister for Physical Planning & Transport Bimalendra Nidhi laid a foundation stone to officially launch construction of the Mechi – Mahakali Electric Railway Project on June 15. The 108 km first phase of the planned 945 km east–west line will run from Simara to Bardibas. Agreement to build ...
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NewsVirgin signs West Coast direct award contract
UK: The Department for Transport announced on June 19 that it had agreed terms with Virgin Rail Group for a direct award contract to operate InterCity West Coast services for a further 2 years and 9 months. Virgin is currently running the business under a stopgap agreement signed in December ...
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NewsTunnel technique
INDIA: The first class of 10 engineers from Delhi Metro Rail Corp was due to arrive in Kuala Lumpur last month as part of a tunnelling training programme to support construction of Phase 3 of the Delhi metro network. Jointly operated by engineering groups MMC and Gamuda, the Kuala Lumpur ...
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News‘Cap-and-trade’ revenues to support Californian high speed programme
USA: The California state budget for 2014-15 includes a commitment to provide a further $250m for the planned San Francisco – Los Angeles high speed rail project.The contribution would be provided using revenues accrued by the state’s emissions trading scheme. More significantly, the budget, backed by Governor Jerry Brown and ...
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NewsÖBB to switch long-distance trains to Wien Hauptbahnhof
AUSTRIA: From December 14 Austrian Federal Railways will route many of its long-distance passenger services through Wien Hauptbahnhof, which currently nearing completion. The station is already served by local and regional express trains, including those to and from Bratislava. ÖBB confirmed on June 10 that inter-city trains from Graz, Villach, ...