Latest news – Page 1220
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NewsCoach plant plans
EUROPE: Plans are being developed for the production of modern passenger rolling stock at plants in Belarus and Hungary. Ukraine’s Kriukov Car Works is investing US$1·46m to take a 15% stake in Gomel Car Repair Plant, a joint venture with Belarus’ state-owned Kalinin rolling stock plant which ...
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NewsProgress with metro and tram shared track project
NORWAY: Oslo T-Bane Line 6 services were extended by 2 km from Jar to Bekkestua via a relocated Ringstabekk station on August 15, completing the latest stage of an ongoing project to rebuild the Kolsåsbanen light rail route for shared running by metro trains and trams. Reopening of the next ...
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NewsBombardier signalling centre opens
SPAIN: Bombardier's signalling centre of excellence at San Sebastián de los Reyes was officially opened on July 20. Built at a cost of €3m to serve the European and Latin American markets, the facility is currently developing the Cityflo 650 CBTC that Bombardier is to supply to London Underground, as ...
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NewsPlastic sleeper joint venture
INTERNATIONAL: Axion International and Sicut Holding have agreed to establish Axion Rail as a 65:35 joint venture which will supply recycled composite sleepers worldwide under licence from Rutgers University. 'We have been working with our partners at Sicut since Axion’s founding’, said Axion President & CEO Steve Silverman. Axion ...
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NewsSaudi Arabian train on test at Velim
SAUDI ARABIA: The first of eight fixed-formation diesel trainsets which Saudi Railways Organization ordered from CAF in July 2008 is now undergoing trials at the VUZ testing centre at Velim in the Czech Republic. The 180 km/h push-pull trainset is formed of five 26·8 m long passenger coaches and single-cab ...
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NewsFirst major Afghan railway completed
AFGHANISTAN: Freight services reportedly began running on Afghanistan's first major railway on August 20-21. This followed the signing on August 4 of a three-year agreement for Uzbek national railway UTY to operate the 75 km 1 520 mm gauge line, which it built at a cost of US$165m using Asian ...
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NewsCoal miner orders diesel locomotives
RUSSIA: The Mecheltrans Vostok transport subsidiary of mining, metals and power group Mechel announced an order for 16 Sinara Transport Machines TEM8 diesel-electric locomotives on August 5. They will be delivered in 2012-14 to operate a 315 km railway which Mechel has built to link its Elga Coal Complex mining ...
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NewsSNCF takes Westbahn stake
AUSTRIA: On August 23 SNCF confirmed that it had bought a 26% stake in Rail Holding AG, the parent company of open access operator Westbahn Management GmbH. The purchase takes the form of an injection of share capital into Rail Holding, which becomes a three-way joint venture between SNCF ...
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NewsOpening of Ankara - Konya fast line completes strategic link
TURKEY: Passenger services on Turkey's second 250 km/h line began on August 24, the day after the Ankara - Konya route was inaugurated by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Built at a cost of YTL1bn, the north-south line completes a strategic link in the rail network. Taking the direct 306 ...
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NewsBombardier opens Singapore regional office
SINGAPORE: Bombardier Transportation announced the expansion of its presence in Singapore on August 22, with the opening of a regional office for the Services division. Providing after-sales service and support for customers in Asia, the office is headed by Nick King, Regional Head of Services at Bombardier Transportation. He said ...
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NewsJerusalem light rail Red Line opens
ISRAEL: The Jerusalem light rail Red Line opened for trial services on August 19, with 40 000 passengers carried on the first day. Travel is free until September 1 because of problems with ticketing equipment. ‘This is a happy day for Jerusalem and its residents’, said Mayor ...
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NewsEstonian freight operator orders Chinese shunting locomotives
ESTONIA: Freight operator EVR Cargo has announced a €30·2m contract for a consortium of China National Corp for Overseas Economic Co-operation and a CNR subsidiary to supply 16 diesel shunting locomotives. The 1 520 mm gauge DF7G-E locomotives will be built at CNR's Beijing February 7 works, with the first ...
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NewsThe Tide comes in
USA: The Tide light rail line in Norfolk, Virginia, opened on August 19. More than 46 000 people took advantage of free rides during the first two days, far more than anticipated, and so the planned three days of free travel was extended until August 28. The 11·8 km line ...
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NewsMTU tests Stage IIIB diesel engine
EUROPE: A year of in-service testing has begun with DB Schenker locomotive No 225 008-2 which has been fitted with a MTU Series 4000 engine as part of the EU-backed Clean European Rail-Diesel research project. MTU says the 1·8 MW 12V4000R84 design is the first engine for rail traction to ...
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NewsCatalan school of railway engineering
SPAIN: Catalan regional operator FGC is ‘committed to creating a world of railway engineering specialists’ by updating the syllabus for a Masters course in Railway Traction Power Systems which it helps to co-ordinate with several local institutions. On July 1, Joaquim Olivé, Director of the Fundació Politècnica de Catalunya, met ...
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NewsGranite crosses the Urals
RUSSIA: An 8·8 MW three-section pre-production version of the 2ES10 Granite electric locomotive developed by the Ural Locomotives joint venture of Sinara and Siemens hauled a 9 000 tonne train from Yekaterinburg to Balezino during trial runs on August 4. 'This is a landmark event', said Russian Railways President Vladimir ...
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NewsTransitAmerica selected to operate Caltrain services
USA: TransitAmerica Services Inc has been selected to operate Caltrain commuter services in California under a contract which is set to be formally approved by the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board on September 1. The five-year deal announced on August 18 will be worth $62·5m in the 2013 financial ...
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NewsJR East plans consultancy launch
JAPAN: East Japan Railway intends to set up an international consultancy business by the end of the year, according to Masaki Ogata, Vice-Chairman for Overseas Affairs. Speaking to local press, Ogata said that JR East is ‘setting its sights on the world’ by launching a consultancy that he hoped would ...
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NewsAnsaldo STS awarded Berlin - Rostock signalling contract
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn has awarded Ansaldo STS a €13·8m contract to design, supply, install and commission ETCS Level 2 on the Berlin - Rostock route which connects the port of Rostock with TEN-T corridors to southern Italy. Announcing the contract on August 18, Ansaldo STS said it was the company's ...
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NewsAlstom to maintain Ferrovalle infrastructure
MEXICO: Under a contract worth around €40m, Alstom has taken responsibility for maintenance of 660 track-km of standard gauge lines in central Mexico. The lines are owned by Ferrocarril y Terminal del Valle de Mexico, a vertically-integrated railway owned jointly by operators Kansas City Southern de Mexico, Ferromex, Ferrosur and ...