Latest news – Page 1378
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NewsUIC proposes intermodal growth agenda
EUROPE: The International Union of Railways has published Agenda 2015 for Combined Transport in Europe, the concluding report of the Diomis study launched in January 2006 to investigate ways of growing intermodal services. Drawn up by Kombiconsult and K+P Transport Consultants with guidance from the UIC, the study puts forward ...
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NewsRio Tinto to go driverless
AUSTRALIA: Driverless trains will be operating on Rio Tinto's Pilbara heavy haul iron ore railway in Western Australia within five years, the mining company announced on June 16. The first automation trials began in early 2007, initially using segregated tracks at 7 Mile Yard. Following the successful completion of 126 ...
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GE to resignal Rotterdam metro
NETHERLANDS: Rotterdam transport operator RET has selected GE Transportation to undertake the resignalling of the city's 55 km two line metro network. GE said the €62m contract is the company's largest-ever rail signalling order and its first full-scale metro project in Europe. Work will begin in early 2009 to ...
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NewsMexico City metro Line 12 contract awarded
MEXICO: A US$1·7bn contract to build metro Line 12 in Mexico City has been awarded to a consortium led by construction firm Empresas ICA and including Alstom and Carso Infraestructura y Construccion. Running entirely underground, the 24 km Line 12 will have 22 stations serving the southern portion of ...
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NewsRefurbished tram back in Sofia
BULGARIA: The first of 18 Sofia trams to be modernised under a €13·6m contract with Inekon has returned to service in the Bulgarian capital. The 1 009 mm gauge three-section T8-700IT tram has been rebuilt from a twin-section T6M-700 with the insertion of a 360 mm entrance height centre section ...
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Ambitious vision in East Africa
AFRICA: Following closely on the aborted multi-billion-dollar scheme to replace Nigeria's dilapidated 1 067 mm gauge railway with a new standard-gauge network, the East African Community has announced a 'master plan' to do something similar with the metre-gauge lines in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. According to Magaga Alot from the ...
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NewsCádiz tram-train contract
SPAIN: The Andalucía regional government has awarded Sacyr and Prinur a contract worth €52·8m to undertake civil and track work on the 5·8 km San Fernando - Caño Zurraque section of the tram-train route linking Cádiz with Chiclana de la Frontera. Work on this section with eight stops is due ...
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Africa miners in the railway market
AFRICA: As two European companies start work on short-term contracts to rescue the existing railway networks in the Democractic Republic of Congo, word reaches us of ambitious plans to build more than 3 000 km of new railway in that country, together with further spending on roads, hospitals and hydro-electric ...
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Melbourne to re-let franchises
AUSTRALIA: The Victorian state government has called for expressions of interest to operate its urban rail services from 2009. The suburban trains are presently run by Connex Melbourne, and the Yarra Trams network is operated by the Metrolink joint venture of Transdev and Transfield Services Ltd. Both franchises expire next ...
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Amman - Zarqa light rail back on
JORDAN: A new contract has been awarded for the construction and operation of the long-planned inter-urban light rail line between Amman and Zarqa. The US$332m 30-year build-operate-transfer concession with Spain's Ineco-Tifsa and a Kuwaiti partner replaces a US$240m contract with a consortium of Jordanian, Pakistani and Chinese firms which was ...
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Urban rail news in brief - June 2008
Madrid Metro has unveiled the first of 36 Series 9000 trainsets that are to be introduced on Line 6 by 2011, part of an order for 52 units placed with AnsaldoBreda for €450m. The upgrade of Line 6 has included the construction of new traction substations and a new station ...
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NewsPointers June 2008
At a meeting with his Iranian and Afghan counterparts, the Foreign Minister of Tajikistan proposed that a railway which is planned to serve a Chinese copper mining concession at Aynak, east of Kabul, be routed through Kunduz, Panj and then to the Tajik capital Dushanbe. A line would be built ...
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Santiago trackwork
CHILE: Balfour Beatty plc announced on May 14 that its Chilean subsidiary had been awarded contracts worth a total of £37m to undertake tracklaying on two extensions to the Santiago metro. Under a contact worth £10·2m, work on the 3·8 km section of Line 1 from Escuela Militar to Los ...
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NewsBahrain investor buys Freightliner
UK: Freightliner Group announced on June 13 that it had been bought for an undisclosed sum by Arcapita, a Bahrain-based investment bank specialising in corporate, real estate and asset-based investments and venture capital. Subject to clearance from the European Commission, Arcapita will acquire Freightliner from 3i and Electra Private ...
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NewsTrain leasing company sold for £3·6bn
ANGEL TRAINS: Royal Bank of Scotland's long-anticipated sale of rolling stock leasing company Angel Trains to a consortium led by Babcock & Brown was announced on June 13. Definitive agreements with an enterprise value of £3·6bn of have been signed, and subject to regulatory approval the transaction is expected to ...
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Dallas assembles kit cars
USA: Dallas Area Rapid Transit has begun adding low-floor sections to its 115 KinkiSharyo light rail vehicles under a programme to be completed in 2010. The number of seats is increased from 75 to 100 on the 'Super Light Rail Vehicles', the first of which will begin carrying passengers shortly. ...
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Tokyo metro line inaugurated
JAPAN: Ceremonies were held at Shinjuku-3chome station on June 13 to mark the inauguration of Tokyo Metro Line 13. Now officially known as the Fukutoshin Line, the 8·9 km north-south route connects the districts of Ikebukuro, Shinjuku and Shibuya on the western side of the Japanese capital. There are ...
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UK high speed rail development fund announced
UK: High speed rail pressure group Greengauge 21 announced a £750 000 strategy development programme at a Rail Forum event in Birmingham on June 13. The work programme will examine five broad corridors linking Britain's major urban areas: London - Birmingham - ManchesterLondon - ...
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St Petersburg to buy low-floor trams
RUSSIA: Petersburg Tram Mechanical Factory is to supply 45 trams to St Petersburg Tramways under a contract won following a competitive tender. The contract, which was expected to be formally signed during May, is worth 645m roubles, under which PTMZ would supply the operator with a further 29 model 71-134 ...
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Moscow sets out metro development plan
RUSSIA: Moscow Metro General Manager Dmitry Gaev has revealed plans for further expansion of the network over the period from 2010 to 2015. Gaev hopes to see a further 130 km built by 2015, of which 60 km is already included in the city's budget. Funding for the remainder will ...