Latest news – Page 962
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NewsBernadette Kelly
Bernadette Kelly has succeeded Clare Moriarty as Director General for the Rail Executive at the UK’s Department for Transport.
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NewsTanger high speed train depot inaugurated
MOROCCO: The rolling stock depot in Tanger which will maintain and service the country’s fleet of high speed trains was officially inaugurated by King Mohammed VI and French President François Hollande on September 20, at a ceremony attended by ONCF Director-General Mohamed Rabie Khlie and SNCF President Guillaume Pepy. Two ...
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NewsAddis Ababa light rail opens
ETHIOPIA: The first light rail line in Addis Ababa was opened for revenue service on September 20, following several months of test running. Hundreds of residents queued for hours ahead of the opening to sample the new service. Designed to relieve growing road congestion as the city’s population passes 5 ...
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NewsVinnytsia presents modernised tram
UKRAINE: Vinnytsia tram operator VTTU has unveiled a KT4SU tram which it has modernised at a cost of €160 000. New features include streamlined cabs and interior LED lightning. According to VTTU, the modernised tram will reduce energy consumption up to 40%. VTTU purchased 80 KT4SU trams from ...
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NewsRail industry news in brief - September 2015
To improve links between the Trans-Siberian and BAM routes, Russian Railways has opened the 3·4 km Avda – Gromadsk spur, built at a cost of 1·7bn roubles and including a 550 m curved viaduct with a 4 m height difference between the ends. A twice-weekly intermodal service from ...
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NewsWorld rail market September 2015
Iran: In partnership with Garivekan and Zitron, Indra is to supply its Horus tunnel monitoring and control package for Mashhad metro Line 2. Luxembourg: Luxtram has awarded a consortium of Transdev, Transamo and Nantes operator Semitan a three-year contract to provide operational assistance for the Luxembourg light rail line ...
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NewsRailroads warn of worst-case scenario if PTC deadline is not extended
USA: Congress must act to extend the 'unattainable' December 31 2015 deadline for the roll-out of Positive Train Control, rail industry associations reiterated in response to the release on September 16 of a Government Accountability Office report which says the Federal Railroad Administration needs to develop an adequate and comprehensive ...
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NewsIași completes tram line modernisation
ROMANIA: The latest section of the Iași tram network to be modernised reopened on September 1. Trams on the 10 km east-west route between Pasaj Nicolina and Tătărași Sud can now run at up to 35 km/h, up from 25 km/h previously. The upgrade work cost €10m. On October ...
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NewsUS-Chinese joint venture to develop Las Vegas high speed line
USA: Private-sector California to Nevada high speed rail project promoter XpressWest and a consortium of Chinese rail industry companies announced on September 17 that they had agreed to create a joint venture to develop, finance, build and operate a 370 km line between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The Southwest ...
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NewsCourt orders review of Nürnberg S-Bahn contract award
GERMANY: On September 17 the Higher Regional Court in München instructed Bayern railway authority BEG to undertake a review of the planned award of two Nürnberg S-Bahn operating contracts to National Express Rail. On February 2 BEG had named the German subsidiary of UK-based National Express Group as its preferred ...
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NewsSwiss government funds more maintenance
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has secured a 15% increase in infrastructure funding from the government for the next three-year performance contract covering 2017-20. Due to be submitted to parliament after a hearing in September, the increase is justified by a predicted 9% rise in gross tonne-km and additions to the ...
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NewsInland Rail delivery plan released
AUSTRALIA: The final report of the Inland Rail implementation group was delivered to the federal government on September 11, along with a business case developed by Australian Rail Track Corp. The delivery plan outlines a 10-year timeframe for developing the proposed 1 700km corridor between Melbourne and Brisbane via Wagga ...
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NewsBeijing to start metro expansion work
CHINA: Construction is due to start this month on five metro expansion projects in Beijing, including three new lines. The east-west Line 3 would connect Dongcheng with Chaoyang on a 22 km alignment with 14 stations. The 29·6 km Line 12 would follow an east-west route to the ...
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NewsAbidjan – Ouagadougou enhancement launched
AFRICA: Work to rehabilitate the 1 260 km metre-gauge railway from Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire to Ouagadougou and Kaya in Burkina Faso was launched by Ivorian Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan with a ceremony at the renovated Treichville station in Abidjan on September 9. Duncan said the aim of ...
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NewsFTA announces TOD grants
USA: The Federal Transit Administration announced grants totalling $19·5m from its Transit-Oriented Development Planning Pilot Program on September 14. The funding will go towards detailed planning in 17 metropolitan areas. ‘Transit-oriented development is critical to the success of new projects and to the economy of the local communities they ...
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NewsMünchen orders more Avenio trams
GERMANY: München utility body SWM has selected Siemens as preferred bidder to supply 22 low-floor trams. The €70m contract is to be signed following a 10-day standstill period. Starting in mid-2017, Siemens is to deliver nine two-section, nine three-section and four four-section Avenio trams. Operator MVG envisages that on ...
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NewsNew East Midlands direct award franchise agreed
UK: The Department for Transport and incumbent operator Stagecoach Group announced the agreement of a new directly-awarded East Midlands franchise on September 16. The current franchise covering inter-city services on the Midland Main Line and regional services across the East Midlands has been operated by Stagecoach subsidiary East Midlands Trains ...
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NewsYaroslavl plans fast tram lines
RUSSIA: Yaroslavl tram operator Yargorelektrotrans has announced plans for two fast tram lines. A feasibility study is expected to be completed soon. One route would link the main line station to the airport, southeast of the city. The other would be a north-south route intended to serve the city’s ...
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NewsEBRD signs Kosovo infrastructure upgrading loan
KOSOVO: The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development has signed a €39·9m senior loan with infrastructure manager Infrakos to finance a three-stage modernisation of the 148 km railway linking Macedonia with Serbia via Fushë Kosovë and Mitrovicë. EBRD will also support improvements to asset management, track access charges and workforce ...
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NewsUS$4∙8bn for freight renaissance
ARGENTINA: Minister of the Interior & Transport Florencio Randazzo announced on September 8 that China Machinery Engineering Corp had signed a letter of intent to double the amount of funding it is providing to revive Argentina’s rail freight network. ‘It is a second tranche of US$2⋅4bn which we will entirely ...
