Main line rail industry news – Page 1042
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NewsOpen access operator to take on ÖBB
AUSTRIA: Plans to run passenger services in competition with Austrian Federal Railways were unveiled in Wien on October 16. Starting in 2011, trains would run hourly between Wien and Salzburg, with Bratislava and München to follow if they are successful. The project is the brainchild of industrialist Hans-Peter Haselsteiner ...
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NewsSBB Cargo pulls potential partners
SWITZERLAND: Strong interest in SBB Cargo was evident when bids to work in partnership with the freight operator closed. As many as 25 organisations had submitted expressions of interest by September 22, and 14 of these had handed in firm offers by the October 15 deadline. Head of SBB ...
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NewsNorrström Tunnel contract placed
SWEDEN: Banverket has awarded NCC Construction the SKr1·5bn contract for the Norrström tunnel, the section of the Stockholm Citybanan project between Riddarholmen and Gamla Brogatan. The work will be carried out under a new partnership model with Banverket. The contract covers the construction of a two-platform City station beneath ...
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NewsCross-city high speed contract
SPAIN: Infrastructure authority ADIF has awarded a joint venture of Dragados, FCC, Copisa and Tecsa a €206m contract to build the third underground route connecting Atocha and Chamartín stations in Madrid, comprising two 1 435 mm gauge tracks for use by high speed services. The 7·3 km route will run ...
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NewsCourt decision favours heavy haul access
AUSTRALIA: A unanimous decision of the high court has ruled that BHP Billiton Iron Ore's Mount Newman and Goldsworthy railways are 'services', rather than part of the 'production process', and so the miner is obliged to negotiate third party access with competitor Fortescue Metals on a commercial basis. ...
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NewsMarmaray tunnel completed
TURKEY: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an joined ceremonies in Istanbul on October 13 to mark completion of the immersed-tube tunnel which will carry the Marmaray rail link under the Bosporus. After removing the last seal from the final segment, Erdo?an was able to walk through the tunnel ...
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NewsWinterised wider Flirt
FINLAND: The first 1 524 mm gauge EMU to be built by Stadler was rolled out at the Bussnang plant in Switzerland on October 7. The four-car Flirt is part of a €190m order for 32 units placed in August 2006 by Pääkaupunkiseudun Junakalusto, a body formed by state railway ...
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NewsKiwiRail structure finalised
NEW ZEALAND: The final structure of the renationalised rail industry came into effect on October 1. Operator KiwiRail and infrastructure manager Ontrack are now separate operating units of New Zealand Railways Corp, the legacy body which held remaining assets after the now-reversed privatisation in the 1990s. The previous NZ ...
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NewsDiesel-battery hybrid trial ends
UK: Brush Traction is to return the Class 43 HST power car used to test lithium ion battery hybrid traction technology to its original diesel-only specification. Developed with Hitachi and Porterbrook Leasing, the Hayabusa power car has been running as part of Network Rail’s New Measurement Train since 2007 (RG ...
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NewsDesiro design is evolving
UK: Siemens rolled out the first of 37 Class 350/2 Desiro EMUs for train operator London Midland in a ceremony at the Wildenrath test centre in Germany on October 8. The use of an existing design has allowed first unit to be completed within 15 months of the contract ...
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NewsAnsaldo STS wins in Turkish market
TURKEY: State railway TCDD has named a joint venture of Ansaldo STS subsidiaries Ansaldo Segnalamento Ferroviario and Ansaldo Trasporti Sistemi Ferroviari as the preferred bidder to design, supply and commission signalling and telecommunications equipment on two routes. The €126m contract to be signed next month gives Ansaldo STS its ...
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NewsBangalore Metro programme gathers pace
INDIA: With tendering well underway for the first phase of the Bangalore metro, Delhi Metro Rail Corp has been appointed as consultant for Phase II. Phase I consists of two routes running north-south and east-west, intersecting at Majestic. The 33 km standard gauge line will have 35 stations. The 14·9 ...
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NewsRailpool enters passenger stock market
DENMARK: The Railpool joint venture of HSH Nordbank and KfW IPEX-Bank has entered the passenger rolling stock leasing market with a €75m order for 45 Bombardier double-deck coaches which will be leased to Danish state railway DSB. 'It is the business goal of Railpool GmbH to become a major ...
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NewsLakeshore East upgrade
CANADA: GO Transit has completed a C$69·5m upgrade of its Lakeshore East rail line to reduce congestion and delays which have plagued services between Toronto Union station and Oshawa. A third track has been laid between Danforth and Scarborough to increase capacity. Platforms at Eglinton, Scarborough and Danforth have been ...
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NewsPlanning a railway to the High Plateau
ALGERIA: The bidding process for construction of the High Plateau line is due to start this autumn.
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NewsWork starts on Beijing – Shijiazhuang line
CHINA: October 7 saw the formal start of construction work on the 281 km Passenger-Dedicated Line between Beijing and Shijiazhuang. The project is expected to be completed within four years, at an estimated cost of 43·8bn yuan. Parallelling the existing main line between the two cities, the PDL is expected ...
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NewsPepy takes a stake in NTV
ITALY: Open access passenger operator NTV has selected SNCF as its 'industrial partner' to support its launch of domestic high speed trains in 2011. NTV Chairman Luca di Montezemolo and SNCF President Guillaume Pepy announced in Roma that they had signed an deal under which the French national railway will ...
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NewsTransmash plans Kazakh plant
KAZAKHSTAN: Prime Minister Karim Massimov is reported to have opened discussions with the Chairman of Transmash Holding Andri Bokaryov for the Russian rolling stock manufacturer to set up a plant in the Central Asian republic to build 25 kV 50 Hz electric locomotives and passenger coaches. Estimated to cost ...
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NewsDB flotation put on hold
GERMANY: The partial flotation of DB Mobility Logistics AG scheduled for October 27 has been postponed as a result of the turmoil in the global financial markets, which would have impacted on the potential value of the shares. Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück and DB Chairman Hartmut Mehdorn announced the decision ...
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NewsRecognising the total value of railways
ECONOMICS: Almost all railways generate economic and societal benefits, but these are rarely recognised in monetary values. It is up to governments to define public as opposed to commercial or private benefits. If it is deemed logical to have a viable railway, then the government needs to work out a ...