Main line rail industry news – Page 1088
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Wellington EMU order
PLANS FOR the renewal and expansion of Tranz Metro suburban rail services in the New Zealand capital reached a key milestone on November 13, when Greater Wellington Regional Council confirmed an order for new EMUs. GWRC has signed a contract with Rotem of South Korea and Mitsui of Japan covering ...
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High speed opening in a hole
DECEMBER was due to see the opening of three new sections of high speed line in Spain, with the final section of Madrid - Barcelona, the Madrid - Valladolid line and the Antequera - Málaga route to be inaugurated on December 21, 22 and 23 respectively. But the plans have ...
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GE enters UK loco market
GE TRANSPORTATION is to develop its first diesel locomotive design for the UK market, following an order for 30 units announced by Freightliner Group Ltd on November 26. Freightliner currently operates a fleet of 127 EMD Class 66 locomotives to haul intermodal and bulk freight in the UK, and ...
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Rail industry moves into top gear
Passenger and freight operations in Australia are undergoing massive revitalisation, with billions of dollars in public and private funding being invested in new and upgraded lines and rolling stock
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Only TfL bids for Metronet
LONDON Underground Managing Director Tim O'Toole confirmed on November 6 that Transport for London has submitted the only bid to acquire the failed PPP infrastructure concessionaire Metronet. Metronet BCV and SSL had been put into administration by Mayor of London Ken Livingstone on July 18 (RG 8.07 p461). Administrator Alan ...
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Focus on France as Commission approves EWS takeover
CONDITIONAL APPROVAL for Deutsche Bahn to acquire 100% of EWS Holdings was announced by the European Commission on November 7. Welcoming the decision, EWS said 'both companies look forward to working together to develop freight in Europe', stressing that 'the business strategy of EWS remains the same: to continue ...
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Brush buys Hunslet-Barclay
BRUSH Barclay is the new name adopted for the former Hunslet-Barclay Ltd, after FKI announced on November 12 that it was paying £2·1m to acquire the assets of the rolling stock engineering business on behalf of Brush Traction. On October 26 KPMG Restructuring had announced the appointment of joint administrators ...
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Paris RER contract
A CONTRACT worth €103m for the supply of components for the mid-life refurbishment of 119 four-car RATP Class MI79 and SNCF Class Z8100 suburban EMUs used on Paris RER Line B was awarded to Alstom last month. The vehicles were delivered by Alstom from 1980, and the manufacturer will now ...
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Wheels to roll from China
STANDARD Car Truck Co announced on October 18 that it had formed Barber Tianrui Railway Supply Co as a joint venture with China's Tianrui Group for the global marketing of cast steel wheels. The joint venture agreement was signed in Chicago by the Chairman of Standard Car Truck Richard ...
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Pioneer railway revival
CHILDREN in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv once again have the chance to operate their own railway, with the completion of a three-year project to restore the country's last remaining Pioneer railway. On September 22 Transport Minister Petar Mutafchiev and city Mayor Ivan Chomakov formally reopened the 600 mm gauge ...
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Durchmesserlinie will give Zürich an east-west axis
Construction work began on September 20 on the 9·6 km link between Oerlikon and Altstetten that will see a further set of through platforms created beneath Zürich's increasingly-congested central station
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SNCB leases 40 locos from Angel Trains
BELGIAN national operator SNCB is to lease 40 Bombardier Traxx multi-system electric locomotives from Angel Trains, the Royal Bank of Scotland's leasing firm announced on November 23. Five of the 40 four-voltage locos were already on order from the manufacturer, while a further 35 have been ordered specifically ...
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DB sale bill hits the rocks
LEAVING aside the unusual spectacle of German railway staff striking for higher pay, controversy continues to dog government plans to privatise all or part of Deutsche Bahn. Officially, the aim is still to push a bill through parliament before the next general election in 2009, but this is looking increasingly ...
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UK franchises remapped
FURTHER rationalisation of the passenger train operating franchises in the UK has been completed. November 11 saw the launch of the East Midlands, West Midlands and CrossCountry franchises, replacing the former Central Trains, Midland Main Line, Silverlink and Virgin CrossCountry operations (RG 7.07 p403). Stagecoach subsidiary East Midlands Trains now ...
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Three presidents launch Turkey - Georgia rail link
CONSTRUCTION of the rail link between Turkey and Georgia formally got underway on November 21, with the presidents of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey laying a foundation stone at Marabda station in the Tetri-Tskaro region of Georgia. Turkey is providing US$220m to fund the 76 km of new line to be ...
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Pointers November 2007
Freight traffic on the metre-gauge Belgrano network in Argentina is expected to reach 850 000 tonnes in 2007, according to Eduardo Lamaison who heads emergency operating company SOE (RG 9.06 p490). Less than 500 000 tonnes were carried in 2006, since when SOE has increased the ...
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Caspian corridor plans agreed
SECTIONS of new line to be built in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran will open up a north-south rail corridor parallel to the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. An agreement to implement the 650 km project was signed by the presidents of the three countries at the second Caspian ...
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World rail market November 2007
Argentina: National Railway Equipment Co of the USA is supplying two E2300 diesel locomotives to Ferrosur Roca. They are similar to the General Motors GT22 design already operated by the railway. Austria: Last month ÖBB placed a €76m order for a further 17 Class 4124 four-car Bombardier Talent EMUs, bringing ...
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Monster machine masters multiple functions
The RPM-RS-900 track renewal machine handles formation renewal, reballasting and tamping in a single pass with the option of recycling used ballast
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High Speed 1 for sale as LCR to be split
LONDON & Continental Railways, owner of the £5·2bn Channel Tunnel Rail Link and the UK share of Eurostar, is to be separated into three businesses, UK Rail Minister Tom Harris announced on November 20. The recently-completed 109 km high speed line between London at the Channel Tunnel will be ...