Main line rail industry news – Page 1096
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News
Bids in for Mendoza upgrade
IN THE PRESENCE of President Néstor Kirchner, bids to upgrade the route between Buenos Aires and Mendoza (RG 9.07 p524) for use by trains travelling at up to 160 km/h were opened on September 18. The turnkey contract including civil, track and signalling work to create a 'high performance' line, ...
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Chinese lines get underway
CONSTRUCTION of Chinese Railways' 904 km Passenger Dedicated Line between Harbin and Dalian formally began on August 28, and is expected to take 5½ years to complete. According to Minister of Railways Li Zhijun, the line is intended to relieve the existing railway between Dalian, Shenyang and Harbin, which is ...
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Crossrail and DLC set to merge
THE DIRECTORS and shareholders of Crossrail and Dillen & Le Jeune Cargo announced their intention to merge the two companies to create a pan-European independent traction provider on October 3. The merged company will be headquartered in Switzerland and operate under the Crossrail name. It will be jointly owned ...
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Napoli awards €426m metro Line 6 contract
ANSALDO STS was awarded a €426m contract by the Napoli local authority on September 28 for the construction of the Mergellina to Municipio second phase of the city’s metro Line 6. Completion of the 3·1 km underground extension is planned for 2012. The Ansaldo Trasporti Sistemi Ferroviari subsidiary of Ansaldo ...
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Second Zürich tunnel launched
AFTER NINE years of planning, Swiss Federal Railways formally started work on September 20 for the second cross-city rail tunnel in Zürich. SBB President Andreas Meyer and Zürich regional president Rita Fuhrer participated in the ceremonies to launch the 9·6 km Durchmesserlinie, which is expected to cost around SFr1·8bn to ...
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Traxx Class 246 diesel-electric unveiled
THE FIRST diesel-electric loco in Bombardier´s Traxx family was officially launched into service on September 3. For an initial three-month trial, the Class 246 and three double-deck coaches will replace a VT628 DMU on the EVB route between Bremervörde and Hamburg-Neugraben. Niedersachsen transport authority LNVG has ordered 11 Class 246 ...
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A meeting place for eventful times
THIS YEAR'S Elmia Nordic Rail will for the first time share its conference programme with Elmia Future Transport, a concurrent event launched to look beyond rail to the wider transport scene. Held at Jönköping in Sweden every two years, Nordic Rail has grown dramatically since the first event was held ...
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Tanzania concession starts this month
THE TANZANIAN government and Rites of India signed a 25-year concession for operation of the 2 700 km metre gauge state railway on September 3. The government holds 49% in the newly-established Tanzania Railway Ltd, with Rites holding 51%. Operation of Tanzania Railways Corp is scheduled to be officially handed ...
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Lifting constraints on capacity
TWO important documents on freight policy will shortly emerge from the European Commission: the Logistics Action Plan and a Communication on a European Rail Freight Network. Keen to influence both documents, the Community of European Railways presented 'a comprehensive business case analysis' on major freight corridors to the Commission on ...
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Three-way battle in the basin
THE ANNOUNCEMENT on September 5 that Canadian Pacific Railway is to purchase the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corp for US$1·48bn came as a surprise to US industry experts and financial analysts, who queried the high price that CPR is paying for the 4?000 km network. However, President & CEO ...
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Correction
The weight shown for the AGV prototype trainset (RG 9.907 p548) was in fact for an 11-car version. The figure for the seven-car AGV prototype should have been 272 tonnes.
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Sidetrack October 2007
The Bombela consortium which is building the Gautrain rail network in South Africa has placed newspaper advertisements offering '2 million tonnes of rock, stone, soil and fill' excavated from its tunnels beneath Johannesburg. The material is free of charge – but people must collect it themselves. In nearby Tshwane, traditional ...
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People October 2007
President & Director-General of Paris transport operator RATP Pierre Mongin has announced a restructuring of the senior management plus the creation of two new business units. Of the two Deputy Directors-General, Yves Ramette takes responsibility for maintenance and engineering, whilst Philippe Martin will handle operational and commercial activities, sharing responsibility ...
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Corus wins Gautrain rail contract
SOUTH AFRICA: Steelmaker Corus announced on October 1 that it had won a €16·5m contract to supply the 20 000 tonnes of rail needed for the Gautrain project in South Africa. The first rails will be produced at the Corus steel works at Hayange in France this month, and shipped ...
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The lights go out in Guatemala
WITH THE whistle blowing and the crew wearing black armbands, Guatemala's last revenue freight train (for now) pulled out of Puerto Barrios on September 4, bound for El Rancho and Guatemala City. After a 10-year struggle against natural disasters and vested interests, concessionaire Ferrovías Guatemala has suspended all services pending ...
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NewsAirport extension completes København Metro
CROWN PRINCE Frederik of Denmark opened an extension of København Metro line M2 to Lufthavnen station at the city’s airport on September 28, marking the completion of the two automated light metro lines envisaged in the initial scheme finalised by development authority Ørestadsselskabet in 1996. The Prince ...
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European Parliament approves Third Railway Package
International passenger services to be liberalised on January 1 2010 after compromise agreements are accepted
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München maglev funded
ON SEPTEMBER 25 the regional government of Bayern reached an agreement to fund a €1·85bn maglev to link Franz Josef Strauss Airport with München Hauptbahnhof. President of Bayern Edmund Stoiber announced the agreement in a national television address. The funding gap between the state and DB has been bridged ...
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Paris awaits wide-body revolution
Bombardier’s novel wide-bodied Spacium 3.06 design has been chosen as the standard EMU for commuter services in Ile-de-France. Murray Hughes reports
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TTCI marks two milestones
EARLY NEXT year senior North American railroad officials will gather at the Transportation Test Center in Pueblo, Colorado, for high-level discussions on the future of the industry. The occasion is intended to mark two anniversaries – 10 years since TTC Inc was set up as a subsidiary of the Association ...