Main line rail industry news – Page 1115
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Market May 2007
Australia: On April 3 ARTC signed an A$85m deal under which Telstra will replace nine separate communication systems between Brisbane and Perth and in the Hunter Valley. When it is fully operational in June 2009, the integrated system will use 77 Telstra Next G base stations to cover 10 000 ...
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Metros May 2007
Belgium: On March 21 Managing Director of Brussels transport authority STIB Alain Flausch said he hopes to take up options to purchase between 135 and 150 Bombardier trams in 2007-11, enabling the elimination of high-floor PCC cars from the 1970s. Canada: The city of Calgary has selected the West ...
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Pointers May 2007
National Railways of Zimbabwe is planning to establish a mineral prospecting firm which General Manager Air Commodore Michael Karakadzai said will exploit 'under-explored potential' to earn critically-needed foreign currency. 'Since colonial days NRZ and Zimbabwean railways have jointly held mineral prospecting rights in South Africa,' he said.Reversing a cancellation by ...
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Seoul's airport rail link takes off
The first phase of South Korea's privately-financed A'REX has opened for revenue service, carrying both airport express and commuter trains
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ADIF spends k1bn
MEETING ON MARCH 30, the board of Spanish infrastructure authority ADIF gave its approval for contracts worth a total of k1?03bn to be awarded or put out to tender. According to the Ministry of Development, this is one of the largest investment packages approved at a single board meeting since ...
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High speed across Andaluc?a
ON MARCH 27 the Andaluc?a regional government announced that it had awarded a joint venture of OHL and Vera a k43?6m contract to build the 12?5?km Marchena - Osuna section of a high speed line that will eventually link Sevilla with Granada and Almer?a. Work is expected to take 28 ...
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One bid for Buenos Aires - Cordoba
THE CONSORTIUM of Alstom, Iecsa, Emepa and Isolux emerged as the only candidate to build Argentina's first high speed line when technical bids for the 710 km Buenos Aires - Córdoba project were opened in the presence of President Néstor Kirchner on April 27. Bids from the shortlisted consortia led ...
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Grand Central plans Chinese trains
ASPIRING open-access operator Grand Central Railway announced on April 13 that it plans to buy three 225 km/h diesel trainsets from CSR Ziyang of China 'immediately following the launch' of its Sunderland - London service later this year. China Southern Loco & Rolling Stock Co is looking to break into ...
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Crossrail expands
SWISS open-access freight operator Crossrail AG announced on April 4 that it had received a licence from the Italian government permitting the company to run its own trains in Italy with effect from mid-2007. At present Crossrail is running seven trains each way per week between Novara and the Benelux ...
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Electronic brake trials
NORFOLK SOUTHERN and BNSF announced jointly on March 29 that they plan to start revenue service trials later this year using electronically-controlled pneumatic brake systems. The move follows the issuing of an FRA waiver allowing ECP-equipped trainsets to run 5 600 km between inspections, which is twice the distance ...
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NewsEurostar records strong growth
REPORTING ITS first quarter results for 2007 on April 17, Eurostar announced a strong jump in traffic and revenue on its cross-Channel high speed trains. Passenger-journeys increased by 5?4% to 1?79 million, whilst sales revenues of ?142m were 13?2% ahead of the same period in 2006. Contributing to the higher ...
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Alstom wins Marmaray fit-out
A CONTRACT worth €815m was signed at the end of March for the second phase of work on the 76·3 km Marmaray cross-Bosporus rail link in Istanbul. The Turkish Ministry of Transport has selected the AMD consortium of Alstom, Marubeni and local partner Dogus to undertake the Phase II works, ...
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RZD infrastructure reform
RUSSIAN Railways announced at the end of March that its infrastructure maintenance business is to be restructured over the next two years, as part of the country’s ongoing railway reform programme.The first stage of the process is scheduled to take effect from the beginning of 2008. This will see track ...
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North-South Railway contracts signed
THREE CONTRACTS totalling 7·1bn riyals were signed on April 3 covering construction of 1 765 km of the North-South Railway in Saudi Arabia (RG 4.07 p184). Minister of Finance Dr Ibrahim Al-Assaf said the work would be completed in 42 months. The kingdom's Public Investment Fund has set up a ...
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Full service with Level 2
ALL TRAINS running on Swiss Federal Railways’ Mattstetten - Rothrist line now use Level 2 ETCS. SBB announced on March 22 that the switchover had been completed on March 18, with around 250 passenger and freight trains operating every 24?h.Trains run at 2?min intervals at speeds of 160?km/h, making this ...
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TGV route approved
FRENCH Minister of Transport Dominique Perben gave his approval on April 17 to the draft alignment for the Tours - Angoul?me section of TGV Sud-Atlantique.The move marks the end of formal consultation for the 181?km route forming the northern half of the k5bn Tours - Bordeaux high speed line for ...
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NewsTashguzar - Kumkurgan line signalling contract
UZBEKISTAN: Computer-based interlockings and LED signals are to make their first appearance in Central Asia on Uzbekiston Temir Yollari's 200 km Tashguzar - Kumkurgan line, following the award of a €29m contract by Japanese trading company Mitsui on April 4. Consortium leader Bombardier is to supply Ebilock 950 interlockings, object ...
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Progress in Venezuela
VENEZUELAN state railway IAFE announced on April 11 that civil works had been completed on 30 km of the 108·8 km Puerto Cabello - La Encrucijada route, now expected to open in 2011. Of the route's 15 tunnels, five totalling 23·7 km have been completed as well as 2·67 km ...
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People May 2007
Ren? Cort?zar has been appointed Chile's Minister of Transport. Ludovic Orban has been appointed Minister of Transport in Romania. Last month Bob Scheuber announced he was to step down as Chief Executive of Queensland Rail by the start of May, taking leave ahead of his retirement on July 1. ...
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Information available
Waiting passengers can be alerted to the imminent arrival of a train, including fast trains which will not be stopping at the station, using the in-platform lighting developed by CompaTech. Blue LEDs are integrated into the platform surfacing, and light up to warn of a passing train, helping to ensure ...