Main line rail industry news – Page 1161
-
News
Madrid - Valladolid makes progress
WITHIN a budget of €177·3m, bids have been invited for a contract to supply interlockings, train protection systems, telecommunications, GSM-R radio and a traffic control centre for the Madrid - Valladolid high speed line and its branch to Medina del Campo. A second contract worth up to €51·6m has also ...
-
News
Emirates rail study
A 700 km line connecting the United Arab Emirates will form a key element in the planned Gulf rail network, according to the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi General Shaikh Mohammad bin Zayed al Nahyan. Speaking at the UAE’s 34th anniversary celebrations on December 6, the Crown Prince sanctioned funding ...
-
News
Valparaíso gets a metro
ON NOVEMBER 23 Metro Valparaíso was formally inaugurated by President Ricardo Lagos of Chile, marking the completion of a US$332m programme to upgrade the Puerto - Limache suburban route operated by EFE subsidiary Merval. As part of the upgrade, Alstom Transport has supplied a fleet of two-car X’Trapolis EMUs, each ...
-
News
Concessions may not be enough
The bitter row between Toll Holdings and Patrick Corp, equal joint owners of rail freight operator Pacific National, shows no sign of abating.Toll is pressing ahead with its A$4·6bn hostile bid to take over Patrick, but this is stalled by the intervention of Australia’s competition regulator (RG 12.05 p747). ACCC’s ...
-
News
Tasmania's network in jeopardy
SHOCKWAVES from the bitter war between Toll and Patrick brought Tasmania's surviving 726 km 1067mm gauge network to the brink of permanent closure last month. Through a media statement, Pacific National Tasmania warned the state government in Hobart and the federal government in Canberra that without an injection of public ...
-
News
Rolling motorway agreement
MARCH 31 2007 has been set as the launch date for a rolling motorway service running for more than 1000 km across France, Transport Minister Dominique Perben announced on December 12. He said the autoroute ferroviaire would link Perpignan, close to the Spanish frontier, with Bettembourg in Luxembourg. With an ...
-
News
Santiago metro keeps growing
ON NOVEMBER 15 President Ricardo Lagos of Chile announced the next phase of an extension programme which will take the Santiago metro to 104·5 km and 108 stations by the end of 2009. Work on the 4 km extension of Line 1 from Escuela Militar to Los Dominicos was due ...
-
NewsLate deliveries justify compensation
DANISH State Railways ordered a fleet of 83 IC4 diesel multiple-units from AnsaldoBreda in December 2000 at a cost of DKr5bn. Intended to work inter-city services between København and cities in Jutland, the four-car 200 km/h articulated trainsets are notable for their absence from Danish tracks. Although two trains are ...
-
News
Plant contracts
AS PART of its cost-reduction programme, Network Rail has revised its policy on leasing on-track plant.At present NR leases on-track machines such as tampers for maintenance, and its renewals contractors either own or hire their machines separately. Awarding common contracts is expected to boost productivity by 50% and bring major ...
-
News
DB expansion under fire
THERECENT change in government looks certain to revive pressure to privatise all or part of German Railway. With DB forecasting a 2005 operating profit of €400m on December 7, there are suggestions that steps may be taken this year.DB continues to expand aggressively. On November 16 it announced the acquisition ...
-
News
ETCS waltz continues to play
GERMAN Railway and its suppliers Siemens and Alcatel proudly announced on December 6 that commercial services with trains controlled by Level 2 ETCS had begun on the 100 km Jüterbog - Leipzig section of the Berlin - Leipzig main line. Setting aside the pilot scheme which saw commercial service under ...
-
News
Trams return in New Orleans
LIMITED tram services resumed in New Orleans on December 18, four months after the city was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Earlier estimates indicated it might take a year to restore the services, but RTA has come up with a compromise. The 35 historic Perley Thomas cars used on the St ...
-
News
Tram-train timetable set
MEETING in Mulhouse on November 26, the steering committee for the city’s pilot tram-train project agreed a target date of 2010 for opening the initial route between Mulhouse and Thann.Headed by the President of the Alsace regional council Adrien Zeller, the committee includes representatives from Mulhouse, Haut-Rhin and Alsace as ...
-
News
City News in brief
Groundbreaking celebrations were held on November 18 to mark the start of construction on the Everline light metro in the South Korean city of Yongin. Connecting the Everland amusement park with the Seoul metro network, the 18·5 km fully-automated elevated line will have 15 stations. It is being built by ...
-
News
Government to fund EDSA upgrade
SEVERE OVERCROWDING on Manila’s privately-operated light rail Line 3 is to be relieved under a proposal being drawn up by the Philippines Department of Transportation & Communications. Built under a 25-year BOT concession, Line 3 from Taft Avenue to North Avenue follows the EDSA orbital ring road on the east ...
-
News
Second Avenue design contract
THE BOARD of New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority voted on November 16 to award a $150·4m contract for final design of the 3·5 km first section of the Second Avenue subway. The contract with DMJM+Harris and Arup covers the tunnels from East 92nd Street to East 62nd Street, plus stations ...
-
News
Canada Line cars ordered
SOUTH KOREAN rolling stock builder Rotem has won the contract to supply trainsets for the Richmond - Airport - Vancouver automated metro, which has been named the Canada Line to mark Vancouver's role as a gateway between North America and Asia. The 19 km line with 16 stations is ...
-
News
DLR reaches City Airport
MAYOR of London Ken Livingstone and UK Transport Minister Karen Buck officially opened the latest extension of the Docklands Light Railway at London City Airport station on December 6. Services on the 4·4 km branch from Canning Town to King George V had already begun on December 2, adding four ...
-
NewsSilence of the trams
UK: Secretary of State for Transport Alistair Darling has effectively killed any prospect that light rail construction in England will resume in the near future. Thanks to devolution of such matters to the Scottish Parliament, a new network is still expected go ahead in Edinburgh. The first indication of trouble ...