Main line rail industry news – Page 1197
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UIC redefines its role
CHANGE is sweeping through the corridors of Europe's railway organisations, not least at the International Union of Railways. Since its birth in 1922, UIC has worked to devise and define technical norms that allow trains to run across Europe's frontiers. Its practices and standards have also been adopted in many ...
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High-Output Ballast Cleaner
The first of two High-Output Ballast Cleaning Systems being supplied by Plasser & Theurer to UK infrastructure company Network Rail is due to enter service this month, with the second to be delivered in the summer of 2005. Both machines will be operated by First Swietelsky under a two-year contract ...
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More changes at Bombardier
ON DECEMBER 13 Bombardier Inc announced major changes following the sudden departure of President & CEO Paul Tellier who had said that he did not wish to renew his contract when it expired at the end of 2005. In Tellier’s place Bombardier has set up a new Office of the ...
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More tilt traumas
YET AGAIN we are obliged to return to the sorry saga of German Railway’s tilting train fleets. In August last year a routine inspection revealed a crack in one axle of a VT612 two-car diesel trainset, prompting temporary withdrawal from service while urgent checks were made on all 192 units ...
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Bangkok bid battle
A CONSORTIUM of Siemens Transportation Systems and Sino-Thai Engineering & Construction was confirmed on December 13 as preferred bidder for the DBOM concession to build the express rail line to serve Bangkok’s new Suvarnabhumi International Airport (RG 10.04 p663).According to SRT Deputy Governor Youdtana Tupcharoen, the Siemens group offered the ...
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ARR adopts PTC
ALASKA Railroad has awarded a $4·8m contract to Union Switch & Signal for installation of Positive Train Control on its 846 km network, for commissioning in the first quarter of 2007. PTC is intended to prevent collisions, enforce permanent and temporary speed restrictions and provide compulsory protection for track maintenance ...
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Bonds support Russian spending
RUSSIAN Railways’ first 12bn rouble bond issue was launched on December 8, when three tranches of 1000-rouble bonds were sold by public subscription at the Moscow Inter-Bank Currency Exchange.The receipts will help to fund RZD’s 148·1bn rouble investment programme for 2005 approved by the board in December; this is 23% ...
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Khromtau - Altynsarino link completed
KAZAKHSTAN: Ceremonies were held at Arka on November 30 to mark the opening of the Khromtau - Altynsarino line by President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who dispatched the first grain train over the route. The 403·9 km line between Donskoye and Krasno-Octyabrskyi connects KTZ's northern and western routes, paralleling the Russian ...
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Koralm tunnel exploration
CONSTRUCTION of Austrian Federal Railways’ planned Klagenfurt - Graz high speed line moved a step closer on December 4, when work began on pilot bores for the 32·8 km Koralm tunnel.New line authority HL-AG has been developing plans for the 130 km Koralmbahn since 1995, and a preferred route was ...
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NS spending rises
NORFOLK SOUTHERN announced on December 2 that it planned to invest $938m during 2005, compared to $810m in 2004 and $798m the year before. The biggest single element, $438m, will fund track renewals and bridge maintenance. Another $23m will go on signalling and communications, $22m on track maintenance equipment and ...
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Airport line concession close
A CONSORTIUM led by SNC-Lavalin and including Serco has been selected for a concession to design, build and operate the planned Richmond - Airport - Vancouver rapid transit line. TransLink subsidiary RAV Project Management Ltd was due to start final negotiations in December, subject to approval from the British Columbia ...
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Córdoba - M
ON NOVEMBER 29 Spanish Development Minister Magdalena Álvarez joined GIF President Antonio Gonz
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Report highlights signalling renewal
THE UK’s Office of Rail Regulation published on November 29 its first annual report on how Network Rail is meeting the stewardship requirements of its licence, ORR’s targets, and those set in its own Business Plan. Covering the year to March 31 2004, it includes subsequent developments judged to be ...
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$350m loans for Venezuela projects
ON NOVEMBER 30 the Andean Development Corp announced that it had approved three loans worth a total of US$350m to fund rail and metro projects in Venezuela. The suburban railway under construction between Caracas and Tuy Medio (RG 9.04 p544) is to receive the largest single allocation, with US$200m to ...
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Bids in for EFE signalling upgrade
CHILEAN state railway EFE was due to select last month a preferred bidder for a US$103m contract to upgrade and maintain signalling, electrification and telecommunications equipment under its 2003-05 investment programme (RG 10.04 p660). Work is to begin soon after contract signature in February 2005, and should take three years ...
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Hiroshima develops low-floor LRV
IN MARCH, Hiroshima Electric Railway will put into service the first 100% low-floor tram to be built entirely in Japan.Designated U3·ALFA, the car has been developed by Kinki Sharyo, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Toyo Electric Manufacturing. It consists of five articulated sections on three bogies, two of which are powered. ...
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Cities told to swap trains for buses
IN ADDITION to simplifying the UK rail industry’s tortuous structure, a white paper published last July said responsibility for local passenger trains would be devolved to regional and local government (RG 8.04 p447). However, the Railways Bill as published on November 25 removes the right of Passenger Transport Executives responsible ...
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Argentine investment
During the recent state visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao, the government of Argentina signed letters of intent with China Beiya Escom International Ltd and the 20th Bureau of Chinese Railways that could see US$8bn invested in railway projects over the next 10 years. Priority projects include electrification of the ...
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THSRC needs more than luck
ON November 26 Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp finally agreed to pay US$65m to the Eurotrain consortium formed to bid for the electrical and mechanical equipment on Taiwan’s 346 km high speed line between Taipei and Kaohsiung.Eurotrain, consisting of Alstom and Siemens, was given a letter of intent in 1997, ...
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Connex wins Metrolink race
SOUTHERN California Regional Rail Authority board of directors has selected Connex to operate the Metrolink commuter rail network in Los Angeles, replacing Amtrak with effect from July 1 2005.The $210m five-year contract is Connex’s second in the USA; the group took over operation of MBTA commuter rail services around Boston ...