Main line rail industry news – Page 1212
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Algerian initatives spur modernisation
WORK IS due to start early this month on the long-planned project to build a 360 km standard gauge line between Méchéria and Béchar in western Algeria. To be laid parallel to Algerian Railways' existing 1055mm gauge alignment, which it will ultimately replace, the line is intended primarily for oil ...
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A tough year for Talgo
SPANISH rolling stock manufacturer Grupo Talgo has announced a net loss of €18·5m for 2003, compared with a loss of €8·8m in 2002. Turnover in 2003 was up at €282m from €177m the year before.The loss on ordinary activities in 2003 was €13·7m, due largely to the negative impact of ...
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TGV Est will be ERTMS testbed
INTERNATIONAL trials of the European Rail Traffic Management System are to be undertaken on the Paris - Frankfurt corridor, and are due to start in 2007.Meeting in Paris on May 14, Hartmut Mehdorn of DB AG, RFF President Jean-Pierre Dupont and Louis Gallois of SNCF signed a ’common declaration’ launching ...
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Second line to Rishon-le-Zion started
ISRAEL Railways called tenders on May 4 for construction of a station at Rishon-le-Zion West (Moshe Dayan), which is to be served by a new 16 km branch through the southwest suburbs of Tel Aviv. Bids for infrastructure works were to be called before the end of the month. According ...
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Rites and Ircon win Sena contract
A US$175m concession to rehabilitate and operate the 575 km Sena line in Mozambique has been awarded to a consortium comprising Rail India Technical & Economic Services and Ircon International. The line links the port at Beira with the Moatize coalfields, with a 39 km branch from Vila de Sena ...
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Lyon - Torino financing accord
CONSTRUCTION of the planned Lyon - Torino high speed line and its 52 km Alpine base tunnel moved a step closer on May 5, when France and Italy signed a memorandum of understanding on financing the €12·5bn project.The event was held to coincide with a visit to Paris by Italian ...
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Nuclear link planned
CONSTRUCTION of a 513 km railway is the preferred option for serving the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada. Expected to open in 2010, it will be served by 175 trains a year for 24 years. The US Department of Energy has appointed Bechtel SAIC as prime contractor for ...
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rail4chem targets UK
OPEN-ACCESS freight train operator rail4chem announced on May 3 that it was planning to launch services between Germany and the UK from the beginning of 2005. The company is currently in discussion with prospective customers, and proposes to run a block train between Nürnberg and Dollands Moor in 26h. Last ...
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Kenya-Uganda through trains revived
Uganda Railways Corp and 150 by KRC. KRC is relaying its line west of Nakuru with heavier rails, and work will be completed by mid-2005. KRC is also providing assistance to URC for refurbishing the track between Kampala and the border at Malaba. According to KRC’s Ugandan representative Julius Chando, ...
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Transandine funding
THE ARGENTINIAN province of Neuquén is seeking legislation that will allow it to raise up to US$48·9m in loans to fund construction of the first section of a new rail crossing of the Andes from Zapala to Lonquimay in Chile. The initial Zapala - Las Lajas section would cost between ...
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Charleroi restart
WALLOON Transport Minister José Daras has unveiled a €89·4m programme to complete the light metro network in Charleroi within five years. Work on this long-stalled project began in 1970 and is believed to have cost BFr22·5bn to date.The latest proposals would see a new surface alignment to complete the city-centre ...
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Portland launches Yellow Line
CELEBRATIONS were held in Portland, Oregon, on May 1 to mark the inauguration of the city’s third light rail line. The 9·3 km Interstate Avenue extension has been opened four months early at a total cost of $350m.Running north from the city to Expo Center, TriMet’s Yellow Line adds 10 ...
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Metro resignalling starts
PARIS transport authority RATP has started a programme known as Ouragan to resignal five metro lines for automatic train operation. Work on Lines 3, 5, 9, 10 and 12 is to be shared between CSEE Transport, Siemens France and Technicatome.RATP has opted for Transmission-Based Train Control similar to that being ...
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Praha extends Line C
JUNE 26 is due to see the opening of a 3·9 km northern extension of Praha metro Line C. Section IVC1 runs from N
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Cross-river study
THE GOVERNMENT of West Bengal has commissioned Delhi Metro Rail Corp to develop proposals for an east-west metro line in Kolkata, linking IR’s principal stations at Sealdah and Howrah.The 22 km line would start from Rajarhat in the east and run through Kankurgachi, Sealdah and Mankharan before tunnelling under the ...
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Tunis needs a heavy metro
CONTRACTS are due to be awarded shortly for the construction of a light rail line in Tunis, linking the central station with the southwestern suburb of El Mourouj. Expected to be completed next year, the line is the first of two 7 km extensions to the city's five-line light ...
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Chinese offer to build Karachi light rail
ON MAY 13 the Nazim of Karachi, Niamatullah Khan, signed an accord with Gu Zhengxie, Senior Vice-President of China National Machinery & Equipment Group, under which the Chinese company will finance and build the city’s long-planned light rail line. The ’preliminary implementation agreement’ covers construction of a 15·2 km line ...
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Australia agrees to invest in rail at last
YEARS OF intense lobbying by Australia’s rail industry for funding to upgrade the worst sections of the east coast interstate main line have finally been rewarded. The budget for the year commencing on July 1 tabled by Federal Treasurer Peter Costello on May 11 includes a one-off grant of A$450m ...
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Istanbul - Köln shuttle trial
WEEKLY freight services between Germany and Turkey will be running by the end of the year following a successful trial run from Istanbul to Köln that covered the 3000 km in just 79h. According to freight operator Railion Deutschland, the objective is to launch a daily service within two years. ...
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ERTMS costs must come down
’WE NOW have a defined and funded project’, SRA’s Executive Director, Technical, David Waboso declared on May 18. He was referring to the UK’s trial site for ERTMS on the Cambrian lines from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli, which was selected last year after the decision was made not to ...