Main line rail industry news – Page 1302
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News
Richards Bay to use ECP braking
NEXT month should see the board of Transnet in South Africa take a final decision to convert Spoornet’s Richards Bay coal export line to ECP braking. Speaking at WCRR in Köln at the end of November, Dr Dave van der Meulen of Spoornet’s Planning & Technology department said that a ...
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VAG U3 automation contract
NÜRNBERG transport authority VAG awarded a €185m contract to Siemens on November 16 covering the supply of automatic train control equipment for its Rubin project. This covers the construction of a fully-automated U-Bahn Line U3, and the conversion of Line U2. The deal also includes the supply of 30 ATO-equipped ...
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NY design study
CONSTRUCTION of New York’s long-planned Second Avenue subway line is expected to get underway in 2004, following the MTA board’s award of a US$200m engineering design contract to DMJM + Harris on November 27. Taking up to 15 years to build, at an estimated cost of US$12bn, the 12·9 km ...
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Cross-city links
ON HIS second day in office, Strategic Rail Authority Chairman Richard Bowker launched construction work on the Edinburgh Crossrail project on December 4. Joined by Scottish Minister of Transport Wendy Alexander, he participated in ceremonies at Newcraighall station southeast of the capital (below).Backed by £8·5m of Scottish Executive funding, the ...
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Luchou line starts
TAIPEI MAYOR Ma Ying-jeou joined city and metro officials on December 3 to turn the first sod for the 7 km Luchou line. Due for completion by December 2009, the Luchou line will branch off the 19·7 km Hsinchuang line now under construction and run northwest from Taipei Bridge through ...
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Shenzhen order
ON NOVEMBER 23 Bombardier confirmed that Shenzhen Metro Co had ordered 19 six-car trainsets from its CARC joint venture with Changchun Car Co of China. The trains are destined to operate the first phase of the metro network now under construction in the Shenzhen economic development zone between Hong Kong ...
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Verona LRT turnkey awarded
A CONSORTIUM led by Siemens Transportation Systems was selected in mid-November to build and equip the first two routes of a planned three-line light rail network in the northern Italian city of Verona. Italian companies Mazzi and CCC will be responsible for civil engineering and trackwork. Siemens will undertake the ...
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Olympic branch
SALT LAKE CITY opened the 4 km University extension of its TRAX light rail line on December 15, with a ceremony at Rice-Eccles Stadium, the final stop on the line. The US$118·5m project was completed in just 16 months, earning SLC Rail Constructors a $2m bonus for finishing ahead of ...
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Pendolinos handed over
THE FIRST fully-equipped Pendolino trainset for West Coast Main Line services linking London Euston with the West Midlands, North West and Scotland was handed over to Virgin Trains on November 26. In fact, Alstom managed to hand over two of the 25 kV 50Hz tilting trains rather than the single ...
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ABC-NACO assets bought
TCF Railco Acquisition Corp is to acquire the operating assets of ABC-NACO for US$75m, subject to assumption of certain liabilities and the receipt of regulatory approval. The assets include ABC-NACO’s US Rail Products, Track Products and Rail Services units, and the stock of its European subsidiaries and Chinese joint ventures. ...
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Suburban concourse open
French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot and SNCF President Louis Gallois joined ceremonies at Paris Nord on November 21 to mark the completion of a new suburban concourse. As part of a Fr257·5m programme to rebuild the suburban section of the station, work began in 1997 to dig a light well ...
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Great expectations placed on rail research
SUMMING UP three days of technical papers and wide-ranging debate on railway research, Transportation Technology Center Inc President Roy Allen had some advice for delegates attending the closing session of the 2001 World Congress on Railway Research in Köln on November 26-28: ’either contribute to the solution, or be part ...
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Beira route concessions
THE MOZAMBIQUE government has approved plans to award concessions by 2004 to restore and operate the two rail corridors forming the country’s Beira network. Renovation of the 590 km Sena line running north from Dondo to Moatize is expected to cost between US$100m and US$300m. CFM will start by upgrading ...
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Market
Australia: The Commonwealth government was due to receive bids last month from consultants for two more scoping studies into the potential for high speed railways in the Melbourne - Canberra - Sydney and Sydney - Brisbane corridors.Denmark: Angel Trains International has ordered 12 more Class MQ two-car Siemens Desiro VT642 ...
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Vertical integrationists emerge from cover
PUBLIC SKIRMISHING has broken out at the start of what promises to be a long battle with the European Commission over the reintegration of operations and infrastructure. The Commission’s policy is based on the premise of intra-modal competition, which presupposes separation to ensure fair access, so the chances of reintegration ...
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Amtrak boom was a chimera
DESPITE the vote on November 9 by the Amtrak Reform Council to start proceedings that could end up liquidating Amtrak (RG 12.01 p799), such a drastic move now looks unlikely. Within a week of the Council’s action, a group of 21 Republican and Democrat Senators vowed to prevent the annihilation ...
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Mandurah EMUs
ON DECEMBER 8 Western Australia’s Minister for Planning & Infrastructure Alannah MacTiernan announced in Perth that a consortium of EDI Rail and Bombardier Transportation (Australia) had been selected to supply and maintain 31 three-car EMUs for the South West Metropolitan Railway under construction between Perth and Mandurah.The A$300m contract is ...
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Perpignan - Figueres shortlist
ON NOVEMBER 30 the French and Spanish governments agreed to shortlist all six bidders who had expressed an interest in the contract to build and operate the proposed cross-border link between Perpignan and Figueres (RG 11.01 p731). The shortlisted consortia now have until March 31 2002 to submit their bids, ...
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Pointers
n Chinese Vice-Minister of Railways Sun Yongfu has announced plans to build a second rail link to Tibet. Work on the 1600 km Kunming - Lhasa line would begin after completion of the Qinghai route in 2007.n India’s Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the construction of a 68·2 ...
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DB’s bumpy ride
PASSENGERS travelling on one of German Railway’s ICE services on the Hannover - Hamburg main line had a lucky escape on November 17. Their train was close to Bienenbüttel, near Lüneburg, when it passed through a crossover limited to 80 km/h at around 180 km/h. The ICE did not derail, ...