Main line rail industry news – Page 1328
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News
Ads move underground
MOVING advertising images are to be projected onto the walls of London Underground stations, following the signing of a contract on April 6. Cross Track Projection (XTP) digital projection equipment will be installed in some central stations this autumn, and across the network within five years.XTP makes it possible ...
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NewsPilots go live as 11 railways commit to ETCS
After a decade of development, the European Train Control System and European Rail Traffic Management System are being tested under live conditions on Italy's direttissima. An International Union of Railways conference in Firenze in March pinpointed progress
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News
intelligence
Brazil: Work is to start in June on the first phase of the Transnordestina project, between Sobradihno and Salgueiro. The scheme has been allocated R$240m by the federal government and the state of Pernambuco. The World Bank is providing R$100m, with the rest of the R$571m funding package provided by ...
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News
PPP nears the ’point of no return’
ON APRIL 17 Mayor of London Ken Livingstone joined Commissioner for Transport in London Bob Kiley to attack the British government’s decision to press ahead with the Public-Private Partnership for London Underground (RG 3.01 p139). On April 10 Transport for London had been granted permission to seek a judicial review ...
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ICE and Talgo 350 share high-speed order
SPANISH National Railways announced on March 24 that it was awarding two contracts totalling Pts123bn for the supply of 32 high-speed trainsets to operate on the Madrid - Barcelona line. The 350 km/h sets are intended to cut the journey time from 6h 30min to under 2h 30min.Siemens is to ...
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Uzbek cut-off
LAST MONTH was due to see the launch of regular freight services between Toshkent and northwestern Uzbekistan via Uchkuduk, following the inauguration of a new cut-off to avoid a section of former Soviet main line which now runs through Turkmenistan.Ceremonies were held in February to mark the completion of the ...
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Concession call
THE GOVERNMENTS of Senegal and Mali have called bids for a concession to operate the Dakar - Bamako line. Expressions of interest were invited by the end of April, and ’pre-selection’ documentation will be available this month. The process is being managed by a bi-national steering committee with representatives from ...
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Container special
NEW Zealand port authority Ports of Auckland has signed a 15-year agreement with Tranz Rail to operate a dedicated container train on the North Island Main Trunk. The train will handle import and export traffic to and from a new container terminal at Palmerston North, serving the south of the ...
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Russian reforms approved
THE FINAL programme for structural reform of the Russian rail network was formally endorsed by the cabinet and Prime Minister Mikhail Kassyanov on April 12. The policy was debated by the Duma in March, although it has not yet been voted on. The cabinet agreed to submit the programme for ...
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News
Alice - Darwin finalised
ON April 20 documents were signed in Sydney marking Financial Closure of the Alice - Darwin rail link project. Included in the 179 documents was the concession deal between AustralAsia Railway Corp, representing the state governments, and the Asia Pacific Transport Consortium. Construction of the 1410 km line was due ...
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IR spends more
ON APRIL 5 Israel Railways put into service new buildings at Nahariya station, which is being rebuilt at a cost of US$1m. Traffic here rose by 50% last year, to 100000 passengers a month. Completion of a second platform next year will allow the launch of a half-hourly service, with ...
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News
Tunnel contracts
THIS MONTH will see the start of work on two major tunnels on the Belgian high-speed network. Construction contracts were approved by the SNCB board at the beginning of April, following recommendations by the high-speed line project management subsidiary TUC Rail SA. Described as the biggest single civil engineering project ...
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News
Brasilia metro finally inaugurated
CEREMONIES were held in the Brazilian capital on March 31 to mark the formal inauguration of the Brasilia metro. Participating in the event were the Governor of the Federal District, Joaquim Domingos Roriz, the district’s Secretary of Infrastructure & Works Nelson Fadeu Filippelli, and Metr
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Bush boosts transit budget
US PRESIDENT George W Bush has put forward a 7·8% increase in public transport funding in his proposed budget for the 2002 financial year, unveiled on April 9. The federal transit programme would receive $6·7bn, whilst the allocation for the Federal Highway Administration would be cut by $1bn. Amtrak would ...
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DETR backs light rail schemes
BRITISH Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott confirmed on March 28 that light rail schemes in Leeds, South Hampshire and Bristol had passed a government ’value-for-money’ appraisal. This will enable the promoters to invite bids for a concessionaire to finance, build and operate the lines at a profit. A final go-ahead ...
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Delhi digs deeper
CONSTRUCTION of the north-south underground metro line in Delhi is expected to get under way shortly, following the award of a Rs16·5bn turnkey design-and-build contract on March 20. Delhi Metro Rail Corp has selected a consortium including local firms Larsen & Toubro and Ircon, Dyckerhoff & Widmann of Germany, Samsung ...
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Grenoble plans Line C
PLANNING for the construction of a third light rail route in Grenoble moved ahead last month, when a consortium led by Lyon-based Semaly was appointed to act as prime contractor; other partners are Ingerop, Attica and Sogreah. They will work with local transport authority SMTC and Territoires 38.Feasibility studies for ...
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Cross-city bore
SPAIN’s Ministry of Development called bids on April 9 for consultants to assist with the development of a second cross-city rail tunnel under Madrid. The 8 km tunnel is intended to carry the capital’s growing suburban traffic, releasing pressure in the existing tunnel for main line services.The aim is to ...
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Vasona groundbreaking
SANTA CLARA Valley Transportation Authority held ceremonies at San Jose station on March 29 to mark the start of construction of its Vasona light rail line. The $236m first phase diverges from the Guadalupe line and runs 8·5 km to Winchester with nine stops. The line is expected to generate ...
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Upgrade on track
LAST MONTH was due to see the completion of track and overhead renewals on São Paulo suburban Line C, as part of a R$450m upgrading which is expected to be finished by the end of this year. CPTM’s 24 km cross-city line links Osasco in the west of the conurbation ...