Main line rail industry news – Page 1335
-
News
Benapole reopens
INDIAN Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee and Bangladesh Communications Minister Anwar Hossain Manju joined ceremonies at Benapole on January 21 to mark the reopening of the cross-border rail link through Petrapole. They ’flagged off’ a special freight train conveying 35 wagonloads of wheat bound for Nawapara, near Jessore.Closed since 1976, the ...
-
News
Wisconsin Central sells to CN
CANADIAN National revealed on January 30 that it had reached agreement to buy the North American operations of Wisconsin Central Transportation Corp for US$1·2bn. CN will acquire WCTC’s common stock for US$17·15 per share, and take over approximately US$400m of debt. The deal will give CN control of WC’s Chicago ...
-
News
Upgrade accords
RUSSIAN Minister of Railways Nikolai Aksyonenko signed a co-operation agreement with Siemens AG board member Volker Jung on January 23, during a visit to Germany. It covers technical assistance and supply of equipment by Siemens Transportation Systems for modernisation of signalling and train control, construction of locomotives and rolling stock, ...
-
News
Lhasa go-ahead
CHINA’S State Planning Council announced on February 8 the go-ahead for construction of the long-planned rail link from Golmud to the Tibetan city of Lhasa. One of four routes studied by the Ministry of Railways, the 1118 km line is the shortest option, and is costed at around 20bn yuan. ...
-
News
Pendolino launches test track
THE FIRST pre-series Pendolino Britannico for Virgin Trains’ West Coast franchise made its initial run on February 14, as part of celebrations to mark the opening of Alstom Transport’s British test centre at Asfordby, near Melton Mowbray. The company has acquired the former British Rail test track at Old Dalby, ...
-
News
Balkan initiative
BULGARIAN Transport Minister Petko Tabakov announced on January 29 that US consultancy Arkadis had been selected to undertake exploratory work on the planned Sofia - Skopje rail link. The company was chosen from a shortlist of seven bidders as part of the US-funded Initiative for Southeast Balkans Development (RG 10.99 ...
-
News
DB’s high speed programme regains momentum
THE ANNOUNCEMENT on February 14 that German Railway is to proceed with the stalled Stuttgart 21 project and construction of a new high speed line over the 65 km between Wendlingen, southeast of Stuttgart, and Ulm suggests that it has managed to garner strong support for its programme of major ...
-
News
Manacor re-opening next
WORK was due to begin last month on a Pts4·5bn project to re-open the 30 km Inca - Manacor section of the former line to Arta on the island of Mallorca. This follows the restoration of passenger service on the Inca - Sa Pobla line on January 6. Regional operator ...
-
News
How the rail shattered at Hatfield
The second interim report into the Hatfield derailment on October 17 2000, issued by Britain’s Health & Safety Executive on January 23, includes an astonishing reconstruction of the first 35m of the high rail curving north at 1462m radius from the initial transverse fracture. As the 6m section reproduced below ...
-
News
Breakeven close
PAKISTAN RAILWAYS is starting to reap the benefits of a sustained programme to eliminate inefficiencies and fraud begun last year (RG 3.00 p135). According to General Manager, Operations, Iqbal Samad Khan, PR succeeded in reducing its overdraft with the State Bank of Pakistan from Rs4bn in 1999 to Rs1·2bn last ...
-
News
Bid suspended
INJUDICIOUS remarks during an interview with De Volkskrant have resulted in German Railway and Arriva Nederland being suspended temporarily from the bidding process for a concession to operate high speed trains on HSL-Zuid. DB’s officials not only said the proposed access charges were far too high, but went on to ...
-
News
Laval goes out to tender
BIDS for construction of Montréal’s Orange line extension to Laval were called last month, following the allocation of C$378·8m by the Québec provincial government. On January 26 Transport Minister Guy Chevrette confirmed that the province would fund 100% of the capital cost, and announced that a request for bids would ...
-
News
Minneapolis breaks ground
WITH A large tent sheltering them from the cold, elected officials and civic leaders in Minneapolis broke ground for the Hiawatha Avenue light rail line on January 17. Led by Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, the ceremony was held at the site of the future maintenance depot just south of the ...
-
News
PPP structure to be revised
DISCUSSIONS were under way between the British government and Transport for London last month over the structure of the London Underground Public-Private Partnership. Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott announced on February 2 that he had asked TfL’s Commissioner for Transport Bob Kiley ’to take the lead in working up proposals ...
-
News
U4 to the Messe
STADTWERKE Verkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt-am-Main held a ceremony at Festhalle/Messe station on February 10 to mark the opening of the long-planned extension of U-Bahn Line U4. Participating in the event were Mayor Petra Roth, Federal Transport Minister Kurt Bodewig and the Hessen Minister for Economy, Transport & Development Dieter Posch.Construction of the ...
-
News
NY car orders
NEW YORK’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority board approved a US$419m order on January 24 for 350 more R142 subway cars, to be supplied by Bombardier Transportation in 2002-03. The deal includes an option for 200 vehicles in the existing contract for 680, plus 150 cars to meet traffic growth.Bombardier began delivering ...
-
News
Gauteng rail initiative
PROPOSALS to develop a fast rail network linking Pretoria, Johannesburg, Johannesburg International Airport and Sandton are set to move forward, with a conference to be held in May for potential suppliers and private-sector investors in the proposed public-private partnership. The aim is to close a BOT deal during 2002, ...
-
News
Circular revival
SINDH Province Transport Minister Dewan Mohammed Yousuf Farooqui announced on February 2 that passenger services would be re-introduced on the Karachi Circular Railway on May 1. The line will be operated by a new Urban Railway Board formed by Karachi Metropolitan Council, with technical assistance from Pakistan Railways.A provincial committee ...
-
News
Delhi makes progress
ON FEBRUARY 3, Delhi Metro Rail Corp completed the launching of the Yamuna bridge, which forms the centrepiece of its 8·3 km initial section of Line 2 between Shahdara and Tiz Hazari (MR 00 p32). The incrementally-launched 555m long 12-span bridge has a 25-segment girder weighing 14000 tonnes. Built by ...
-
News
Metro overhaul must go forward
ON MAY 21-24 the International Union of Public Transport will hold its 54th Congress. Host city for this event will be London, where delegates will have the opportunity to see at first hand what private operation can do for rail commuter services. They will also be able to explore London’s ...