Main line rail industry news – Page 707
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NewsMervis Industries announces $35m wagon refurbishment plant
USA: Following a multi-state search, the Mervis Railcar division of recycling company Mervis Industries has selected Hutchinson, Kansas, as the site for a $35m wagon refurbishment plant to serve the oil, fuel, agricultural and other industries. Announcing its decision on October 30, the company said the Hutchinson site would ‘be ...
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NewsFirst phase of Roma Line C opens
ITALY: The first section of metro Line C in Roma opened on November 9. This links Parco di Centocelle with Monte Compatri-Pantano to the east of the city, making it the first metro line to reach beyond the city boundary. The alignment partly follows a section of the former 950 ...
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NewsIstanbul opens M1 metro extension
TURKEY: Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu attended the opening of Istanbul metro’s latest extension on November 9. The southeastern extension of light metro line M1 from Aksaray to Yenikapı is 700 m long. Interchange is provided at Yenikapı with metro line M2 and Marmaray suburban services. Services from Yenikapı ...
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NewsDhaka metro tenders in January
BANGLADESH: Tenders are to be invited in January for eight work packages on Dhaka Metro Line 6, Transport Minister Obaidul Quader announced on November 5. The minister said he hoped that the contracts could be signed in time for construction to get underway in 2016, which would see the first ...
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NewsMinsk National Airport rail link launched
BELARUS: A passenger service between Minsk Pasažyrski station and Minsk National Airport was launched by Belarus Railways on November 7. The trains call at Smaliavičy to provide interchange opportunities for passengers from regional destinations. There is an initial service of five trains per day with a total journey time ...
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NewsFeature articles in the November 2014 issue of Railway Gazette International
Comment InnoTrans: value the chance conversation News Main Line Urban Rail Market Industry Innovations Pointers Analysis SNCF President Guillaume Pepy sets out his strategy Late change in nomination for EU Transport Commissioner Growing safely in the USA Restructuring Polish regional railKošice race hots upAn intelligent ...
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NewsQueensland port and rail lease
AUSTRALIA: The Queensland government has announced plans to award a long-term lease to operate state-owned assets including the 1000 km Mount Isa line and the associated port of Port Townsville. The 1067 mm gauge single track line is a critical link between inland mining areas and the coast. The ...
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NewsRail industry news in brief - November 2014
Polish freight operator ITL Polska has been renamed Captrain Polska. The UK Department for Transport has confirmed it intends to negotiate a direct award contract for FirstGroup to continue to operate Great Western services for 3½ years from September 2015, with an optional extension of ...
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NewsTampere holds tram industry day
FINLAND: The city of Tampere is holding a Tramway Industry Day on November 17 to inform potential suppliers about a planned two-route standard gauge tram network. The city expects to decide on the procurement model by the end of 2014, with contractors selected next year. Tampere has a population ...
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NewsChina approves three new lines
CHINA: The National Development & Reform Commission approved plans for the construction of three lines serving Tibet, Inner Mongolia and Shanxi on October 30. The Tibetan line is to start at Xierong on the Lhasa – Xigaze route which opened in August, and will run eastwards for 402 km to ...
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NewsHokkaido Shinkansen tracklaying completed
JAPAN: JR Hokkaido held a ceremony at Kikonai station on November 1 to mark the completion of tracklaying for the Hokkaido Shinkansen, which will bring high speed train services onto the country’s northern island in 2016. JR Hokkaido President Osamu Shimada was joined by Hokkaido Governor Harumi Takahash to ...
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NewsHigh speed contract award cancelled
MEXICO: President Enrique Peña Nieto has instructed the Secretariat of Communications & Transport to run a new competition for the contract to build a 210 km high speed line between Mexico City and Querétaro, citing the ‘doubt and disquiet’ that had arisen from the decision to award a 50∙8bn pesos ...
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NewsSuriname railway plan announced
SURINAME: Detailed proposals for a rail link between the capital Paramaribo and Onverwacht were announced by the government on November 5. Strukton Systems has completed a feasibility study and preliminary designs for the project and is a possible construction contractor, although there is no date as yet for the award ...
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NewsKeolis wins Teutoburger Wald operating contract
GERMANY: Keolis subsidiary Eurobahn was named as the preferred bidder for the next Teutoburger Wald passenger operating contract on November 6. The new contract is being awarded by Westfalen-Lippe transport authority NWL, in co-operation with Niedersachsen's LNVG and the Netherlands' Regio Twente and Overijssel province. It will run for ...
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NewsKeolis signs Wuhan commuter rail letter of intent
CHINA: Keolis signed a letter of intent to participate in the operation of the future Greater Wuhan commuter rail network when a delegation from Hubei province visited Lille in France on November 3. The province is developing a network of six commuter lines up 80 km long to link Wuhan ...
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NewsItalian government to assess FS Group privatisation options
ITALY: The Ministry of Economics & Finance is to ‘consider the various feasible options’ for the privatisation of some or all of the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Group, its Managing Director Michele Mario Elia said in Brussels on November 5. Speaking on the fringes of the European Rail Summit, Elia ...
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NewsFourth Railway Package debated at the European Rail Summit
The urgency for rapid implementation of the Technical Pillar of the Fourth Railway Package was underlined by several speakers at the European Rail Summit, which was hosted by Railway Gazette at the Representation of the Free State of Bayern in Brussels on November 4-5. Bringing together senior representatives from the ...
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NewsBelmond to launch Irish land cruise train
IRELAND: Luxury hotel, river cruise and train operator Belmond has announced plans to launch a land cruise train in Ireland in summer 2016. The company said Belmond Grand Hibernian would be ‘the first luxury overnight rail experience of its kind in Ireland’, with two, four and six-night trips visiting destinations ...
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NewsEdinburgh - Glasgow electrification contracts awarded
UK: Infrastructure manager Network Rail announced on November 5 that it had awarded Costain and Morgan Sindall the main civil works and electrification contracts for the Edinburgh – Glasgow Improvement Programme. The alliancing contracts have a total value of £250m, and follow on from earlier contracts covering detailed design. The ...
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NewsMogilev Carriage Works delivers modern wagons
BELARUS: Mogilev Carriage Works has delivered its first batch of wagons built to modern designs developed under a November 2013 co-operation agreement with Russia’s United Wagon Co, which supplied components including the 25 tonne axleload bogies. The 50 bottom-discharge open wagons of 75 tonne capacity have been delivered to Vostok1520 ...