Main line rail industry news – Page 728
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NewsWork starts to bridge Thailand – Cambodia missing link
SOUTHEAST ASIA: A ground-breaking ceremony at Poipet in Cambodia on July 25 marked the start of work to reinstate the cross-border railway to Thailand. The ceremony was attended by Cambodia’s Deputy Minister for Public Works & Transport Guang Sun and Thailand’s Permanent Secretary for Transport Soithip Traisuth. The attendees viewed ...
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NewsLima metro opens Line 1 extension
PERU: The third phase of Lima metro Line 1 opened at 06.00 on July 25. The 12·4 km extension runs north from Grau to Bayóvar on an elevated alignment. This adds 10 stations to Line 1, which is expected to increase its ridership to 250 000 passengers/day. Services run every ...
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NewsSilver Line opens in Washington
USA: The Silver Line of the Washington metro was inaugurated on July 26. The 18·8 km first phase of the line, which will eventually serve Dulles International Airport, branches off from the Orange Line between East Falls Church and West Falls Church and runs to Wiehle Avenue in Reston with ...
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NewsNippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp to form rail subsidiary
JAPAN: Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp has announced plans to restructure three subsidiary companies with effect from April 1 2015. This would see the rail engineering activities of its NSST subsidiary merged with the railway maintenance equipment business of NSKI to form a new dedicated railway sector company, ...
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NewsONCF awards GSM-R contract
MOROCCO: A consortium of Thales, Huawei and Imet has been awarded the first GSM-R deployment contract under national railway ONCF’s nine-year roll-out programme. The €30m contract announced on July 25 covers 712 km of the network, comprising four conventional routes where existing radio systems will be replaced ...
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NewsHo Chi Minh City selects underground contractors
VIETNAM: Ho Chi Minh City Management Authority for Urban Railways has selected a consortium of Shimizu and Maeda Corp to build the underground section of metro Line 1. The 2·6 km underground section of Line 1 will run from Ben Thanh Market to Ba Son Shipyard with three stations. ...
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NewsEskişehir - Istanbul high speed line opened
TURKEY: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan officially inaugurated the fast line between Eskişehir and Istanbul on July 25, completing the 570 km Ankara – Istanbul high speed corridor. The latest section to open comprises 188 km of new alignment between Eskişehir and Köseköy plus a further 56 km of upgraded ...
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NewsTucson Sun Link streetcar opens
USA: The Tucson Sun Link tram line opened on July 25, with three days of free travel. The 6·2 km route links the University of Arizona and the area west of the I-10 highway, with 18 stops. The $196·5m capital cost of the line and related public works was ...
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NewsChicago to restart metro car tender
USA: Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced on July 24 that the Chicago Transit Authority would restart its procurement of up to 846 cars later this year. The contract to supply 7000 Series cars could be worth up to $2bn. In October 2013 CTA issued an invitation to tender for 854 ...
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NewsManchester control centre opens
UK: The Manchester Rail Operating Centre was formally opened by infrastructure manager Network Rail on July 21, one of 12 which will eventually control the entire railway network in Great Britain. The Manchester ROC is initially controlling just the 0·8 km Huyton – Roby section of the Manchester – ...
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NewsNavi Mumbai metro E&M contract awarded
INDIA: A consortium led by Ansaldo STS and including Tata Projects and CSR Zhuzhou has won a €78m turnkey contract for electrical and mechanical systems for the first phase of Navi Mumbai metro Line 1. The contract covers the design, installation, testing and commissioning of the E&M works, which ...
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NewsCrude oil rules to be tightened
USA: The Department of Transportation issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on July 23 setting out ‘comprehensive proposals’ to improve safety in the movement of flammable materials by rail, with a particular focus on crude oil and ethanol. The proposals are based on an Advanced Notice published by the Pipeline ...
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NewsCompete and co-operate, says HKX
GERMANY: Open access company Hamburg-Köln-Express marked the second anniversary of its operations on July 23, saying it has now carried 800 000 passengers on more than 3 000 trains. The second anniversary is ‘is longer than many observers expected’, said CEO Carsten Carstensen. ‘We’re proud of this success.’ However HKX ...
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NewsPrivate operators to be encouraged under railway reform plans
THAILAND: State Railway of Thailand is likely to be abolished under a wide-ranging reform programme planned by the interim military government. Giving a briefing on railway investment in Bangkok on July 23, Dr Chula Sukmanop, Director-General of the Office of Transport & Traffic Policy & Planning, said the government saw ...
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NewsMTR signs agreement with Chongqing
CHINA: MTR Corp signed a memorandum of understanding on July 23 with the Chongqing municipal government for rail and property development in the municipality. Under the terms of the agreement, MTR will discuss the potential for investment, construction and operation of one or more metro lines in the city. ...
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NewsGet Ion-Board
SAFT: The Ion-Board Regen lithium-ion traction battery system designed to capture, store and reuse regenerated braking energy will be launched by Saft at InnoTrans 2014. Saft says this is a significant step in the industrialisation of a modular lithium-ion onboard energy storage concept first shown at InnoTrans 2012. It is ...
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NewsWearable journey planners
GERMANY: Scheduling and journey planning software supplier HaCon has opened a ‘Mobility Lab’ in Berlin which will focus on research and development projects. It will look at smart and wearable technologies, and ways of linking up data on different modes of transport. ‘In addition to opening new markets, we ...
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NewsAnnaba tram contractor selected
ALGERIA: Entreprise du Métro d’Alger has selected a consortium of Daewoo and GS Engineering & Construction to build the first tram line in Annaba. Work is to be completed within 39 months of signing the 43·5bn dinar contract. The city is planning two tram lines, although the start ...
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NewsDriverless trains delivered to Singapore
SINGAPORE: Land Transport Authority has taken delivery of the first new trainsets for the North East and Circle lines from the Shanghai Alstom Transport Co joint venture of Alstom Transport and Shanghai Electric Group. These are the first of 18 trainsets for the North East Line and 24 for ...
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NewsHigh speed line electrification maintenance vehicle on test
CHINA: Trials are underway with an overhead electrification inspection, maintenance and repair vehicle capable of running at up to 160 km/h when travelling to worksites on high speed lines. The multi-functional vehicle has been developed by CNR Beijing February 7 Railway Transportation Equipment Co, based on the Class 711 ...