Main line rail industry news – Page 757
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NewsTEN-T funding approved for Brussels link works
BELGIUM: The European Union's Innovation & Networks Executive Agency announced on February 12 that it had approved a grant of €34m to support railway development works in Brussels, under the 2012 TEN-T Multi-Annual Call. Allocated to the so-called EuroCap route linking Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg, which forms TEN-T Priority Project ...
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NewsHigh speed line planning continues
THAILAND: Work on the first of four planned high speed lines is continuing amid the ongoing political instability, the Office of Transport & Traffic Policy & Planning has confirmed. OTTPP Director Chula Sukmanop said that efforts to finalise the route alignment and consult with local people for a 750 km ...
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NewsAnkara opens metro line M3
TURKEY: Ankara metro line M3 opened on February 12 with a ceremony attended by President Abdullah Gül, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Governor of Ankara Melih Gökçek, Minister of Transport Lütfi Elvan and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. The 15·5 km line starts at Batıkent at the end of ...
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NewsOman railway contracts signed
OMAN: Three contracts for the development of the planned 2 244 km national railway network were signed by Minister of Transport & Communications Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed al-Futaisi on February 5. The state budget has allocated 1bn rial for works this year, with the entire network linking six cities to ...
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NewsNews in Brief - February 2014
The latest members of UIC are Malaysian transport authority SPAD, Beijing Jiatong University, Russian Railways’ high speed institute, Hungarian freight operator FoxRail, Poland’s Koleje Wielkopolskie, Italian logistics association UIR and Afghanistan Railway Authority. A groundbreaking ceremony in late December marked the start of civil works on a 220 ...
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NewsWabtec acquires Fandstan Electric Group
UK: On February 12 Wabtec Corp announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Fandstan Electric Group for US$215m. UK-based Fandstan Electric has 1 000 employees in Europe, China, Australia and the USA, manufacturing electric current and data collection products including pantographs, shoe gear, electrical contacts and ...
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NewsPenalty regime in new Buenos Aires commuter operating agreements
ARGENTINA: Minister of the Interior & Transport Florencio Randazzo announced on February 12 that he had approved new operating agreements for the Mitre, San Martín, Belgrano Sur and Roca commuter routes in Buenos Aires. The emergency operating consortia UGOFE and UGOMS have been dissolved, with the Roggio group ...
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NewsRussian Railways to reduce stake in Aeroexpress
RUSSIA: The Russian Railways board has approved the sale of half of its 50% stake in airport train operator Aeroexpress to TransGroup subsidiary Delta-Trans-Invest, which currently has a 25% shareholding. The reported price of €11·7m is based on a market value calculated by an independent appraiser. Announcing the ...
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NewsEuropean railways unveil joint technical strategy
EUROPE: An outline of the technical requirements needed to support 'a successful railway of the future' was published on February 11 by the 'Railway Operating Community', which brings together those European train operators and infrastructure managers who are members of CER, EIM and UIC. Co-ordinated by UIC, the Rail Technical ...
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NewsCabinet backing for Indian locomotive factories
INDIA: Plans to establish two locomotive factories in Bihar through PPP contracts with international manufacturers took a step forward on January 20, when the cabinet gave its approval for bids to be invited within six months. The cabinet had previously backed the long-running project last May, when it had ...
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NewsKochi metro agrees French loan
INDIA: Kochi Metro Rail Ltd and Agence Française de Développement signed a €180m long-term loan agreement on February 8 to finance the first phase of the Kochi metro. The 25 km elevated north-south line would run from Aluva to Petta with 22 stations. Tenders for 25 standard-gauge ...
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NewsSwiss voters back long-term rail funding plan
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has welcomed the result of a referendum on February 9 which saw voters approve a long-term strategy to finance and upgrade rail infrastructure. SBB said the Finanzierung und Ausbau der Bahninfrastruktur strategy which was supported 62:38 on a 55% turnout would provide a solid foundation ...
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NewsBangkok metro projects face mixed outlook
THAILAND: Work on urban rail projects in Bangkok is continuing amid the ongoing political turmoil, interim Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt reported following a tour of construction sites in the city on February 5. Sittipunt provided a progress report on three metro projects. These were the extensions of the Blue Line ...
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NewsSound Transit approves 2014 budget
USA: Seattle’s Sound Transit has approved a 2014 budget of $1·1bn. This includes $146·9m for construction of the University Link, $141·1m for East Link final design, and $138·6m for Northgate Link Extension tunnelling and station construction. Another $31·2m will continue project development for light rail extensions south from South ...
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NewsLinz orders more Cityrunner trams
AUSTRIA: Linz Linien has ordered six more Cityrunner 100% low-floor trams for €19m, Bombardier Transportation announced on February 10. The trams, from Bombardier’s Flexity family, are to be manufactured in Wien. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in mid-2015. The trams will be 40 m long and 2 300 mm ...
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NewsSalvador metro train order
BRAZIL: Salvador metro PPP concessionaire CCR has ordered 49 four-car trainsets from a consortium of Hyundai Rotem and Iesa. The cars are to be assembled in Iesa’s Araraquara plant, with some components manufactured in South Korea. They will join the six trainsets built by a Mitsui-Rotem consortium that were ...
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NewsColombian railway revival gets underway
COLOMBIA: As part of a strategy to remove damaging heavy freight traffic from the roads, the government has awarded contracts for rehabilitation of two sections of the 914 mm gauge rail network which have been out of use since the 1980s. Work by local contractors to return the lines to ...
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NewsFritz Rössig
Fritz Rössig (left) has joined greater Braunschweig public transport authority ZGB as Director of Transport Services, a role he takes over from Managing Director Hennig Brandes (right). Rössig’s main task will be to oversee the tendering and enhancement of the Diesel-Netz Niedersachsen Süd Ost regional rail network.
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NewsRail plus property project gets underway
CHINA: MTR Corp has begun construction of its first rail plus property project in mainland China, based on the model it has used in Hong Kong. MTR Corp is paying a premium of 2bn yuan to develop the site above the Longhua depot on Shenzhen Metro Line 4, which ...
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NewsSaudi Railways Organization reviews safety
SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Railways Organization has awarded DB International a contract to undertake a comprehensive review of its safety regime and operating standards. The review will be completed by the end of the year, with DB contracted to provide a further year of ‘supervision and follow-up’. Under the agreement, DB ...