Main line rail industry news – Page 792
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NewsCroxley Rail Link approved
UK: The government has granted legal powers for the Croxley Rail Link project to extend London Underground’s Metropolitan Line to Watford Junction. Under the Transport & Works Act Order, the project now has the relevant planning permission, access rights and land transfers that it needs for implementation. The £118m ...
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NewsRhein-Ruhr-Express funding agreement
GERMANY: The federal government has committed to including the first phase of the Rhein-Ruhr-Express project in its 2014 budget. This would include funding for modernisation of the Köln-Mülheim -Langenfeld-Berghausen line as well as upgrading works in Dortmund. 'The marathon negotiations are finally crowned with success' said Nordrhein-Westfalen Transport Minister Michael ...
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NewsLight rail study in Masqat
OMAN: A feasibility study for a light rail or metro network in Masqat is to be commissioned shortly, according to local press reports. The Ministry of Transport & Communications and the Supreme Council for Planning are to develop proposals for a line which would provide an interchange ...
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NewsFunding for €1·5bn Emmerich - Oberhausen upgrade signed
GERMANY: A funding agreement for a €1·5bn upgrade of the 73 km Emmerich - Oberhausen line which links the Betuwe Route and North Sea ports with the Ruhr area and Rhine Valley freight corridor was signed on July 24. A third track is to be laid from ...
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NewsSafety directive responds to Lac-Mégantic fireball tragedy
CANADA: An emergency directive setting new rules for handling dangerous goods by rail was issued by Transport Canada on July 23. This followed the runaway of an unattended train carrying crude oil in the early hours of July 6, leading to a derailment in the town of Lac-Mégantic, Québec, 240 ...
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NewsVossloh Cogifer buys Outreau Technologies
FRANCE: Metal processing, casting and forging group Manoir Industries sold its Outreau Technologies railway crossing casting subsidiary to Vossloh Cogifer on July 10. Outreau Technologies employs approximately 200 people at a plant in Pas-de-Calais which produces crossings for railway, tramway and metro trackwork. It has a long-term sales co-operation agreement ...
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NewsStandard gauge to reach Marijampole
LITHUANIA: National railway LG has signed contracts for the standard gauge line from Poland to the current break-of-gauge at Šestokai to be extended as far as Marijampole. This forms an initial stage of the Rail Baltica project to provide a standard gauge route linking Poland and the wider EU ...
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NewsNew passenger rail contract signed in Catalunya
SPAIN: The Catalunya regional government has signed a contract with RENFE covering the provision of regional and suburban services in 2013-15. Following a serious breakdown in relations last year, the Generalitat says that the new contract announced on June 17 marks a change in the relationship between itself and ...
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NewsChinese loans to fund locomotives and electrification in Belarus
BELARUS: An order for electric locomotives and a loan to fund railway electrification were among the agreements signed during President Lukashenko's official visit to Beijing in July. The state-owned Export-Import Bank of China is to provide a loan to cover 85% of the US$116·9m cost of the 18 locomotives, which ...
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NewsUrban rail news in brief - July 2013
The government of Nigeria's Ogun state has allocated N1bn for construction of a light rail system. Preliminary work has commenced and further feasibility studies are to be undertaken. Brazil's Bahia state has called bids for a R$4bn 30-year PPP contract to operate the 6·6 km Salvador metro, and ...
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NewsLegios wins Turkish tank wagon order
TURKEY: Czech rolling stock manufacturer Legios has announced a contract to supply 100 light oil tank wagons to Turkish refining company Tüpras. Delivery is scheduled for later this year. The KC600m contract includes an option for further deliveries in 2014 which Legios said would 'significantly' increase the overall volume of ...
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NewsOpen-system train control study
RUSSIA: RZD, its signalling and telecoms research institute Niias and Italian signalling equipment supplier ECM intend to study jointly the prospects for development of an open-architecture based train control system for Russian Railways and the wider 1520 region. The three parties signed a memorandum of understanding at the Russian Railways ...
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NewsAlstom opens Canadian bogie plant
CANADA: A bogie assembly plant at Sorel-Tracy, northeast of Montréal, was officially opened by Alstom on July 5. It will produce bogies for 468 rubber-tyred metro cars which Montréal operator STM ordered from a consortium of Bombardier and Alstom in 2010. The contract requires 60% domestic content. Bogie and ...
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NewsWorld rail market July 2013
Germany: Scheidt & Bachmann is to supply 40 FareGo Sales OT|40 touch-screen ticket machines for installation on Chemnitz trams. Poland: KZ Bydgoszcz is to supply a real-time passenger information system for Grudziadz’s trams and stops. The city of Poznan has awarded Siemens an 83m złoty contract to supply ...
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NewsElectrification training centre opened
UK: Carillion has opened an electrification training centre at Crewe which includes a purpose-built overhead line span and associated components. Carillion is part of Network Rail’s electrification 'framework panel' and is undertaking enabling works on the Edinburgh - Glasgow Improvement Project in Scotland; it also has a partnership agreement with ...
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NewsLondon Underground deploys modular sleepers
UK: The Track Partnership collaboration of London Underground and Balfour Beatty Rail has installed its first novel sleeper design on the network in 30 years. Cemex Rail Solutions’ 1502 is preassembled incorporating a Pandrol FE1404 rail fastening. This allows track to be constructed more quickly and cheaply, Balfour Beatty ...
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NewsBratislava orders Škoda Transportation trams
SLOVAKIA: Škoda Transportation signed a €39m contract to supply 15 Type 30T trams to Bratislava on July 18. The deal includes maintenance support and an option for a further 15 trams, and is being supported by EU funding. Deliveries are scheduled to being in mid-2015. The 32·5 m long ...
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NewsFirst Grand Paris line to open in 2020
FRANCE: Société du Grand Paris announced on July 15 that its supervisory board had authorised the release of €5·3bn to fund construction of the first phase of the Grand Paris Express project. This covers the southern part of Line 15 from Pont-de-Sèvres to Noisy-Champs under the revised scheme announced by ...
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NewsWorld rolling stock market July 2013
Africa: Transnet Engineering has delivered 10 Class 33 locomotives and 21 coaches to CDN and CEAR for use in Mozambique and Malawi. Argentina: CSR Qingdao Sifang was awarded a US$327m order in May to supply 300 EMU cars in 2014 to increase capacity on the Roca commuter network in ...
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NewsZSSK Cargo restructuring approved
SLOVAKIA: The government approved the Ministry of Transport's proposals for the restructuring and part-privatisation of ZSSK Cargo on July 10. The national freight operator has been hard hit by the economic downturn and the slump in Slovakia's steel industry, making a loss of €24m in 2012 compared to just €0·3m ...