Main line rail industry news – Page 851
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NewsMining companies back Labrador Trough railway study
CANADA: Canadian National announced on August 10 that five mining companies have committed to support a feasibility study for the construction of an 800 km railway to link iron ore deposits in the Labrador Trough area of northern Québec and Labrador with the Port of Sept-Îles. Cliffs Natural Resources, ...
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NewsLevel crossing voice warnings
UK: Equipment which issues spoken messages saying ‘warning, another train is approaching’ is being installed at 63 UK level crossings. Infrastructure manager Network Rail hopes this will reduce the risk of users mistakenly believing that it is safe to cross after the first train. Research by industry ...
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NewsInnoTrans information at your fingertips
INNOTRANS: As the only official international media partner for InnoTrans 2012, Railway Gazette will be providing extensive coverage of the world's largest rail industry event. InnoTrans 2012 will be held at the Messe Berlin exhibition centre on September 18-21. There will be more than 2 300 exhibitors from 47 countries, ...
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NewsEuro Terminal Genk launches expansion project
BELGIUM: A six-month expansion and modernisation project has been launched to enable the Euro Terminal Genk freight facility to accommodate increases in intermodal traffic, in particular between the North Sea ports and southern and southeast Europe. The terminal in the north of Genk reached its current capacity of 35 000 ...
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NewsInnoTrans 2012: Global fair for a global market
INNOTRANS: This year has seen such a rise in demand that, for the first time, all the available display space at Messe Berlin has been reserved for InnoTrans. With its theme of The Future of Mobility, the fair will welcome over 2 400 exhibitors from 47 countries, more than ...
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NewsFreight bypass funding agreed
GERMANY: A funding agreement has been signed to enable the construction of a 6·2 km railway bypass which will allow freight trains to reach the JadeWeserPort development without passing though the town of Sande. The deep-water container port is scheduled to open in September, bringing an increase in traffic on ...
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NewsOlympic crowds smash London Underground records
UK: Swelled by crowds travelling to and from Olympic Games venues across the capital, ridership on the London Underground network reached a new record of 4·5 million passenger-journeys on August 7, according to Transport for London. This was the fourth time in a week that the record had been broken. ...
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NewsHigh-capacity tank wagons arrive in the UK
UK: Leasing firm VTG Rail UK is taking delivery of 50 high-capacity petroleum tank wagons built by Greenbrier Europe. They are equipped with 'track-friendly' TF25 bogies, and feature a self-supporting tank which reduces weight by eliminating the need for a separate underframe. This gives the wagon a maximum payload of ...
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NewsSiemens to supply Méchéria - El Bayadh signalling
ALGERIA: Railway development agency ANESRIF has awarded the ESTEL joint venture of Siemens and national railway STNF a contract to supply ETCS Level 1 signalling and telecoms for the 129 km line under construction between Méchéria and El Bayadh. The line is scheduled to open in late 2015, ...
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NewsHonam high speed line signalling contract awarded
SOUTH KOREA: Korea Rail Network Authority has awarded a consortium led by LSIS the signalling and train control contract for the first phase of the 300 km/h Honam high speed line. The 174 km section between Osong and Gwangju Songjeong is under construction for completion by December 2014. A ...
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NewsWabtec acquires Brazilian firm Winco
BRAZIL: Wabtec Corp announced the completion of its acquisition of Winco Equipamentos Ferroviários on August 6. Winco is a marketing and sales company based in São Paolo, offering value-added engineering and assembly, service, technical support and logistics capabilities. It has an extensive network of customer relationships in Brazil, which ...
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NewsBids in for Santos light rail vehicles
BRAZIL: Public transport operator EMTU is expecting to award in September a contract worth up to R$284·3m to supply 22 vehicles for the first phase of the SIM light rail network in Santos. Four bids have been received from Alstom Brazil/Alstom Transport, CAF, Pesa and the Tremvia Santos consortium of ...
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NewsGenève tram trial assesses supercapacitor performance
SWITZERLAND: Genève tram operator TPG is testing a prototype supercapacitor energy storage unit which allows braking energy to be recovered, and enables a tram to run for short distances without an external power supply. The 1 tonne supercapacitor unit has been installed on the roof of one of a batch ...
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NewsDe Lijn orders Flexity 2 trams for Antwerpen and Gent
BELGIUM: Bombardier has been selected to supply 48 new Flexity 2 low-floor trams for De Lijn services in Antwerpen and Gent under a €128·6m order announced by Flemish Minister for Transport & Public Works Hilde Crevits on August 6. The largest single tram procurement placed by the regional government, the ...
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NewsDnipropetrovs'k metro extension project awarded funding
UKRAINE: Funding has been agreed for a 4 km extension of the Dnipropetrovs'k metro into the city centre, and plans are being developed to introduce multi-modal smart ticketing and undertake institutional reforms. The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development approved a €152m sovereign loan for the extension on July 24. ...
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NewsPresidential launch for Pacific revival
COLOMBIA: President Juan Manuel Santos visited Buenaventura on August 2 as freight operations resumed on the 155 km Buenaventura - Yumbo section of the Pacific network, suspended since November 2011. Ferrocarril del Pacífico SAS, whose shareholders include Railroad Development Corp of the USA, is investing a total of US$16m in ...
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NewsKeolis buys NS stake in Syntus
NETHERLANDS: An agreement for Keolis to purchase the 50% stake in Syntus which is currently held by joint venture partner NS was announced on August 6. Keolis and NS had confirmed in June that local bus and train operator Syntus was 'temporarily experiencing financial difficulties', causing customers and staff to ...
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NewsDublin's Broombridge tram line approved
IRELAND: The national planning authority granted a railway order on August 3 giving powers to build a €370m tram line through central Dublin to Broombridge. Opening of the latest addition to the Luas light rail network is planned for 2017. Designated Line BXD, the 5·6 km route will start at ...
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NewsSão Paulo suburban fleet expansion continues
BRAZIL: Tenders are to be called for the supply of 65 eight-car EMUs to São Paulo suburban operator CPTM, which the São Paulo state government says will be the largest single rolling stock contract that it has ever awarded. Approval for the contract to be tendered was announced on August ...
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NewsIraqi Republic Railways commissions control system
IRAQ: Computer-based train control and digital microwave radio communications networks were handed over to Iraqi Republic Railways during a ceremony at the operations control centre in Baghdad Central station on July 18. The 'state-of-the-art' system enables dispatchers to control movements throughout the IRR network. The computer-based train control element comprises ...