Main line rail industry news – Page 984
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NewsSersa Group buys Total track
CANADA: Sersa Group has acquired a 68% stake in Ontario-based Total Track, which undertakes track construction and maintenance work in Ontario and Québec. The companies have previously co-operated on various projects, and Swiss-based Sersa Group said it believes the acquisition 'is an important milestone for its further development in ...
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NewsFirst trans-Hudson tunnel contract awarded
USA: A $583m contract for the 1·6 km Manhattan tunnel section of the trans-Hudson rail link between northern New Jersey and New York has been awarded to a joint venture led by Barnard and Judlau Contracting. This is one of three design-build tunnel sections on the $8·7bn project, which also ...
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NewsPortuguese high speed contract awarded
PORTUGAL: On December 12 the Ministry of Public Works, Transport & Communications announced that the Elos consortium had been awarded a 40-year concession to build, finance and maintain the first section of the high speed line between Lisboa and the Spanish frontier, the 165 km between Poceirão and the border ...
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NewsGovernment go ahead for more electrification
UK: Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis announced plans to electrify a further three routes in northwest England on December 14. The £200m programme builds on plans to electrify a Liverpool - Manchester route which were announced in July. These additional routes are Huyton - Wigan (24 km), allowing electric trains to ...
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NewsCambodian railway to be revived by 2013
CAMBODIA: Asian Development Bank announced a second US$42m loan towards rehabilitation of the dilapidated rail network on December 16, doubling the funding it is providing for the US$141m project. ADB said freight trains will begin running on the southern line between Phnom Penh and Kampot near the Vietnamese border in ...
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NewsTren Eléctrico contracts awarded in Lima
PERU: Transport Minister Enrique Cornejo announced the selection of the Tren Eléctrico Lima consortium, comprising Graña y Montero SA and Norberto Odebrecht SA, to carry out the civil works and E&M scope on the 12·3 km extension of Lima's metro Line 1 at a cost of US$410·2m on December 2. ...
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NewsCEVA link approved
SWITZERLAND: Voters in the Swiss canton of Genève have backed the provision of an extra SFr113m required to go ahead with the CEVA project to link the city's main Cornavin station with Eaux Vives station, terminus of a 6 km line from Annemasse in France which will be modernised and ...
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NewsCollision analysis experts appointed for train project
SOUTH KOREA: Rolling stock manufacturer Hyundai Rotem has appointed UK-based consultancy Frazer-Nash to assess the crashworthiness of an aluminium-bodied commuter train which it is developing. The electric multiple-unit is initially targeted at the Korean market, but Hyundai Rotem hopes to export orders will follow. Frazer-Nash will investigate the effects ...
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NewsA star is born
BELGIUM: Ceremonies on December 8 at the Dutch-Belgian border near Noorderkempen and outside Brussels Midi station marked the completion of the Belgian high speed network, which forms a star of four lines. Planning for the first line from the French border to Brussels began back in 1988. From December 13, ...
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NewsBarcelona’s first driverless metro line enters service
SPAIN: On December 13 José Montilla, President of the Generalitat de Catalunya, inaugurated the first five stations of metro Line 9 between Can Zam and Can Peixauet.He was accompanied by the Minister of Land Planning & Public Works, Joaquím Nadal, the Mayor of Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Núria Parlón, Vice-President ...
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NewsAuckland train procurement begins shortly
NEW ZEALAND: KiwiRail is call tenders early in the New Year for the supply of up to 114 electric multiple-unit cars for Auckland, following the cabinet's approval of a NZ$500m loan on November 24. The first of the 1 067 mm gauge EMUs will enter service on the Eastern ...
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NewsFirst Franciliens enter service in Paris
FRANCE: ‘This is the most important development in public transport since the launch of the TGV’, claimed Jean-Paul Huchon, President of the Ile-de-France transport authority STIF, welcoming the first Francilien EMU at Paris Nord on December 12. Accompanied by SNCF President Guillaume Pepy, Bombardier Transportation President André Navarri and local ...
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NewsIndustry News in Brief
Control and communications systems provider Invensys Rail is to open a Global Centre of Excellence for communication-based train control in central London. ‘With key international project wins, including this month’s £255m São Paulo Metro award, we are delighted to offer our clients centralised CBTC expertise from our new office in ...
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NewsMedoc tram-train project manager appointed
FRANCE: A consortium led by Systra has been appointed as project manager for the Medoc tram-train scheme, which will use the existing Bordeaux - Pointe de Grave railway to provide a tram service to Bruges and Blanquefort. Opening is planned for December 2013, with the 7 km route to ...
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NewsHerzog replaces Veolia at Austin MetroRail
USA: Capital Metro announced on December 9 that it was terminating the six-year contract under which Veolia was to have operated the Capital MetroRail passenger service which will link Leander with Austin from early 2010. A replacement five-year operations and maintenance contract worth up to $61m has been awarded ...
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NewsCOBRA to give rail freight more bite
BELGIUM: DB Schenker Rail and SNCB Logistics signed an agreement to form a joint venture to manage cross-border freight trains between Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands on December 10. Corridor Operations Belgium Rail will be an operating organisation, with commercial activities remaining in hands of the two companies. COBRA's ...
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NewsYakunin views Libyan rail progress
LIBYA: A year after the April 2008 construction contract came into force in December 2008, Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin visited Libyan Railways Chairman Said Mohammed Rashid on December 5 to discuss progress with the 554 km Surt - Banghazi railway, being built by RZD under a €2·2bn contract. ...
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NewsLuas opens extension to Dublin Docklands
IRELAND: Transport Minister Noel Dempsey officially opened a 1·5 km extension of the Luas tram Red Line from Busáras to The Point on December 8, the first addition since the line opened in 2004. Free travel was offered in the Docklands zone for the rest of the day.That evening Luas ...
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NewsItalian north-south high speed line completed
ITALY: Celebrations were held in Milano on December 5 to mark the completion of the final sections of the north-south high speed rail corridor, which opens for revenue service with the timetable change on December 13. Completion of the Novara – Milano, Bologna – Firenze and Napoli – Salerno links ...
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NewsADB loan for rail efficiency programme
CHINA: Asian Development Bank approved loans of up to US$1bn towards the Chinese government's US$3·24bn Railway Energy Efficiency & Safety Enhancement Investment Programme on December 8. Announced as part of an economic stimulus package in October 2008, the programme is funding the installation of train fault detection equipment and ...