Main line rail industry news – Page 993
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NewsTrans-Alpine RoLa still growing
SWITZERLAND: Despite the general slump in rail freight and trans-Alpine transit traffic, the international rolling motorway service between Freiburg im Breisgau in southern Germany and Novara in northern Italy is continuing to attract more business, according to René Dancet, Chairman of RAlpin AG. Presenting on October 7 the results for ...
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NewsTurn up and go trial
NETHERLANDS: Metro passengers take it for granted that they can turn up when they like and simply board the next train. There is no need to plan the trip or look at a timetable. From the passenger’s point of view, turn up and go applies to some main line ...
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NewsAecom wins Dallas contract extension
USA: Dallas Area Rapid Transit has awarded Aecom Technology Corp a US$19·3m contract extension for a variety of project control, system integration and staff support services on three LRT lines now under construction. The one-year extension, the first of three that are available under a base contract signed in ...
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NewsToronto Airport link gets environmental nod
CANADA: A long-delayed programme to increase commuter service on the Georgetown Line in Toronto, including a link to Pearson International Airport, was given the go-ahead by Ontario Environment Minister John Gerretsen on October 5 but with numerous strict conditions including the use of clean diesel locomotives. Gerretsen attached 18 ...
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NewsFirst LRVs arrive in Norfolk
USA: The first two of 11 S70 light rail vehicles for The Tide arrived in Norfolk, Virginia, on October 6 from the Siemens plant in Sacramento. The cars were shipped by railway and were twice delayed, first by flooding in Atlanta and then by a derailment that blocked a ...
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NewsMaking tracks
ISRAEL: Tracklaying is underway on the 18 km double-track line being built south from Tel Aviv Hahagana to relieve heavy traffic on the roads to Bat-Yam, Holon, and Rishon Le-Ziyyon West. Eliminating the need to travel via Lod will cut Tel Aviv – Rishon Le-Ziyyon journey times ...
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NewsItino clean diesel unveiled
SWEDEN: Bombardier Transportation unveiled its first Itino diesel railcar equipped with C.L.E.A.N. diesel technology at the Elmia Nordic Rail exhibition in Jönköping on October 7, conducting a series of demonstration runs with the prototype train at Jönköping station. The first production trainsets equipped with the Catalyst based Low Emission ApplicatioN ...
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NewsStadler expands to grow
SWITZERLAND: A ground-breaking ceremony on October 2 marked the start of construction of Stadler's IBS Centre rolling stock commissioning facility. It is being built on a former tank farm site at Erlen in the canton of Thurgau, alongside Swiss Federal Railways' Zürich - Romanshorn line. The IBS ...
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NewsStrategic engine delivery begins
NEW ZEALAND: Engine manufacturer Tognum describes as 'strategically important' KiwiRail's decision to specify MTU engines when placing the first diesel locomotive order from a western country with China Northern's Dalian plant. Delivery of the Friedrichshafen-built 20V 4000 R43 engines starts this month and runs to January. 'This is a ...
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NewsHangzhou Metro places train order
CHINA: Hangzhou Metro has ordered 48 six-car trains from CSR Nanjing Puzhen to work its first line. The 1·8bn yuan contract was signed on September 27 by Hangzhou Metro Group Chairman Ding Di Gang and CSR’s General Manager.Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, is planning a 278 km network with ...
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NewsTram and signalling agreements signed in Kazakhstan
KAZAKHSTAN: Two co-operation agreements were signed by Alstom CEO Patrick Kron on October 6 within the framework of a Franco-Kazakh business forum held during President Sarkozy’s visit to Kazakhstan.Firstly, Kron signed a memorandum of co-operation with the Mayor of Astana for the creation of a tram network as part of ...
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NewsExpansion projects support Queensland growth
AUSTRALIA: Queensland Transport Minister Rachel Nolan announced the completion of a A$49m, 7 km track doubling project in the Central Bowen Basin on September 18. 'Commissioning of the Grantleigh to Tunnel section means nearly 200 km of track has been duplicated on the Blackwater System since 2006, providing additional ...
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NewsEDSA struggles to cope
PHILIPPINES: Having bought out the promoters of Manila’s EDSA project, the government must decide what to do with the capital’s busiest light rail route, amid suggestions that it could be returned to the private sector. Built by Metro Rail Transit Corp, the 168 km MRT3 line along Epifano dos ...
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NewsPolish ETCS programme continues
POLAND: Infrastructure manager PKP PLK has selected Bombardier Transportation as the preferred bidder for a contract to install ETCS Level 2 on the route from Legnica to Wgliniec and Bielewa Dolna on the German border. Part of corridor E-30, the route has been recently upgraded for operation at up to ...
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NewsThree shortlisted for rolling motorway
FRANCE: Transport Minister Jean-Louis Borloo and Transport Secretary Dominique Bussereau announced on October 5 that three bidders had been shortlisted for the concession to operate a service carrying road trailers between the Aquitaine region, Paris and Nord-Pas-de-Calais. Known as the Autoroute Ferroviaire Atlantique, the service is due to start in ...
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NewsWork starts on Manukau Rail Link
NEW ZEALAND: Transport Minister Steven Joyce turned the first sod on September 18 to launch construction of the first new passenger rail route in Auckland since the Eastern Line opened in 1930. The 2 km Manukau Rail Link will branch off from the Southern Line at Puhinui then run ...
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NewsAll aboard the I-Bullet
JAPAN: JR Central is stepping up efforts to sell Shinkansen technology to other countries. Announcing details of an export version of the Series N700 trainset called the N700-I Bullet at the HSR Summit in London last month, JR Central’s Senior Executive Director Tsutomu Morimura emphasised the need to consider Shinkansen ...
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NewsPointers October 2009
Following the start of trial operations to Cerillos using an ex-FEVE DMU, the city of Salta in Argentina has signed an agreement with the provincial and federal governments that should see up to 50m pesos invested in developing the Tren Urbano network with 17 stations. A project to restore ...
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NewsVale coal haul
COLOMBIA: Last month Brazilian mining firm Vale expected to begin using the Atlantic railway network to carry up to 3·5 million tonnes of coal a year between its mines and Puerto Córdoba. Vale bought a 8·4% stake in railway concessionaire Fenoco in April, and has built a 7 km ...
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NewsMetro operating shortlist down to two
Local transport authority Nexus has postponed naming a preferred bidder for a seven-year Tyne & Wear Metro operating contract until early 2010. Two candidates, DB Regio Tyne & Wear and the in-house Nexus bid team, have been asked to ‘revise and confirm’ their detailed tenders with a view to ...