Main line rail industry news – Page 774
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NewsCalifornian high speed programme hits funding hurdle
USA: California’s high speed rail programme is facing potentially significant delays following a series of rulings on funding issues by the Sacramento County Supreme Court. The rulings centre on the California High Speed Rail Authority’s plan to use so-called Proposition 1A bonds to part-fund an Initial Operating Segment through the ...
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NewsMakkah and Madinah metros approved
SAUDI ARABIA: Makkah Governor Prince Khaled Al-Faisal has approved the construction of two metro lines under the first phase of Makkah’s 62bn riyal public transport project. These would be in addition to the existing Al Mashaaer Al Mugaddassah metro which was built to handle pilgrim traffic. An 11 km line ...
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NewsKapsch CarrierCom to supply GSM-R for Hungary
HUNGARY: State holding company NISZ has awarded Kapsch CarrierCom and local company MVM OVIT a €46m contract to install GSM-R on 900 km of the national rail network, Kapsch announced on November 27. With MVM responsible for physical infrastructure, installation is due for completion at the end of 2015 when ...
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NewsAlstom wins Sardinian signalling contract
ITALY: Alstom announced on November 27 that, as leader of a consortium with civil works contractor Gemmo SpA, it had been awarded a contract by local railway authority ARST to supply and install a new signalling system for the 950 mm gauge Monserrato – Senorbì and Macomèr – Nuoro routes ...
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NewsFrance creates rail industry investment fund
FRANCE: On November 26 the government announced the creation of Croissance Rail, a €40m investment fund that is to take minority stakes in smaller companies that have a ‘significant presence’ in the French railway supply industry, and the potential to grow in both domestic and export markets. Formed by state ...
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NewsEBRD publishes new transport strategy
INTERNATIONAL: The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development has published a new strategy for investment in the transport sector. This ‘focuses on the need to promote market-based transport in our region of operations’, according to Director for Transport, Sue Barrett. ‘Another priority is the creation of sustainable transport systems, ...
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NewsNetwork Rail Consulting opens Australian office
AUSTRALIA: Network Rail Consulting marked the opening of its third international office at an event in Sydney on November 27, organised jointly with UK Trade & Investment to coincide with the AusRail Plus conference and exhibition. Network Rail Chief Executive Sir David Higgins said that rail investment was essential ...
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NewsStudying the smart train
SPAIN: Catalan regional operator FGC examined the concept of the ‘smart train’ at a one-day conference in Barcelona last month. Assisted by contributions from Comillas University in Madrid, Transport for London and Siemens, FGC used the ‘smart train day’ to examine a range of energy efficiency measures and learn about ...
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NewsCAF and Thales win Santiago metro contract
CHILE: Metro de Santiago announced on November 25 that it had awarded a consortium of CAF and Thales a US$451·9m contract to supply rolling stock and CBTC signalling for lines 3 and 6. CAF will supply and maintain 115 cars for Line 3 and 70 for Line 6. Metro de ...
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NewsAbellio unveils Coradia Lint for Wuppertal - Solingen route
GERMANY: The first of nine Coradia Lint 41/H diesel multiple-units which Alstom is supplying for use on the Wuppertal - Solingen route S7 was unveiled in front of 100 invited guests on November 22. 'The new Lints are the right choice for the Bergischen Land', said Ronald Lünser, Director of ...
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NewsLaboratory testing for Independently-Powered EMU battery
UK: Laboratory testing has confirmed that lithium iron magnesium phosphate batteries from US firm Valence Technology meet the requirements for use on the demonstration Independently-Powered Electric Multiple-Unit, which is being developed by infrastructure manager Network Rail, Bombardier and train operator Greater Anglia. It is envisaged that overhead/battery-powered IPEMUs could operate ...
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NewsSpanish rail spend continues
SPAIN: Presenting her department's 2014 budget to the lower house of parliament on November 12, Development Minister Ana Pastor said rail would account for €8·54bn of the €17·31bn to be spent next year. Total investment by the Ministry of Development would be €8·98bn, of which rail would receive €4·57bn or ...
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NewsAutomotive wagon launch
SOUTH AFRICA: Car-carrying wagons developed by Transnet Engineering's Uitenhage plant to meet the specifications of car manufacturers were officially launched by South Africa's President Zuma on November 5. Transnet is building 350 of the wagons by January 2014 as part of its R307bn seven-year infrastructure improvement programme. The new wagons ...
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NewsProducts & Technology in Brief
Bombardier has selected Liebherr Transportation Systems to develop a compact and reliable cooling system for lithium ion batteries forming part of the Primove induction charging system to be used on light rail vehicles and buses. India’s Northern Railway is testing an Online Monitoring of Rolling Stock system. This combines ...
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NewsFeasibility study to assess Pavlodar tramway upgrade
KAZAKHSTAN: The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development has invited expressions of interest in a contract to undertake feasibility studies for a planned modernisation of the 86 km tram network in Pavlodar. The city's plans include infrastructure modernisation on the 1 524 mm gauge network, procurement of up to 20 ...
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NewsMoscow - Kyiv Talgo services to start next year
EUROPE: The Federal Passenger Co business of Russia Railways and Ukrainian national railway UZ have agreed to introduce Talgo rolling stock on two daily Moscow - Kyiv services from the fourth quarter of 2014. Patentes Talgo is currently finishing production of the first 20-car rake of coaches for RZD. This ...
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NewsAustralasian Centre for Rail Innovation launched
AUSTRALIA: The Australasian Centre for Rail Innovation was formally inaugurated at a VIP reception held in Sydney on November 25 to coincide with the opening of the 10th World Congress on Railway Research. To be headquartered in Canberra, ACRI is an independent organisation supported by both the Australasian Railway Association ...
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NewsNews in Brief
National Railways of Zimbabwe has withdrawn commuter trains serving Bulawayo and Harare. These were introduced when fuel shortages severely limited road public transport, but NRZ is short of motive power and locos were tied up working near-empty trains. Pakistan acceded to COTIF on September 1, as the 49th OTIF ...
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NewsState aid for automatic metro research approved
FRANCE: The European Commission has cleared the award of €15·2m of French state aid to support the Metrolab joint venture of Alstom and Paris transport operator RATP. Metrolab is undertaking the Metro of the Future project which aims to develop technology for unattended driverless train operation in large cities. The ...
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NewsNews in Brief
Passenger and freight services have resumed on the metre-gauge line between Dire Dawa in Ethiopia and the port of Djibouti following refurbishment of 100 km of route by Italian contractors. China’s Civil Engineering Construction Corp is also building a replacement line from Addis Abeba to standard gauge ...