Main line rail industry news – Page 779
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NewsSantiago ETCS contract placed and first train delivered
CHILE: Bombardier Transportation has been awarded what it says is the first ERTMS contract in Chile and the second in Latin America. The €15m deal announced on October 28 covers the supply of ETCS Level 1 signalling for the 22 km Santiago - Nos section of the 82 km commuter ...
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NewsSeoul Line 9 contract extension awarded
SOUTH KOREA: The SML9 consortium of Transdev and RATP Dev signed a contract extension for the operation and maintenance of the Seoul metro Line 9 metro on October 28. The 10-year contract is worth €525m. Line 9 is the only line in Seoul run by a private operator, which ...
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NewsStockholm light rail extension opens
SWEDEN: Regular services on a 7 km extension of Stockholm's Tvärbanan light rail line north from Alvik to Solna Centrum began on October 28, following opening celebrations and free rides the previous day. The extension includes a 0·8 km tunnel. It adds seven stops to the line, with two providing ...
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NewsFirst Škoda tram on its way to Konya
TURKEY: The first of 60 trams for Konya left Škoda Transportation’s Plzen factory in the Czech Republic on October 29, almost seven months after the €104·7m contract was announced. The 100% low-floor Type 28T vehicle is based on 31 trams ordered by Miskolc in Hungary. The five-section tram is ...
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NewsMarmaray tunnel opens to link Europe with Asia
TURKEY: 'This project that was dreamed of 153 years ago, has been realised' said President Abdullah Gül as he inaugurated the Marmaray tunnel between the European and Asian sides of Istanbul on October 29, as part of the Republic Day celebrations marking the 90th anniversary of Atatürk's proclamation of the ...
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NewsHo Chi Minh City metro Line 5 funding secured
VIETNAM: The Ho Chi Minh City Management Authority for Urban Railways has announced that three foreign organisations will help to finance metro Line 5. The Asian Development Bank will provide US$500m, the European Investment Bank €150m and the Spanish government €200m. The remainder will come from the Vietnamese government’s ...
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NewsMelbourne’s B-Class trams to be refurbished
AUSTRALIA: Public Transport Victoria is investing A$4·4m to refurbish Melbourne’s B-Class trams, which make up a quarter of Yarra Trams’ fleet. The work will be completed early next year and aims to increase the capacity of each two-section tram by seven to nine passengers. This will be achieved by ...
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NewsWarszawa orders short trams
POLAND: Tramwaje Warszawskie has selected Pesa to supply 30 low-floor trams to the Polish capital for 185·4m złoty. Pesa beat offers from Solaris, CAF, Škoda Transportation and Stadler. At 20 m long, the unidirectional three-section trams from Pesa’s Jazz family will be shorter than most of the Warszawa fleet. ...
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NewsNews in Brief
The Dutch government has allocated €2·4bn for rail in the 2014 budget, with projects to include eliminating conflicting paths at Utrecht and €126m to provide additional tracks at Weesp which will enable the provision of a train every 10 min between Schiphol and Lelystad. A decision on the implementation of ...
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NewsArrowedge aims to cut fuel use
USA: Union Pacific has begun testing Arrowedge, a device designed to reduce fuel consumption by improving the aerodynamics of double-stack intermodal trains. The first wagon of the train is loaded with one container, with the 14·6 m (48 ft) Arrowedge sitting on top. Its tapered body improves air flow around ...
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NewsSmart phone for locomotives
RADIO: Kapsch CarrierCom has launched the RC900 cab radio, which it calls a ‘smart phone for locomotives’. The RC900 supports GSM-R for speech and data, plus ER-GSM, and has inbuilt wi-fi and a GPS receiver. Its memory can be expanded with an SD card.
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NewsKøbenhavn - Ringsted civils contract awarded
DENMARK: Infrastructure manager Banedanmark has awarded a joint venture of MJ Eriksson of Denmark and Züblin of Germany a DKr562m contract for civil works on the 18 km Ishøj - Køge section of the 60 km New Line København - Ringsted, which is being designed for 250 km/h operation. One ...
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NewsInterCity East Coast tendering launched
UK: The Department for Transport formally launched the competition for the next InterCity East Coast franchise on October 25, publishing documents setting out what potential bidders will need to consider when developing proposals for the operation of passenger services from London King's Cross to Leeds, Newcastle and Edinburgh. 'We want ...
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NewsWorld rail market October 2013
Australia: Western Australia’s Department of Transport has appointed a Parsons Brickerhoff/Aecom joint venture to support development of the A$1·9bn Perth MAX light rail project. Germany: Keolis Deutschland has selected Scheidt & Bachmann to supply a ticketing system including mobile terminals, onboard and station ticket vending machines and a back-office ...
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NewsProducts & Technology in Brief
CNR Qiqihar has developed a stainless steel bodied iron ore wagon with a 40 tonne axleload for heavy haul lines in Australia. The axleload could be increased to 44 tonnes if required. La Farga has introduced its Dx3 Deep Defects Detector to the rail market, saying it can identify small ...
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NewsKapsch CarrierCom opens Lisboa office
PORTUGAL: Kapsch CarrierCom Chief Executive Kari Kapsch officially opened the company's branch office in Lisboa on October 22, saying it would provide the Austrian firm with a base to 'address key target markets in Africa, South America and the Arabic regions'. The office has eight staff. Kapsch CarrierCom acquired part ...
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NewsDubai metro contract extended
UAE: Serco Group announced on October 24 that it had extended its contract with Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority to operate and maintain the metro network. The five-year extension is worth £355m and will run to September 2019, with an option to extend it further to 2021. Serco has ...
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NewsPrivate operation ends on Sarmiento route
ARGENTINA: The Sarmiento commuter route in Buenos Aires was due to return to full state control on October 24, transferring to federal railway operating company SOFSE and infrastructure company ADIF SE. Since the government revoked the concession held by Trenes de Buenos Aires in 2012, the Sarmiento network had been ...
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NewsFremantle Port rail expansion contract awarded
AUSTRALIA: York Civil was awarded a contract to extend the North Quay Rail Terminal at Fremantle Port near Perth on October 23. The A$31m project is funded by the central government, which is contributing A$18·6m, and the state of Western Australia, which is providing A$12·4m. The work will extend ...
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NewsEurope's railways are getting even safer
EUROPE: The number of people killed in railway-related accidents in the EU during 2012 was the lowest since data collection to common standards began in 2006, according to figures published by the European Railway Agency on October 21. The member states' national safety authorities recorded 36 passenger and 46 employee ...