Main line rail industry news – Page 793
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NewsNumedalsbanen reactivated for logging traffic
NORWAY: Infrastructure manager Jernbaneverket has announced that the 30 km Kongsberg - Flesberg section of the Numedalsbanen route is to be permanently reactivated to meet increased demand for forest product transport. Vegetation clearance, tamping and rehabilitation of the 27 m steel Lyngdalselva bridge is scheduled to be finished for ...
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NewsMaryland Purple Line to be a PPP project
USA: Maryland’s first public-private partnership in the public transport sector will be the Purple Line light rail route, Governor of Maryland Martin O’Malley announced on August 5. The 25·7 km east–west Purple Line would link New Carrollton in Prince George’s County and Bethesda in Montgomery County, with 19 intermediate ...
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NewsSouth West Trains plans suburban train order
UK: Franchised passenger operator South West Trains has invited expressions of interest in separate negotiated contracts to finance and supply between 135 and 250 electric multiple-unit cars to increase capacity on suburban services into London Waterloo. The operator is seeking EMUs of three to five 20 m cars, suitable for ...
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NewsEcoTram starts test running in Wien
AUSTRIA: A Siemens Ultra Low Floor tram equipped with technology to reduce energy consumption has begun test running in passenger service in Wien. The ULF tram will operate on Route 62 until May 2014. As part of the EcoTram project, the tram has been equipped with intelligent control units ...
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NewsSNCF awards onboard catering contract
FRANCE: SNCF has awarded a joint venture of Newrest (65%) and Elior (35%) a contract to provide catering services on long-distance passenger trains from November 2013. The contract announced on August 6 covers domestic TGV services, Intercité trains on the conventional network and international services on LGV Est operated ...
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NewsMontreal, Maine & Atlantic files for bankruptcy protection
CANADA: Following the devastating derailment and explosion at Lac-Mégantic in Québec on July 6, Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Canada Co announced on August 7 that it had sought relief under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act in the Superior Court of Québec. Simultaneously, US-based sister company Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway ...
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NewsThales to support signalling skills in Malaysia
MALAYSIA: Thales and the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology has signed a memorandum of understanding setting out plans to promote the development of rail industry skills. The memorandum signed on July 29 is intended as the first in a series of initiatives planned under the National Rail Industry ...
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NewsFerronor takes delivery of EMD locomotives
CHILE: Electro-Motive Diesel has delivered six GT46AC freight locomotives to metre-gauge operator Ferronor. The 4 500 bhp locomotives built in the USA at EMD's plant in Muncie, Indiana, have 16-cylinder 710G3C engines with electronic unit injection, a split radiator system and variable-speed cooling fans and traction motor blowers that optimise ...
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NewsHohenzollerische Landesbahn retains operating contract
GERMANY: Following a competitive tender, on August 1 the Land of Baden-Württemberg announced it had selected incumbent Hohenzollerische Landesbahn for a contract to operate Zollernbahn local services between Tübingen and Sigmaringen. The recently-modernised Regio-Shuttle RS1 diesel railcars are to be retained to operate the route, but the new contract requires ...
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NewsRecruiting a cast of thousands
CHINA: MTR Corp held a two-day Career Expo on June 29-30 with the hope of recruiting up to 2400 staff for a range of construction and civil engineering posts working on five ongoing and 10 planned rail projects across Hong Kong. Opportunities were offered in various disciplines including 40 frontline ...
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NewsFinal section of Stockholm Citybanan tunnel sunk into place
SWEDEN: The third and final section of the Söderström immersed tunnel was lowered into place in central Stockholm on August 6. The tunnel connecting the islands Riddarholmen and Södermalm forms part of the SKr16·8bn Citybanan, a 6 km deep-level line being built to carry suburban rail services beneath central Stockholm. ...
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NewsFirst test train through the Marmaray tunnel
TURKEY: A ceremonial first test train ran through the Marmaray tunnel between Kazliçesme on the European side of Istanbul and Ayrılıkçesme on the Asian side on August 4, with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the controls. 'This project is not the project of the century, but it is the ...
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NewsSiemens awarded Gurgaon metro extension contract
INDIA: IL&FS Rail has awarded Siemens a €70m turnkey contract to supply electrification, signalling and rolling stock for the 6·5 km Gurgaon metro Phase II extension. The six-station extension to the standard-gauge line is due to open in late 2015 or 2016. It will have a capacity of 30 ...
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NewsDB launches mentoring programme
GERMANY: Following a trial underway since 2011, Deutsche Bahn has launched a mentoring programme for younger female staff in technical roles across the infrastructure and technical divisions of the business. The programme is intended to demonstrate to young women in engineering roles that a future at leadership level is open ...
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NewsSaudi Landbridge design contract awarded
SAUDI ARABIA: The Ministry of Finance's Public Investment Fund has appointed the Italferr engineering consultancy subsidiary of Italian national railway group FS to undertake design work for the US$7bn Landbridge project. Development of the planned 950 km double-track mixed traffic line between Riyadh and Jeddah Islamic Port is being managed ...
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NewsDB signs contract for Škoda Transportation push-pull trains
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn signed a €110m contract for Škoda Transportation to supply six double-deck push-pull trainsets on August 5. The trainsets are to be used on regional services linking Nürnberg, Ingolstadt and München which DB Regio is to operate on behalf of the Land of Bayern for 12 years from ...
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NewsBydgoszcz selects preferred bidder for tram extension
POLAND: The Tramwaj Fordon subsidiary of Bydgoszcz city council has named a Gotowski-led consortium as preferred bidder to build a new 9·5 km tram line to the Fordon district. The mostly Polish consortium comprises Gotowski, Mosty Łódź, Feroco, Tor-Krak, Kobylarnia and Czech construction company Metrostav. Its bid of 290m ...
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NewsFurther safety measures follow Santiago de Compostela crash
SPAIN: The Ministry of Development announced on August 2 that the ASFA train protection system is to be installed to enforce speed limits on the national network, following recommendations made by rail accident investigation commission CIAF in advance of its report into the derailment at Santiago de Compostela on July ...
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NewsRemote control console
SHUNTING: Höft & Wessel has developed a hand-held control unit for remote control of shunting locomotives and associated equipment. Enclosed in a ruggedised plastic casing with a fold-out data terminal, the almex.cargo unit weighs 600 g including batteries, and can operate for up to 10 h on a full charge. ...
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NewsGeorgian Railway aiming to grow
GEORGIA: Georgian Railway has set out its plans for future development, saying it aims 'to become one of the companies promoting growth of the national economy.' The national railway said a close relationship with freight shippers is a priority. Freight income in the Q1 2013-14 was up 13% on the ...