Main line rail industry news – Page 916
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NewsSiemens beats Bombardier to Thameslink train order
UK: Rail Minister Theresa Villiers named Siemens plc and the Cross London Trains (XLT) consortium of Siemens Project Ventures GmbH, PPP fund Innisfree Ltd and investment company 3i Infrastructure plc as preferred bidder to build, own, finance and maintain new trains and depots for the Thameslink Programme on June 16. ...
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NewsChina starts work on line to Myanmar
ASIA: A foundation laying ceremony in the border town of Ruili on May 30 marked the official launch of construction on a railway from Kunming in China to Myanmar. The 330 km double-track line will join the CR network at Dali in Yunnan province. Construction is being undertaken in two ...
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NewsAMT electro-diesel arrives in Montréal
CANADA: Montréal commuter rail authority Agence Métropolitaine de Transport took delivery of its first Bombardier-built ALP-45 electro-diesel locomotives on June 9. The first of 20 locos was officially received by AMT President & CEO Joël Gauthier and the Vice-President of Business Development & Communications for Bombardier Transportation North America Ann ...
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NewsHammond sees bright future if costs can be cut
RAILTEX: ‘In this tough economic environment, there are not many industries that can say they have a genuine sense of optimism, but the rail industry has the right to be proud’, said UK Secretary of State for Transport Philip Hammond in a keynote address at Railtex 2011 on June 15. ...
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NewsVTG buys two wagon fleets
EUROPE: Wagon leasing firm VTG has announced acquisitions in the 1520 region and Italy, with CEO Dr Heiko Fischer saying the Hamburg-based group is 'pursuing a path as market consolidator', making purchases as opportunities to strengthen its business arise. With effect from June 1 VTG has acquired Railcraft, which has ...
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NewsTraxx UK aimed at two franchises
UK: Bombardier is targetting Greater Anglia and InterCity East Coast as possible customers for a UK version of its successful Traxx electric locomotive family. According to Alberto Lacchini, Director, Sales, in Bombardier’s Locomotives Business Unit, ‘we are well advanced in the design and are ready to launch the product’.Bombardier believes ...
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NewsNoise-damping track to be installed on Thameslink core
UK: SilentTrack noise dampers are to be installed at London Blackfriars station under the Thameslink Programme to mitigate the acoustic effects of running up to 24 trains/h along the core north-south cross-city route from 2018. Already installed by DB Netz on its main lines through the Rhein valley and on ...
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NewsA ‘wonderful spectacle’ at Railtex 2011
UK: Revealing that no fewer than 424 exhibitors from 17 countries were participating in the Railtex 2011 exhibition at London's Earls Court Two centre, the Chairman of Mack Brooks Exhibitions Simon Brooks said the event presented ‘a wonderful spectacle’, which demonstrated ‘the very latest that the industry has to offer’. ...
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NewsA cross-border learning experience
SPAIN: A group of 45 students from the EI CESI engineering university in Paris last month visited construction sites on the Valladolid – Burgos section of high speed line in northern Spain. Being built as an extension of the line from Madrid, the 1435 mm gauge route is ultimately intended ...
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NewsWorld rolling stock market June 2011
Australia: Genesee & Wyoming has ordered seven locos from Downer EDI for use on its Tarcoola – Darwin line from December. The government of Western Australia has selected an EDI Rail-Bombardier joint venture for a A$317m contract to maintain and clean its 239 narrow gauge DMUs and ...
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NewsBombardier awarded London Underground SSL signalling contract
UK: Transport for London formally announced Bombardier Transportation as the winner of the £354m contract to upgrade signalling on London Underground's Sub-Surface Lines on June 14, following the statutory standstill period required under EU tendering rules. The company had been named preferred bidder on April 12. Bombardier will provide its ...
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NewsRailtex: Exploring opportunities in UK investment projects
RAILTEX: With more than 350 exhibitors gathering at London's Earls Court exhibition centre, the 10th Railtex trade fair taking place on June 14-16 is set to be bigger than the 2009 event, which attracted more than 11 000 attendees. Among leading companies taking part at Railtex 2011 will be ...
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NewsBombardier Transportation announces Québec test track and design centre
CANADA: Bombardier Transportation announced a C$17m investment plan including a Product Design & Development Centre and a metro car test track on June 13. The 1 km test track is to be built at the company's La Pocatière site to test metro cars ordered by Montréal operator STM. It will ...
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NewsStandard gauge to Niamey?
AFRICA: The long-held dream that the former Chemin de Fer Abidjan – Niger (RAN) might one day reach the second place in its name has resurfaced, amid suggestions that the metre-gauge line connecting Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso could be converted to standard gauge. The Economic Community ...
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NewsNew Orleans streetcar project breaks ground
USA: Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood joined New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu and other officials at a ceremonial groundbreaking for the Loyola Avenue streetcar line on June 7.The 2·4 km tram route with four stops linking Union Passenger Terminal and Canal Street will receive $45m in federal funding. Six bids ...
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NewsJR East gets back on track
JAPAN: Little more than six weeks after the earthquake and tsunami struck northeast of Honshu on March 11, East Japan Railway was able to resume services on the whole of the Tohoku Shinkansen on April 29. Although a number of ground facilities had been damaged by the earthquake, these were ...
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NewsRail Industry Training & Recruitment in Brief
A team of researchers from the UK's Occupational Psychology Centre has examined the evidential benefits of using simulators for driver training. Assessing drivers trained on National Express East Anglia's Stratford simulator, OPC found 'clear links' to improved competence, concentration measures and safety performance. Extraction equipment supplier TEKA and hood manufacturer ...
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NewsNews in Brief
An integrated transport authority is to be formed to co-ordinate policy in New South Wales, leaving RailCorp, Sydney Buses and other transport agencies to focus on service delivery. On May 14 passenger services began stopping at the reopened station at Sösdala in southern Sweden after a gap ...
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NewsReturn of the Bicol Express
PHILIPPINES: Following three test runs in late May, Philippine National Railways announced on June 9 that long-distance passenger services between Manila and Bicol province would resume on June 29. The announcement marks the completion of a four-year, 18bn pesos programme to rebuild PNR’s 479 km Main Line South between the ...
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NewsBordeaux orders more Citadis trams
FRANCE: Greater Bordeaux authority Communauté Urbaine de Bordeaux has selected Alstom as preferred bidder to supply 26 Citadis trams for Phase III of the city’s network expansion programme. The new vehicles will be 43 m long with capacity for up to 400 passengers. The first unit is due to be ...