Main line rail industry news – Page 920
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NewsWest Yorkshire DMUs sold to Porterbrook
UK: Porterbrook Leasing announced on May 23 that it had completed the purchase of the seven two-car Class 155 diesel multiple-units and 10 Class 144 DMU centre cars from Metro, the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive. The vehicles are currently leased by Northern Rail which will continue to operate them ...
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NewsMalawi ore corridor agreement
AFRICA: Brazilian mining company Vale signed a memorandum of understanding with the Malawian government in April covering construction of a 100 km rail link from Blantyre to the Moatize coalfields in neighbouring Mozambique. This would provide a 900 km rail corridor from the mines, through Malawi, to the port of ...
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NewsConstruction begins on Chinese rail projects
CHINA: Construction of a 250 km/h Passenger-Dedicated Line between Chongqing, Qianjiang, Zhangjiajie, Changde and Changsha is set to start this year for opening in 2015, Chongqing Municipal Development & Reform Commission has announced. Meanwhile, construction of the 256 km Dezhou - Dajiawa line in Shandong province has now begun, ...
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NewsRabat - Salé tram network launched
MOROCCO: King Mohammed VI visited Rabat-Salé on May 18 to inaugurate the 19·5 km tram network with 31 stops and the 1·2 km Hassan II Bridge which carries the shared central section over the Bouregreg river. The ceremony was attended by local officials, including Lemghari Essaki, Chairman ...
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NewsCurved concrete castings
USA: Oldcastle Precast is supplying concrete platform sections for the rebuilding of Boston's Morton Street station as part of Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's $37m Fairmount commuter rail rehabilitation project. Each of the 47 platform sections for Morton Street is 9·7 m long by 3 m wide. The station is situated ...
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NewsSwitch sensor
SENSOR: Sensonics has developed a robust eddy-current proximity probe capable of accurately measuring the relative positions of the switch and fixed rails at turnouts. It offers high linearity, with minimal temperature drift. The probe can detect long-term drift of the switch rail away from the initial calibrated position as result ...
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NewsEast London Line to Clapham Junction underway
UK: TfL announced on May 19 that its contractor Birse Metro had begun work to build the 1∙3 km of new track, using a disused alignment, that will enable East London Line services to reach Clapham Junction. The new corridor will run from south of Surrey Quays station to join ...
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NewsAtlanta orders Siemens Avanto streetcars
USA: Siemens Industry Inc has been awarded its first North American street-running tram order, a $17·2m contract from the city of Atlanta for four cars based on the S70 Avanto light rail vehicle platform. They will be used on a 4·3 km line with 12 stops linking the Martin Luther ...
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NewsDeclaration on Sustainable Mobility & Transport launched
INTERNATIONAL: UIC formally launched the Declaration on Sustainable Mobility & Transport at the United Nations in New York on May 11. Described as 'the railway sector's commitment to sustainable development', the declaration lists the industry's most important environmental objectives. It has so far been signed by 44 UIC members which ...
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NewsMcNulty Rail Value for Money Study final report published
UK: Closer alignment of the objectives and incentives for train operators and infrastructure manager Network Rail is essential if the costs of running the British rail network are to be reduced, according to Sir Roy McNulty. Launching the final version of his Rail Value for Money Study in London on ...
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NewsDB plans two north-south freight corridors
GERMANY: DB Netz and the Federal Ministry of Transport are discussing plans to develop and finance two north-south freight corridors. Speaking at the iaf Congress in Münster on May 18, Dipl-Wirtsch Inf Oliver Kraft, Chairman of DB Netz AG, said priority had been allocated to an eastern corridor running ...
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News
Michel Quidort
Michel Quidort of Veolia Transdev has been re-elected President of European Passenger Transport Operators, an association formed of Europe’s nine largest independent public transport operators.
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NewsEBRD backs KTZ energy efficiency programme
KAZAKHSTAN: The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development and KTZ agreed to develop an investment programme to reduce the state railway's energy consumption and CO2 emissions at a meeting on May 17. EBRD will provide assistance for projects including an automated fuel control system, and will consider providing US$100 to ...
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NewsSound Transit dedicates University Link TBMs
USA: Senator Patty Murray and Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff joined Sound Transit board members in Seattle on May 16 to launch the first of three tunnel boring machines that will excavate the twin tunnels for the 5·1 km light rail link to the University of Washington.The extension starts ...
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NewsInterest sought in Gobi rail project
MONGOLIA: Expressions of interest in financing, building and operating a 1 100 km east-west railway have been called by national railway shareholding company MTZ. The line was approved by parliament last year, and is to be developed in four sections: from Dalanzadgad via Tavan Tolgoi and Tsagaan Suvarga to Saynshand ...
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NewsNews in Brief
Korea Railroad Research Institute has signed a memorandum with the Indonesian Trade & Industry Council to explore opportunities for involvement in the Jakarta airport rail link and Jakarta – Surabaya upgrade. A feasibility study for the airport line is being undertaken by Sarana Multi Infrastruktur and ...
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NewsWorld Bank loan supports Kunming urban rail project
CHINA: The World Bank has approved a US$300m loan towards the US$1·7bn construction of Kunming metro Line 3. The loan is intended to support ‘compact, transit-oriented urban development by providing high quality, integrated public transport on the East-West Line 3 corridor’. The 19·5 km underground line will ...
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NewsWomen-only metro inaugurated
SAUDI ARABIA: King Abdullah rode on the recently completed driverless metro during his inauguration of the Princess Nora Bint Abdul Rahman University campus in Riyadh on May 15. As well as being the largest women-only university in the world, PNU is said to be the largest single-site university. Transport within ...
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NewsPomeranian Metropolitan Railway funding agreed
POLAND: The project to introduce a local service between Gdansk, Gdansk Airport and Gdynia has received additional funding from the EU's Operational Programme Infrastructure & Environment, meaning the EU will meet 612m zloty of the 914m zloty cost of the works. The project involves a mix of reopenings and new ...
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NewsJeddah airport peoplemover contract awarded
SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Binladin Group has awarded Bombardier Transportation a US$96m contract to supply an automated peoplemover for the King Abdulaziz International Airport Development Project in Jeddah. Saudi Binladin Group recently won a contract to design and build a new terminal at the airport to handle rising ...