All Railway Gazette International articles in March 2009
All articles published this month.
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NewsUniversity link funded
USA: A full-funding grant agreement for the 5·1 km University Link light rail extension in Seattle was signed by Sound Transit and the Federal Transit Administration on January 15. This provides federal funding to cover 40% of the $1·9bn cost, conditional on a $127m increase in the contingency reserve to ...
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NewsGreen and black money
DENMARK: Parliament agreed a DKr94bn transport infrastructure plan running to 2020 on January 29. This brings forward infrastructure projects which had been planned for 2010 onwards, and was described by Transport Minister Lars Barfoed as ‘two-thirds green, one third black’, reflecting the split between public transport and roads. ...
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NewsInner Mongolia coal line
CHINA: The construction of a 350 km railway from Baotau in Inner Mongolia to Ganqimaodu on the Mongolian border has been launched by Shenhua Group Corp. The 4·7bn yuan line is expected open in 2011, and will have the capacity to carry 60 million tonnes of coal and copper ...
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NewsNews in Brief
Following the completion of a major modernisation programme, last month Russian Railways transferred Moscow Kurskaya station to the BFM-Kursky subsidiary of Mirax Group under a five-year management concession. ‘Kurskaya railway station will become the pride of Russian Railways and Moscow’, said the head of RZD’s stations department, ...
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NewsShanghai - Hangzhou high speed line groundbreaking
CHINA: A groundbreaking ceremony in Shanghai on February 26 marked the formal start of construction works on a 160 km passenger dedicated line which will halve journey times between Shanghai and Hangzhou to 38 min from 2011. The line forms one side of a triangular high speed network which ...
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NewsIarnród Éireann orders DMUs
IRELAND: Iarnród Éireann has placed a €140 order for 51 DMU cars with a partnership of Mitsui, Hyundai Rotem and Tokyu Car Corp. The vehicles will be delivered in the second half of 2011 for use on longer distance commuter services into Dublin from Dundalk, Kildare and Longford. They ...
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NewsIndustry News in Brief
Under a strategy to reduce cyclical demand, which makes it hard to maintain staff skills needed to work with small vehicle fleets, Stadler and Rhätische Bahn are to co-operate in the overhaul and repair of metre-gauge vehicles. Stadler will be general contractor and responsible for engineering, while RhB will undertake ...
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NewsAndalucian tram projects
SPAIN: Plans to build three new tram systems in Andalucía are progressing. Following signature of an agreement between the mayor of Chiclana and the Andalucian Minister of Transport on February 2, a €51·4m tender will shortly be launched for the 3·5 km seven-station Chiclana section of the Bahía de Cádiz ...
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NewsBrussels buys more Boa metro trains
BELGIUM: Brussels transport operator STIB signed a contract for an additional six metro trains with Spanish rolling stock supplier CAF on February 25, with an option on a further seven. The order is an extension of the original contract for 15 of the Boa trains which was signed in ...
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NewsCable production joint venture agreed
INDIA: Cable manufacturers Nexans and Polycab signed an agreement on March 3 establishing a joint venture to produce cables for the rail, maritime, materials handling, high voltage and wind power markets. Nexans will hold a majority stake in the joint venture, which will be based at Vadodara in Gujarat. ...
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NewsMiami airport Metrorail extension contract
USA: The Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners has approved a $360m contract for construction of the 3·9 km Airport Connection Metrorail extension. This will run from the existing station at Earlington Heights to an intermodal centre adjacent to Miami International Airport which will provide interchange with Tri-Rail and local ...
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NewsFour bids to build Dublin Metro North
IRELAND: The Railway Procurement Agency received four tenders on February 27 for the PPP contract to build and maintain the 18 km Metro North light rail line from St Stephen's Green in central Dublin to the airport, Swords and Belinstown. The bids reflect a substantial decrease in construction costs, ...
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NewsAnsaldo STS signs €153 signalling agreement
AUSTRALIA: Ansaldo STS and Australian Rail Track Corp have signed an alliance agreement covering signalling works to increase the capacity and efficiency of coal lines in New South Wales and Victoria. Ansaldo STS said the agreement will generate €153m in revenue over three years. The works include control systems ...
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NewsTehran - Mashhad electrification contract
IRAN: A €792m contract to electrify the Tehran - Mashhad route and supply 70 electric locomotives has been awarded to consortium led by engineering firm Hirbodan and including electrical specialist Barsan, TAM Irankhodro and rolling stock manufacturer Wagon Pars. Islamic Republic of Iran Railways will also install ETCS Level ...
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NewsWagon prices attractive
GATX: Chicago-based leasing firm GATX reported net income from continuing operations of $196m in 2008, up from $185·8m the previous year. Wagon sales in the secondary market raised $55m, and ‘robust scrapping activity’ took advantage of high scrap prices. As a result, utilisation of the North American fleet of ...
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NewsDB Schenker structure revised
EUROPE: Deutsche Bahn has announced the new management team for the European rail-based logistics activities which have been grouped under the DB Schenker Rail brand. This now contains three geographic and two sector-based business units. DB Schenker Rail encompasses the former Railion Group and English Welsh & Scottish Railway ...
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NewsAgreement reached on Tyva railway
RUSSIA: A protocol confirming the route of the planned 415 km railway from Kuragino to Kyzyl was signed by the Tyva republic's head of government Sholban Kara-ool and Eniseiskaya Industrial Corp CEO Dmitry Sahno on February 27. An extension of the Russian Railways network to Kyzyl, the capital of ...
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NewsInaugural train begins Laos royal visit
LAOS: Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand presided over the inaugural cross-border rail journey into Laos on March 5. Following a ceremony at Nong Khai station, the princess travelled across the Mekong to Tha Na Laeng, where she began a two-day official visit to Laos. The Thai-Lao Friendship bridge ...
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NewsBNSF explores the fuel cell
USA: A hydrogen-powered shunting locomotive now being assembled will serve as a testbed for reducing diesel fuel use by North America’s railroads. David Lustig reports from Topeka.
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NewsHouston awards light rail expansion contract
USA: Houston's Metropolitan Transit Authority board of directors voted unanimously on March 4 to award a $1·46bn design, build, operate and maintain contract covering the construction of four more light rail lines to the HRT joint venture headed by Parsons Transportation Group. Following from the city's initial light rail ...