All Railway Gazette International articles in March 2009 – Page 4
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NewsPESA preferred bidder for Warszawa tram contract
POLAND: After Tramwaje Warszawskie opened bids for 186 low-floor articulated trams on March 19, PESA emerged as preferred bidder with a price of 1·5bn z?oty. Offers were also submitted by Stadler (3·7bn z?oty), Alstom (2·8bn z?oty) and a consortium of Newag and AnsaldoBreda (€417m), but all three exceeded the ...
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NewsShenzhen Metro Line 4 concession agreement signed
CHINA: On March 18 Shenzhen's municipal government and MTR Corp (Shenzhen) Ltd signed a BOT concession agreement for the Phase II extension of metro Line 4. The existing line from the Hong Kong frontier at Futian to Shao Nian Gong will be extended by 16 km to Qinghu, with ...
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NewsErlen chosen for train commissioning plant
STADLER: A former tank farm at Erlen in the Swiss canton of Thurgau has been selected as the location of Stadler's future train commissioning facility. The IBS Centre will supplement test tracks at the train builder's Bussnang and Altenrhein plants which are too short to hand the 50 six-car double-decker ...
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NewsWabtec to supply subway car components
USA: Wabtec Corp announced on March 24 that it is to supply components worth $75m for a further 382 R160 metro cars being built for New York. The vehicles were ordered from Alstom and Kawasaki last November in a $784m second option exercised by New York Metropolitan Transit Authority. ...
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NewsIberian Link will offer alternative to road
EUROPE: Simultaneous departures from Lisboa and Madrid at 21.00 GMT on March 24 will mark the launch of Iberian Link, a joint CP Carga and RENFE Mercancías freight service connecting three important Portuguese ports with Spain. Iberian Link is the first joint service launched under a wide-ranging cooperation agreement ...
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NewsLocomotives shipped to Saudi Arabia
SAUDI ARABIA: This month China Northern shipped five DF10DDB diesel locomotives to Saudi Arabia for use on railway construction projects. According to the manufacturer the Co-Co locomotives have a Chinese-made 12V240ZJD engine, and are rated at 1 880 kW with a top speed of 100 km/h.
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NewsHSBC sells continental European fleet
BEACON RAIL: Leasing firm HSBC Rail (UK) Ltd has sold its continental European rail freight assets to Beacon Rail Leasing, a subsidiary of BTMU Capital Corp. HSBC Rail (UK) Chief Executive Mary Kenny said the sale announced on March 24 was 'an important step as part of our strategy to ...
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NewsTram arrives in Alger
ALGERIA: Minister of Transport Amar Tou was present on March 18 to welcome the arrival of the first of 41 Citadis trams being supplied by Alstom for the light rail line now under construction in Alger. Built at Alstom's La Rochelle plant in France, the tram was shipped via ...
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NewsTrack components flown in
IRAN: When Tehran Urban & Suburban Railway Co urgently needed some track components, it arranged for three sets of switches with a total weight of 50 tonnes to be flown from Austria to ensure just in time delivery to the work site. Voestalpine has been supplying track components to ...
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NewsTransnet Class 39-200 locomotive rolls out
SOUTH AFRICA: The first of 50 Class 39-200 diesel locomotives being assembled for Transnet Freight Rail by Electro-Motive Diesel and Transnet Rail Engineering was rolled out of TRE's plant at Koedoespoort on March 23. Designated GT26CU-3, the 3 000 hp Class 39s are the first new diesel locomotives to ...
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NewsNorthern Ireland Railways orders CAF DMUs
UK: A £105m order for 20 three-car diesel multiple-units was signed by Northern Ireland transport operator Translink, the Department for Regional Development and manufacturer CAF on March 25. The first of the Class 4000 trains will enter service at the end of 2011, with all 20 in traffic by ...
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NewsAFRA lobbies for French rail operators
FRANCE: A lobby group to represent new entrants in the French rail sector was formally launched on March 18. Association Française du Rail is intended to bring together 'all the actors who believe that the French railway sector will not achieve its full and sound development without an open competitive ...
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NewsMRS Logística switches to CBTC
BRAZIL: This month will see the start of commercial operation using a new communic ations-based train control system as MRS Logística replaces its existing CTC with the equivalent of ETCS Level 2.
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NewsTransportable desktop trainers
FRANCE: Campus Veolia Environnement has recently purchased six Simolia portable simulators from Oktal to train its freight drivers on the RFF network. Instead of sending staff to the supplier’s premises for training, the compact desktop units are supplied in a free-standing box which is installed at the customer’s facilities. ...
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NewsAdvisors sought for national rail plan
JORDAN: The government will shortly appoint financial, legal and technical advisers to assist with the development of a national rail network. On January 26 Transport Minister Alaa Batayneh told the Petra news agency that he expected to see detailed cost figures within 10 months, paving the way ...
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NewsEuskoTren to the airport
SPAIN: Tendering will begin shortly for the first phase of a €36·9m extension of the EuskoTren network to Bilbao Airport, comprising a 3·1 km double-track alignment from Matiko to La Ola with 1·9 km in tunnel. Matiko station would be rebuilt and the railway covered over, ‘improving pedestrian routes ...
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NewsTighter times ahead
UK: Economic recession is starting to put strains on the UK rail industry, after steady growth in the years following privatisation. Stringent efficiency targets have been set for Network Rail over the next five years, and concerns are emerging that some franchises may not meet ambitious revenue projections.
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NewsRecife South Line completed
BRAZIL: The final stretch of Recife Metro's South Line between Tancredo Neves and Cajueiro Seco was opened by Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on 23 March. The 6·7 km extension has five stations and links the city centre with Recife's international airport and mainline rail services at Cajueiro ...