All Railway Gazette International articles in March 2011 – Page 2
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NewsIllinois awarded $1·2bn in high speed rail funding
USA: A further grant of $1·2bn in federal funding has been released for high speed rail development on the Chicago – St Louis corridor in Illinois, where work is underway to upgrade the existing Union Pacific line for 177 km/h running. The previously-negotiated award was confirmed in Chicago on March ...
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NewsEtihad Rail on course to open in 2013
UAE: The first freight trains on the emirates’ nascent rail network will start running in 2013, according to the Chairman of Etihad Rail Nasser Al Sowaidi. Speaking at an event in Abu Dhabi on March 23 to mark the rebranding of the company previously known as Union Railway, Al Sowaidi ...
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NewsSecond Gotthard bore holed through
SWITZERLAND: Five months after the celebrations to mark the breakthrough of the eastern running tunnel of the 57 km Gotthard base tunnel, the western bore was finally completed on March 23. The second breakthrough was not marked by the same kind of public ceremony as the first event on October ...
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NewsPKP Cargo starts running into Germany
EUROPE: Just 24 h after the Polish government invited expressions of interest for the sale of a majority stake in PKP Cargo to a strategic investor, the state-owned freight operator announced on March 22 that it had started running its own trains on the German network. Up to now, PKP ...
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NewsMixed welcome for ERA ruling on Channel Tunnel safety
EUROPE: Welcoming the Technical Opinion on safety in the Channel Tunnel issued by the European Railway Agency on March 21, Deutsche Bahn’s Board Member, Passenger, Ulrich Homburg said he was ‘optimistic’ that the Intergovernmental Commission would approve the operation of ICE trainsets through the Tunnel in ‘early summer this year ...
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NewsSino-Thai construction agreement edges closer
THAILAND: A framework agreement for a Memorandum of Understanding covering the construction of two standard-gauge inter-city corridors was approved by Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban on March 21. This marks the latest milestone in the Thai government’s efforts to agree its position ahead of ministerial negotiations with China to reach ...
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NewsWorld rail infrastructure market March 2011
Brazil: Engexata Engenharia has won a R$38·7m 18-month contract to build two light rail routes totalling 12·5 km with 11 stations in Sobral. Bom Sinal is supplying five two-car trains. Vale has awarded Uzminias contracts to build six bridges for the first phase of the Carajás railway project. ...
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NewsAnsaldo scoops Honolulu metro contract
USA: The award of two major contracts totalling $946m covering construction and fitting out of the elevated metro line in Honolulu was announced by the city’s mayor Peter Carlisle on March 21. The Ansaldo Honolulu Joint Venture, bringing together Finnmeccanica companies Ansaldo STS and AnsaldoBreda, has been selected as core ...
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NewsWabtec wins Los Angeles PTC contract
USA: Wabtec Corp announced on March 22 that it had signed a $27m contract to provide equipment and services for the implementation of Positive Train Control on the Metrolink commuter rail network radiating from Los Angeles. The contract has been awarded by Parsons, which was selected by the Southern California ...
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NewsManchester Metrolink starts Phase 3b
UK: Construction work has started on a 3·9 km extension of the Manchester Metrolink light rail network from Droylsden to Ashton-under-Lyne, following a groundreaking ceremony held on March 8. This is the first of the projects included in Phase 3b of the network expansion programme to get underway. The work ...
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NewsFirst congress on rail training
EUROPE: The Technical University of Madrid's Railway Technology Research Centre (Citef) will host the first World Congress on Railway Training on April 6-8. Entitled 'From Strategy to Performance', the congress has been organised at the behest of UIC with the support of its network of regional rail training centres. The ...
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NewsERA recommends changes to Channel Tunnel safety regime
EUROPE: There is no intrinsic reason why trainsets with distributed traction should be banned from operating through the Channel Tunnel, according to a Technical Opinion issued by the European Railway Agency on March 21. The Channel Tunnel Intergovernmental Commission had asked ERA to review its findings on proposed changes to ...
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NewsMadrid metro Line 2 extended to Las Rosas
SPAIN: Esperanza Aguirre, President of the Madrid regional government, inaugurated an eastern extension of metro Line 2 from La Elipa to Las Rosas on March 16. The 4·6 km extension, with three intermediate stations at La Almudena, Alsacia and Avenida de Guadalajara, cost €315m and took 28 months to build. ...
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NewsPreliminary engineering approvals for LA urban rail projects
USA: A $21·5m planning and engineering services contract for the Regional Connector light rail project in Los Angeles has been awarded to a joint venture led by AECOM. The scope of work encompasses advanced conceptual design and preliminary engineering, including the completion of environmental impact reports. The Regional Connector is ...
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NewsGlasgow Subway upgrade approved
UK: Driverless operation, new rolling stock and infrastructure upgrading are set to go ahead on the 1 220 mm gauge Glasgow Subway under a £290m renewal programme announced by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport. Scotland’s Finance Secretary John Swinney confirmed on March 9 that following ‘careful consideration’ of ...
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NewsTransContainer targets Eurasian transit market
KAZAKHSTAN: Russian intermodal freight operator TransContainer announced on March 21 that it had taken control of a majority stake in Kazakh container terminal operator JSC KedenTransService, with an eye to expanding rail’s share of the transit market for containers moving between Asia and Europe. As well as providing cargo handling ...
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NewsTaichung awards turnkey metro contract
TAIWAN: A 16·7 km automated metro is to be built in Taichung under a turnkey contract valued at ¥29·5bn, which was confirmed by the Taichung city government on March 9. Under consideration since 1990 and approved in 2004, the Green Line is the first of three routes for the proposed ...
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NewsRambol to undertake Trondheim - Oslo high speed rail study
NORWAY: National railway authority Jernbaneverket has appointed Danish engineering group Ramboll to assess the feasibility of constructing a high speed line between Trondheim and Oslo, one of six high speed rail schemes currently being considered for inclusion in the government's 2014-23 National Transport Plan. The study is to be completed ...
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NewsWorld rail market March 2011
India: Indra and local partner Keltron have won a €6m contract to supply gates and contactless ticketing systems for Kolkata's North-South metro line. New Zealand: Consultancy GHD has been appointed to identify options for developing rail or bus transport to Auckland International Airport. Panama: Systra has been ...