All Railway Gazette International articles in March 2013
All articles published this month.
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NewsKTZ provides training grants
KAZAKHSTAN: National railway KTZ has provided an educational grant to support the training of 400 students from a number of technical colleges in rail-specific technology. Intended to give the students 'the symbiosis of theory and practice', KTZ expects the secondment in Astana to provide a practical basis to the students' ...
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NewsTfL launches Online Innovation Portal
UK: Transport for London announced on March 6 the introduction of an Online Innovation Portal intended to help staff, suppliers, industry partners and academics to 'share and capture' pioneering technology to meet the series of long-term challenges faced by London's rail networks. The portal is currently focused on harnessing concepts ...
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NewsAccelerated test chamber for on-train electronics
FRANCE: Supported by the Ministry of Higher Education & Research and the Nord-Pas de Calais region, the Valutec C3T transport technology centre at the University of Valenciennes & Hainaut Cambrésis has purchased a Highly Accelerated Life Test chamber. This will be used to test the performance and failure modes of ...
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NewsNews in Brief
UK operator First Great Western has conducted research to assess how passengers respond to onboard announcements. The research suggested that up to 40% of the content is 'no longer useful or relevant' to the passenger. Under a funding agreement signed on February 8, the European Investment Bank is lending ...
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NewsTCDD launches Eskisehir – Konya high speed service
TURKEY: A direct high speed service linking Eskisehir and Konya was officially inaugurated by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on March 23, accompanied by Transport Minister Binali Yıldırım and TCDD Director General Süleyman Karaman. Introduction of the direct service follows the completion of a 5 km west-to-south connecting curve linking ...
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NewsMore trains bought for Singapore Downtown Line
SINGAPORE: Land Transport Authority confirmed on March 28 the purchase of 15 three-car Movia trainsets from the consortium of Bombardier Transportation and Changchun Bombardier Railway Vehicles Co. The order is worth S$119·2m, with Bombardier's share valued at S$46m. LTA had already purchased 73 trainsets for the Downtown Line. Of ...
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NewsLondonderry line renewal project completed
UK: Northern Ireland transport company Translink officially reopened the 54 km line between Coleraine and Londonderry on March 22, following an eight-month suspension of services while a £30m infrastructure renewal programme was undertaken. The Renewals Phase 1 project is intended to secure the future of the line for the next ...
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NewsAlstom and ADIF to develop signalling for dual-gauge lines
SPAIN: Alstom and Spanish infrastructure manager ADIF have signed an agreement to develop ‘an inexpensive and quick-to-implement signalling system’ for use on mixed-gauge railways. According to Alstom there are around 170 km of dual standard and 1668 mm gauge line in Spain. The first implementation of the new signalling will ...
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NewsDr Jon Lamonte
Dr Jon Lamonte, formerly CEO of Tube Lines, has taken up his post as Chief Executive of Transport for Greater Manchester, having been formally appointed in September. Peter Cushing has succeeded Philip Purdy as Metrolink Director at TfGM.
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NewsEilat alignment approved
ISRAEL: The National Council for Planning & Construction approved the full 260 km alignment for the proposed Eilat line on March 5, enabling detailed design to begin and costs and timescales to be finalised. This followed the Southern District Committee for Planning & Building’s approval for the Dimona – Hatzeva ...
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NewsDenver North Metro Line could be brought forward
USA: A request for proposals for construction of Denver’s North Metro commuter rail line could be brought forward to July after an unsolicited proposal was submitted in February by a Canadian company. In January Denver Regional Transportation District envisaged that a request for proposals would be released in October. ...
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News'Fastest series-built train in Europe' unveiled
ITALY: The first of 50 ETR1000 high speed trains was unveiled by FS Holding Chief Executive Mauro Moretti at AnsaldoBreda's factory in Pistoia on March 26. FS hailed the ETR1000 as 'the fastest series-built train in Europe', noting that it had been designed for speeds of up to 400 ...
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NewsPRASA awards Durban resignalling contract
SOUTH AFRICA: Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa has awarded the Bombardier Africa Alliance consortium a R1·1bn contract to re-signal 42 stations and 120 km of double-track on Durban's main commuter corridors by 2017. Consortium leader Bombardier Transportation has a R318m share of the contract and will be responsible for ...
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NewsEVRAZ aims to enter European wheel market
EVRAZ: Russian steel producer EVRAZ NTMK has announced plans to enter the western European railway wheel market, and has begun the certification process required to tender to supply its products to Deutsche Bahn. The company been certified as a manufacturer of solid rolled wheels in accordance with EN13262 and DB ...
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NewsEuroMaint to refurbish HKX cars
GERMANY: On March 20 RDC Deutschland signed a contract for EuroMaint Rail to modernise six former Austrian Federal Railways Class 4010 electric multiple-unit cars for use as hauled stock on Hamburg-Köln-Express open access inter-city services. The two driving trailers and four intermediate vehicles are to be fitted with electronic reservation ...
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NewsKapsch acquires NEC cab radio business
KAPSCH CARRIERCOM: Kapsch has acquired the cab radio business of NEC Portugal, along with its contracts with rail operators in Portugal, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Finland and the United Arab Emirates. The devices produced by NEC feature integrated GPS, W-LAN support and the capacity for 'over the air' software updates. ...
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NewsAbellio Rail NRW wins cross-border operating contract
GERMANY: Rhine-Ruhr transport authority VRR has selected Abellio Rail NRW to operate Niederrhein-Netz services for 12 years from December 2016. The operating contract announced on March 22 covers routes RB33 Mönchengladbach - Krefeld - Wesel and RB35 Dusseldorf - Emmerich. RB35 is to be extended to Arnhem in 2017, with ...
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NewsSiemens automation open day
FRANCE: Automation and partial automation of metro networks both domestically and internationally was the theme chosen by Siemens France when it held an open day for young people interested in a career in rail on March 22. The event at Siemens’ base at Châtillon formed part of the third annual ...
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NewsYoung Railway Professionals celebration draws a full house
UK: The fourth Annual Dinner-Dance to be held in London by networking group Young Railway Professionals drew a sell-out attendance of more than 400 guests on March 14. The audience heard a keynote address by Crossrail Chairman Terry Morgan, who recounted his experience of working his way up the career ...