All Railway Gazette International articles in March 2014 – Page 3
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NewsFive-year direct award Great Western franchise proposed
UK: The Department for Transport is considering directly awarding incumbent FirstGroup a five-year contract to operate the Great Western franchise, which covers passenger services linking London with southwest England and south Wales. Plans to tender a new long-term Great Western franchise were put on hold following the collapse of the ...
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NewsPTC, higher speeds and accessibility in Amtrak infrastructure programme
USA: The continued roll-out out of Positive Train Control, works to upgrade the Northeast Corridor and improvements to station accessibility for passengers with disabilities are included in Amtrak's infrastructure programme for 2014. PTC has now been installed on 850 track-km of Amtrak-owned sections of the Northeast Corridor and its Michigan ...
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NewsDebrecen opens second tram route
HUNGARY: The second tram line in Debrecen opened on February 26, followed by five days of free travel. The route runs along the existing track from the main station to Kálvin Tér before branching off on a new alignment to Csokonai Vitéz Mihály Gimnázium, from where services run anticlockwise round ...
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News€506m Doha metro Red Line contract awarded
QATAR: Project promoter Qatar Rail has awarded the Citizen Services Group consortium a €506m contract to build a 6·97 km section of the Doha metro Red Line. The consortium is led by Spanish firm FCC and includes Archirodon from Greece, Yüksel from Turkey and local firm Petroserv. The ...
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NewsSiC power module offers savings
INVERTER: Mitsubishi Electric Corp has launched a traction inverter system for 1·5 kV DC applications which it says incorporates the first all-silicon carbide power modules using SiC for both transistors and diodes. This reduces power loss, size and weight compared to conventional IGBT power modules or hybrid modules with silicon ...
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NewsCompetition seeks ways to increase bridge clearances
UK: Rail industry technology body FutureRailway, infrastructure manager Network Rail and the Department for Transport have launched a £3m competition which is seeking novel ways to increase clearances beneath overbridges, enabling overhead electrification equipment to be installed without needing to rebuild the bridge. The aim is to minimise the cost ...
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NewsSuzhou orders more CSR Nanjing Puzhen metro cars
CHINA: CSR Nanjing Puzhen is to supply 40 six-car trainsets for Suzhou metro Line 4, to be delivered in 2015-16. Škoda Electric is supplying traction motors under a KC1·1bn contract. These will be produced in Suzhou by Škoda Kingway Electric, a joint venture of Škoda Electric and Jiangsu Kingway ...
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NewsThyssenKrupp to close track business
GERMANY: ThyssenKrupp has announced plans to close its ThyssenKrupp GfT Gleistechnik track component business, which it says is unprofitable and 'under extreme cost pressure'. The company said the decision would result in the sale or closures of sites and the loss of up to 260 jobs by the end of ...
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NewsWarszawa - Łódź ERTMS contract awarded
POLAND: Infrastructure manager PKP PLK has awarded a Thales-led consortium a €100m contract to install GSM-R and ETCS Level 2 on the Warszawa Zachodnia - Koluszki - Łódź Widzew route. The contract covers around 125 route-km and includes the design and construction of a control centre in Skierniewice. The project ...
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NewsNSB commissions Corena electronic train parts catalogue
NORWAY: NSB has appointed software company Corena to implement an electronic train parts catalogue meeting the S1000D technical document specification from the aerospace and defence industries. This forms a foundation of the emerging Raildex specification for the rail industry. The catalogue will support NSB’s new Stadler Flirt EMUs with ...
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NewsUlaanbaatar Railway orders coaches
MONGOLIA: Ulaanbaatar Railway has awarded Transmashholding's Tver Carriage Works a contract to supply 12 second and two first class compartment coaches, and a staff car with a compartment adapted for a person with reduced mobility and an accompanying person. The air-conditioned coaches will be based on the 61-4440 and 61-4445 ...
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NewsTendering to start for new line to Toluca
MEXICO: Secretary of Communications & Transport Gerardo Ruiz signed off tendering documentation for the project to build an electrified passenger railway from Mexico City to Toluca at a ceremony held on February 28. The new line would run for 58 km from Observatorio, the western terminus of Line 1 of ...
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NewsKing opens rebuilt Rotterdam Centraal station
NETHERLANDS: King Willem-Alexander ceremonially inaugurated the rebuilt Rotterdam Centraal station on March 13, during celebrations which included dancing and musical performances. The station has been rebuilt to cope with predicted growth from the current 110 000 passengers/day - as many people as use Amsterdam Schiphol airport - to 323 000 ...
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NewsAnkara opens metro line M2
TURKEY: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan officially opened Ankara metro Line M2 on March 13, one month after Line M3 opened and nearly one year ahead of the original schedule. The 16·6 km line runs west from Kızılay to Çayyolu, serving 12 stations. It is operated by the state-owned ...
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NewsDen Haag orders more Siemens Avenio trams
NETHERLANDS: Den Haag city transport operator HTM placed a €55m order for 20 more Siemens Avenio low-floor trams on March 13, as an option on a contract for 40 signed in 2011. As with the original order, these will be produced in Siemens’ Wien factory. This batch of trams ...
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NewsMendoza light rail Phase 2 contract signed
ARGENTINA: A Ceosa-Sogesic joint venture has signed a contract to build the second phase of the Mendoza light rail network. The 5·4 km northern extension from Central to Las Heras will include three stops. It is to be built in 24 months at a cost of 224·7m pesos. The ...
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NewsConstruction of 2·2 km Amur bridge begins
ASIA: A ceremony on February 26 officially launched construction of a 2 209 m railway bridge across the River Amur or Heilong between Nizhneleninskoye in Russia's Jewish Autonomous Oblast and Tongjiang in China's Heilongjiang province. Construction is expected to take 2½ years, for opening in December 2016. The bridge is ...
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NewsLinz buys accessible ticket machines
AUSTRIA: Linz city transport operator Linz Linien has ordered 200 Scheidt & Bachmann FareGo Sales ST|40 ticket vending machines meeting TSI PRM accessibility standards, with an option for 110 more. The TVMs will feature menus with audio response via speakers, and tactile elements on the front panel to ensure ease ...
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NewsBuenos Aires metro car converted to diesel-electric railcar
ARGENTINA: A former Buenos Aires metro car is being converted into a diesel-electric railcar by the Ferrocarril Central Buenos Aires co-operative, which hopes to restore passenger services to the currently disused Fátima - Rojas section of the 1 435 mm gauge Urquiza network. Intended to operate with two trailer vehicles, ...
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NewsSignalisation et automatismes ferroviaires - Railway signalling & automation
Co-ordinated by Walter Schön BOOK REVIEW: This three-volume overview of signalling and train control has been compiled by academics and engineers associated with the masters degree course in railways and guided transport systems which has been offered by French engineering universities since 2008. Aimed at present and future rail ...