All Railway Gazette International articles in March 2015 – Page 4
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NewsZEB funds ease Bern traffic flows
SWITZERLAND: The release of a fifth tranche of funding under the ZEB railway infrastructure development programme paves the way for Swiss Federal Railways to start work on six enhancement projects worth a total of SFr170m. The biggest of these is the long-standing scheme to separate traffic flows at Wylerfeld east ...
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NewsSaudi Railways Organization orders 200 km/h Talgo diesel trainsets
SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Railways Organization has awarded Talgo a contract worth in excess of $200m to supply six 200 km/h diesel trainsets for use on the 480 km Riyadh – Dammam line. In conjunction with infrastructure upgrades the trainsets are expected to cut journey times from 4 h 20 min ...
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NewsAlhaji Bamanga Tukur
President Goodluck Jonathan has appointed Alhaji Bamanga Tukur as Chairman of Nigerian Railway Corp. Until recently, Tukur served as National Chairman of the ruling People’s Democratic Party.
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NewsLong-standing Bombardier chief retires
Laurent Beaudoin has retired as Chairman of Bombardier Inc after more than half a century at the helm, although he will stay on as Chairman Emeritus. He is succeeded by Alain Bellemare, whose has enjoyed an 18-year career at United Technologies, most recently as President & CEO of UTC Propulsion ...
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NewsNew light rail vehicles enter service in Hannover
GERMANY: The first two TW3000 high-floor light rail vehicles entered passenger service on Route 7 in Hannover on March 15. The two-section bidirectional air-conditioned articulated vehicles are 25 m long and 2 650 mm wide. They will replace the TW6000 cars, which are 30 years old. They will initially ...
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NewsMoscow - Kazan high speed line tenders called
RUSSIA: On March 16 Russian Railways called tenders for a contract to undertake surveys, project development and route planning for the proposed 770 km Moscow – Kazan dedicated high speed line. The deadline for submissions is April 16, and the maximum price is set at 20·79bn roubles plus VAT. The ...
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Metro Report InternationalBudapest receives CAF tram
HUNGARY: The first of 47 CAF Urbos low-floor trams arrived in Budapest from CAF’s factory in Spain on March 11. Budapest transport authority BKK signed a €90m contract for 37 bidirectional trams in March 2014 and has placed a firm order for a further 10 under options for 87 more. ...
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NewsRail-Tech returns to Utrecht
Combining an exhibition and supporting conferences, Rail-Tech 2015 offers a shapshot of rail in the Benelux region.
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NewsCross-Tokyo link inaugurated
JAPAN: Revenue services have started running on East Japan Railway’s Ueno – Tokyo Line, following an inauguration ceremony on March 14. Taking seven years to build at a cost of ¥40bn, the 3·8 km cross-city link provides an extra pair of tracks for suburban services on the busy north-south corridor ...
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NewsGoldschmidt Thermit plans acquisitions
GERMANY: Welding and rail maintenance and repair company Goldschmidt Thermit Group has said it ‘expects further significant growth’ this year, following a 12% increase in turnover to €127m in 2014. ‘The global market for rail infrastructure is booming’, according to CEO Dr Hans-Jürgen Mundinger. ‘There is considerable potential for ...
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NewsHokuriku Shinkansen opens between Nagano and Kanazawa
JAPAN: The 228 km Hokuriku Shinkansen high speed line between Nagano, Toyama and Kanazawa opened on March 14. The opening has reduced the fastest journey between Tokyo and Kanazawa to 2 h 28 min, compared to the previous time of 4 h 20 min via the 1 067 mm gauge ...
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NewsUrban rail news in brief - March 2015
Algeria's Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal has said that several tram and rail projects will be postponed as a result of economic difficulties caused by falling oil prices. Work is to begin this year on the first two lines of the Jinan metro: the 26·4 km north-south Line R1 ...
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NewsRail industry news in brief - March 2015
Saudi Railways Organization’s budget for the current year includes station upgrading, grade separation on passenger routes and the procurement of ‘new modern passenger trainsets’ as well as container, grain and cement wagons. Ongoing projects include doubling the passenger line between Hofuf and Riyadh, renewal of 50 km of the freight ...
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NewsUP elects CEO
Formerly Union Pacific’s President & Chief Operating Officer, Lance Fritz was elected in February to the post of President & CEO, succeeding John Koraleski who became Executive Chairman. Fritz was Executive Vice-President, Operations, from 2010 to 2014, and previously served as Vice-President, Labor Relations.
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NewsMadinah metro design contract
SAUDI ARABIA: The Madinah Metro Development Authority has selected Egis and Systra to carry out feasibility studies and preliminary design for a three-line metro. The 12-month contract also includes the preparation of tender documentation for the future design and build contracts. The Green, Blue and Red lines would have ...
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NewsSino-Thai railway operating agreement
THAILAND: An operating model for the planned 872 route-km standard gauge north-south corridor was agreed at a meeting of Chinese and Thai officials in Bangkok on March 12. The first of four civil works packages worth a total of 328bn baht (US$10bn) would be implemented from September with a view ...
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NewsHarsco acquires Protran Technology
USA: Having acted as exclusive product distributor for a year, Harsco Corp has acquired Protran Technology for an undisclosed price. The New Jersey-based company supplies track worker and train operator safety systems, as well as third rail and overhead power supply test equipment. ‘This investment aligns perfectly with our ...
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NewsProfit down at CAF
CAF: Spanish rolling stock manufacturer CAF has announced net turnover of €1·45bn for the 2014 calendar year, down from €1·54bn in 2013. Exports accounted for 82% of turnover in 2014, down slightly on 83% the previous year. EBITDA for 2014 was €146m, down from €223m in 2013, with profit ...
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NewsBaltic–Adriatic freight co-operation agreed
EUROPE: Croatian national freight operator HŽ Cargo and its Polish counterpart PKP Cargo have signed a strategic agreement to co-operate in the Baltic–Adriatic corridor. The two companies plan to develop joint logistics services and expect ‘significant operational synergies’ from improved utilisation of their rolling stock and mutual access to terminals. ...