All Railway Gazette International articles in May 2011
All articles published this month.
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NewsFirst Stadler Variobahn arrives in Potsdam
GERMANY: The first Stadler Variobahn for the Potsdam tram network was officially presented to transport operator ViP on May 13. The vehicle will now be tested and certified prior to entering commercial service, which is provisionally set for September 17. ViP placed a €25m order for 10 Variobahn low-floor trams ...
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NewsPKP Intercity signs Pendolino contract
POLAND: PKP Intercity and Alstom Transport signed a €665m contract on May 30 for the supply and maintenance of 20 New Pendolino trainsets. They are to be delivered from Alstom's Savigliano plant in Italy from 2014, and along with ongoing infrastructure upgrades will cut the fastest Warszawa - Gdansk ...
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NewsTracking cost savings
UK: Road-rail vehicle convertor Swedish Rail Systems is to install Navman Wireless tracking systems on 62 vehicles, with the aim of improving asset management and cost control as well as deterring theft. Combining vehicle tracking with Navman Wireless' CoNex power take-off monitoring module enables SRS to monitor when a vehicle ...
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NewsTZV Gredelj delivers Riversdale coal locomotives
MOZAMBIQUE: Riversdale Mining is taking delivery of six 1 067 mm gauge GT26CW diesel locomotives for the Benga coal project, 65:35 joint venture with Tata Steel which is expected to begin producing coal in Tete province during the second half of this year. The 3 300 hp locomotives with EMD ...
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NewsDesign your own ticket
SWEDEN: Passengers on Stockholm's local transport network can now design a personalised smart card ticket featuring their own choice of image, using Gemalto's AllAboutMe service on Storstockholms Lokaltrafik's website. Passengers ordering a smart card can upload a personal photo from their home computer, or select a picture from a gallery. ...
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NewsPresidential opening for Praha Hlavní
CZECH REPUBLIC: The rebuilt entrance hall at Praha Hlavní station was formally opened by the Czech and Italian presidents on April 14. A KC1·15bn modernisation of the city's main station has been undertaken by Grandi Stazioni, an FS Group company which has leased the commercial and retail spaces for 30 ...
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NewsProducts & Technology in Brief
Period ticket holders on Denmark's Nordvestbanen and Sydbanen routes can now upgrade to first class using SMS. ‘Some days you have a need to relax or have peace to immerse yourself in work, and an SMS upgrade makes it easy and affordable to choose how you want to travel', said ...
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NewsFirst freight on High Speed 1
UK: Containers being moved from Hams Hall near Birmingham to Novara in Italy formed DB Schenker Rail's first loaded freight service over High Speed 1 during the early hours of May 27. DB Schenker is to undertake five loaded trials on the high speed line between London and the Channel ...
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NewsAlstom completes purchase of 25% stake in Transmashholding
RUSSIA: Alstom completed the purchase of a 25% plus one share stake in Russia's largest locomotive and rolling stock manufacturer on May 27. The deal was closed at the Amsterdam head office of Transmashholding's parent company The Breakers Investments BV following clearance by Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service and ...
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NewsChuo maglev project endorsed
JAPAN: Central Japan Railway announced on May 27 that it had received a directive from Transport Minister Akihiro Ohata 'to proceed with construction' of the planned 550 km Chuo Shinkansen maglev line between Tokyo and Osaka. Under discussion since the early 1970s, this is now expected to cost in excess ...
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NewsOne on, one off
GUINEA: Construction of a 650 km railway linking planned iron ore mines at Simandou to a new port near Matakang is set to go ahead, after Rio Tinto’s Simfer subsidiary signed a US$700m mining agreement with the government on April 22. The current administration is reviewing all ...
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NewsTracklaying begins on Northern Missing Link
AUSTRALIA: Tracklaying has begun on the 69 km Northern Missing Link in central Queensland, QR National announced on May 24. The A$385 connection between the existing 1 067 mm gauge Goonyell and Newlands coal networks is being built as part of the A$1·1bn Goonyella to Abbot Point expansion project, which ...
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NewsHanzeboog open for traffic
NETHERLANDS: A replacement bridge over the IJssel at Zwolle has been built as part of the €1bn Hanzelijn project for a new Zwolle - Lelystad line to improve links from Amsterdam to the northeast from late 2012. Designed by Quist Wintermans Architekten and built by Wellink Züblin, the ...
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NewsSumatra coal railway on course for 2014 opening
INDONESIA: Joint venture company Bukit Asam Transpacific Railway has launched the land acquisition process for its 307 km coal railway in southern Sumatra, Special Advisor to the Board Dr Julison Arifin told the Modern Railways conference in Bangkok on May 24. Intended as a heavy haul railway to move coal ...
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NewsPhosphate trial marks completion of North-South line
SAUDI ARABIA: Completion of the initial phase of the North-South Railway was announced by Minister of Finance and Chairman of the Public Investment Fund Dr Ibrahim Al-Assaf on May 24. Trial operations on the 1 392 km 'Mineral Route' section of the NSR had begun the previous day, with ...
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NewsInvensys Rail awarded Salisbury - Exeter resignalling contract
UK: Invensys Rail announced on May 25 that it had been awarded Network Rail's Salisbury to Exeter Signalling Recontrol contract, covering replacement of life-expired signalling equipment on the 145 km route with three Solid State Interlockings and the transfer of control to the Basingstoke Area Signalling Centre. Control of ...
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NewsAlstom enters 'second tier' Chinese metro signalling market
CHINA: A joint venture of Alstom and CASCO announced contracts totalling €85m for the supply of Urbalis CBTC signalling equipment for metro projects in Shanghai and Kunming on May 24. The contracts are 'important milestones', according to Ling Fang, Managing Director of Alstom Transport China, as they demonstrate that Alstom ...
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NewsPassenger trains return to Jamaica
JAMAICA: Passenger services are set to restart in the first week of July, following an inaugural train from May Pen to Linstead on April 16 which carried 200 guests including schoolchildren enjoying their first train ride. Transport & Works Minister Michael Henry cut a ribbon to mark ...
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NewsLaos cross-border freight hopes
ASIA: A senior official at State Railway of Thailand has raised hopes that freight services may be introduced later this year over the Friendship Bridge to the Laotian railhead at Tha Na Laeng. 'Hopefully this year we can run the first freight service', Voravuth Mala, Director of Marketing at SRT ...
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NewsTramino and Moderus Beta trams go into service in Poznan
POLAND: The first series-build Solaris Tramino for Poznan was handed over to city transport operator MPK on May 23, and is expected to enter service this week. 'Poznan's passengers will experience one of the most comfortable trams in Europe', said Krzysztof Olszewski, founder of bus manufacturer Solaris which has ...