All Railway Gazette International articles in May 2018 – Page 2
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NewsFortescue plans rail link to fourth mine
AUSTRALIA: Around 143 km of new railway is to be built in the Pilbara region of Western Australia as part of a A$1·7bn development programme announced by Fortescue Metals Group Chief Executive Elizabeth Gaines on May 28. The extension from the Solomon Hub will connect the group’s planned Western Hub ...
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NewsKuala Lumpur – Singapore high speed project faces cancellation
ASIA: Recently elected Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad vowed on May 28 to cancel the Kuala Lumpur – Singapore high speed rail project, with the Chinese-backed East Coast Rail Link also set to be dropped. Mahathir told local media that a number of major projects would come under immediate review ...
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NewsLine 8 completed in Delhi
INDIA: Delhi metro Line 8 is now complete, following the inauguration of the Kalkaji Mandir – Janakpuri West section by Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri on May 28. Passenger services started at 06.00 the following day. The 24·8 km ...
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NewsTest running begins on European Marmaray alignment
TURKEY: An inaugural diesel test train operated along part of the European section of Istanbul’s 77 km Marmaray cross-city suburban corridor on May 23. Transport Minister Ahmet Arslan was onboard the diesel locomotive that ran between Halkalı and Kazlıçeşme, a distance of 20 km. This forms part of the route ...
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Rail Business UKCustom-designed road-rail drain cleaner
UK: AJH Plant Engineers has designed and built a road-rail drain cleaning machine based on a crop sprayer to meet the requirements of specialist railway contractor Complete Drain Clearance. GK&N Services supplied the jetting equipment which is suitable for tasks including cleaning out catch pits, drains and troughing. The vehicle ...
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Rail Business UKGoing ETCS-ready
UK: Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling says he wants ‘all signal renewals and upgrades – from next year – to be digital, or at least digital-ready’, in order to make the best use of the available funding. Speaking an event in York on May 10 to launch the ...
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Rail Business UKStadler sees servicing and bimodes as opportunities
UK: Stadler’s contract to supply 52 four-car electric multiple-units for Merseyrail services around Liverpool is a ‘flagship project in the UK market’, where the company is currently involved in six tenders, UK Programme Director Thomas Zweifel told Railway Gazette International on May 16. CEO of Stadler’s services business Jürg Gygax ...
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NewsSBB and Trenitalia to step up cross-border services
EUROPE: Swiss and Italian national operators SBB and Trenitalia signed an agreement on May 22 to increase the number of cross-border inter-city services. In an initial step the 2020 timetable will include an extra Basel – Milano service via Bern, giving four trains a day in each direction, with a ...
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NewsReform of Swiss public transport takes shape
SWITZERLAND: Plans are being drawn up for a reorganisation of the way regional public transport services are procured in a bid to ensure that they remain efficient and sustainable in the long term. Proposals for reform were discussed at a meeting in early May between the Federal Office for Transport ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
From June 1, Russia's FESCO Transportation Group is to offer a transit time of 15 days between Busan and Moscow, an improvement on the 21-23 days currently offered. The acceleration has largely been achieved by reducing transhipment time at the port of Vladivostok and by faster transit times on the ...
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NewsFive new exhibitors on the Sachsen stand at InnoTrans 2018
INNOTRANS: There will be 24 exhibitors from Sachsen showcasing their innovations at the combined 'Saxony Live' presence in hall 7.2b, which is being organised by business promotion agency Wirtschaftsförderung Sachsen on behalf of the Land’s Ministry for Economic Affairs, Labour & Transport. Among the newcomers at InnoTrans 2018 will be ...
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NewsWorld rolling stock market - May 2018
Argentina: The TMH-Argentina subsidiary of Russia’s Transmashholding has been awarded a 24-month, US$29·7m contract to maintain 24 SDD7 diesel locos and 160 coaches supplied by CSR in 2014 for the San Martín commuter route in Buenos Aires. Canada: VIA Rail has awarded two contracts for the modernisation ...
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NewsWorld rail market - May 2018
Europe: Sqills is providing its S3 Passenger sales, distribution and reservation suite for Eurostar. Director Bart van Munster said this would offer ‘interesting’ new interfaces with ticketing and reservation systems from the UK’s Association of Train Operating Companies, air global distribution systems and SNCF’s PAO API. Wavestone is providing project ...
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NewsOperators oppose long-distance concession plans
SWITZERLAND: Regional operator BLS is contesting the plans announced in April by the Federal Office for Transport (BAV) for the 10-year concession to run long-distance passenger services from December 2019. Under the proposals national operator SBB would run all Intercity routes and most of the so-called Basic Network, but the ...
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News
Beskyd tunnel completed
UKRAINE: Celebrations on May 24 marked the formal completion of the Beskyd tunnel construction project, enabling the first revenue-earning trains to pass through it the following day. The 1 822 m long tunnel has been built to alleviate a single-track bottleneck on the Lviv – Chop section of pan-European Corridor ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
New Jersey-based supplier of rolling stock and braking components Strato Inc has signed an agreement for GBS Railroad & Mining Services to promote and distribute its products for the rail sector in Australia and New Zealand. Systems and engineering technology consultancy Frazer-Nash has formed a new Transport & Infrastructure business ...
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Rail Business UKBattery trial planned for new EMU fleet
UK: The sixth of the 52 four-car 750 V DC third rail electric multiple-units which Stadler is to supply for Merseyrail services around Liverpool is to be fitted with a 5 tonne battery to test the business case for energy storage. While all the EMUs will be equipped for regenerative ...
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NewsGraphene supercapacitor DMU fleet takes shape
MALAYSIA: The first of 13 Class 61 inter-regional diesel multiple-units for services along Malaysia’s east coast corridor has been largely completed at CRRC Zhuzhou’s plant in China. CRRC is producing two of the trains in Zhuzhou before transferring production of the remaining 11 to a local assembly plant in Perak ...
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NewsEtihad Rail awards Stage 2/3 consultancy contract
UAE: Etihad Rail has selected Egis to provide project management consultancy services for the ongoing development of the country’s rail network and connections to neighbouring GCC states. Under the contract announced on May 23, Egis will assist Etihad Rail with the development of stages 2 and 3, which are now ...
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Rail Business UKUK railway news round-up
On May 23 the Department for Transport said that ‘tackling poor performance’ at the Northern franchise was its ‘top priority’. A combination of factors, stemming largely from delays to Network Rail electrification work in northwest England, has caused a surge in delays and cancellations as Northern struggled to train drivers ...