All News articles – Page 117
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NewsFreight operator announces London IPO
RUSSIA: Private freight operator Globaltrans Investment announced on April 4 that it is planning to launch an initial public offering and listing on the London Stock Exchange. The offering represents around 30% of its outstanding shares and will take place by the end of the first half of this year. ...
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NewsCullen reveals buy-back bid
NEW ZEALAND: It looks as if private ownership of the country's railways may be drawing to a close, 15 years after Tranz Rail was sold outright to an international consortium led by Wisconsin Central, Fay Richwhite and Berkshire Partners. The railway has had a rocky ride. WC's charismatic and expansionist ...
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InterCity fleet renewal poised to start
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn will call tenders later this year for 100 to 130 trainsets to replace its fleet of loco-hauled EuroCity and InterCity trains. Likely to be fixed-formation eight-car sets, they will be built to match the standards of DB's ICE fleet. In the meantime DB is evaluating offers for ...
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San Diego Sprinter opens at last
USA: Packed trains marked the first day of revenue service on the $486m 35 km Sprinter line which connects Oceanside with Escondido in California's San Diego County. Two earlier start dates had been missed because of problems with signals and level crossings. The California Public Utilities Commission issued a letter ...
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Leasing firm enters wagon market
ANGEL TRAINS: Loco and passenger rolling stock leasing company Angel Trains has established a wagon leasing business offering a number of specific vehicle types to European operators. Its first wagon lease was signed with German freight forwarder TX Logistik, which leases seven Class 185 locos from Angel Trains. Slovakian rolling ...
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First Great Western admits franchise breach
UK: Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly announced on February 26 that the government was taking action to deal with 'unacceptably high' levels of train cancellations at First Great Western, issuing the operator with a Remedial Plan Notice. Cancellations during the second half of 2007 exceeded the threshhold marking a breach of ...
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Freight support boost
AUSTRALIA: Following the announcement that Pacific National was looking to discontinue many rural freight services (RG 2.08 p76), the state of Victoria has taken steps to safeguard rail freight for the next two years. On February 26 Premier John Brumby announced an A$20m Rail Freight Support Package, designed to ensure ...
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Logistics venture formed
RUSSIA: Regular intermodal services are to be introduced to link Moscow with various German cities, following the formal launch of the Trans-Eurasia Logistics joint venture on March 6. A memorandum of understanding had been signed in July 2007, and the project has now been approved by the competition authorities. To ...
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High speed co-operation
EUROPE: Bombardier Transportation and Finmeccanica's rail subsidiary AnsaldoBreda announced on April 1 that they had signed an agreement to jointly develop, bid and manufacture a high speed train capable of travelling at more than 300 km/h which will eliminate 'shortcomings of existing concepts.' Bombardier said the train would offer 'improved ...
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Mitsui restructures Dispolok
MITSUI: The locomotive leasing activities of Mitsui Rail Capital Europe and the Displok business which the Japanese group acquired from Siemens in 2006 will be integrated with effect from April 1. Mitsui's shares in Dispolok will be transferred to MRCE, which was established as a European loco leasing subsidiary in ...
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NewsPointers April 2008
This month is expected to see the start of operations across the Friendship Bridge linking Thailand and Laos. A ceremony was held on February 20 to mark completion of the 3·5 km link between the SRT railhead at Nong Khai and a Laotian terminal near Vientiane. Faced with losses of ...
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NewsBorder bridges rebuilt
EUROPE: Polish Transport Minister Czezary Grabarczyk and his German counterpart Wolfgang Tiefensee signed a treaty on February 26 that provides for repair or replacement of 13 bridges over the Oder and Neisse rivers forming the border between the two countries. The replacement bridge over the ...
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Freight for sale
ROMANIA: After years of speculation, proposals and counter-proposals, Minister of Transport Ludovic Orban confirmed on March 16 that state-owned rail freight operator CFR Marfa is to be privatised. Established as a stand-alone business during Romania's railway reform programme of 1998-99 (RG 3.07 p155), CFR Marfa was always intended to be ...
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In a hole
AUSTRALIA: March 9 saw the first test train on the 13 km Epping - Chatswood line in Sydney's northern suburbs. Revenue services on the A$2bn underground route had been due to start in June, but RailCorp has postponed the launch until the end of the year because of trackwork problems. ...
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São Paulo airport concession
BRAZIL: Bids are to be invited in May for a 35-year concession to build and operate the long-planned Airport Express rail link in São Paulo, with the aim of having the line in service by the end of 2011. The state government hopes to receive bids for the US$800m finance-design-build-operate ...
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FTD makes insolvency application
GERMANY: Rolling stock builder Fahrzeugtechnik Dessau AG lodged a formal insolvency application with the Dessau Rosslau district court on March 25. Attorney Dr Volkhard Frenzel has been appointed provisional insolvency manager. FTD was taken over by Transmash Holding in 2006, and currently has 168 staff. Recent projects have included ...
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Editorial vacancy
With the launch of Metro Report International as a quarterly publication, we have a vacancy for an Assistant Editor to take responsibility for MRI, as well as contributing to Railway Gazette International, the leading business magazine for the world rail industry, and its various print and online publications. We ...
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Vázquez loses patience
URUGUAY: Since March 10 state railway AFE has had a new board (p258), the previous incumbents having been suddenly removed by President Tabaré Vázquez. It appears that his administration had lost patience with the slow pace of reform at AFE, where projects to involve the private sector in restoring the ...
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Soaring costs undermine München maglev
GERMANY: Citing severe cost escalation, German Federal Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee joined the President of Bayern Günther Beckstein at a meeting on March 27 to discuss the future of the proposed Transrapid link from Franz-Josef Strauss airport to München Hauptbahnhof (RG 10.07 p591). The meeting concluded with an agreement ...
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Shanghai - Nanjing link approved
CHINA: The National Development & Reform Commission has formally approved the construction of a 300 km high speed line between Shanghai and Nanjing at a cost of 39·5bn yuan. The project is to be funded by the two cities, the province of Jiangsu and the Ministry of Railways. Construction is ...