All News articles – Page 175
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News
ACCC drops action against Toll
TOLL HOLDINGS planned to announce a revised offer for Patrick Corp during the second half of March after the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission agreed to drop its opposition to the deal (RG 3.06 p122). This followed commitments by Toll which addressed the ACCC’s concerns about competition.Instrumental in persuading the ...
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ERTMS accord
PLANS to roll out ERTMS on the international rail freight corridor between Rotterdam and Genoa moved ahead on March 3 when the transport ministers of the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Italy signed a Letter of Intent during a meeting at Bregenz in Austria. The ministers confirmed their intention to complete ...
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Alger starts light rail project
HAVING awarded the E&M works contract for its first heavy metro line in January (RG 3.05 p116), Entreprise du Métro d'Alger has started work on a light rail corridor in the east of the Algerian capital. EMA has selected Systra and RATP Développement for a four-year contract to manage the ...
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OHL wins in Algeria
A CONSORTIUM of OHL of Spain and state-owned rail construction company Infrafer has been awarded a €248·3m contract to double-track SNTF’s 95 km Annaba - Ramdane Djamel route. Work to be completed within 39 months includes upgrading of the existing track for 160 km/h operation. OHL holds an 85% stake ...
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Overland upgrade announced
VICTORIAN Transport Minister Peter Batchelor announced a A$2·4m refurbishment of the Adelaide - Melbourne Overland on February 28. New seating will be installed and the cafe and lounge cars modernised by early 2007. Joint funding has been agreed with Great Southern Railway and the South Australian government for the work, ...
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Atocha to double
ON MARCH 1 Spanish Development Minister Magdalena Álvarez unveiled plans to double the capacity for long-distance traffic at Atocha station in Madrid. By increasing the number of platform tracks from 15 to 33 and further segregating departures from arrivals, it is hoped to increase capacity from 18million to 35million passengers ...
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Latest generation ATP
WESTINGHOUSE Rail Systems announced the launch of its latest generation of automatic train protection and automatic train operation systems on February 13. Westran has been developed for use in computer-based train control applications, in particular metros operating high-frequency services. Most of the equipment is carried on the rolling stock, which ...
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Milano to build automated metro
A €500m TURNKEY CONTRACT was awarded at the end of February for the first stage of Milano metro Line 5. The fully-automated line will be built by a consortium which includes existing operator ATM, with Alstom Ferroviaria, Astaldi, Ansaldo Trasporti Sistemi Ferroviari, AnsaldoBreda and Torno Internazionale. The initial section will ...
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Balfour Beatty rail profits down
PROFIT before exceptional items in Balfour Beatty’s Rail Engineering & Services sector fell by 27% to £32m in the year to December 31 2005, affected by Network Rail taking maintenance work in-house during 2004. The fine incurred by Balfour Beatty Rail Infrastructure Services in respect of the Hatfield rail accident ...
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World Bank funds MZ split
PLANS to separate the Macedonian rail network into infrastructure and operating companies are due to be authorised by the government this month, in line with legislation approved last year. On February 17 Makedonski Zeleznici signed a loan agreement with the World Bank which will provide US$15m to support the restructuring. ...
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Mixed messages puzzle Beijing - Shanghai bidders
LAST MONTH we reported extensively on China’s technology transfer deals which have given the country’s railway industry expertise in heavy haul and high speed EMU technology. So we were not unduly surprised to learn that Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun had said on March 9 that foreign technology was not ...
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NewsBenchmarking identifies good practice in rolling stock maintenance
An international review comparing rolling stock maintenance and performance at passenger operators around the world found a wide variance in cost-efficiency, reliability and availability. An exchange of good practice offers the potential for significant gains in cost and reliability
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Peijs ignores MoU on Betuwe Route
CONFUSION has deepened over who will operate and maintain the new freight railway linking the port of Rotterdam to the German network at Emmerich. Contrary to our last report (RG 2.06 p68), no contract has been signed for maintenance and operation of the Betuwe Route.In a statement on February 14, ...
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Record investment boosts EFE's passenger business
A stable political and economic climate has enabled Chilean State Railways to undertake its largest-ever three-year investment programme, which involved spending of US$1bn in 2003-05. This included increased capacity on commuter networks and improved long-distance services, as John Kolodziejski reports
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Consultancy bought
HALCROW has acquired the remaining 51% interest in Bangkok-based civil engineering consultancy Pyramid Development International Corp.PDI and Halcrow have worked together since the mid-1990s on projects including the Bangkok metro and double tracking for State Railway of Thailand, and in 2002 Halcrow acquired a 49% stake in PDI from Asian ...
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Industry News in Brief
Oregon Iron Works and Skoda Transportation have signed an agreement for the US firm to produce tram components under licence (RG 9.05 p574).The CXT subsidiary of L B Foster Co is to build a concrete sleeper plant in Tucson, Arizona, with Grimbergen long-line manufacturing equipment. Production will begin this summer, ...
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City News in Brief
Ottawa city officials are expected to announce on April 21 a preferred bidder for the C$725m project to develop a 31 km light rail line between Rideau Centre and Barrhaven, serving 34 stops. SNC Lavalin/Bombardier, Kiewit-Ellisdon/ Kinki Sharyo, and PCL/Dufferin Construction/Siemens submitted financial offers on March 3, having lodged technical ...
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Passenger News in Brief
Amtrak has ordered over 200 blast-mitigating waste bins from BlastGard International for $828750. The MTR91 and MTR101 bins are designed to avoid fragmentation, blast shock and thermal effects from improvised bombs.The Ministry of Railways recorded 1·15 billion passengers carried on China’s railways in 2005, a 10-year high and up 3·3% ...
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Products in Brief
Ferrovie Nord Milano is installing Westermo Lynx 328 Ethernet switches and optic fibre links to replace analogue communications between trackside equipment and its control centre. So far 10 stations have been covered by the network, and work on two more lines with 22 stations is now underway.Westermo Teleindustri, SwedenLEDtrain arrivals ...
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Slovak freight sale hits the buffers
POLITICAL expediency has dictated a halt to the privatisation of ZSSK Cargo (RG 3.06 p112). A political crisis in Slovakia has led to elections being called on June 17, and the outgoing government has deemed it convenient to halt all sell-off plans in the face of widespread opposition. Six bidders ...