All News articles – Page 49
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NewsLGV Est contract awarded
FRANCE: The first contract for civil engineering work on the second phase of the Ligne à Grande Vitesse Est européenne was approved by the board of Réseau Ferré de France on March 18. Under a package valued at €78·9m, a consortium of Guintoli, Maia Sonnier and NGE GC has been ...
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NewsChannel Tunnel working group investigates shorter trains
EUROPE: Eurotunnel is in discussions with the Intergovernmental Commission over amendments to the safety regulations which restrict the types of train permitted to use the tunnel, notably the requirement that trains should be capable of being split in an emergency and driven out separately. The company has now set up ...
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NewsVoith transmission plant inaugurated
GERMANY: Minister President of Baden-Württemberg, Stefan Mappus, formally opened Voith's rail transmission factory in Heidenheim on March 3. The plant's initial order covers the supply of 2240 transmissions to Bombardier for 80 Zefiro high speed trains which are being built in China. The factory employs 230 people, and has been ...
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NewsHorizontal lift
AUSTRIA: JA Becker is to deliver 16 heavy lifting rigs to Wiener Linien's Simmering workshop by 2013 under its largest contract win in the rail sector. The first lift should be installed by the end of January 2011. Based around a steel superstructure, the 16 units consist of seven ...
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NewsStadler wins Belarus train contract
BELARUS: Stadler Rail signed its first contract in the former USSR on March 19, with a €60m deal to supply 10 Flirt electric multiple-units to Belarus Railways. Six units are intended for used on local services in Minsk, while four will have a more comfortable interior for longer-distance routes. The ...
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NewsFirefighting stations to cut Eurotunnel costs
EUROPE: Following the completion of its 20th bi-national safety exercise in the Channel Tunnel on the night of March 13-14, Eurotunnel said this had 'confirmed the need to implement our Salamander project, which relates to the installation of four permanent fire suppression stations in the Tunnel'. The strategy has been ...
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NewsAll systems go as Gautrain prepares for World Cup opening
SOUTH AFRICA: Test running has started in earnest on the 20 km first phase of the Gautrain line between Sandton and OR Tambo International Airport. Opening has been set for June 8, subject to a final technical 'go/no-go' decision in April. The original timescale would have seen the Bombela consortium ...
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NewsPartner buy out
AUSTRALIA: Project management, engineering and consultancy firm Calibre Global has acquired Engenium's 50% stake in the Calibre Engenium Rail joint venture, which is to be rebranded as Calibre Rail. Formed in 2005, the joint venture has been involved in heavy haul infrastructure projects in Western Australia. 'The Calibre Engenium JV ...
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NewsParsons Brinckerhoff awarded US high speed rail contracts
USA: Engineering consultancy Parsons Brinckerhoff has been awarded contracts to manage high speed and inter-city passenger rail development projects in Illinois, Ohio and Florida, parent company Balfour Beatty announced on March 16. Illinois Department of Transportation has appointed PB as programme manager for the project to introduce 176 km/h passenger ...
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NewsFirst 14 km of Libyan rail network in place
LIBYA: The first 14 km of track has been laid for the 554 km Surt - Banghazi railway, Russian Railways has announced. RZD is building the line parallel to the Mediterranean coast under a €2·2bn contract signed in April 2008, and President Vladimir Yakunin visited the construction sites on ...
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NewsWorld rolling stock market March 2010
Argentina: Emepa and Ferromel have dispatched the first 40 of 100 coal wagons for YCRT’s 760 mm gauge Río Turbio – Río Gallegos operation (RG 2.08 p73). Three second-hand diesel locos have been acquired from Bulgaria. Australia: QR has placed A$126m of orders to support Hunter Valley coal contracts. ...
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NewsWabtec buys signalling supplier Xorail
USA: Wabtec Corp announced its acquisition of signal engineering and design firm Xorail for $40m in cash on March 15. Founded in 1990 as Southwest Signal Engineering Company, Xorail now has annual sales of $40m. It is based in Jacksonville, Florida, and has 275 employees at 10 satellite offices throughout ...
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NewsSuburban growth in Spain
SPAIN: As it assumes greater responsibility for the management of suburban services in Barcelona, the Catalunya regional government has signed an agreement with ADIF and the Ministry of Development guaranteeing train paths over the next five years. Targets for network availability, reliability and incident management will be set in a ...
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NewsWorld infrastructure market March 2010
Austria: ÖBB has awarded the Alptransit Energie consortium of Rhomberg Bahntechnik and DB Bahnbau a €39m contract to supply electrical equipment for the quadrupling of the 41 km Kufstein - Innsbruck section of the Brenner corridor. Algeria: Dessau has a US$38·8m contract to undertake final design for reconstruction of ...
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NewsContracts March 2010
Australia: Interfleet Technology is to provide operations advice for the development of the 13 km Gold Coast Rapid Transit line. Morocco: Telvent is to supply its SmartMobility technology to give the future light rail system in Rabat priority over road traffic. Russia: RZD’s TransWoodService will sell its ...
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NewsTrain energy consumption standards published
INTERNATIONAL: A Technical Recommendation to enable benchmarking of locomotive and rolling stock energy consumption has been published by UIC and UNIFE. The total net energy consumed at the pantograph or from the fuel tank is calculated over a predefined service profile based on the operation of the train or a ...
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NewsLondon - Birmingham starts high speed railway to the north
UK: Transport Secretary Lord Adonis published the government's high speed rail strategy on March 11, setting out details of a planned 400 km/h high speed railway between London and Birmingham which could open by 2026 as the first part of a Y-shaped network serving Leeds and Manchester. The route developed ...
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NewsLocomotive delivered for north Norway reopening
NORWAY: Vossloh Locomotives has delivered a G1000BB diesel-hydraulic to Sydvaranger Gruve, which is restarting iron ore production at a mothballed mine at Kirkenes in the far north of Norway. The locomotive will make up to 20 trips a day along an 8 km isolated standard gauge railway which links the ...
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NewsRail growth in road slump
KNORR-BREMSE: The braking equipment maker recorded sales of €2·76bn at its Rail Vehicle Systems business during 2009, and although this was down from €3·38bn the previous year, Rail was not hit as badly as the Commercial Vehicle business. The company said it benefited from a 'strong strategic position' in a ...
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NewsIsrael Railways orders second batch of Siemens coaches
ISRAEL: On March 9 Siemens Mobility signed a €47m contract to supply Israel Railways with a further 31 Viaggio Light coaches, as a follow-on to the initial 2006 order for 87 cars which included options for a further 585. The latest cars will delivered from Wien in ...