Australia: SAB Wabco D&M Engineering of Great Britain is to supply complete braking systems for the 80 double-deck EMU cars of Millennium stock being built for Sydney suburban services by Clyde Engineering (RG 3.99 p161).
State Rail Authority of New South Wales is to order three cars for Countrylink’s Sydney - Broken Hill and Sydney - Griffith services, similar to those built for XPT trains. They will be built by Adtranz at its Dandenong works. The 19 XPT power cars are to be re-equipped with Paxman engines.
China: Technical support and advice on design of Kowloon-Canton Railway’s 250-car West Rail EMU fleet will be provided by The Engineering Link.
KCRC awarded contracts in December for construction and equipping of the main West Rail depot buildings to Costain-China Harbour JV, and for provision of a computer-based integrated staff training system to Booz Allen & Hamilton Australia.
France: SNCF has exercised an option with Alstom for the supply of 57 single unit TER X 73500 railcars, worth 73m euros. Built at the De Dietrich plant in Reichshoffen, the first cars are due to enter service at the end of 2001.
Georgia: Georgian Railway has ordered eight MTU Series 8V396 diesel engines to replace Russian-built units in four Class DR1A DMUs.
Germany: City-Bahn Chemnitz has ordered six Variobahn LRVs from Adtranz/Bombardier for use on the Chemnitz - Stollberg line opening in 2001. The cars form part of an option for 30 cars on the 23 being supplied to City-Bahn’s parent company CVAG.
Great Britain: The first contracts have been awarded for preliminary work on Section 2 of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. AMEC Civil Engineering and an Alfred McAlpine/AMEC joint venture are to undertake diversion of utilities at Barking and Dagenham respectively.
Netherlands: A consortium of Bouygues and Koop Holding Europe has been awarded the contract to bore an 8 km tunnel taking the Schiphol - Rotterdam section of the HSL-Zuid high-speed line under the ’Green Heart’, an area of countryside east of Leiden. Due for completion in three years, the single bore will be 14m in diameter with a fire barrier between the twin tracks.
Peru: Under a 12-month contract, Jarvis Rail of Great Britain is supplying PeruRail SA with road/rail machines, ancillary equipment and technical support staff who will train local personnel.
Spain: Renfe will seek bids later this year for delivery of 15 out of a planned fleet of 21 new DMU trains for service in the Galicia region.
The Ministry of Development has awarded Necso Entrecanales Cubiertas SA a contract worth Pts1·3bn to undertake upgrading work on the Lleida - Pobla de Segur branch. To be completed within 18 months, the programme includes the construction of six new stops, the elimination of 16 level crossings and work on five bridges and viaducts.
GIF has invited bids for the supply and maintenance of an ETCS signalling system for the Madrid - Lleida high speed line, comprising interlocking and train protection systems, GSM-R and fixed telecommunications. Covering 490 km, the contract would be worth up to Pts32bn.
Sweden: Rolling stock leasing company Transitio has ordered 12 wide-bodied Regina EMUs for local services in the Bergslagen region. Due for delivery from Västerås in 2001, these will bring the Regina fleet to 90 vehicles, in 25 two-car and 10 four-car sets.
USA: Dallas Area Rapid Transit and Fort Worth Transportation have contracted with Schlumberger for installation of an optic fibre-based smart card ticketing system serving the region’s light rail and commuter rail networks.
Trinity Industries is building 780 wagons for TTX Co, including 480 of a new design of lightweight three-section double-stack container flats.
Adtranz USA has begun rehabilitation of the peoplemover system at Seattle-Tacoma Airport, which it installed in 1973. Work includes renewal of train control and power distribution equipment, installation of platform doors, and provision of 21 Type CX-100 cars.
