Australia: Last month National Express Group confirmed its order for new rolling stock from Siemens Verkehrstechnik, for delivery between 2002 and 2005. Swanston Trams will get 38 three-section Combino LRVs 19 m long and 21 five-section cars of 29 m. The 62 three-car suburban EMUs for Bayside Trains will be derived from Siemens MoMo modular metro car, able to carry 800 passengers at up to 130 km/h.
Evans Deakins’ subsidiary Clyde Engineering is to refurbish the existing Bayside Trains EMU fleet under a three-year contract valued at A$53m, and take over long-term maintenance of Clyde-built coaches in the V/Line Passenger fleet.
Belgium: A batch of Shmmns hot-steel wagons being built for SNCB by Zastal Wagony of Poland will have Y25 Hi-Load bogies of 25 tonnes axleload; Adtranz Pafawag is supplying 1000 bogies, and has options for a further 400.
Brazil: América Latina Logística has ordered a prototype well-wagon from each of three builders - T’Trans, Trinity Industries and Maxion - to assess the feasibility of double-stacking containers on metre gauge.
China: Harsco Corp of the USA is to supply track maintenance equipment valued at US$7m in two orders placed by the Ministry of Railways.
Great Britain: Gibb Ltd is to undertake civil, structural, infrastructure and track design of the Central Rivers depot under construction at Barton-under-Needwood for Virgin’s Voyager DMU fleet.
Railtrack has selected CTT to manage the commercial aspects of its relationship with Virgin Trains during upgrading of cross-country routes for Voyager DMUs. CTT is a partnership between Capita Property Services and construction consultancy Turner & Townsend.
Netherlands: NedTrain’s Tilburg works is equipping HGK’s two General Motors JT46CW diesel locos with automatic train protection apparatus to permit their operation throughout the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.
Bouwcombinatie Utrechtboog will build a 1·9 km cut-off line at Duivendrecht under a 247m guilders contract awarded at the end of March. The link will be used by high-speed trains to Germany as well as allowing through running between Utrecht and Schiphol airport.
Taiwan: THSRC has invited expressions of interest for supply of 760 km of track for the Taipei - Kaohsiung high-speed line, including 190 route-km of ballastless and 155 route-km of ballasted track for the main line plus track for six depots and four work bases.
USA: After earlier experiments, CSX has decided to equip its entire fleet of 2800 diesel locos with the GE Harris Pinpoint locomotive tracking system.
Greenbrier has orders for 1600 wagons valued at $90m, comprising 1500 double-stack intermodal units for BNSF, and 150 for DB Cargo to be built at the WagonySwidnica works in Poland.
UP expected to take delivery at the end of April of the first of 1000 SD70M diesel locomotives being supplied by General Motors under a long-term leasing agreement (RG 11.99 p688).
Septa awarded a $51m contract to ABC-NACO last month for resignalling of a 16 km section of Broad Street metro line and installation of automatic vehicle identification equipment.
NJ Transit has ordered Protector III¨ trackside lubricators developed by Kelsan Technologies and Portec Rail Products (RG 11.99 p739) to reduce wheel noise on the LRV turning circle at Penn Station on the Newark City Subway.
