Brazil: Engineered Magnetics Inc of the USA has won a contract to supply impedance bonds to Alstom Transporte Ltda (formerly CMW Equipamentos SA) for extensions to Lines 1, 2 and 3 of the São Paulo metro.
Bosnia: Koncar Elektricne Lokomotive of Croatia has overhauled and modernised 10 Bo-Bo electric locomotives for Bosnia & Herzegovina Railways, hired for five years to Turkish State Railways. Work included the replacement of diode-type rectifiers and high-voltage tap changer equipment with thyristor-controlled converters, as well as the fitting of microprocessor control.
Bulgaria: Bulgarian State Railways has called tenders for track tools including 150 coachscrewing machines, 120 rail drills and 120 rail saws. Finance is being provided by a loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction & Development.
China: Kowloon-Canton Railway Corp has awarded three contracts worth a total of HK$103m for deep foundation loading testing at seven West Rail station sites. The contracts have been awarded to Express Builders Co Ltd ($24·6m), Gammon Construction Ltd ($37·2m) and Bachy Soletanche Group ($41m).
For the West Rail project, Comreco Rail Ltd of Great Britain is supplying KCRC with its RailPlan traction and network simulation system, as well as the PowerPlan electrical supply package. Full training will be provided to transfer the technology to the West Rail team.
Czech Republic: MOVO Plzen has completed the refurbishment of 25 first class and 75 second class coaches for Czech Railways. The vehicles are able to run at speeds of up to 160 km/h.
Egypt: Aydin Corp of the USA has been awarded a US$2m contract to supply Egyptian National Railways with a wireless digital telecommunications system.
Greece: Belgian National Railways subsidiary Technirail has supplied a driver training simulator to the consortium of Hellenic Shipyards, Adtranz and Siemens Verkehrstechnik, which is building 40 trainsets for Athens metro (RG 3.98 p142).
Great Britain: Balfour Beatty Rail Renewals has won a three-year contract to undertake plain line track renewals on Railtrack’s Southern Zone. A two-year extension would bring total contract value above £100m.
Vaughan Harmon has commissioned a pilot Modular Control System for Railtrack at Eastbourne. Providing signalling control and train describer facilities, the system is operated by keyboard or trackerball using entrance/exit route setting.
Smith Bros & Webb Ltd are supplying a vehicle washing system for the Croydon Tramlink light rail system. The four-brush installation will have a front and rear-end washing facility and a water reclamation system.
Hungary: Hungarian State Railways has called tenders for the supply of track materials for upgrading work on routes including Felsozsolca - Hidasnemeti and Ujszasz - Szolnok. Purchase of ballast, concrete sleepers, rails, fastenings and turnouts will be funded through a loan from the European Investment Bank.
India: Surrey Materials Inspection Systems of Great Britain has been awarded a £1·2m contract to supply an automatic on-line inspection system for the Rail & Structural Mill at the Bhilai plant of Steel Authority of India. A rail-handling system is being supplied by British Steel Engineering.
Mexico: Under a US$8m contract awarded by Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana, Harmon Industries Inc of the USA is supplying equipment for a Centralised Traffic Control system on the Monterrey - Nuevo Laredo route. Vital Harmon Logic Control, Electro Code track circuits and other products are being supplied through a new subsidiary, Industrias Harmon de Mexcio SA de CV.
MPI de Mexico has been awarded a US$5m contract to overhaul 12 General Electric locomotives for Ferromex by the end of this year. MPI, a subsidiary of MotivePower Industries of the USA, will undertake the work at its San Luis Potosi facility.
Morocco: Obras y Contratas Javier Guinovart of Spain has been awarded a 750m dirhams contract to renew 203 km of track for ONCF, including the Fez - Oujda, Casablanca - Marrakech and Casablanca - Sidi Kacem routes. Other projects to be implemented by 2000 using a World Bank loan include doubling Kenitra - Meknes with additional electrification and purchasing nine locomotives.
Philippines: CKD Praha Holding of the Czech Republic has begun negotiations to supply additional light rail vehicles for Manila. A fleet of 73 three-section cars are being delivered for the MRT 3 route (MR98 p49).
Romania: De Dietrich Ferroviaire of France has been awarded a US$57m contract by Sncfr to refurbish 100 passenger coaches, funded by a European Bank for Reconstruction & Development loan. The work will be undertaken in Romania at the SC Astra Vagoane Arad SA and SC Atelierele Grivita SA plants.
Bucuresti Metro has awarded a US$1m contract to Voest-Alpine Schienen GmbH of Austria for the supply of 1700 tonnes of rail. Finance has been provided by an ECU25m loan from the European Investment Bank to upgrade Line 1.
Russia: Skoda Transportation Systems of the Czech Republic has completed the first of five Class CS7 electric locomotives for Russian Railways. The 6160 kW passenger units have a maximum speed of 160 km/h.
Singapore: Faiveley Transport is to supply Alstom Transport with 1200 electrically-actuated doors for trainsets to operate on the North East Line. Deliveries are scheduled to take place between mid-1999 and mid-2001.
Slovakia: A consortium of Adtranz Zürich, Stadler and ZSR’s Vrutky works is to build 14 Class 425.96 EMUs for the 1000mm gauge routes in the High Tatras mountains. The three-section low-floor vehicles are scheduled for delivery between 2000 and 2001 at a cost of KS1·5bn, with 85% of the order value met by a 13-year loan from Switzerland.
South Korea: Metalastik Ltd of Great Britain has supplied chevron springs for 168 cars built by Hanjin Heavy Industries for Line 2 of the Pusan metro. There are eight springs to a bogie.
Spain: The Madrid regional government has called tenders for covering the Madrid - Parla suburban route through the centre of Getafe, hoping to award a contract before the end of the year. Work is expected to take 20 months and cost Pts7·6bn.
Turkey: TCDD has selected the ´3·9bn bid from a consortium of Marubeni, Nippon Signal and Simko for signalling and telecommunications work on the Basmane - Menemen - Aliaga and Alsançak - Cumaovasi routes. Four other bids were received (RG 5.98 p283).
Tenders for construction of the 13·3 km Bosporus rail tunnel were expected to be issued by the end of June. The project is expected to take five years to complete at a cost of US$762m.
USA: ABC Rail Systems Inc has been awarded a three-year contract to provide document and process management services to the Train Control Engineering Department of CSX Transportation. The contract includes operation of an Intranet/Extranet.
Amtrak has awarded Balfour Beatty Rail Engineering Ltd a £1·8m contract to supply high-speed turnouts for the Northeast Corridor. Installation between Baltimore and Washington DC and south of Boston is scheduled for 1999 and 2000.
CAPTION: Slovak Republic Railways’ Vrutky and Zvolen workshops are building 10 twin-axle Class 811 237 kW diesel-electric railcars, with deliveries scheduled for completion by the end of this year. Zvolen is also converting 15 Class 011 trailers into a second series of railcars
