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BELARUS: The government approved a 2011-15 railway development programme at the end of December, setting out objectives for modernising national railway BC’s fleet, upgrading infrastructure, reducing energy consumption and ... more
RAIL SAW: The Amsaw-R series saw/drill unit developed by AME includes a range of features aimed at rail industry applications. The combined saw/drill unit is intended for ferrous and non-ferrous materials. It offers a saw blade ... more
BUTTON: Swiss firm EAO has developed an addition to its Series 56 door opening pushbutton which complies with the Technical Specifications of Interoperability for Persons with Reduced Mobility. The symbols are now raised more ... more
NORTH AMERICA: Electro-Motive Diesel announced on January 28 that it had won two more orders to supply its 4 300 hp SD70ACe locomotive to operators in Canada and Mexico. Quebec North Shore & Labrador has ordered a further ... more
UK: Total has replaced the fleet of wagons which carry bitumen from its refinery in Immingham to its processing and distribution plant in Preston with a more efficient design developed in conjunction with leasing firm VTG Rail ... more
GERMANY: Citing healthy orderbooks for its German division, Stadler announced on January 26 that it was planning to expand the capacity of its local business unit Stadler Pankow, with a total investment of around €10m in the ... more
EUROPE: Ceremonies were held at the Franco-Spanish border on January 27 to mark the official inauguration of the 44·5 km cross-border rail link between Perpignan and Figueres. The 1 435 mm gauge line has been open ... more
TURKEY: Lead contractor Yapı Merkezi has contracted Invensys Rail Dimetronic to install ERTMS Level 2 equipment on the 212 route-km Ankara – Konya high speed line.Invensys Rail will be responsible for the design, ... more
SLOVAKIA: State-owned ZSSK’s monopoly on the operation of subsidised passenger services run in the public interest has been broken, with the Ministry of Transport awarding the RegioJet subsidiary of Czech private bus operator ... more
CANADA: Announcing its fourth-quarter and year-end results for 2010 in Calgary on January 26, Canadian Pacific Railway reported significant revenue improvements across all areas of its business. Revenue in the final quarter ... more
UK: On January 26 open access passenger operator Wrexham & Shropshire Railway announced that it was to cease trading, with its last train leaving London at 18.30 on January 28.Wrexham & Shropshire launched ... more
GERMANY: DB is trialling a Touch & Travel ticketing application for use with Apple's iPhone smart phone. The application can use three forms of ticket validation and fare collection: automatic position determination, 2D bar ... more
SLOVAKIA: Rolling stock and component supplier Tatravagonka has signed a strategic partnership to develop and supply Barber S-2-R radial bogies for freight wagons being manufactured at the new Tikhvin rolling stock plant east of ... more
FINLAND: National operator VR is using Kilfrost's TDIce Plus products to prevent ice build-up on the underside of its rolling stock. The order includes TDIce, TDIce Plus and TDIcesustain, designed to be used with equipment from ... more
UAE: Union Railway announced on January 23 that it planned to call tenders in March for the first civil engineering contracts on the proposed 1 200 km national rail network. The winning bidders will be named by ... more
Denis Huneau has been appointed Managing Director of EPSF, the French national railway safety authority, with effect from January 19, succeeding Michel Aymeric.Huneau has considerable ... more
Mirko Pahl has joined DB Schenker Rail Deutschland’s Management Board, where he has responsibility for production. He succeeds Dr Christian Kuhn, who will now focus on his other role as ... more
SPAIN: The Ministry of Development has launched tendering for a €65bn PPP to build 344 km of high speed infrastructure between Olmedo on the Madrid – Valladolid route and Ourense. As well as design and construction, the ... more
POLAND: The 160 EC developed by Krakow-based EC Engineering is claimed to be the first Polish pantograph design for 20 years. Developed for speeds up to 160 km/h and 3 kV DC catenary, the pantograph has been tested ... more
UK: ScotRail has been using polytunnels and fitting trains with skirts to assist de-icing during unusually severe conditions this winter. This improved rolling stock availability by up to 30% in the second half of December ... more
AUSTRALIA: Investment of US$4·6bn in heavy haul rail and port facilities is included in a US$8·4bn expansion plan which has been approved by Fortescue Metals Group. The 30-month project will see FMG’s Pilbara ore production ... more
CHINA: The 111 km Changchun - Jilin Passenger-Dedicated Line opened on January 10, connecting Jilin province's two most prominent conurbations and Changchun's airport at Longjia. Intermediate stations at Jixi and Jiutai South are ... more
CANADA: Canadian Pacific Railway is to invest C$950m to C$1·05bn under its 2011 capital plan announced on January 12. The focus is on capacity to sustain efficiencies gained through its 'long train' strategy and depot and yard ... more
KNORR-BREMSE: Braking system and rolling stock component manufacturer Knorr-Bremse has reported sales of €3·71bn for 2010, up 34% on the previous year. Operational earnings were up 28% based on constant exchange rates. Sales at ... more
FRANCE: Following an extraordinary board meeting on January 18, infrastructure manager RFF announced that it had selected Eiffage as preferred bidder to build LGV Bretagne – Pays de la Loire under a PPP deal valued at ... more
EUROPE: Opening of the new line between Perpignan and Figueres and completion of a €337m programme to provide a 1 435 mm gauge route for freight trains between Figueres and Barcelona Morrot has enabled 6 h to be cut from the ... more
CHINA: Hong Kong's MTR Corp has awarded a joint venture of UK engineering group Laing O'Rourke and Chinese contractors Hsin Chong and Paul Y a £260m contract for infrastructure work on the Express Rail Link. Contract 810B covers ... more
Book review. ... more
EUROPE: Asset leasing firm Touax Rail completed the purchase of a fleet of 685 wagons which are leased to operators in Hungary and Slovakia during December. A third-party investor funded 75% of the €30m deal, which adds Shimms ... more
Alfredo Nascimento has been appointed Brazil’s Minister for Transport in President Rousseff’s cabinet, having served in the same position under former President Lula. ... more
UK: A lightweight diesel railcar with flywheel energy storage is to operate a demonstration commuter service on the Mid-Hants heritage railway in southern England for four weeks during February. The Parry People Mover PPM50 will ... more
ANGOLA: Caminhos de Ferro de Luanda passenger and freight services returned to the city of Malanje after 18 years on January 13, following rehabilitation of the 424 km line from Luanda. Passenger trains are scheduled to take 9 ... more
CHINA: The high speed line down the east coast of the island province of Hainan was officially opened on December 30, with a ceremony which also launched construction of a second phase along the west coast which will form a high ... more
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn has awarded Bombardier Transportation a €362m contract to supply 137 Twindexx 2010 coaches and 27 Traxx P160AC electric locomotives to enter service from the end of 2013. While DB Regio uses around 2 000 ... more
VIETNAM: Minister of Transport Ho Nghia Dung has confirmed plans to upgrade the existing main lines between Hanoi, Hai Phong and the Chinese border crossings at Lao Cai and Dong Dang by 2020. Speaking at a conference hosted by ... more
INDIA: The Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of Steel's Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd business signed a memorandum of understanding to establish the Uttarbanga RINL Rail Karkahana Ltd wagon axle factory on January 10. The ... more
Alexander Kirchner, President of newly-formed German transport union EVG, has been selected to succeed Klaus-Dieter Hommel as President of rail pressure group Allianz pro Schiene. ... more
LUXEMBOURG: CFL has awarded the third of three ETCS Level 1 onboard equipment contracts to Alstom, meaning the suppler is to equip the whole of the national railway's fleet of more than 100 locomotives, multiple-units and driving ... more
Marcel Theis has been appointed Chief Commercial Officer of CFL Cargo, having joined the company as Head of Supply Chain Management in September 2009. He succeeds Marc Polini, who has moved on ... more
Australia: Norton Rose has been appointed to advise West Net Rail on project financing for its A$500m infrastructure upgrading and expansion programme on the Morawa - Geraldton corridor. ... more
Argentina: NCA has completed work to reopen the 138 km Río Primero – Sebastián Elcano route for grain traffic, closed since 1978. The 180m pesos project has been funded by the federal government. ... more
GERMANY: Bayern transport procurement body Bayerische Eisenbahngesellschaft has selected Veolia Transport's German subsidiary Veolia Verkehr for a 12-year contract to operate E-Netz Rosenheim regional services from December ... more
Argentina: The latest batch of ex-RENFE rolling stock to arrive in Buenos Aires comprises nine Class 319 diesel locomotives and two Talgo IV trainsets of nine cars each. The federal government expects to call ... more
TAIWAN: Japanese suppliers Sumitomo Corp and Nippon Sharyo confirmed on January 6 that they had signed a NT$10·6bn contract to supply Taiwan Railway Administration with 17 inter-city tilting trainsets capable of operation at 150 ... more
TURKEY: Hyundai Rotem signed a contract to supply state railway TCDD with 80 electric locomotives and a driving simulator on December 20. The South Korean firm said this is its first export order for electric locomotives, ... more
BRAZIL: Wabtec Corp expanded its presence South America's largest rail market with the acquisition of Adantech Indústria e Comércio de Metal on December 31. The São Paulo firm was founded in 2003 and produces brake shoes and ... more
LATVIA: Bombardier Transportation has won its third major signalling contract in Latvia, a €9·25m deal announced on January 5 covering the supply of EBI Lock 950 computer-based interlockings, EBI Screen 2000 control room and EBI ... more
NORWAY: On January 4 DB Schenker launched North Rail Express, a freight service linking Oslo's Alnabru terminal with Narvik in the north. There are five return trips a week, taking a competitive 28 h to cover the 1 960 km route ... more
Victor Chavez became CEO of Thales UK on January 1, having served as Deputy CEO since October 2008. He replaces Alex Dorrian, who has moved on to become Chairman while retaining his additional ... more
FRANCE: Meeting on December 8, new rail regulator Autorité de Régulation des Activités Ferroviaires approved the structure of track access charges being proposed for LGV Sud Europe Atlantique between Tours and Bordeaux. This ... more
