North America – Page 97
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NewsFirst contract awarded for Honolulu light rail
USA: A US$482·9m design-build contract for construction of the first 10·5 km of Honolulu’s proposed 32 km elevated light rail line was awarded to Kiewit Pacific Co on October 21. The company’s bid was US$90m under estimates and provides a financially optimistic start to the US$5·3bn project. ...
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Metro Report InternationalBombardier Transportation signs its largest ever tram order
CANADA: Bombardier Transportation has announced its ‘largest single order ever for light rail vehicles worldwide’, covering 204 trams worth C$851m. Toronto Transit Commission Chief General Manager Gary Webster gave Bombardier the contract award letter on June 26, immediately after a special meeting of Toronto city council which ...
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AMT orders commuter cars
CANADA: Montréal transport authority AMT has placed a C$386m order with sole bidder Bombardier for 160 double-deck commuter coaches. The base order was for 30 cars with options for 130, but the provincial government exercised all the options immediately. The province is meeting 75% of the cost, and deliveries will ...
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Wagon maintenance take-over
WATCO Companies announced the take-over of Millennium Rail Inc on May 1, with the rolling stock maintenance and repair business becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Pittsburg, Kansas, based shortline operator and loco maintenance group. MRI has eight workshops in the USA, where it undertakes general repairs and speciality wagon ...
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‘There are no quick fixes or short-term solutions’
Last month we reported David Gunn’s warning on June 20 that Amtrak was ’near the point of no return’. His blunt speaking secured a $100m short-term federal loan that will keep the trains running until September, but the long term is another matter. Murray Hughes asked Gunn what lies ahead
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Mexican train ferry link
THIS MONTH is due to see the start of train ferry services between Mobile, Alabama, and Coatzacoalcos, Mexico. To be operated by International Shipholding Corp of New Orleans as a joint venture with Ferrosur, it will give eastern US railways independent access to Mexico. Ferrosur will handle traffic in Mexico, ...
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Hudson - Bergen Light Rail opens
USA: April 15 saw the formal inauguration of the first 12·7 km of New Jersey Transit’s $1·2bn Hudson - Bergen light rail network by state Governor Christie Whitman. Services are now running from 34th Street in Bayonne to Exchange Place in Jersey City, and on the short branch from Exchange ...
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Commuter rail proposed
USA: Septa has commissioned a US$145000 two-year feasibility study into restoring passenger services on the Bethlehem and Stoney Creek lines, providing a commuter service to Philadelphia. Trains would start at Quakertown in Bucks County, and run south through Perkasie, Derstines, Telford, Hatfield and Lansdale before taking the Stoney Creek line ...
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Flange-bearing crossing diamonds offer improved performance
Trials at the AAR Transportation Technology Centre have found that flange-bearing crossings which reduce wheel impact loadings have the potential to cut track maintenance costs and operating delays, with no significant problems in terms of wheel wear
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Deregulation changes the face of Canadian railroading
Since the Canada Transportation Act came into force in 1996, the country's rail industry has undergone a dramatic transformation, with modernisation and restructuring at the two big national operators matched by a mushrooming of small and medium-sized feeder railways