All Railway Gazette International articles in November 2008 – Page 3
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NewsIntercontinental Bridge of the Horns proposed
RED SEA: Ambitious proposals have been revealed for a bridge across the Bab al-Mandib, or Gate of Tears, between Djibouti and Yemen. The US$20bn Bridge of the Horns would be 28·5 km long, with three 2·7 km suspension spans, the longest in the world. It would carry ...
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NewsContracts November 2008
Australia: ARTC has appointed Parsons Brinckerhoff, Connell Wagner and Halcrow to undertake a A$15m feasibility study into an inland Melbourne – Brisbane route. PricewaterhouseCoopers, ACIL Tasman and SAHA will provide financial input. Egypt: ENR has selected Kernex Microsystems India to undertake a US$16m modernisation of 136 level crossings. ...
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NewsHyundai Rotem signs Marmaray train contract
TURKEY: Hyundai Rotem announced on November 11 that it had signed a €580m contract to supply the rolling stock for the Marmaray cross-Bosporus tunnel project in Istanbul. The Korean firm saw off competition from shortlisted bidders Alstom, CAF and a consortium of Bombardier, Siemens and Nurol for the 440-vehicle ...
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NewsAfrica's megacity needs an urban rail backbone
LAGOS: After many years of talk and aborted proposals, plans for a diesel light rail network are finally taking shape in Nigeria's largest city.
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NewsAlger's first metro train arrives
ALGERIA: Last month Minister of Transport Amar Tou officially took delivery of the first CAF trainset which will serve Alger metro Line 1 once it starts operation in late summer 2009. The six-car train can accommodate 1 290 passengers. Delivery of the remaining 13 sets will start in December 2008. ...
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NewsRussian high speed train sets sail
EUROPE: The first of eight Sapsan high speed trains being built for Russian Railways left the German Baltic port of Sassnitz-Mukran on November 13. Siemens is assembling the 10-car Velaro RUS trains at its Krefeld plant, and awarded DB's logistics company DB Schenker the contract to deliver them to ...
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NewsBombardier opens Indian rolling stock plant
INDIA: A ceremony on November 13 marked the formal inauguration of Bombardier Transportation's €33m rolling stock manufacturing plant at Savli in the Vadodara district of Gujarat. Designed and built within 18 months, it will produce vehicles for projects in India and Southeast Asia using technology based on that at Bombardier's ...
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NewsVitoria plans pre-Christmas opening
SPAIN: The Eusko Tran light rail line in Vitoria, capital of Alava in northern Spain, is due to enter commercial service before Christmas this year. The first of 10 trams being built by CAF arrived in Vitoria on September 29 to undergo type testing in the depot at Landaberde. Series ...
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NewsCAF buys CFD stake
CAF: The Spanish rolling stock manufacturer has acquired a 60% stake in CFD Bagnères, the French constructor which has specialised in DMUs for metre-gauge networks as well as shunters and road-rail infrastructure maintenance vehicles. CFD has 160 employees, and its works at Bagnères-de-Bigorre south of Tarbes is currently producing 12 ...
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NewsBurundi rail project to begin next year?
AFRICA: Burundi's Minister of Transport, Post & Telecommunications Philippe Njoni announced on November 5 that he expects a five-year, US$4bn international rail project to commence in 2009. The proposed 691 km railway will run from Bujumbura in Burundi and Kigali in Rwanda to Isaka on Tanzania's metre gauge Dar-es-Salaam ...
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NewsAcquisition and restructuring
PÖYRY: The engineering and consultancy group has acquired Madrid-based ETT Proyectos, which provides engineering consultancy in the rail sector. It has 45 staff, and sales totalled €3·2m in 2007. Pöyry said the acquisition is part of a strategy of expansion into the Spanish market, offering synergies with its position in ...
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NewsNew York orders 382 subway cars
USA: New York MTA has ordered a further 382 R160 metro cars from the ALSKAW joint venture of Alstom and Kawasaki. The $784m order announced on November 10 is a second option on a July 2002 contract for 660 cars worth $961·6m, which was followed with a $1·12bn option for ...
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NewsPerishables back on the rails
USA: On October 6 CSX and Union Pacific launched a perishable produce service with trains of 55 refrigerated cars taking 128 h between California and New York. 'What is exciting about this new service is that we’re carrying produce such as peppers, grapes and celery that we haven’t ...
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News'We are not a low-cost supplier’
CZECH REPUBLIC: Over the past two decades, Prostejov-based Hanácké Zelezárny a Pérovny a s has transformed itself from its former position as the Soviet Union’s principal suspension component manufacturer into Europe’s leading supplier of coil springs for rail applications. Sub-suppliers such as HZP are the first to challenge the popular ...
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NewsVelim team focuses on delivery
CZECH REPUBLIC: The Velim test circuit has been the subject of considerable media attention as it has been testing Pégase, Alstom’s AGV demonstrator and AnsaldoBreda’s first Albatros trainset, which will be deployed on NS Hispeed services between Amsterdam and Brussels.
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NewsIndustry News in Brief
Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Massimov has opened discussions with Transmash for the establishment of a electric locomotive plant near Astana. Costing around US$150m, it would have a capacity of up to 200 locos and 100 coaches a year. The Ministry of Transport & Communications has also signed a MOU ...
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NewsHigh-tech Czechs
CZECH REPUBLIC: Renewal of telecoms and IT equipment is a major priority for the railways of central and eastern Europe, especially those in EU member states which must also comply with the Technical Specifications for Interoperability set out by the European Railway Agency. The Czech Republic boasts a growing cluster ...
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NewsLTA awards Downtown Line contracts
SINGAPORE: The Land Transport Authority has awarded three major contracts totalling more than S$1bn covering the supply of signalling, communications systems and rolling stock for the 40 km Downtown Line automated metro, which is now under construction. Linking the north-western and eastern parts of the island to the Central Business ...
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NewsSlovenian Railways at the crossroads
SLOVENIA: Strategically placed at the intersection of two key international corridors, Slovenian Railways is well placed to act as a hub linking east and west, but it must face up to emerging competition in the lucrative freight market. Chris Jackson asked SZ Director-General Tomaz Schara about the challenges and opportunities ...
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NewsAmbitious upgrading plans take shape
SLOVENIA: Up to €9bn will be spent over the next 15 years to upgrade Slovenia's trunk rail corridors, under a programme being developed by the Ministry of Transport.