All Railway Gazette International articles in October 2017 – Page 4
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NewsRail Baltica agreement ratified by all three parliaments
EUROPE: The intergovernmental agreement for the development of the Rail Baltica 1 435 mm gauge route has now been ratified by all three of the Baltic States, after the Lithuanian parliament voted 96 in favour and 0 against with one abstention on October 10. The agreement sets out principles including ...
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NewsNorwegian passenger service tendering underway
NORWAY: Invitations to tender for the Lot 1 Sør passenger train operating contract were issued to prequalified bidders by Jernbanedirektoratet on October 12, when the national railway agency also announced plans for further competitive tendering. The Lot 1 Sør contract covers inter-city services on the Sørlandet line to Stavanger, Jær ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
GE Transportation announced on October 7 that Chief Executive Officer Jamie Miller is to become GE's Chief Financial Officer from November 1. Global Services leader Pascal Schweitzer will be acting CEO of GE Transportation until Miller’s successor is named. On October 9 leasing company Angel Trains announced that £100m of ...
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NewsSudhir Rao
INDIA: Sudhir Rao has been appointed Managing Director of Bombardier Transportation in India. A graduate from the University of Michigan, he has worked for 34 years in the automotive sector, most recently as Chairman & Managing Director of Skoda Auto India.
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Metro Report InternationalRanken wins Chinese metro construction contracts
CHINA: Sapphire Corp subsidiary Ranken Railway Construction Group Co has won construction contracts for two metro projects. A 561m yuan contract covers the Barracuda Bay – Shanhua Street section of the 24·5 km Dalian metro Line 5, which is due to open in November 2019. Ranken’s contract includes the ...
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Metro Report InternationalCRRC’s Springfield factory opens as Boston Orange Line cars on test
USA: Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker officially opened the CRRC MA rolling stock assembly plant in Springfield on October 12. The $95m plant and test track has been built to fulfil a contractual requirement for 60% domestic content in the metro cars that the Chinese manufacturer is supplying to Massachusetts ...
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NewsFocus on renewals in £47·9bn Network Rail funding plan for 2019-24
UK: The Statement of Funds Available for Network Rail’s infrastructure operations, maintenance and renewals in England and Wales during Control Period 6 from April 1 2019 to March 31 2024 was announced by Transport Secretary Chris Grayling on October 12. Scotland is covered under a separate process. The SoFA would ...
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NewsTimber wagons grow capacity and chop costs
RUSSIA: United Wagon Co subsidiary TikhvinSpetsMash is supplying forest products company Vologodskie Lesopromyshlenniki with a batch of Type 13-6852-02 high-capacity timber wagons. The design was developed by the All-Union Research & Development Centre for Transportation Technology. The wagons have a 25 tonne axleload, which along with making the maximum use ...
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NewsFatigue crack detection system developed
UK: A prototype system for identifying fatigue cracks at switches and crossings has been developed by TWI Ltd with funding from RSSB and Network Rail. Based on technology used for the long-range testing of pipelines, it uses a low frequency ultrasonic method which is less affected by the cast ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Canadian Pacific has reached an exclusive agreement to use Bluegrass Farms' intermodal terminal in Jeffersonville, Ohio to serve the Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton markets. The farm consortium will continue to own the facility, and operate it on behalf of the railway company. CP has also come to an agreement with ...
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NewsKaliningrad – Lithuania border station commissioned
RUSSIA: Border facilities for passengers and freight crossing between Kaliningrad oblast and Kybartai in Lithuania were commissioned at Chernyshevskoye in the east of the Russian exclave on October 2. Border formalities were previously undertaken 10 km west in Nesterov. Construction of the 1·9bn rouble facility started in 2005, and the ...
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NewsŠkoda to supply trams to Sofia
BULGARIA: Škoda Transportation has won a contract to supply 13 trams to Sofia, the manufacturer announced on October 13. Škoda’s first tram order from Bulgaria is worth KC610m, which includes spare parts and staff training. The operator is financing the purchase through EU funds. Škoda will supply its ...
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NewsPolish service approved as LEO Express aims to develop a central European network
EUROPE: Czech open access operator LEO Express expects to announce the launch date for its planned Praha – Ostrava – Katowice – Kraków open access service in the near future, after Polish regulator UTK completed the certification process and granted train paths on October 13. Daily services would leave ...
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NewsTampere tram order finalised
FINLAND: Škoda Transportation subsidiary Transtech announced details of its tram order for Tampere on October 16. The firm order for 19 ForCity Smart Artic trams is worth €104m, and the framework contract includes options for up to 46 more vehicles, which would be delivered in three tranches. ...
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NewsÖBB coach tender back on track
AUSTRIA: Tendering for a fleet of coaches for daytime and overnight inter-city services for national operator ÖBB is to resume following withdrawal of an objection by Siemens. The company had complained in August about changes to the specification for a framework contract that included an initial tranche of 200 km/h ...
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NewsStadler breaks ground on Utah factory
USA: A groundbreaking ceremony took place on October 13 for Stadler’s rolling stock factory in Salt Lake City. The $50m final assembly plant is being built near Salt Lake City airport and has a link to the Denver – San Francisco line. The modular factory is designed to accommodate ...
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NewsTeething troubles as IEP trainsets enter revenue service
UK: All did not go to plan when the first of the Hitachi Class 800 trainsets ordered under the Department for Transport’s £5·7bn Intercity Express Programme entered passenger service with Great Western Railway on October 16. Industry guests gathered at Bristol Temple Meads station for the inaugural service, the 06.00 ...
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NewsBombardier and CAF win West Midlands train contracts
UK: Bombardier Transportation and CAF have been selected to supply rolling stock for the next West Midlands franchise, the West Midlands Trains Ltd consortium of Abellio, East Japan Railway and Mitsui & Co announced on October 17. Totalling 413 vehicles, the orders are worth £680m, with financing being led by ...
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NewsMoscow – Troitsk tram line approved
RUSSIA: Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin approved a tram line linking the city’s metro network to the satellite town of Troitsk on October 12. The 17·8 km route would link the town of 40 000, which lies 37 km southwest of the centre of Moscow, with Prokshino metro station, which ...
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Metro Report InternationalTransport for London plans new Overground stations
UK: Transport for London has begun a five-week public consultation on plans to build stations at Hythe Road and Old Oak Common Lane in west London. ‘These two potential new London Overground stations would improve connectivity to High Speed 2 and support the regeneration at Old Oak and Park Royal’, ...