All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 583
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NewsFrequentis to implement Finnish GSM-R to TETRA conversion
FINLAND: Transport agency Liikennevirasto has selected Frequentis for the Unified Railway Communication & Application contract which will enable railway-specific communications currently carried on the GSM-R network to begin using TETRA and public mobile networks from 2017. Announcing its selection on June 2, Frequentis said URCA would be the first bearer-independent ...
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NewsBritish Steel brand revived
EUROPE: The former Tata Steel Long Products Europe business began trading under the revived British Steel brand on June 1, following completion of the sale to Greybull Capital. British Steel has 4 800 employees, with manufacturing operations at the Scunthorpe integrated steelworks, Teesside Beam Mill and Skinningrove Special Profiles ...
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NewsHeavier grain trains to make rail more competitive
AUSTRALIA: Australian Rail Track Corp has approved a six-month trial of longer and heavier grain trains on the 100 km route between Moree and Narrabri in New South Wales. Axleloads are being increased by 15% and standard train lengths from 850 m to 1 000 m. ‘Conservatively we think ...
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NewsEY to host HackTrain rail tech start-ups
UK: Professional services group EY has agreed to host the HackTrain railway technology start-up business accelerator at its offices near London Bridge station, EY Infrastructure Leader Malcolm Bairstow announced at the HackTrain 2016 conference in London on June 1. HackTrain will relocate to EY’s Open Innovation Hub from its current ...
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NewsPrivate partner sought for Transnet terminal
SOUTH AFRICA: On June 1 Transnet announced the start of its ‘biggest private-sector participation project to date’, issuing a request for proposals as it seeks to award a 20-year concession to design, build, operate, maintain and transfer an intermodal terminal at Tambo Springs, east of Johannesburg. Expected to be operational ...
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NewsReports looks at impact of climate change on rail network
UK: Climate change could have a ‘significant and damaging’ impact on the rail network leading to a ‘dramatic increase’ in the cost of dealing with extreme weather unless pre-emptive action is taken, RSSB said when it released its ‘Tomorrow’s Railway & Climate Change Adaptation’ report on May 31. The ...
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NewsChennai metro extension approved
INDIA: The central government approved an extension of Chennai metro Line 1 on June 1. To be completed by March 2018, the project will be carried out by the existing Chennai Metro Rail Ltd special purpose vehicle of the central (50%) and Tamil Nadu (50%) governments. The 9·1 km ...
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NewsAmsted Rail to suspend production at wheel plant
USA: Amsted Rail has announced the ‘temporary idling’ of its wheel plant at Bessemer in Alabama from September, saying the decision to suspend production had been taken because of a drop in demand for new wagons and the improved efficiency of North American railways ‘for the foreseeable future’. ...
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NewsAuckland City Rail Link breaks ground
NEW ZEALAND: Work officially started on the Auckland City Rail Link on June 2 with a groundbreaking ceremony for the city centre rail tunnel. The 3·4 km route will connect the current Britomart terminus with the Western Line at Mt Eden. This is expected to double capacity on the ...
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NewsFeature articles in the June 2016 issue of Metro Report International
Articles in the June 2016 issue of Metro Report International. Comment Steve White, Operations Director for London Underground's Sub-Surface Lines, considers the challenges of modernisation News Review Round-up of world metro, light rail and tram news City digest CRRC's second US order, LA expansion, Montréal automated metro plan, München S-Bahn ...
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NewsFlexible season tickets for part-time commuters
UK: Flexible season tickets which aim to reduce the cost of travel for part-time workers were introduced on June 1 by c2c, the operator of commuter services between London and southeast Essex. The new Flexi-Season is a ‘digital carnet’ of 10 individual tickets purchased online in a single transaction, loaded ...
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NewsSão Paulo monorail contract awarded
BRAZIL: Scomi Engineering has been awarded a 504·6m ringgit contract for additional works on metro Line 17 (Gold Line) in São Paulo, the Malaysian company announced on June 1. The contract for rolling stock and electro-mechanical systems including signalling, communications and power supply follows on from a contract awarded ...
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NewsFestival celebrates Gotthard Base Tunnel opening
SWITZERLAND: Simultaneous ceremonies in Rynächt and Pollegio marked the opening of the 57 km Gotthard Base Tunnel on June 1. Switzerland’s entire Federal Council (Bundesrat) was present, as were heads of state and government from neighbouring countries and transport ministers from countries along the Rotterdam – Genova freight ...
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NewsTibor Šimoni
Tibor Šimoni was appointed General Manager of Slovakian railway infrastructure authority ŽSR on May 3, replacing Dušan Šefčík.
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NewsNew Tube for London systems integrator contract renewed
UK: Transport for London has reappointed WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff as prime system integrator support partner on for the New Tube for London programme under a contract worth £1·9m. WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff has been working with London Underground for 2½ years on systems integration services for the programme to modernise ...
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NewsLatvian freight locomotive upgraded
LATVIA: The first of 14 twin-section Lugansk-built 2M62Us locomotives which are being rebuilt as Type 2M62UM locos was unveiled on May 20. The project is being undertaken at state railway Latvijas Dzelzceļš’s Riga workshops under the supervision of CZ Loko, and aims to significantly lower the cost of operation ...
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NewsFirst Aarhus tram on test
DENMARK: The first tram for the light rail network under construction in Aarhus has been unveiled and is scheduled to be delivered to Denmark in the coming months. Project promoter Aarhus Letbane signed a turnkey contract in 2014 with a consortium of Stadler and signalling supplier Ansaldo STS. This ...
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NewsZF to present multi-speed EMU transmission
INNOTRANS: Among the innovations on show at InnoTrans 2016, ZF will be presenting its Get2 drive unit, which the company says is the world's first multi-speed transmission for electric multiple units. With rising electricity prices, energy efficiency is becoming ever more important. Unlike a conventional transmission, the Get2 gearbox has ...
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NewsParis MP14 train design unveiled
FRANCE: Alstom unveiled its design for the rubber-tyred MP14 trainsets for the Paris metro at its headquarters in Saint-Ouen on May 30. In January 2015 public transport operator RATP, acting on behalf of Île-de-France transport authority STIF and Société du Grand Paris, awarded Alstom a 15-year framework contract potentially ...
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NewsFehmarn Belt tunnel construction contracts signed
EUROPE: The four main tunnel construction contracts for the Fehmarn Belt fixed link between Denmark and Germany were signed by project promoter Femern A/S and its preferred bidders on May 30. The 18 km immersed tunnel will be assembled from 89 concrete elements which are to be cast in a ...