All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 656
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NewsWorld rail infrastructure market July 2015
Argentina: The Ministry of the Interior & Transport has awarded Siemens and Tesur a 5266m pesos contract to supply a substation and remote control system for the Buenos Aires – La Plata 25 kV AC electrification project. Belarus: Sinara’s Kalugaputmash has supplied BC with a UK-25 / 28SP tracklaying ...
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NewsEU-funded modernisation of Czech independent railway underway
CZECH REPUBLIC: Work is underway to modernise and install 3 kV DC electrification on the Železnice Desná local railway which links Šumperk with Kouty nad Desnou. The 19·3 km line was taken over by a group of local authorities after national railway ČD declined to repair extensive flood damage ...
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NewsWorld rolling stock market July 2015
Argentina: Ex-Madrid metro cars have entered service on Buenos Aires metro Line B. Azerbaijan: Three five-car Alstom metro trainsets have entered service in Baku. Belgium: De Lijn has placed a €97m firm order for a further 40 Bombardier Flexity 2 low-floor trams to replace older vehicles in ...
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NewsCMA consults on increasing on-rail competition
UK: The Competition & Markets Authority has published a consultation document seeking feedback on the desirability and feasibility of four options for significantly increasing on-rail competition between passenger train operators. The aim would be to produce competition ‘in the market’, which the CMA suggests could be more effective at ...
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NewsHonolulu awards metro stations contract
USA: Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation has awarded a contract to build the three westernmost stations on the Honolulu light metro line, it announced on July 16. Nan Inc. submitted the lowest bid to build Hoopili, University of Hawaii West Oahu and East Kapolei stations. Its bid of $56·1m ...
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NewsSaudi Railways Organization cancels Talgo order
SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Railways Organization has announced that ‘following the reassessment of our rolling stock needs’ it has decided not to proceed with an order for six 200 km/h Talgo diesel trainsets for use on the Riyadh – Dammam line. The US$201m contract was announced on February 12 but ...
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NewsFreiburg puts Urbos trams into service
GERMANY: The first passengers rode an Urbos 100 tram in Freiburg on July 16 in a special event held ahead of the trams’ entry into regular passenger service on July 27. Public transport operator VAG signed a contract with CAF in March 2013 for 12 seven-section 100% low-floor trams ...
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NewsKai Tak topping out ceremony
CHINA: A topping out ceremony for Kai Tak station on the Shatin – Central Link in Hong Kong was held on July 16. This is the second station on the future metro line where civil works have been completed. Construction started in 2013. Three entrances lead to a concourse ...
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NewsRail industry news in brief - July 2015
Austria’s Federal Administrative Court has rejected a legal challenge to the Semmering Base Tunnel project, ruling that the environmental studies are adequate and the existing line’s World Heritage status is not threatened. Belarus Railways has moved the date of its annual timetable change from the end of May to ...
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NewsEIB and KfW to fund RRX trains
GERMANY: The European Investment Bank is to provide a €340m long-term loan to help fund the Rhein-Ruhr-Express project in Nordrhein-Westfalen, as part of a financing package announced on July 16. A credit of €283m will be provided by KfW IPEX-Bank, and additional funding is coming from Helaba (Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen). The ...
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NewsMÁV-Start signs Flirt order
HUNGARY: The first of 21 additional Flirt electric multiple-units to work Budapest suburban services will be delivered later this year, under the terms of a €125m contract between national passenger operator MÁV-Start and Stadler Bussnang AG signed in Budapest on July 15. ‘This day will be written in bold letters ...
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NewsFunding arrives for Belgrano upgrade
ARGENTINA: Minister of the Interior & Transport Florencio Randazzo announced on July 10 that state-owned company Belgrano Cargas & Logística had received US$9m to fund work to upgrade infrastructure in the provinces of Santa Fe, San Juan and Jujuy. This was the first tranche of the U$1⋅23bn that is being ...
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NewsCalifornia high speed rail delivery partner appointed
USA: California High Speed Rail Authority has appointed a consortium led by Parsons Brinckerhoff, and including Network Rail Consulting and management consultancy LeighFisher, as its rail delivery partner. The contract for project management and integration services runs to 2022 and has an estimated total value of up to $700m. Network ...
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NewsPort link opened under non-government railway policy
INDIA: What the Ministry of Railways says is the first line to be built using independent finance under the non-government railway policy announced in 2012 was officially opened on July 14, when Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu used teleconferencing facilities to flag off the inaugural train. The 1 676 mm ...
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NewsHyundai Rotem trainset in service in Cairo
EGYPT: The first Hyundai Rotem trainset on Cairo metro Line 1 has entered passenger service. This is four weeks ahead of the original schedule, as the National Authority for Tunnels was sufficiently satisfied with the results of test running, which started in March. The NAT signed an E£2·16bn contract ...
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NewsGovernment invites bids for 171bn pesos PPP concession
PHILIPPINES: The Department of Transportation & Communications has issued a prequalification request for a 171bn pesos PPP project worth covering the rehabilitation and extension of the Main Line South, which links Manila with Bicol province on the island of Luzon. According to DOTC, the project is the largest PPP to ...
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NewsRagna Forslund
Legal Director Ragna Forslund has taken over as Acting CEO of Stockholm transport authority SL following the resignation on May 25 of Anders Lindström, who had been convicted of shoplifting in Hong Kong.
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News‘Beauty contest’ to assess high speed line offers
INDONESIA: The government is to hold a ‘beauty contest’ to evaluate rival bids for construction of a 150 km Jakarta – Bandung high speed line, Co-ordinating Economic Minister Sofyan Djalil said on July 13. Rival offers backed by their respective governments have been put forward by consortia from China and ...
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NewsFreight operators fined €49m for operating cartel
EUROPE: The European Commission has fined subsidiaries of Austrian Federal Railways and Deutsche Bahn €17·4m and €31·8m respectively for operating a cartel in the block train sector between July 2004 and June 2012. Kühne+Nagel was also part of the cartel with the Express Interfracht and Schenker businesses, but was ...
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NewsPopulation growth underpins metro expansion
JAPAN: Tokyo metropolitan government has announced plans for two new metro lines to be completed after the 2020 Olympic Games, which the city is hosting. The lines form part of a wider transport plan the metropolitan government will submit to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport & Tourism this ...