All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 689
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NewsDowner wins Pacific National loco maintenance deal
AUSTRALIA: Downer Rail is to provide locomotive maintenance and fleet management services to interstate rail freight operator Pacific National under an A$1bn contract announced on February 4. Covering more than 300 locomotives, the Locomotive Maintenance Agreement will run for 10 years. According to Downer EDI Ltd Chief Executive Officer Grant ...
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NewsEIB signs €950m loan for Italian rail upgrading
ITALY: On February 2 the Economics & Finance Ministry and the European Investment Bank signed a €950m loan agreement to finance infrastructure manager RFI’s planned programme of investment in the conventional network. EIB said the strength of its capital base enables it to make loads on favourable terms, reducing the ...
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NewsPKP Cargo to take stake in Pol-Miedź Trans
POLAND: An agreement for PKP Cargo to acquire a stake of up to 49% in the Pol-Miedź Trans transport subsidiary of copper and silver mining company KGHM was signed on February 2. PMT has a 2·4% share of the Polish rail freight market, with a fleet of 63 locomotives and ...
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NewsHigh speed project cancelled as economy worsens
MEXICO: The federal government has decided to suspend ‘indefinitely’ the project to build a high speed line between Mexico City and Querétaro, Secretary of the Treasury & Public Finance Dr Luis Videgaray announced on January 30. The separate project to build a new railway for passenger and freight traffic between ...
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NewsNational Express selected for Nürnberg S-Bahn operating contract
GERMANY: Following a competitive tender, on February 2 Bayern railway authority BEG named National Express Rail GmbH as preferred bidder for two parallel 12-year contracts to operate Nürnberg S-Bahn services from December 2018. Signing is subject to the 10-day standstill period. National Express said the contracts are expected to generate ...
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NewsHangzhou opens third metro line
CHINA: The first section of Hangzhou metro Line 4 opened on February 2. This is the third metro line in Hangzhou; Line 1 opened in November 2012 and Line 2 exactly two years later. The 9·6 km northeast section runs along the left bank of the River Qiantang between ...
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NewsMurcia high speed line ETCS contract
SPAIN: ADIF has awarded a consortium led by CAF Signalling and including FCC and Revenga a €155m contract to supply and maintain for 20 years the signalling and telecom systems for the 65 km Monforte del Cid – Murcia high speed line. CAF Signalling will supply ETCS Level 2 ...
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NewsAddis Ababa light rail test running begins
ETHIOPIA: Celebrations on February 1 marked the official launch of test running on the Addis Ababa light rail line, ahead of the planned start of revenue services in May. Attendees at the launch included the Prime Minster, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs along with thousands of city ...
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NewsSBB orders more ETR610 tilting trains
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has exercised an option for Alstom to supply an additional four ETR610 New Pendolino tilting trainsets for use on the north–south Gotthard and Simplon corridors from 2017. The SFr120m order announced on January 30 follows two previous orders for seven and eight trainsets. The 250 ...
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NewsPrivate sector expertise
Jacek Leonkiewicz (photo) was appointed Chairman of PKP Intercity on January 16 in succession to Marcin Celejewski. A former banker, he became a board member at PKP SA in 2013, also serving as Chairman of the supervisory board at PKP subsidiary T K Telekom. In 2014 he became a member ...
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NewsFreightliner PL orders Dragon locomotives
POLAND: Freightliner PL signed a contract to lease five Newag Gliwice electric locomotives from ING Lease on January 30. The 5 MW six-axle E6DCF Dragon locomotives are scheduled to be delivered from May to July 2016 under a €17·5m deal which includes two years of aftersales support. They will ...
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NewsHelsinki - Espoo light rail study commissioned
FINLAND: Ramboll and WSP have been appointed to study the costs, feasibility and wider impact of constructing the proposed 25 km Raide-Jokeri orbital light rail line. The route linking the Itäkeskus district of Helsinki with Keilaniemi in neighbouring Espoo would partially replace the region’s busiest bus service, the Bussi-Jokeri, which ...
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NewsFeature articles in the February 2015 issue of Railway Gazette International
Feature articles in the February 2015 issue of Railway Gazette International, the leading business journal for railway operators and suppliers, read in 140 countries. Subscribe to Railway Gazette International today. Comment Stop chasing a chimera News Main Line Urban Rail Market Industry Innovations Pointers ...
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NewsWorld rolling stock market January 2015
Argentina: SABB SA is completing a contract to repair 59 wagons for Belgrano Cargas y Logística. Wagon production may also resume at its plant at María Juana in Santa Fe province. Bangladesh: Backed by ADB, on November 27 BR awarded Indonesia’s PT Inka a 5·62bn taka contract to supply ...
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NewsParis awards €2bn metro train framework contract
FRANCE: On behalf of Île-de-France transport authority STIF and Société du Grand Paris, on January 30 Paris public transport operator RATP awarded Alstom a 15-year framework contract potentially worth more than €2bn for the supply up to 217 MP14 rubber-tyred metro trainsets. An initial firm order worth around €500m covers ...
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NewsCAF signs Utrecht tram contract
NETHERLANDS: On January 30 the Utrecht City region formally signed the contract for preferred bidder CAF to supply 27 trams for the future Uithof Line. The 8 km route will link Utrecht Centraal station with the Uithof university campus and a park-and-ride site from mid-2018. The five-section 100% low-floor ...
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NewsCityringen metro tunnel breakthrough
DENMARK: Tunnel boring machines Eva and Minerva broke through the Cityringen metro tunnels being bored beneath København Hovedbanegård station on January 29, watched by the Prime Minister, Transport Minister and Mayor. Civil works for the 15·5 km circular Cityringen automated metro line with 17 stations are being undertaken by the ...
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NewsOttawa Citadis Spirit light rail vehicle mock-up unveiled
CANADA: A full-sized mock-up of the 34 Alstom Citadis Spirit light rail vehicles ordered for the Confederation Line project in Ottawa is on public display at the Aberdeen Pavilion at Lansdowne Park between January 30 and the end of March. Confederation Line design, build, finance and maintain consortium Rideau Transit ...
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NewsPosadas - Encarnación passenger service restored
SOUTH AMERICA: Argentina’s Minister of the Interior & Transport Florencio Randazzo has described as ‘a success’ the passenger service introduced between Posadas and Encarnación in Paraguay. On January 29 he reported that the service had carried over 100 000 passengers since its introduction on December 31 2014. The service is ...
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NewsRussian Railways plans Ukraine avoiding line as high speed test track
RUSSIA: Russian Railways, engineering organisations and Voronezh State University of Architecture & Civil Engineering are developing plans for a new 140 km double-track electrified line which would avoid the need for trains on the main line to Rostov-na-Donu, Krasnodar and Sochi to pass through a short section of Ukrainian territory. ...