All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 803
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NewsCompetitive tendering planned for Queensland
AUSTRALIA: The Queensland state government has accepted recommendations to open up the passenger rail operations and infrastructure maintenance markets in its response to the final report of the Queensland Commission of Audit which was set up last year to provide strategic economic advice. In 'A Plan: Better services for Queenslanders', ...
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NewsBlack Sea container terminal upgrading completed
RUSSIA: Container terminal operator NUTEP has completed the latest phase of a programme to upgrade railway facilities at the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. NUTEP has increased its overall monthly block train capacity to 30 trains of 112 TEU by constructing a new yard at the rear of the terminal. ...
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NewsIPL awarded £7m contract to develop ticketing data technology
UK: The Rail Settlement Plan subsidiary of the Association of Train Operating Companies, which supports the provision of network-wide ticket sales, has awarded IT services company IPL a £7m, five-year contract to design, build and support a new Product Management System. To be based on open-source technology, the PMS will ...
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NewsTrinity Industries announces wagon leasing joint venture
USA: The formation of a joint venture which aims to create a wagon leasing fleet worth $1bn by the end of 2014 was announced by Trinity Industries on May 7. Trinity's partners in RIV 2013 Rail Holdings are insurance investor Napier Park Railcar Lease Fund and a co-investor which has ...
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News€450m sustainable transport fund announced
FRANCE: On May 7 Transport Minister Frédéric Cuvillier launched a new funding competition for urban transport projects, including metro, light rail and tram-train schemes. The government is making a total of €450m available for projects outside the Paris region, with a portion specifically reserved for 'innovative projects in the ...
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NewsAKN orders Alstom diesel multiple-units
GERMANY: Schleswig-Holstein regional operator AKN Eisenbahn announced a €60m order for 14 Alstom Coradia Lint 54 diesel multiple-units on May 6. The DMUs are be built at Alstom's Salzgitter plant and delivered in the second half of 2015 to operate on service A1 between Neumünster and Eidelstedt. The two-car units ...
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NewsŁódź launches tram energy recovery system
POLAND: A pilot application of ABB's Enviline Energy Recuperation System is scheduled to go into service on the Łódź tram network this week. The Enviline ERS is installed at a substation and enables current produced during regenerative braking to be returned to the AC grid if there are no accelerating ...
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NewsRio de Janeiro tram contract signed
BRAZIL: RATP Dev and its local partners Companhia de Concessoes Rodoviarias, Odebrecht Transport and Invepar have won the contract to build and operate a 28 km tram network in Rio de Janeiro. The deal announced on May 7 requires the first 14 km section to open by the end of ...
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NewsBeijing metro Line 14 opens
CHINA: The first phase of Beijing metro Line 14 opened on May 5, running 12·4 km from Zhangguozhuang in the southern Fengtai district to Xiju. The first section of Line 14 has seven stations, including Garden Expo Park which will serve the 9th China (Beijing) International Garden Expo which begins ...
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NewsOn The Go on the subway
USA: New York MTA has selected Control Group to provide up to 90 On The Go interactive displays. These will provide real-time information, including visual station directions and interchange information, train arrival countdowns, service updates, local maps, other information and advertising content. A custom content management system will ...
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NewsSNCF signs Franche-Comté TER agreement
FRANCE: SNCF President Guillaume Pepy joined Marie-Guite Dufay, President of the Franche-Comté region, in Bescançon on May 3 to sign an agreement covering the organisation, funding and operation of TER local passenger services in 2013-17. Under the agreement, Franche-Comté is to provide €49m for rolling stock modernisation, including the acquisition ...
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NewsBonds fund commuter projects
CHILE: State railway EFE has completed a second local bond issue worth the equivalent of US$93m, issuing a total of 379 units. The annual interest rate of 3·54% and the fact that the issue was 3·3 times oversubscribed demonstrated the confidence of investors in the company and its support from ...
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NewsHESOP energy recovery system to be installed on the Victoria Line
UK: Alstom's Harmonic & Energy Saving Optimiser energy recovery technology is to be trialled on London Underground's Victoria Line under a €1m contract awarded by UK Power Networks Services. The HESOP inverting substation equipment will be installed at the Cloudesley Road substation until 2014, feeding energy regenerated by braking trains ...
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NewsInsulation provides hotter points
NETHERLANDS: Heatpoint has developed synthetic insulation for use with point heaters which it says offers an average energy saving of 50%, with higher rail temperatures and thus increased turnout availability during freezing weather. Trials in Amsterdam during February found that when Isoblock insulation was applied the rail temperature was 7°C ...
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NewsCabinet approves Indian locomotive factory plan
INDIA: The cabinet has approved a proposal from the Ministry of Railways to 'start afresh' with the long-running process of calling bids to set up two modern locomotive factories, MOR announced on May 1. The railways budget has allocated Rs12·9bn for the planned electric locomotive factory at Madhepura and Rs20·5bn ...
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NewsClass 68 UKLight locomotives take shape
UK: The first of 15 Vossloh UKLight diesel-electric locomotives for freight and charter train operator Direct Rail Services is now under construction at the Vossloh España plant near Valencia in Spain. DRS expects the first locomotive to be sent to the Velim test circuit in the Czech Republic for ...
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NewsRoute selected for Roissy link
FRANCE: Transport Minister Frédéric Cuvillier announced on April 30 that he had selected the ‘centre-north’ route option for a 7 km connection between the Paris – Amiens main line and the LGV Interconnexion, the high speed bypass running to the east of the capital. It is expected that the new ...
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NewsUrban rail news in brief - May 2013
The construction of Lima metro Line 2 is amongst projects being promoted to Asian investors at roadshows in Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo. Plans for a light rail line in Phnom Penh were discussed by Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and French ambassador Serge Mostura on April 8. Systra is ...
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NewsOran tramway opens
ALGERIA: Transport Minister Amar Tou and Wali of Oran Abdelmalek Boudiaf attended the inauguration of the Oran tramway on May 1, and the 18·7 km line with 32 stops opened to the public the following day. Services run from 05.00 to 23.00, and ridership is expected to reach 90 ...
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NewsFramework agreement for 450 Bombardier locomotives
GERMANY: DB announced a 10-year framework agreement for the supply of up to 450 electric locomotives from Bombardier Transportation on May 2. Finalisation of the deal, which is potentially worth up to €1·5bn, is subject to a regulatory standstill period. An initial firm order is to be placed for 110 ...