All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 811
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NewsEast Coast to join revised franchising programme
UK: An 'immediate start' to re-letting the InterCity East Coast franchise was announced by Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin on March 26, when he unveiled a 'detailed transparent timetable' for the replacement of all passenger train operating franchises over the next eight years. ICEC has been run by the Department ...
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NewsJaén light rail line to be sold
SPAIN: Jaén city council is planning to sell off the city’s light rail line, after an audit by Catalan regional operator FGC showed that it could not operate the route without state financial support. The line was opened for trial services in May 2011, but closed shortly afterwards and has ...
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NewsNottingham tram bridge slides into place
UK: The first section of the bridge to carry Phase 2 of the Nottingham light rail network over the city’s main station was slid into place during March. To be known as the Karlsruhe Friendship Bridge, the steel structure is 104 m long, 14·5 m wide and weighs 1100 tonnes. ...
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NewsPassenger volumes up at Eurostar
EUROPE: High speed operator Eurostar International reported a doubling in operating profit and modest increase in passenger volumes when reporting full-year financial results for 2012 on March 25. The operator carried 9·9 million passengers in 2012, 2% up from 9·7 million for the prior year, whilst operating ...
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NewsExport contracts drive Talgo expansion
TALGO: Visiting the Patentes Talgo works in Rivabellosa outside Miranda de Ebro on March 20, President of the Basque regional government Iñigo Urkullu was able to inspect progress with a €33m expansion programme being undertaken by the Spanish rolling stock manufacturer. Following the award of contracts to supply rolling stock ...
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NewsJeddah transport plan approved
SAUDI ARABIA: The Council of Ministers approved a draft transport plan for Jeddah on March 11. The 45bn riyal plan includes a three-line light metro, as well as a network of buses and marine transport. Completion is scheduled within seven years. Makkah Governor Prince Khaled Al Faisal said that ...
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NewsParis Line 4 reaches Montrouge
FRANCE: Celebrations including music and dancing marked the inauguration of the newest section of the Paris metro on March 23, a 1·5 km southern extension of Line 4 to Mairie de Montrouge. The new station is the 303rd on the metro. Two of its three entrances are open, with ...
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NewsMarnie O’Brien Primmer
Marnie O’Brien Primmer, Executive Director of Mobility 21, has become Chairman of US public transport coalition Napta.
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NewsFreiburg orders Urbos trams
GERMANY: Freiburg public transport operator VAG has signed a contract for 12 CAF Urbos 100 trams for its metre-gauge network. The exact contract value is undisclosed, but is less than €40m, according to VAG. The seven-section low-floor trams will be 43 m long with capacity for 250 passengers. They ...
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NewsTimken to buy Greenbrier roller bearing business
USA: An agreement has been reached for The Greenbrier Companies to sell its wheelset roller bearing reconditioning business in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, to Timken. The deal is expected to close by May 31, and includes a long-term agreement for Timken to supply Greenbrier with new and reconditioned bearings. Financial terms were ...
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NewsCNR ships passenger fleet to Argentina
ARGENTINA: Following shipment from the port of Dalian, the first batch of diesel locomotives and coaches that CNR of China is supplying for long-distance services is expected to arrive in Buenos Aires by the end of March. Under a US$20m contract signed in July 2010, CNR Dalian is supplying the ...
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NewsAVE trials in France
FRANCE: A RENFE Series 100 high speed trainset undertook trial running at 300 km/h on LGV Est between Paris and Lorraine-TGV station during the week of March 18. Alstom’s Belfort plant has modified the Spanish trainset for use in France, and SNCF’s Technicentre Est-Européen depot has fitted onboard measuring ...
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NewsSecond batch of KiwiRail locomotives roll out
NEW ZEALAND: The first of the second batch of CNR Dalian diesel locomotives ordered by KiwiRail was rolled out at the Chinese factory on March 13. KiwiRail ordered an initial 20 Class DL locomotives in September 2009, in CNR's first order to supply diesel locomotives to a western country. Powered ...
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NewsRail.One to build US concrete sleeper plant
USA: German concrete sleeper and ballastless trackform supplier Rail.One has announced its entry into the 'extensive and highly promising' US market with the formation of Rail.One USA. By the end of the year the US subsidiary is to open a €15m concrete sleeper plant in Clinton, Iowa, with an annual ...
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NewsTBM arrives for Rio Line 4
BRAZIL: Work is now underway in Rio de Janeiro to assemble a 2 000 tonne Herrenknecht tunnel boring machine that is to be used in the construction of metro Line 4 from Ipanema to Barra da Tijuca. At 120 m long and with a diameter of 11⋅5 m, the TBM ...
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NewsOil to fund electrification and reduced journey times
DENMARK: Electrification of all main lines 'as soon as practicable' and works to reduce each leg of a København - Odense - Aarhus - Aalborg journey to 1 h are to be financed from North Sea oil revenues through a DKr27·5bn Togfonden DK infrastructure investment fund, the government announced on ...
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NewsRail at heart of US$68bn investment programme
THAILAND: Construction of four standard-gauge dedicated passenger lines and the doubling of 3 000 route-km of metre-gauge lines is at the heart of a US$67·6bn infrastructure investment bill approved by cabinet ministers in Bangkok on March 20. Rail infrastructure accounts for the lion’s share of the planned capital outlay, with ...
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NewsOperators to install DMU driver advisory systems
UK: Knorr-Bremse has been awarded two contracts to fit its Leader Driver Advisory System to Bombardier diesel multiple-units operated by Govia's Southern and London Midland franchises. The operators are hoping to see improved timekeeping and a reduction in fuel consumption as a result of optimised driving techniques. Leader DAS uses ...
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NewsJoint venture to produce brakes for the 1520 market
RUSSIA: Russian Railways subsidiary Federal Freight Co and Knorr-Bremse have established the Knorr-Bremse 1520 joint venture to manufacture rolling stock braking products for the CIS market. Manufacturing will initially be undertaken at Knorr-Bremse's Voronezh plant, until the completion of a €26m factory at Tver during 2014. The company is ...