All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 812
-
NewsEU supports Slovenian GSM-R roll-out
SLOVENIA: The European Commission agreed on March 15 to provide €99m from the Cohesion Fund to support the €149·5m national roll-out of GSM-R. The project will require more than 250 base stations on the 1 230 route-km rail network, along with a central control system and management centre. Completion is ...
-
NewsDB agrees to fit ETCS on Corridor A
GERMANY: Introduction of ERTMS on the Emmerich - Basel section of the Rotterdam - Genova Corridor A is to be completed by the end of 2018, Deutsche Bahn confirmed on March 8. Under the deployment strategy outlined by the European Commission in 2008, six priority corridors were due to be ...
-
NewsJR East introduces 320 km/h running
JAPAN: With the launch of its new timetable on March 16, East Japan Railway began regular operation at 320 km/h between Utsonomiya and Morioka on the Tohoku Shinkansen, using its Series E5 trainsets. This is currently the fastest permitted speed for revenue services in Japan. Derived from the Fastech 360 ...
-
NewsCaltrain upgrading deal agreed
USA: Work to upgrade and electrify the Caltrain commuter rail corridor between San Francisco and San Jose to accommodate high speed trains is set to move forward, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the California High Speed Rail Authority and the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board which ...
-
NewsNomad Digital acquires Inova Multimedia
GERMANY: Nomad Digital announced its acquisition of the assets and contracts of public transport information, entertainment and CCTV system supplier Inova Multimedia on March 19. Inova has delivered more than 28 000 display screens to customers including Alstom, Bombardier, Siemens, BLS and NBC Universal, for use in Germany, Austria, Belgium, ...
-
NewsOperating contracts awarded by Länder
GERMANY: The Land of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has awarded DB Regio a contract to operate Ost-West services for 15 years from 2015. The contract covers the operation of around 3·5 million train-km/year on non-electrified routes from Pasewalk to Lübeck, Grambow, Bützow and Ueckermünde. Meanwhile, Sachsen-Anhalt and Brandenburg have awarded the Mitteldeutsche S-Bahn-Netz ...
-
NewsJR East to test CBTC
JAPAN: East Japan Railway has shortlisted two European companies for a project to install communications-based train control on one of its Tokyo suburban lines. Alstom and Thales have been selected to bid for the work, which covers a 29·7 km section of the Joban Local Line between Ayase and ...
-
NewsUnified railway law aims to boost Europe - Asia freight
INTERNATIONAL: A joint declaration expressing willingness to create a common legal regime for rail traffic across Asia and Europe was signed by 37 countries at a ministerial meeting in Genève on February 26. The aim is to establish 'a unified set of transparent and predictable' legal conditions for international rail ...
-
NewsViaduct protection
UK: During a £12m upgrade of Network Rail’s Ouseburn Viaduct which carries the UK’s East Coast Main Line in Newcastle, Carillion identified a problem just above the rocker plates where, owing to limited access for applying protective paint, there was a potential for rainwater to build up. This could ...
-
NewsNews in Brief
India’s Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved construction of a 121·7 km broad-gauge line from Gevra Road to Pendra Road in Chhattisgarh. The Rs8·4bn project will by undertaken by a special purpose vehicle formed by Ircon International, South Eastern Coalfields and the state of Chhattishgarh. Swiss firm InterRail Holding ...
-
NewsAirline training for railway staff
UK: Train operator First Great Western has reached agreement with low-cost airline Flybe for more than 1 000 of its staff to participate in a purpose-designed customer service training course at the Flybe Training Academy near Exeter and at FGW's training unit at London Paddington over the next nine months. ...
-
News'No delay' to High Speed 2 as legal challenges dismissed
UK: Under-Secretary of State for Transport Simon Burns confirmed on March 15 that there would be ‘no delay’ to the planned High Speed 2 railway between London and the north of England after a series of legal challenges to the project were dismissed at the High Court ...
-
NewsLegal framework to support Islamabad - Istanbul freight
PAKISTAN: The Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail expects that Pakistan will become its 49th member state in September, after the government deposited an application for accession to the COTIF convention on February 21. The convention sets out a legal framework for international rail transport, and Pakistan's accession is ...
-
NewsWorld rail market March 2013
China: Construction contractor Samsung-Hsin Chong JV has appointed BMT Asia Pacific to provide system assurance and risk management for the Kowloon City Section of Hong Kong’s Shatin – Central Link project. Mexico: The Secretariat of Communications & Transportation has extended Viabilis’ concession for the Chiapas – Mayab railway from ...
-
NewsNS to buy stake in Den Haag city transport operator
NETHERLANDS: National passenger train operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen confirmed on March 13 that it is to go ahead with the purchase of a 49% stake in Den Haag city transport operator HTM. The €45m deal is still subject to final approval from the city council, which would hold a 51% ...
-
NewsFour railways save money with a joint train order
SWITZERLAND: Four metre-gauge operators in western Switzerland have jointly selected Stadler Bussnang to supply a total of 17 two and three-car electric multiple-units worth a total of SFr150m. Announcing the orders on March 13, Stadler said joint procurement had saved SFr28m compared to separate competitions and should offer long-term savings ...
-
NewsCFL Cargo delivers 60 metre beams by rail
EUROPE: CFL Cargo transported 14 concrete and rolled steel bridge beams each 60·6 m long from ArcelorMittal's Differdange plant in Luxembourg to Dresden-Friedrichstadt in Germany between March 11 and 12. CFL Cargo had not previously moved beams of such length by rail, and so a detailed transport plan had to ...
-
NewsKazakhstan plans 1 000 km high speed line
KAZAKHSTAN: National railway KTZ has awarded Systra a contract to oversee the design and construction of a 1 011 km high speed railway between Almaty and Astana. The proposed 1 520 mm gauge single-track line would be suitable for 250 km/h running. A 10 km bridge across Lake Balkhash ...
-
NewsOperator sought for Den Haag - Brussels service
NETHERLANDS: Den Haag's city-owned company The Hague Trains Holding has invited expressions of interest in a two-year contract to operate inter-city services between Den Haag and Brussels. An OJEU notice was published on March 13, following informal discussions with six potential operators and approval from the Dutch completion authority for ...
-
NewsVale suspends Río Colorado project
ARGENTINA: Brazilian mining company Vale announced on March 11 that it had informed the Argentinian government that it was suspending its Río Colorado project to develop potash deposits in the province of Mendoza. According to the company, 'in the current macroeconomic environment the economics of the project are not ...