All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 838
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NewsNS could take stake in Den Haag transport operator
NETHERLANDS: A letter of intent under which national passenger operator NS could take a 49% stake in Den Haag bus and tram operator HTM was signed by the two parties and the city council on September 25. The deal could help to improve integration and travel information to encourage modal ...
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NewsPrime Minister launches work on Belarus rolling stock factory
BELARUS: Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich attended a ceremony on October 4 to launch construction of a factory at Fanipol near Minsk where a 40:60 joint venture of tram manufacturer Belkommunmash and Stadler Rail of Switzerland will jointly assemble rolling stock for the CIS market. ‘We are planning to build a ...
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NewsKaohsiung tenders catenary-free light rail project
TAIWAN: Bids are due by November 8 for a turnkey contract to construct and equip the first stage of Kaohsiung’s long-planned circular light rail line, which is now to be built as a catenary-free project. Authorised by the national government last year, the line was to be implemented as a ...
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NewsUrban rail news in brief - October 2012
Construction of the 33·8 km Nanjing metro Line 4 is to begin by the end of this year for completion by late 2015. The 5·1 km Northwest light rail extension to Dunlap Avenue in Phoenix, Arizona, has been brought forward, with completion now envisaged for 2016. The project was to ...
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NewsNews in Brief - October 2012
Veolia Transport has been awarded a two-year extension to its contract to operate commuter services in Auckland, New Zealand. The 10-year contract was originally due to end in March 2014. EBRD is providing a senior 15-year loan of up to €46·4m to fund an upgrade of the 30 km Kumanovo ...
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NewsFrench government sets out transport priorities
FRANCE: The broad outlines of future transport policy were unveiled by Transport Minister Frédéric Cuvillier at a cabinet meeting on October 3. As well as supporting economic development, this would aim to ensure equal treatment for all regions and facilitate the transition to a low-carbon economy. Cuvillier announced that a ...
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NewsForth bridge to be replaced
AUSTRALIA: Tasmania's state-owned railway TasRail has awarded VEC Civil Engineering a contract to replace the Forth River Rail Bridge. The deal announced on October 5 is the latest in a series of bridge replacement contracts with a total value of A$20m won by VEC, which is to build new bridges ...
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NewsChengdu metro Line 2 opens
CHINA: The first phase of Chengdu metro Line 2 opened on September 16. The 22·4 km line with 20 stations runs northwest to southeast, from Chadianzi bus station to the Chengdu Administration Institute. CSR supplied the trainsets for the new line under a 520m yuan contract. An 8·8 km ...
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NewsTest running on Venezuelan line to start this month
VENEZUELA: Test running is expected to start this month on the 128·8 km rail link between Puerto Cabello and La Encrucijada, according to Franklin Perez, President of the state railway authority Instituto de Ferrocarriles del Estado. Reporting progress with the government's National Railway Development Plan on September 24, Perez said ...
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NewsZhengzhou - Wuhan high speed line opens
CHINA: Completion of the latest phase of the Beijing - Guangzhou Passenger Dedicated Line was marked with simultaneous departures of 380AL trainsets from each end of the Zhengzhou - Wuhan section at 08.59 on September 28. The 536 km route links Wuhan in Hubei province with the city of Zhengzhou, ...
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NewsPortland Streetcar Loop aims to attract new riders
USA: The Portland Streetcar Central Loop opened on September 22, extending the city's tram service across the Willamette River to the east side of the city. The 5·4 km CL line is operated as a one-way loop connected to the North-South Line. It crosses the Broadway bascule bridge, then runs ...
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NewsJR East restores Tokyo’s historic station building
JAPAN: East Japan Railway reopened the historic station building at Tokyo Station on October 1 following a five-year restoration costing ¥50bn. A formal ceremony on September 30 to mark the occasion was cancelled because of an impending typhoon. One of the Japanese capital’s most famous buildings, the 335-m long station ...
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NewsCN begins work on 'benchmark' training centres
CANADA: A groundbreaking ceremony at Canadian National's Transcona workshop in Winnipeg on September 28 launched the construction of the first of two 'state-of-the-art' staff training centres. Work on the second facility at the Woodcrest Mechanical Shop in the suburbs of Chicago is to begin next year. 'These facilities will be ...
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NewsAlstom unveils KZ8A freight locomotive
KAZAKHSTAN: The first of 200 KZ8A twin-section freight locomotives being supplied by an Alstom-led consortium to national railway KTZ was unveiled in Belfort, eastern France, on October 2. Under a contract valued at €1·3bn signed in March 2011, the EKZ joint venture of KTZ (50%), Transmashholding (25%) ...
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NewsTianjin metro Line 3 opens
CHINA: Following an official inauguration ceremony on September 28, Tianjin metro Line 3 began carrying passengers with the start of a period of trial running on October 1. Line 3 runs 29·7 km through the city from Gaoxinqu in the southwest to Xiaodian in the northeast, with 23 stations. There ...
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NewsAll franchising on hold as InterCity West Coast award cancelled
UK: Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin has commissioned an urgent review of the franchise tendering programme, following the discovery of significant failings in the bidding process for the InterCity West Coast franchise which was due to change hands on December 9. The Department of Transport had selected FirstGroup ...
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NewsCAF Signalling brand launched
CAF: InnoTrans was used to publicise the rebranding of Eliop Seinalia under its new name CAF Signalling. The show was the venue for the global launch of three product lines for the international market: Naos supervision and control technology; the Auriga range of ETCS Level 1 and 2 equipment; and ...
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NewsRail America sale completed
USA: Genesee & Wyoming Inc confirmed on October 1 that it had completed the acquisition of RailAmerica from Fortress Investment Group, along with an associated financial restructuring. Rail America has a portfolio of 45 short line railroads totalling 12 000 km, a similar length to GWI’s 66 railways and ...
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NewsReliveried TGV POS spearheads Lyria expansion
EUROPE: Franco-Swiss train operator Lyria SAS unveiled a new look on September 25, presenting in Paris the first of 19 refurbished TGV POS sets which it is acquiring to operate an expanded range of cross-border services between France and Switzerland. Originally established as a joint venture between the two state ...
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NewsWabtec buys LH Group for US$48m
UK: Wabtec Corp announced the US$48m acquisition of diesel engine, transmission and bogie overhaul and industrial locomotive supplier LH Group on October 2. The LH Group companies are to become part of Wabtec Rail Group, which includes Wabtec Rail Ltd, Wabtec Rail Scotland and Brush Traction. Based ...