All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 899
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NewsHow to sell train tickets online
UK: Consumer body Passenger Focus has published a study into how passengers buy rail tickets online, making recommendations to improve the process. The report was commissioned from Outlook and follows a study of ticket vending machine interfaces. Passenger Focus says online purchasing is becoming the default choice for long-distance travel. ...
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NewsADB approves loan for Indian Railways investment programme
INDIA: The Asian Development Bank board approved a multi-tranche financing facility of up to US$500m to support the Ministry of Railways' US$1·1bn Railway Sector Investment Programme on August 31. Due to be completed by December 2018, the programme includes double tracking, electrification and resignalling on busy freight and passenger routes ...
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NewsBrunswick Rail sees growth potential in Russian leasing market
RUSSIA: Wagon leasing firm Brunswick Rail announced the purchase of metals transportation specialist Proftrans on August 30, saying the acquisition widens the services Brunswick Rail is able to offer as well as increasing its fleet by 1 647 open wagons. 'This deal is interesting and unique because Brunswick Rail has ...
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NewsIarnród Éireann proposes 160 km/h investment programme
IRELAND: A €175m programme of infrastructure works to raise inter-city line speeds to 160 km/h has been put forward by Iarnród Éireann for possible inclusion in the 2012-16 national development plan which the government is to publish later this year. IÉ completed a major rolling stock renewal programme under the ...
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NewsBy rail from Buenos Aires to Montevideo
SOUTH AMERICA: President Cristina Fernández of Argentina met her Uruguayan counterpart José Mujica in Salto on August 29, having travelled from Ayuí using the rail link between the two countries across the Salto Grande dam on the River Uruguay, briefly used by passenger trains between 1982 and 1985. The ceremony ...
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NewsAll change at Vigo
SPAIN: RENFE services began calling at a temporary station in Vigo in the northwestern region of Galicia on August 28, following the offical opening of the new facility by Development Minister José Blanco the day before. With three platforms 285 m, 165 m and 100 m long and a ...
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NewsDocklands Light Railway opens to Stratford International
UK: A 5 km extension of London's Docklands Light Railway driverless light metro from Canning Town to Stratford International opened on August 31. The route is intended to meet the growing demand for public transport in Lower Lea Valley area of east London, and also provide access to 2012 ...
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NewsRZD seeks international high speed expertise
RUSSIA: Foreign contractors would be invited to bid for the construction of a proposed high speed line between Moscow and St Petersburg, Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin has confirmed. A seminar was held in Moscow on August 29 to discuss the potential for South Korean suppliers and financiers to co-operate ...
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NewsImperio progress
ROMANIA: The first Imperio tram produced by Astra Vagoane was unveiled outside Arad city hall on August 25. The low-floor tram has been developed in collaboration with Siemens, which supplied the electrical equipment. At the unveiling, the mayor of Arad said he hoped the city's metre-gauge network would be an ...
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NewsCrossrail rolling stock contract delayed pending procurement review
UK: The timescale for procurement of around 60 electric multiple-units for London's Crossrail project has been extended, promoter Crossrail Ltd announced on August 30. This should align deliveries with the tunnel construction timetable and allow the conclusions of a government review of public procurement to be taken into account ...
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NewsSBS Transit selected to operate Downtown Line
SINGAPORE: Land Transport Authority has selected SBS Transit to operate the 42 km Downtown metro line which is scheduled to open in three stages in 2013, 2015 and 2017. This is the first contract to be awarded under a revised financing framework which LTA adopted in 2010. The contract announced ...
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NewsHong Kong to get driverless trains
CHINA: CNR Changchun has announced a HK$1·4bn contract to supply driverless metro trains for Hong Kong MTR's future West Island and South Island lines. The manufacturer said these Type A sets would be the first fully automated heavy metro trains in China, and would use 'independently developed' technology.
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NewsIzmir metro is CSR's stepping stone to Europe
TURKEY: The Mayor of Izmir was in China on August 10 for the unveiling of a light metro trainset which manufacturer CSR Zhuzhou said is 'the crown of Chinese urban rail products', and proof that the company's scientific and technological innovation meets world standards. Imzir Metro placed a 350m yuan ...
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NewsCoach plant plans
EUROPE: Plans are being developed for the production of modern passenger rolling stock at plants in Belarus and Hungary. Ukraine’s Kriukov Car Works is investing US$1·46m to take a 15% stake in Gomel Car Repair Plant, a joint venture with Belarus’ state-owned Kalinin rolling stock plant which ...
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NewsProgress with metro and tram shared track project
NORWAY: Oslo T-Bane Line 6 services were extended by 2 km from Jar to Bekkestua via a relocated Ringstabekk station on August 15, completing the latest stage of an ongoing project to rebuild the Kolsåsbanen light rail route for shared running by metro trains and trams. Reopening of the next ...
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NewsBombardier signalling centre opens
SPAIN: Bombardier's signalling centre of excellence at San Sebastián de los Reyes was officially opened on July 20. Built at a cost of €3m to serve the European and Latin American markets, the facility is currently developing the Cityflo 650 CBTC that Bombardier is to supply to London Underground, as ...
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NewsPlastic sleeper joint venture
INTERNATIONAL: Axion International and Sicut Holding have agreed to establish Axion Rail as a 65:35 joint venture which will supply recycled composite sleepers worldwide under licence from Rutgers University. 'We have been working with our partners at Sicut since Axion’s founding’, said Axion President & CEO Steve Silverman. Axion ...
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NewsSaudi Arabian train on test at Velim
SAUDI ARABIA: The first of eight fixed-formation diesel trainsets which Saudi Railways Organization ordered from CAF in July 2008 is now undergoing trials at the VUZ testing centre at Velim in the Czech Republic. The 180 km/h push-pull trainset is formed of five 26·8 m long passenger coaches and single-cab ...
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NewsFirst major Afghan railway completed
AFGHANISTAN: Freight services reportedly began running on Afghanistan's first major railway on August 20-21. This followed the signing on August 4 of a three-year agreement for Uzbek national railway UTY to operate the 75 km 1 520 mm gauge line, which it built at a cost of US$165m using Asian ...
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NewsCoal miner orders diesel locomotives
RUSSIA: The Mecheltrans Vostok transport subsidiary of mining, metals and power group Mechel announced an order for 16 Sinara Transport Machines TEM8 diesel-electric locomotives on August 5. They will be delivered in 2012-14 to operate a 315 km railway which Mechel has built to link its Elga Coal Complex mining ...