All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 942
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NewsComprehensive spending review backs light rail
UK: In his Comprehensive Spending Review speech on October 20, Chancellor George Osborne confirmed that the Department for Transport will make funding available for the Midland Metro extension from Snow Hill to New Street in Birmingham, and for Phase 2 of Nottingham Express Transit to Chilwell and Clifton.DfT is providing ...
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NewsBrussels takes up option for more Flexity trams
BELGIUM: Brussels transport operator STIB has exercised a €170m option for a further 65 Flexity Outlook trams, Bombardier Transportation announced on October 28. The order is a follow-on from two contracts signed in 2008, and covers 46 five-section 32 m long T3000 cars and 19 seven-section 43 m long T4000 ...
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NewsQueensland orders 'next generation' diesel Tilt Train
AUSTRALIA: A third diesel Tilt Train has been ordered to replace existing rolling stock on Queensland Rail's Cairns - Brisbane Sunlander service, Queensland state Premier Anna Bligh announced on October 27. It will be built at the Maryborough works of Downer EDI, which supplied the two diesel and two electric ...
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NewsLatest model Tracklayer TL70 comes with cranes
CZECH REPUBLIC: Skanska took delivery of the latest design of Desec Tracklayer TL70 Turnout Replacement Machine during October, to support its ambitions to become a major European trackwork contractor. The machine has light cranes at both ends which can be used to lift sleepers and other materials, and can also ...
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NewsVR plans locomotive fleet renewal
FINLAND: National rail operator VR announced a €700m renewal plan on October 2 which will see orders placed for around 200 diesel and electric locomotives to replace obsolete traction and expand the total fleet to handle forecast growth. Finland’s 1524 mm gauge and extreme winters will pose a challenge to ...
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NewsKazakhstan signs contract for 295 Alstom-TMH locomotives
KAZAKHSTAN: The Chairman of state railway Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, Askar Mamin, signed a €1·3bn firm order for 295 electric locotives with Alstom and Transmash Holding when President Nursultan Nazarbayev visited French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris on October 27. The order covers 200 KZ8A twin-unit freight locomotives and 95 KZ4A ...
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NewsKorea's HEMU-400X high speed train to roll in 2011
SOUTH KOREA: Hyundai Rotem plans to complete a prototype of the HEMU-400X high speed train during 2011. Launched as the Hanvit 400 project in 2007, the HEMU-400X is a distributed power trainset with a design speed of 400 km/h. With four axles powered by synchronous induction motors on each car, ...
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NewsKnorr-Bremse acquires Heine Resistors
EUROPE: Knorr-Bremse's Microelettrica Scientifica subsidiary has acquired Heine Resistors GmbH, a Dresden-based manufacturer of specialist resistors for power and rail vehicle applications including rheostatic braking. Heine was founded in 1904 and now has 60 staff. It recorded sales of €10m in 2009, with a strong customer base in its German ...
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NewsNews in Brief
The OFP La Rochelle joint venture of EuroCargo Rail and the Port of La Rochelle became the first of the new French port railway companies to begin operations on October 8. CSX opened the Liberty Corridor Freightway on October 8, providing a route for double-stack trains from the port of ...
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NewsNext side of Yangtze Delta high speed rail triangle opens
CHINA: The Shanghai - Hangzhou Passenger-Dedicated Line opened on October 26, with 350 km/h running cutting the 202 km journey between the cities from 1½ h to a fastest journey time of around 45 min. There will also be semi-fast and stopping trains serving the nine stations on the route, ...
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NewsCorridor X funds awarded
EUROPE: The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development is providing two loans to support the development of Pan -European Corridor X through the Balkans. On October 15 EBRD signed its first rail sector loan in Macedonia, allocating €17·6m for upgrading of 53 km of track on three sections of Corridor ...
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NewsQbuzz wins Utrecht sneltram concession
NETHERLANDS: Utrecht regional transport authority BRU has selected Qbuzz for a concession to operate bus services and the sneltram light rail line from the city of Utrecht to the satellite towns of Nieuwegein and IJsselstein. The contract runs for eight years from December 11 2011, and is the first Dutch ...
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NewsAppian sells Skoda
SKODA TRANSPORTATION: Regulatory approval is expected in November for the sale of US investment company Appian Group’s 100% stake in the Czech Republic’s largest rolling stock manufacturer for an undisclosed price. Under the deal announced on September 20 more than 50% of the company is to be bought by Tomás ...
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NewsStadler opens train commissioning centre
SWITZERLAND: Stadler Rail officially opened its train commissioning centre in Erlen on October 22. The Inbetriebsetzungs-Zentrum will enable Stadler to test and commission trainsets up to 150 m long, too long for the tracks at its Bussnang and Altenrhein assembly plants. Construction of the centre on a site alongside Swiss ...
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NewsJapanese suppliers agree rolling stock component alliance
JAPAN: Hitachi and Toyo Denki Seizo have agreed a strategic alliance covering the supply of electrical components for rolling stock in export markets. The companies will supply each other's products to benefit from their strengths, and will look into joint product design and development. The alliance was announced on ...
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NewsDSB wins fifth Swedish passenger contract
SWEDEN: Upplands Lokaltrafik has awarded DSB Uppland a 10½ year contract to operate Upptåget local passenger services from June 12 2011. The new operator is a subsidiary of Danish national passenger operator DSB's Swedish business DSB Svergie. The contract announced on October 21 covers the 157 km route north from ...
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NewsRail Automation Business Unit opens
SLOVAKIA: Siemens Mobility officially opened a dedicated Rail Automation Business Unit at its Zilina Engineering Centre in northwest Slovakia on October 20. The company expects to increase the number of signalling and control specialists at the site to 130 over the next five years, in response to 'encouraging market trends' ...
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NewsMontréal metro car order placed at last
CANADA: Société de transport de Montréal confirmed on October 22 that it had signed a C$1·2bn contract with a consortium of Bombardier and Alstom for the supply of 468 rubber-tyred metro cars. The 52 nine-car trainsets will allow STM to replace its MR-63 fleet, which has been in service since ...
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NewsRail revival to replace Cambodia's bamboo trains
CAMBODIA: Rehabilitation of the run-down and war-damaged railway network reached a milestone when the initial section was officially reopened on October 22. The first cement traffic was carried in early October on a 117 km stretch between Phnom Penh and Touk Meas, and passenger services are planned for the ...