All Railway Gazette International articles in September 2008
All articles published this month.
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NewsOpposition favours high speed line over third Heathrow runway
UK: Shadow Secretary of State for Transport Theresa Villiers announced on September 28 that Britain’s Conservative Party favoured construction of a high-speed north-south rail link instead of building a third runway at London’s Heathrow Airport. Linking Heathrow with St Pancras, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, the ambitious scheme would see ...
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NewsRFF seeks Nîmes – Montpellier offers
FRANCE: RFF has released a request for expressions of interest in the construction and management, through a public-private partnership, of the Nîmes – Montpellier bypass. The 70 km bypass follows a new alignment to connect the existing TGV Méditerranée route with the high speed line currently being built from Barcelona ...
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NewsToronto transit plans
CANADA: Toronto Transit Commission launched a tender on September 15 for project management and consultancy services to support its ambitious Transit City light rail expansion programme. Estimated value of the contract, which will last about 10 years, is C$375m. On August 27 TTC re-opened the procurement process for 204 ...
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Singapore to retrofit platform screen doors
SINGAPORE: The Land Transport Authority has awarded two contracts covering the installation of half-height platform screen doors at 36 elevated stations along the existing North-South and East-West MRT lines. This initiative forms part of the Land Transport Masterplan which was unveiled earlier this year (RG 3.08 p127). ST Electronics ...
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NewsSBB to order double-deck EMUs
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways is poised to call tenders for up to 200 high-capacity electric multiple-units for inter-city services. Confirming that bids will be issued before the end of the year, SBB said on August 18 that the trains would be built to a double-deck design. They are expected to ...
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NewsFugger Express is ready to roll
GERMANY: A party last month marked the arrival of the first EMUs to operate quasi-S-Bahn services radiating from Augsburg.
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NewsDB flotation planned for October 27
On September 26 Deutsche Bahn AG confirmed its plans for the partial flotation of the operating business DB Mobility Logistics AG. The first day of trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange will be October 27, when 24·9% of DB ML shares will go on offer to public and private investors. ...
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Tri-city RER to serve airport
POLAND: A contract to undertake a feasibility study for a suburban rail network in the Tri-city region of Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot was due to be awarded last month, following acceptance of the initial proposal by Poland's Ministry of Regional Development. The study should be completed by July 2009, ...
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Urban rail news in brief - October 2008
On August 24 Shenyang Deputy Mayor Xing Kai confirmed that construction had started on the Shenyang section of the Shenyang – Fushun inter-urban light rail project. Operation of the 61·1 km route is expected to commence in April 2009. The line will reduce journey times between the two cities from ...
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Air freight takes to the rails
EUROPE: The Eurocarex consortium has unveiled plans to order a fleet of dedicated trainsets in time to launch high speed freight trains in 2012. The prospect of high speed rail freight services linking some of Europe’s major airports is moving closer, after the partners in the Eurocarex project signed a ...
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NewsKashmir Valley line nears completion
INDIA: Building a railway deep into the heart of one of the world’s most inaccessible regions is a huge challenge for the surveying, design and construction teams.
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NewsWorld infrastructure market September 2008
Argentina: Tenders have been called for accessibility and other improvements at 22 Buenos Aires suburban stations, divided into two packages totalling 60m pesos. Also funded under a US$132m World Bank programme for 2008-10, an underpass is to be constructed within a budget of 42·5m pesos to replace a level crossing ...
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NewsWorld rolling stock market September 2008
Australia: Victoria state premier John Brumby has announced an order for a further nine three -car Bombardier VLocity DMUs to boost capacity on the V/Line network, along with an extra centre car to lengthen an existing two-car unit. Croatia: During June TŽV Gredelj delivered eight modernized passenger cars to ...
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NewsInfrabel consults on Brussels bottleneck
BELGIUM: Infrastructure manager Infrabel has initiated a public debate on ways to expand the capacity of the busy Brussels Junction railway linking Nord and Midi stations through the heart of the capital. Director-General Luc Lallemand says the additional capacity will be needed by 2020 at the latest, and he puts ...
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NewsHybrid DMU drive takes shape
INNOTRANS: Diesel engine specialist MTU Friedrichshafen unveiled a full-size mock-up of its proposed hybrid drive package for diesel multiple-units at InnoTrans in Berlin on September 25. MTU is working with an un-named partner to develop the hybrid traction package, which will be based on the existing PowerPack 6H 1800 underfloor ...
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High speed boosts share
SPAIN: On August 1 Renfe reported that the number of passengers carried by high speed services between Madrid and Barcelona had, compared to the same period in 2007, increased by 84·5% since February 20 when trains began using 1435 mm gauge infrastructure throughout (RG 3.08 p121). Having increased its ...
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Developing the delta
CHINA: 'When roads reach capacity, rail becomes the cheapest and fastest solution’, believes Ma Xiangming, Chief Engineer at the Guangdong Urban & Rural Planning & Design Institute, adding that the current lack of railway capacity risks holding back economic development in the Pearl River Delta. Chinese Railways has already quadrupled ...
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NewsRegional EMU is poised to enter service
GERMANY: The first Desiro Main Line EMU ordered by Angel Trains for use on Trans Regio’s MittelRhein service between Köln and Koblenz is now on test; Dr Harry Hondius rides the first four-car set at Wildenrath.
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A pioneer of innovation and sustainability
INDUSTRY: Representing the interests of the German railway engineering and supply sector at home and abroad, VDB provides a worldwide perspective on a growing global market.
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NewsDB keeps ICX options open
GERMANY: DB is to call tenders by the end of this year for new trainsets, currently designated ICX, which will replace its existing locomotive-hauled InterCity and EuroCity fleets from 2013 onwards. Ralf Roman Rossberg reports.