Railway Gazette International articles from April 2005

Railway Gazette International archives from April 2005

Civils and signals block speed-up on world's fastest line.(COMMENT)(railroads)
April 1, 2005... PRESENTING a report to the Spanish Parliament on difficulties encountered with the Madrid-Lleida section of the Madrid-Barcelona high speed line, Development Minister Magdalena Alvarez said last month that the assessment confirmed 'the...

Private boxes in prospect.(COMMENT)(Indian Railways Commercial Organization Network)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... AT THE END of February Indian Minister of Railways Laloo Prasad Yadav published an unashamedly populist budget for IR's 2005-06 financial year, with no fares increases at all and no rise in freight rates. Freight tariffs are, however, to be...

ICE3 hits obstacles en route to Paris.(COMMENT)(railroads)
April 1, 2005... TALKING of flying ballast (left), a cautionary tale emerges from German Railway. In a statement issued on March 3, DB explained for the first time precisely what delayed the start of 1CE3 services from Koln to Brussels over Belgium's 300 km/h...

Plan Fret aid package approved.(NEWS)(Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Francais)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... FINANCING arrangements for the restructuring of French National Railways' loss-making freight business were approved by the European Commission on March 2. The three-year restructuring plan, which includes productivity and performance...

Renfe.(NEWS)(Red Nacional Ferrocarriles Espanoles)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... RENFE Operadora has started test running between Castellon and Tarragona with the first Class 120 gauge-convertible EMUs built by Alstom and CAF. An initial build of 12 four-car units was ordered in 2001 to operate regional services on and off...

Thai double-tracking advances.(NEWS)(State Railway of Thailand)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... STATE RAILWAY of Thailand expects to start calling tenders in May for double-tracking of five main lines totalling 757 route-km at a cost of US$1.5bn. According to SRT Governor Chitsanti Dhanasobhon, the investment forms part of a...

BNDES to take stake in Ferronorte.(NEWS)(Brazilian Development Bank)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... LAST MONTH Brazilian federal investment bank BNDES was expecting to complete a deal to take a 31% stake in Ferronorte, by converting debt and providing new resources, with the aim of increasing capacity on the soya export corridor between Alto...

East-west box test.(NEWS)(Railion)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... BIDDING to win more freight traffic between China and Europe from ocean shipping, a trial container train was run from Hohhot to Frankfurt last month. Dispatched from the Inner Mongolian city on March 1, the train arrived in...

Iranian.(NEWS)(Islamic Iranian Republic Railways)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Islamic Iranian Republic Railways expects to open its direct line between Bafgh and Mashhad for revenue operations in May. The inauguration will coincide with the next meeting of the trilateral joint venture developing the 511 km North-South...

Barcelona works start.(NEWS)(Barcelona Sants station in preparation for the construction of new tracks)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... ON MARCH 3 Dragados and Tecsa began work on a [euro]29.3m contract that forms the first part of a [euro]220m programme to increase capacity at Barcelona Sants station in preparation for the arrival of high speed services (RG 9.04 p522). The...

Sishen upgrade deal agreed.(NEWS)(Kumba Resources Ltd. contracts with Transnet Ltd.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... SOUTH AFRICAN transport holding group Transnet signed Heads of Agreement last month with mining company Kumba Resources, paving the way for upgrading of the Sishen-Saldanha iron ore line. Announced by Transnet CEO Maria Ramos on March 7,...

High speed loco accord.(NEWS)(Russian railways Public Corp., Transmash Holding signed Bombardier Transportation for high speed passenger trains )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... PLANS to order dual-system electric locos for high speed passenger trains were announced by Russian Railways President Gennady Fadeyev on March 2. On the same day RZD and Russian locomotive builder Transmash Holding signed an agreement...

Malaysian International Shipping Corp.(NEWS)(order of two Type CKD8C diesel locos from Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Works)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Malaysian International Shipping Corp has taken delivery of two Type CKD8C diesel locos from China's Dalian Loco Works to haul container trains on the isolated 75 km railway between Kerteh and Kuantan port on the east coast, built by national...

Perpignan--Figueres funding signed.(NEWS)(TP Ferro)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... ON MARCH 16 AFITF President Gerard Longuet signed the French transport infrastructure funding agency's first payment, a sum of [euro]30.1m forming the third tranche of support from the French government for the 44.5 km new line between...

DMU heads north.(NEWS)(diesel multiple-unit)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... NAMIBIAN President Sam Nujoma and around 600 high-level guests participated in a ceremony on March 12 to inaugurate Oshivelo station on the N$90m northern extension from Tsumeb to Oshikango. The naming ceremony for Dr Sam Njoma station...

Sri Lankan.(NEWS)(Sri Lankan railways)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Sri Lankan Transport Minister Felix Perera participated in a ceremony on February 20, when a special train was run over the 120 km between Colombo and Peraliya to mark the reopening of SLR's southern main line following the tsunami disaster on...

Passenger projects gain momentum.(NEWS)(Nuevo Central Argentino )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... FOLLOWING the approval last month of bidding conditions by the Ministry of Federal Planning, the Argentinian government was expected to call tenders for a 20-year concession to operate passenger trains between Buenos Aires and Posadas. Trenes...

Tibet to get high-altitude trains.(NEWS)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... CHINA'S Ministry of Railways has ordered 361 passenger coaches designed for use at high altitudes. Due to enter service from June 2006, they will be used on trains to Lhasa from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The [euro]213m order was...

Darling starts Trent valley quadrupling.(NEWS)(Alistair Darling)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... UK TRANSPORT Secretary Alistair Darling participated in a ceremony at Lichfield on February 22 to mark the start of work to quadruple a 19.3 km section of the West Coast Main Line between Tamworth and Armitage. Network Rail has set up a...

Syrian Railways.(NEWS)(ordered 10 inter-city trainsets from Rotem )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The Director-General of Syrian Railways, Abdul Men'am al-Bam, announced at the end of February that CFS had ordered 10 inter-city trainsets from Rotem at a cost of US$64m. Due for delivery by the end of 2006, the 160 km/h sets will each carry...

Signalling contracts.(NEWS)(Ansaldo Segnalamento Ferroviario SpA)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... ITALIAN infrastructure manager RFI has awarded two contracts totalling [euro]180 m to Ansaldo Segnalamento Ferroviaro for resignalling work on the national network. The larger contract, valued at [euro]136 m, covers the installation of...

i-Trans bids for research funding.(NEWS)(railroads)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... WITH THE AIM of creating Europe's leading centre for railway systems, 40 companies and 16 research bodies in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France have come together as i-Trans to bid for government funding under the poles de competitivite...

SBB Cargo Italia.(NEWS)(services)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... SBB Cargo Italia put its first Bombardier-built Class 484 dual-system locos into revenue service on February 25. Currently limited to Italian tracks, they will work cross-border services between Milano, Luino and Bellinzona, and may also run to...

Tehran expands.(CITY NEWS)(Tehran Urban and Suburban Railway Co.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... IRANIAN President President Mohammad Khatami formally inaugurated a further section of Tehran suburban Line 5 on March 15. The 35 km line from Sadeghieh to Karaj has been extended 9 km to Golshahr, with one intermediate station at Mahdasht. In...

Crossrail bill introduced.(CITY NEWS)(railroad crossing construction)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... A BILL to authorise construction of the east-west Crossrail Line 1 under central London was introduced to Parliament on February 22. Unlike an earlier private bill that failed in May 1994, the new hybrid bill is backed by the government. ...

Boston.(CITY NEWS)(Mitt Rooney unveiled a 20-year transport plan)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Massachusetts Governor Mitt Rooney unveiled a 20-year transport plan on March 10, envisaging investment of $31bn. Rail projects in the package include a $670m extension of Boston commuter rail services to Fall River and New Bedford,...

Mexico suburban makes progress.(CITY NEWS)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... TWO CONSORTIA have been shortlisted for a concession to develop suburban services around Mexico City. The two groups were expected to lodge their partnership documentation by the end of March, with technical and financial bids due in May. ...

Persson starts Citytunneln boring.(CITY NEWS)(Goran Persson)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... ON MARCH 8 Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson formally inaugurated tunnelling work for the 17 km Citytunneln project in Malmo. Emphasising that the improved rail network had a role to play in reducing road traffic and related pollution,...

AB Storstockholms Lokaltrafik.(CITY NEWS)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The first of 55 Class X60 Lirex low-floor EMUs being built by Alstom for Stockholm commuter services has started test running in Sweden. Last month AB Storstockholms Lokaltrafik invited prequalification tenders for a new concession to operate...

Paris invests in suburban renewals.(CITY NEWS)(Ile de France transport authority)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... ILE DE France transport authority STIF has approved in principle a [euro]324m upgrading of the northern section of Paris RER Line B, and expects to give the formal go-ahead in September. By upgrading the existing RFF long-distance tracks...

Glatttalbahn.(CITY NEWS)(light rail network construction)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The Zurich regional administration has approved a credit of SFr268m towards the second phase of the Glatttalbahn light rail network. Work on the first phase between Messe/Hallenstadion and Auzelg began in autumn 2004. Construction of the second...

Dubai Metro bids opened.(CITY NEWS)(Mitsubishi, Obayashi and Kajima with Turkish civil engineering group Yapi Merkezi )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... A JAPANESE consortium of Mitsubishi, Obayashi and Kajima with Turkish civil engineering group Yapi Merkezi has submitted the lowest bid for the first phase of the Dubai automated light metro network. The final tenders for civil, mechanical...

Circular revival.(Pakistan's railways' limited services reopened)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... ON MARCH 8, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz inaugurated limited services on a section of the Karachi Circular Railway, which is being progressively reopened after a decade-long closure (RG 12.05 p816). The Governor of Sindh Province...

Macau plans light rail network.(city news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... TENDERS are to be invited next year for construction of a 27 km light rail network in the Macau Special Administrative Region, with the aim of having the first routes operational by 2009. Proposals for the three-line network were unveiled...

Skoda Transportation.(trial and testing new trains)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Skoda Transportation has started testing a prototype Type 6MT metro trainset (right) at Praha Metro's Kacerov test track. Intended as a replacement for Russian-built stock on metros in Eastern Europe, the Type 6MT has 20 m long stainless-steel...

Hanoi.(CITY NEWS)(Prime Minister Phan Van Khai approves rail line construction plans)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai approved in February the plans to build a 14.5 km light rail line in Hanoi (RG 7.04 p389). Running from Cau Dien to Cat Linh, with a 1.5 km underground section, the line is expected to open in 2010. The...

Miami expansion package takes shape.(Miami Transit Authority contracts HNTB Corp )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... MIAMI-DADE Transit Authority has appointed a prime consultant to assist with development of the long-planned east-west metro route. HNTB Corp will help with engineering design and undertake initial environmental impact studies. ...

Beijing.(construction of a high speed rail link to the airport to begin)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The Beijing City Government has approved plans for a US$602m high speed rail link to the city's airport, on which work will start this year for completion in time for the 2008 Olympic Games. The 27 km route will be built in two parts. The...

Bangladesh.(Ministry of Communications calls for tenders of engineering services)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Bangladesh: The Ministry of Communications has called tenders for consultants to undertake feasibility studies into double-tracking and electrification of the Dhaka-Chittagong main line. The study will also look at building a cut-off from...

Belarus.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Belarus: The creation of a joint venture to operate international container trains through Belarus was discussed by DB Chairman Hartmut Mehdorn and Belarus Railway Director Vladimir Jerelo at a meeting in Minsk during February.

Cambodia.(material supply)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Cambodia: KTMB of Malaysia is to supply used and surplus materials from the Rawang-Ipoh double tracking project to help complete the 48 km cross-border link between Sisophon and Poipet in Thailand.

Canada.(negotiations, Farmer Rail Car Coalition)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Canada: On March 9 Transport Minister J-C Lapierre announced that the government is to open negotiations for the transfer of the federally-owned fleet of 12 400 grain wagons to the Farmer Rail Car Coalition.

China.(Inner Mongolia to start work)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... China: Inner Mongolia's Railway Bureau has announced that work will start in June on a 177 km electrified line from Jining to Zhangjiakou in Hebei province, shortening the Hohhot-Beijing route by 125 km. Work will also begin on double-tracking...

Czech Republic.(CD begins trial operation)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Czech Republic: CD has begun 100 000 km of trial revenue operation on services from Brno of a prototype Class 835 two-car stainless steel DMU built and owned by Metrovagonmash. Based on the Class 6341 supplied to MAV, the 120 km/h...

Europe.(twice-weekly freight service launched)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Europe: On February 21 CMA CGM Group intermodal subsidiary Rail Link launched North Med Shuttle, a twice-weekly freight service between Marseille and Ludwigshafen.

India.(Indian Railways' restructuring of divisions)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... India: Indian Railways is to separate Darjeeling Himalayan Railway from North East Frontier Railway, operating the 610 mm gauge line as an independent entity based at Kurseong. Annual losses on the UNESCO world heritage listed railway total Rs...

Israel.(new departments created of Israel Railways)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Israel: Two new departments have been created within IR in an organisational change. One will cover Five-Year Plan Management, while the Business & Real Estate department will be a profit centre alongside Passenger and Freight.

National Infrastructure Committee.(approves planned route for Jezreel Valley railway)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The National Infrastructure Committee has provisionally approved the planned route of the Jezreel Valley railway between Haifa and Bet-She'an, with eight intermediate stations.

Japan.(ceremonies)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Japan: On February 27 the Governor of Aomori prefecture Shingo Mimura ceremonially blasted the last section of rock to hole through the 26 455 m Hakkoda tunnel on the Tohoku Shinkansen extension from Hachinohe to Aomori, which is due to open in...

Swedish State Railways.(launches electrical motor units )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... At the end of February, Swedish State Railways put the first of its 43 X40 double-deck EMUs into revenue service on the Stockholm-Eskilstuna-Arboga route. Ordered from Alstom for SKr3bn, the X40s had been expected to enter service last October...

New Zealand.(Land Transport New Zealand to contribute for a electrification study)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... New Zealand: Land Transport New Zealand is to contribute NZ$760 000 towards a NZ$1m electrification study being undertaken by Auckland Regional Transport Authority. Procurement of rolling stock will begin this year to meet anticipated passenger...

Pakistan.(Pakistan Railways' plans for reviving rail services to India)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Pakistan: PR has put forward two proposals to revive services on the metre-gauge line from Khokhropar to Munabao in India. The track could be rehabilitated at a cost of Rs600m, or a parallel broad-gauge line built to link with the planned...

Portugal.(Arriva's joint venture with Barraqueiro)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Portugal: Arriva has formed a 50:50 joint venture with Barraqueiro to run buses and the recently-revised concession for the Fertagus rail service in Lisboa. The joint venture will also operate the Metro Transportes do Sul tramway, currently...

Serbia.(Serbian Railways' restructuring)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Serbia: On March 1 the government brought into force legislation for the restructuring of Serbian Railways, cutting 3 750 posts from the 26 000 payroll. In 2007 SZ will become a holding company with four separate subsidiaries managing...

South Africa.(Airborne Laser Solutions)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... South Africa: Airborne Laser Solutions has completed a comprehensive survey of infrastructure along Spoornet lines using an aircraft-mounted laser. Up to 200 km can be covered in a day, with a vertical accuracy of 100 mm and resolution of 50...

Spain.(Passenger services suspended for emergency repairs)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Spain: Passenger services are to be suspended between Balaguer and La Pobla de Segur in June for a period of up to six months to enable [euro]18m of emergency repairs to be undertaken. Having assumed ownership of the route on January 1, the...

USA.(Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... USA: At a cost of $180m, the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board has extended Amtrak's contract to operate Caltrain commuter services to June 2009, with two performance-related one year extensions.

BART.(Bay Area Rapid Transit District contracts)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... BART has won a five-year extension of its contract to manage the Capitol Corridor service between Sacramento, Oakland and San Jose. Amtrak operates and maintains the trains and feeder bus service.

China.(Quzhou Changshan Railway Co., finance, Changshan Cement Co.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... China: In a pilot private financing scheme, 60% of the 775m yuan cost of a 45 km line expected to open in 2006 is to come from bank loans. A 32.5% stake in the Quzhou Changshan Railway Co will be owned by the private Changshan Cement Co,...

France.(RFF, finance)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... France: On March 10 the RFF board voted to put in place a financing package for the eastern section of TGV Rhin-Rhone, with a view to starting construction during 2006. RFF is contributing [euro]302m, and a further [euro]64.5m will come from...

Sweden.(sales)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Sweden: Group sales at Green Cargo totalled [euro]658m in 2004, down from [euro]868.5m in 2003 because of the sale of CombiTrans Groupage. Profit after tax was [euro]4.8m, up [euro]14.5m on the previous year.

Switzerland.(Finance)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Switzerland: Parliament has voted to provide SFr1.1bn for the first phase of the international links programme, rather than SFr665m agreed in January. This will fund 12 projects, leaving only Geneve-Lyon and Lausanne-Vallorbe in the second...

Turkey.(Finance)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Turkey: JBIC has signed an Official Development Assistance loan totalling [Ren]98.7bn with the Turkish government for work on the 13.6 km Bosporus tunnel project. [Ren]12.5bn was provided in 1999.

Uzbekistan.(Finance)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Uzbekistan: Germany's KfW is providing UTZ with a [euro]25.3m credit to fund electrification of the route from Toshkent to Angren.

Venezuela.(IAFE gets finance from government)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Venezuela: The government has allocated US$202m to IAFE, which is aiming to complete construction of the Caracas-Tuy Medio suburban route by October 2006.

Argentina.(Ferroexpreso Pampeano contracts)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Argentina: National Railway Equipment Co of the USA is supplying four rebuilt GM-EMD G12 locomotives to FEPSA. Originally manufactured for National Railways of Mexico, they have received 1 676 mm gauge bogies and the Qtron fault diagnosis...

Chile.(EFE's contracts with Sice-Enyse and Cam)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Chile: EFE has signed a US$180m contract with a consortium of Sice-Enyse and Cam to upgrade electrification, signalling and telecoms on the Santiago-Chillan route, including installation of automatic warning equipment at 30 level crossings (RG...

FEPASA.(delivery of locomotives)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... FEPASA has taken delivery of 13 GM-EMD G8 locomotives rebuilt by National Railway Equipment Co of the USA.

President Lagos.(Ricardo Lagos Escobar, President of chile inspects railcars)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The first of 27 two-car 120 km EMUs to be delivered by Alstom was inspected by President Lagos at the new 7 500 [m.sup.2] Merval workshops in Limache on February 24. In parallel with testing in France, the first X'Trapolis set was due to begin...

China.(contracts)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... China: Following a year-long test, Nortel has been selected to supply a GSM-R network for the Qinghai-Tibet line. The double-coverage network incorporating GPRS data communications will be used for train control, with no analogue back-up.

Europe.(Mitsui Rail Capital Europe forms new rolling stock leasing company)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Europe: Japanese trading group Mitsui has formed an Amsterdam-based rolling stock leasing company. Mitsui Rail Capital Europe has ordered three Traxx Class 185 electric locos from Bombardier and three EMD Class 66 diesel locos for delivery by...

Angel Trains Cargo.(contracts)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... At a cost of [euro]150m, leasing firm Angel Trains Cargo has ordered 10 Bombardier Traxx F140 electric freight locos for Italy's 3 kV DC network and 26 four-voltage locos for European cross-border use.

Germany.(contracts)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Germany: T-Mobile has signed a deal to provide wireless internet access on DB intercity trains and stations. At present 24 station lounges are equipped.

Vossloh IT.(contracts)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Vossloh IT has been awarded a [euro]8.1m contract to renew the on-board passenger information systems of 708 ICE 1 coaches. The computers will be upgraded, colour TFT screens fitted and electronic seat reservations introduced. A prototype is...

Hungary.(Stadler Bussnang AG's contract)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Hungary: On March 18 Stadler Bussnang AG announced that it had won a SFr235m contract from MAV to supply 30 four-car Flirt low-floor EMUs to operate suburban services around Budapest, with an option for 30 more. Deliveries are due to start next...

India.(Indian Railways Commercial Organization Network signs contract with Union Switch and Signal Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... India: Indian Railways announced last month that it had awarded its first contract for automatic train protection using ETCS Level 1. Ansaldo Signal subsidiary Union Switch & Signal is to equip Southern Railway's 48 km suburban route from...

EMUs.(Vagonmash launches electrical motor unit)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... On February 24 Vagonmash rolled out the first of five four-car EMUs for the Kazan metro, which is due to open in August as part of the city's millennium celebrations. Derived from a prototype built for Kyiv, the Type 81-553 sets have three...

Italy.(contract)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Italy: Skoda has been awarded a KC150m contract to supply electrical equipment for three-car EMUs being built for the metregauge SSIF/FART Domodossola-Locarno line. The units will be assembled by OFV in Verona for delivery by December 2006.

Spain.(Vimac, EEMM Guinovart, CYMI, Inabesa and Montajes Gavisa gets contract)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Spain: A consortium of Vimac, EEMM Guinovart, CYMI, Inabesa and Montajes Gavisa has been awarded a [euro]10.7m contract to renew overhead line electrification equipment on the Montcada-Bifurcacio--Vic section of the Barcelona-La Tour de Carol...

Roda de Bara.(contract)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Under a contract worth [euro]7.3m, Obras y Servicios, Copasa and Necso Entrecanales y Cubiertas have begun work on a gauge-changing installation at Roda de Bara on the Lleida-Sant Vicenc de Calders route. It will replace the facility at Lleida...

Sweden.(AB Storstockholms Lokaltrafik deploys Cisco Info Center)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Sweden: AB Storstockholms Lokaltrafik has deployed Cisco Info Center to collect data from various computer systems. Cygate Maldata AB carried out the design and implementation for the project.

Skanetrafiken.(contracts)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... On March 2 Bombardier announced that it had won a [euro]58m order from Skanetrafiken for eight more three-car 180 km/h Oresund EMUs to work local services around Malmo.

Switzerland.(VBG signs contract with Furrer + Frey AG )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Switzerland: VBG has awarded Furrer + Frey AG the contract for design, supply and installation of 600 V DC overhead electrification on 12 km of the Glatttalbahn light rail network which will link Zurich Airport, the exhibition centre and...

United Kingdom.(GB Railfreight's orders)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... United Kingdom: GB Railfreight has ordered a further five EMD Class 66 locos, to be leased from HSBC Rail in a five-year deal.