Railway Gazette International articles from April 2006

Railway Gazette International archives from April 2006

Crew change at the front end.(COMMENT)
April 1, 2006... YOUR EDITOR'S last official engagement was to give the keynote presentation at JR East's 12th Research & Development Symposium in Tokyo on March 28. It seemed a fitting culmination to 15 years 'at the controls', during which this journal has...

Mixed messages puzzle Beijing-Shanghai bidders.(COMMENT)
April 1, 2006... LAST MONTH we reported extensively on China's technology transfer deals which have given the country's railway industry expertise in heavy haul and high speed EMU technology. So we were not unduly surprised to learn that Minister of Railways...

Peijs ignores MoU on Betuwe Route.(COMMENT)
April 1, 2006... CONFUSION has deepened over who will operate and maintain the new freight railway linking the port of Rotterdam to the German network at Emmerich. Contrary to our last report (RG 2.06 p68), no contract has been signed for maintenance and...

Trans-Karakum link completed.(NEWS)
April 1, 2006... PRESIDENT Sparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan participated in ceremonies on February 8 to mark completion of the 540 km Trans-Karakum railway from Ashkabad to Dasoguz. Congratulating the 1500 staff who built the line across the Karakum...

World Bank funds MZ split.(NEWS)
April 1, 2006... PLANS to separate the Macedonian rail network into infrastructure and operating companies are due to be authorised by the government this month, in line with legislation approved last year. On February 17 Makedonski Zeleznici signed a loan...

High speed routes near completion.(NEWS)
April 1, 2006... OPENING OF the Antequera-Malaga section of the Cordoba-Malaga high speed line before the end of 2007 has moved a step closer with the completion of tunnelling work on the 7.27 km eastern bore of the Abdalajis tunnel. The longest tunnel on...

ERTMS accord.(NEWS)
April 1, 2006... PLANS to roll out ERTMS on the international rail freight corridor between Rotterdam and Genoa moved ahead on March 3 when the transport ministers of the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Italy signed a Letter of Intent during a meeting at...

Following public consultation on a range of options, Transport Minister Dominique Perben announced on February 17 that he had selected a preferred route for the French end of the Lyon-Torino corridor.(NEWS)
April 1, 2006... Following public consultation on a range of options, Transport Minister Dominique Perben announced on February 17 that he had selected a preferred route for the French end of the Lyon-Torino corridor. RFF has been asked to draw up detailed...

Protos EMU order.(NEWS)
April 1, 2006... AWARDED the concession to operate the Amersfoort-Ede-Wageningen line from December 2006 (RG 12.05 p756), Connexxion has ordered five two-car EMUs to operate the first electrified branch in the Netherlands to be tendered. Rather than opting...

Israeli expansion continues.(NEWS)
April 1, 2006... TRANSPORT MINISTER Meir Shitrit announced on February 15 that Israel Railways had started work on building a 70 km double-track railway between Ashqelon and Be'er Sheva, which is due to be completed by 2010. Expected to cost US$300m, the...

OHL wins in Algeria.(NEWS)
April 1, 2006... A CONSORTIUM of OHL of Spain and state-owned rail construction company Infrafer has been awarded a [euro]248.3m contract to double-track SNTF's 95 km Annaba-Ramdane Djamel route. Work to be completed within 39 months includes upgrading of...

Meeting on March 6, the inter-ministerial development committee chaired by French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin agreed that tendering should begin by the first quarter of 2007 for the eastern branch of TGV Rhine-Rhone, the new route avoiding Nimes and Montpellier and the project to install GSM-R on the RFF network.(NEWS)
April 1, 2006... Meeting on March 6, the inter-ministerial development committee chaired by French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin agreed that tendering should begin by the first quarter of 2007 for the eastern branch of TGV Rhine-Rhone, the new route...

Freight corridor plans progress.(NEWS)
April 1, 2006... APPROVED by the Lok Sabha on March 11, the Indian Railways budget for 2006-07 includes funding to plan a network of high-capacity freight corridors. Having completed a pre-feasibility study, RITES has been commissioned to draw up more detailed...

Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp has extended trial running of its Series 700T Shinkansen trainsets to include a section of route with cuttings and tunnels.(NEWS)
April 1, 2006... Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp has extended trial running of its Series 700T Shinkansen trainsets to include a section of route with cuttings and tunnels, to test the infrastructure and compare the ride quality with that achieved on the elevated...

Cross-border freight.(NEWS)
April 1, 2006... CITING growing congestion on the busy Wien-Graz corridor, where there is little prospect of completing the proposed Semmering base tunnel before 2016, the Austrian government has called in the independent Gyor-Sopron-Ebenfurth Railway to help...

Cut-off underway.(NEWS)
April 1, 2006... WORK BEGAN on February 24 on the construction of the 975 km Taiyuan-Zhongwei line in northern China. Due for completion by 2010 at a cost of 30bn yuan, the line will shorten the route from Beijing to Zhongwei, the capital of the Ningxia...

Reseau Ferre de France has awarded a [euro]50m framework contract to Alcatel for the provision of electronic interlockings for future railway modernisation programmes.(NEWS)
April 1, 2006... Reseau Ferre de France has awarded a [euro]50m framework contract to Alcatel for the provision of electronic interlockings for future railway modernisation programmes. Alcatel will supply its PAING technology, which is a development of the PIPC...

Atocha to double.(NEWS)
April 1, 2006... ON MARCH 1 Spanish Development Minister Magdalena Alvarez unveiled plans to double the capacity for long-distance traffic at Atocha station in Madrid. By increasing the number of platform tracks from 15 to 33 and further segregating departures...

At the end of February, Canadian Pacific Railway reached an agreement to hand over the infrastructure of the 234 km Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway on Vancouver Island as a C$236m donation to the non-profit Island Corridor Foundation, representing local municipalities and First Nation groups.(NEWS)
April 1, 2006... At the end of February, Canadian Pacific Railway reached an agreement to hand over the infrastructure of the 234 km Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway on Vancouver Island as a C$236m donation to the non-profit Island Corridor Foundation, representing...

RENFE restructures.(NEWS)
April 1, 2006... THE BOARD of Spanish national operator RENFE has approved a new management structure that will see six business units replaced by four areas broken down into 26 smaller units. Responsible for commercial passenger services, the...

Alger starts light rail project.(NEWS)
April 1, 2006... HAVING awarded the E & M works contract for its first heavy metro line in January (RG 3.05 p116), Entreprise du Metro d'Alger has started work on a light rail corridor in the east of the Algerian capital. EMA has selected Systra and RATP...

Sarmiento goes underground.(NEWS)
April 1, 2006... ON FEBRUARY 21 Argentina's President Nestor Kirchner launched the tendering process for a US$300m project to build a 7.1 km four-track tunnel between Caballito and Villa Luro in Buenos Aires. Part of a level crossing elimination project on...

Exposition Line.(NEWS)
April 1, 2006... ON MARCH 3 the Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority in Los Angeles approved a $420m design and build contract with a joint venture of FCI, Fluor and Parsons for the 13.7 km first phase of the Exposition light rail line. The deal...

Milano to build automated metro.(NEWS)
April 1, 2006... A [euro]500m TURNKEY CONTRACT was awarded at the end of February for the first stage of Milano metro Line 5. The fully-automated line will be built by a consortium which includes existing operator ATM, with Alstom Ferroviaria, Astaldi,...

Nurnberg S-Bahn expands.(CITY NEWS)
April 1, 2006... FOUR-TRACKING of Germany's oldest railway between Nurnberg and Furth is the centrepiece of a [euro]160m investment programme to expand S-Bahn services to the 38 km Nurnberg-Furth-Erlangen-Forchheim route over the next four years. An...

On March 2 Den Haag operator HTM rolled out the first of 57 RegioCitadis cars being built by Alstom for RandstadRail.(CITY NEWS)
April 1, 2006... On March 2 Den Haag operator HTM rolled out the first of 57 RegioCitadis cars being built by Alstom for RandstadRail. The first 25 of the low-floor LRVs are due to take over operation of the Den Haag-Zoetermeer line in September (RG 4.05 p209)...

Rotem scoops Metrolink car order.(CITY NEWS)
April 1, 2006... THE SOUTHERN California Regional Rail Authority board voted on February 24 to order new double-deck push-pull rolling stock from Rotem for the Los Angeles Metrolink commuter rail network. The base order covers 33 driving cab cars and 54...

On February 22 RATP outlined the state of progress with its programme to modernise the Paris metro network over the next 20 years, which involves investment of between [euro]600m and [euro]800m per year.(CITY NEWS)
April 1, 2006... On February 22 RATP outlined the state of progress with its programme to modernise the Paris metro network over the next 20 years, which involves investment of between [euro]600m and [euro]800m per year. The first of 161 MF2000 trainsets is...

W & C Line closes for upgrade.(CITY NEWS)
April 1, 2006... LONDON Underground's 2.4 km Waterloo & City Line is closed to traffic between April 1 and September 1 as Metronet undertakes a [pounds sterling]40m upgrade under its 30-year Public-Private Partnership contract. As well as relaying track to...

With the depot at Waterloo handling works trains (p229) and materials for the upgrade, the Waterloo & City Line's captive fleet of 20 cars will be removed via an access shaft last used in 1993 when the trains were delivered new Construction is due to start this month on the 9.6 km automated metro in Thessaloniki.(CITY NEWS)
April 1, 2006... With the depot at Waterloo handling works trains (p229) and materials for the upgrade, the Waterloo & City Line's captive fleet of 20 cars will be removed via an access shaft last used in 1993 when the trains were delivered new Construction is...

U-Bahn renewal.(CITY NEWS)
April 1, 2006... A MAJOR renewal of the U-Bahn fleet in Frankfurt-am-Main was announced on March 15. Mayor Petra Roth said the city was investing in the future. VGF has ordered 146 Flexity Swift high-floor LRVs from Bombardier for [euro]300m, with options...

Ottawa city officials are expected to announce on April 21 a preferred bidder for the C$725m project to develop a 31 km light rail line between Rideau Centre and Barrhaven, serving 34 stops.(City News in Brief)
April 1, 2006... Ottawa city officials are expected to announce on April 21 a preferred bidder for the C$725m project to develop a 31 km light rail line between Rideau Centre and Barrhaven, serving 34 stops. SNC Lavalin/Bombardier, Kiewit-Ellisdon/Kinki Sharyo,...

Montreal transport authority AMT has unveiled a C$1.2bn package of public transport investment for the next three years, including C$828m for commuter rail expansion and C$312m for the metro.(City News in Brief)
April 1, 2006... Montreal transport authority AMT has unveiled a C$1.2bn package of public transport investment for the next three years, including C$828m for commuter rail expansion and C$312m for the metro. Top priority is a C$253m commuter rail route to...

The three shortlisted bidders for construction of the Tel Aviv Red Line submitted their tenders on February 27.(City News in Brief)
April 1, 2006... The three shortlisted bidders for construction of the Tel Aviv Red Line submitted their tenders on February 27. Chairman of the metro company NTA Benny Waknin hopes to name a preferred bidder within three months. Subject to financial close,...

Chicago Transit Authority is planning to launch a new Silver Line in July, initially for six months, in a bid to improve metro services to the western suburbs.(City News in Brief)
April 1, 2006... Chicago Transit Authority is planning to launch a new Silver Line in July, initially for six months, in a bid to improve metro services to the western suburbs. Trains from the Cermak branch of the Blue Line will be re-routed over the 1.2 km...

Transport for London subsidiary Docklands Light Railway Ltd confirmed on March 8 that it had awarded a [pounds sterling]400m franchise to Serco for operation and maintenance of the DLR network for seven years from May 28 2006.(City News in Brief)
April 1, 2006... Transport for London subsidiary Docklands Light Railway Ltd confirmed on March 8 that it had awarded a [pounds sterling]400m franchise to Serco for operation and maintenance of the DLR network for seven years from May 28 2006. Serco has been...

On February 28 Transport Initiatives Edinburgh Ltd announced that Alstom, Bombardier, CAF and Siemens had been invited to tender for a contract to supply and maintain rolling stock for the Edinburgh light rail project.(City News in Brief)
April 1, 2006... On February 28 Transport Initiatives Edinburgh Ltd announced that Alstom, Bombardier, CAF and Siemens had been invited to tender for a contract to supply and maintain rolling stock for the Edinburgh light rail project. TIE hopes to order the...

Australia.(INTELLIGENCE)
April 1, 2006... Australia: Perth-based South Spur group has taken over the operations of Silverton Rail. RTS now runs Silverton's Broken Hill and Parkes depots, and financier Alco has taken on the NSW operator's other assets.

Belgium.(INTELLIGENCE)
April 1, 2006... Belgium: On March 14 the board of Infrabel approved plans to electrify the 8 km route from Montzen to the German border by December 2008 at a cost of [euro]3m.

Chile.(INTELLIGENCE)
April 1, 2006... Chile: Fepasa has restored freight service to the Santiago-Talagante route following a level crossing upgrade programme undertaken by EFE. This involved a total of 12 vehicle crossings, seven of which have been equipped with automatic warning...

Europe.(INTELLIGENCE)
April 1, 2006... Europe: On March 13 rail4chem launched a thrice-weekly container train between Ceres Paragon terminal in the Port of Amsterdam and Duisburg. Operated for Japanese shipping line NYK, the trains are hauled by Vossloh G2000 diesel locos and do not...

France.(INTELLIGENCE)
April 1, 2006... France: RFF is undertaking a [euro]21.5m renewal of track on the Moirans-Grenoble and Gieres-Brignoud sections of the Lyon-Chambery line, to finish in September.

Germany.(INTELLIGENCE)
April 1, 2006... Germany: DB opened a [euro]35m S-Bahn maintenance depot at the former post office terminal in Frankfurt on March 2. The 20000 [m.sup.2] site will be responsible for seats, doors, wheelsets and electrical equipment on 172 trainsets.

Trenitalia.(INTELLIGENCE)
April 1, 2006... Italy: From March 1 to June 28 Trenitalia is offering 'Happy Train Europe' fares from [euro]10 for travel to destinations including Budapest, Nice, Geneve and Wien. Made available on the company's website on Wednesdays, the bargain fares are...

FNM.(INTELLIGENCE)
April 1, 2006... Italy: With effect from February 19, FNM's route S4 from Milano Bovisa was extended from Seveso to the Trenitalia station at Camnago-Lentate on the Milano-Chiasso route. The project cost a total of [euro]1.2m.

Japan.(INTELLIGENCE)
April 1, 2006... Japan: The 140 km Hokkaido Chihoku Highland Railway which links Ikeda and Kitami is to close on April 20. This month Nankai Electric Railway's Kishigawa Line is to be transferred to the new Wakayama Electric Railway.

Mexico.(INTELLIGENCE)
April 1, 2006... Mexico: On March 13 Kansas City Southern announced it had paid US$35m in cash and issued shares valued at US$35m to Grupo TMM, after the final resolution of a VAT dispute which had arisen from KCS's acquisition of the government's remaining...

Netherlands.(INTELLIGENCE)
April 1, 2006... Netherlands: NS has decided not to bid to operate the Roermond-Nijmegen and Maastricht-Kerkrade lines, which are to become multi-modal local transport franchises in December. It may consider a partnership with a firm with bus experience. ...

Spain.(INTELLIGENCE)
April 1, 2006... Spain: RENFE is investing [euro]5.24m to improve passenger information on Madrid suburban trains and stations. This will include [euro]3.1m to replace GSM with GPRS for wireless communications between the information control centre and on-train...

Sri Lanka.(INTELLIGENCE)
April 1, 2006... Sri Lanka: Construction of the Matara-Kataragama line began in February with the start of work on a bridge over the Nilwala Ganga. China is providing financial assistance to cover 90% of the cost of the Rs9.2bn project.

USA.(INTELLIGENCE)
April 1, 2006... USA: To gain access to proven reserves where it has mineral rights, National Coal Corp's wholly-owned subsidiary NC Railroad has purchased the 67 km line between Oneida and Devonia, Tennessee, from Norfolk Southern for $1.96m.

Angola.(Market)
April 1, 2006... Angola: This year China Northern is to supply a further two 1500 kW diesel-electric locos with a top speed of 90 km/h.

Asia.(Market)
April 1, 2006... Asia: Ansaldo Signal subsidiary CSEE Transport has placed an order with Faiveley Transport for 350 odometer and tachometer units to be installed on Alstom and Kawasaki trainsets under China's ATP200 programme. A similar quanity has been ordered...

Cambodia.(Market)
April 1, 2006... Cambodia: Last month a memorandum of understanding was signed in Hanoi for the import of 100 wagons from Vietnam over the next 20 years. They will be funded with credit from the Vietnamese government.

Croatia.(Market)
April 1, 2006... Croatia: On February 2 HZ ordered 50 Uacns-z cement wagons and 250 Eanoss-z open wagons from Djuro Djakovic. The [euro]34.5m deal with the Slavonski Brod-based supplier is being funded through a government-guaranteed bank loan.

Cuba.(Market)
April 1, 2006... Cuba: The government has announced that it is negotiating the purchase of 8000 rail and road vehicles worth U$1bn from China, including 500 passenger cars and wagons. Yutong Group is reported to have already supplied 12 power cars.

Ghana.(Market)
April 1, 2006... Ghana: As part of a refurbishment programme Ghana Railways Corp has acquired 26 main line locos and 190 wagons. GRC has undertaken to carry 14000 tonnes of bauxite per week between the Awaso mines and Takoradi harbour, having agreed a tariff of...

Hungary.(Market)
April 1, 2006... Hungary: The government has approved the HF11bn purchase of 10 Bombardier Talent DMUs. They will be funded with a loan from KfW and operated by MAV in the southwest of the country.

India.(Market)
April 1, 2006... India: Last month a consortium of Ansaldo Signal, Leighton and MR Trading Co won a Rs4-4bn contract to supply signalling and GSM-R communications for the 413 km Ghaziabad-Kanpur route by July 2009.

Poland.(Market)
April 1, 2006... Poland: PKP PLK has awarded a consortium of Torpol, PRKil and PRK a [euro]51.6m contract for the renewal of a major junction and 22 km of the E20 Berlin-Warszawa route west of Poznan. PRK will also construct a bridge at Swarzeda for [euro]1.3m,...

Russia.(Market)
April 1, 2006... Russia: In late March Far Eastern Transport Group agreed to lease from Leasing-PromHold 600 open wagons to be supplied by Altaivagon and Kryukov Wagon Works. The three-year deal is worth US$24m.

Spain.(Market)
April 1, 2006... Spain: ADIF has signed an agreement to assist railway industry association MAFEX with its task of promoting exports. At the start of this year Albatros and Tecsa became members of MAFEX. The Ministry of Development is to call tenders for...

Switzerland.(Market)
April 1, 2006... Switzerland: Last month SBB exercised an option with Siemens for a further 25 double-deck four-car EMUs worth SFr348m, to enter traffic on Zurich S-Bahn services in 2008-09.

Taiwan.(Market)
April 1, 2006... Taiwan: Lloyd's Register Project Team member AEA Technology Rail has won a [pounds sterling]1m extension to its contract to provide technical and operational expertise to enable the certification of the Taipei-Kaohsiung high speed line.

Turkey.(Market)
April 1, 2006... Turkey: In March TCDD awarded a US$140m contract for 96 commuter train carriages to a consortium of Mitsui and Rotem. Toshiba will supply converters, traction motors and air-conditioning for the trains, which are to be assembled in South Korea...

United Kingdom.(Market)
April 1, 2006... United Kingdom: Rail Link Engineering has awarded Balfour Beatty a [pounds sterling]6.6m contract to provide signalling, two solid-state interlockings and modular controls for the Eurostar depot under construction at Temple Mills as part of...

USA.(Market)
April 1, 2006... USA: The Greenbrier Companies is to supply American Honda Motor with Auto-Max enclosed triple-deck and double-articulated car-carrying wagons worth $100m.

Australia.(Metros)
April 1, 2006... Australia: The New South Wales government has dropped plans to replace rail services along the Newcastle waterfront with buses, and now plans to investigate options for introducing diesel tram-trains.

Brazil.(Metros)
April 1, 2006... Brazil: In February CPTM exercised an option with an Alstom-led consortium for 48 Metropolis cars, under a contract dating from 1994. They will be used on Sao Paulo Line 4, due to open at the end of 2008.

Bulgaria.(Metros)
April 1, 2006... Bulgaria: The Mayor of Sofia signed a [euro]13.6m deal with Inekon on February 21 for modernisation of 18 trams, funded with part of a [euro]35m EBRD credit for transport in the capital. The Czech firm will work with Pars Nova Sumperk and...

Canada.(Metros)
April 1, 2006... Canada: SNC Lavalin has awarded Alcatel a [euro]25m contract to supply communications-based train control for the 19 km Canada Line which is under construction between Richmond and Vancouver. The driverless light metro will open in November...

Chile.(Metros)
April 1, 2006... Chile: President Ricardo Lagos formally opened the Grecia-Vicente Valdes section of Santiago Metro Line 4 (RG 1.06 p9) on March 2.

China.(Metros)
April 1, 2006... China: On February 23 Beijing Subway Line 10 Investment Co announced that Bank of China had granted a 8bn yuan 25-year loan to finance the 24 km first phase of Line 10 between Huoqiying and Dabeiyao and the Olympic village feeder line, to open...

Dominican Republic.(Metros)
April 1, 2006... Dominican Republic: OPRET has received bids from 30 companies to build six stations on the elevated section of the Santo Domingo metro along Avenida Hermanas Mirabal (RG 12.05 p754).

France.(Metros)
April 1, 2006... France: Contactless smart card ticketing was introduced to the STAR metro and bus network in Rennes on March 1, which from September this year will be extended to local SNCF TER services. Installation of the KorriGo system has cost the local...

India.(Metros)
April 1, 2006... India: The government's railway budget allocates funding for a further extension of Chennai's Mass Rapid Transit System. This will start at Velachery, terminus of an extension from Tirumanmiyur which is currently under construction for opening...

Italy.(Metros)
April 1, 2006... Italy: A [euro]1.6m contract to maintain Cityway trams in Torino has been awarded to a joint venture of Faiveley Transport and Alstom by city transport operator GTT.

Philippines.(Metros)
April 1, 2006... Philippines: LRTA plans to call tenders this month for a five-year contract to maintain Manila Metrorail Line 2. Warranties on the original equipment are due to expire, and LRTA said the government lacks rail maintenance expertise.

Spain.(Metros)
April 1, 2006... Spain: Madrid Metro has unveiled the first of 52 Series 9000 trainsets that have been ordered at a cost of [euro]450m. A total of 252 cars will be deployed on Line 7 (26 train-sets), Line 6 (six sets) as well as MetroNorte and MetroEste (20...

UAE.(Metros)
April 1, 2006... UAE: In early March Japanese Ambassador Hajime Tsujimoto attended a ceremony to mark the start of work by Maureni and Nakheel on the driverless monorail serving the Palm Jumeirah artificial island development in Dubai. Work is expected to take...

USA.(Metros)
April 1, 2006... USA: Denver International Airport awarded Bombardier a US$32m contract on March 1 to operate and maintain its CX-100 automated peoplemover for a further three years, with provision for two one-year renewals. The first sections of overhead...

Africa.(Finance)
April 1, 2006... Africa: The Indian government is donating US$500m towards the US$1.5bn Project Africarail scheme to extend a railway from Benin northwards to Niger, and to link Togo's railways to Burkina Faso.

France.(Finance)
April 1, 2006... France: The Pays de la Loire region has allocated [euro]66m in its 2006 budget to fund the acquisition of 11 ZGC four-car EMUs for SNCF TER services. Seven double-deck EMUs are to be ordered for the Saint-Nazaire-Angers corridor.

Japan.(Finance)
April 1, 2006... Japan: Moody's Investors Service has assigned its Aa2 rating to JR Central's [yen]20bn senior unsecured bonds due in 2016, reflecting solid cash flow from the Tokaido Shinkansen, a favourable regulatory environment and substantial debt payment...