Railway Gazette International articles from August 2005

Railway Gazette International archives from August 2005

Terror bombers attack London Underground.(COMMENT)
August 1, 2005... THREE BOMBS were detonated on the London Underground at about 08.50 on July 7, with a fourth exploding later on a double-deck bus. At least 56 people died and more than 700 were injured in the attack that police quickly traced to suicide...

Gauge conversion moves ahead.(COMMENT)
August 1, 2005... UNDER the final version of the PEIT strategic infrastructure plan for 2005-20, approved by the cabinet on July 15, the Spanish government is to launch studies to define in detail a programme of works to convert the 1 668 mm gauge network to 1...

Manslaughter charges dropped.(COMMENT)
August 1, 2005... SIX MONTHS after the Hatfield trial commenced in January, and almost five years after the fatal derailment on October 17 2000, Mr Justice Mackay instructed the jury hearing charges of manslaughter against track maintenance contractor Balfour...

Fleet renewal deal signed.(NEWS)
August 1, 2005... OVER 7 000 new coaches, EMU cars and locomotives are to be built for Russian Railways over the next five years, under the terms of a framework agreement reached with Transmash Holding in June. The agreement was signed by Transmash Chairman...

Freight accords.(NEWS)
August 1, 2005... COMMITMENTS to improve service quality on key European intermodal corridors are to be put in place by the end of this year, under the terms of an agreement between the International Union of Railways and the intermodal operators' forum UIRR...

ERTMS.(NEWS)
August 1, 2005... On July 4 the European Commission presented its strategy for deploying ERTMS on key Trans-European rail corridors. This envisages allocating [euro]500m per year for 10 years from 2007 to provide 50% grants towards the installation cost (RG 1.05...

Nigeria.(NEWS)
August 1, 2005... Nigeria's Bureau of Public Enterprises has requested proposals from six shortlisted consultants to assist with the planned privatisation of NRC. The six are CPCS Transcon of Canada, Ecorys of the Netherlands, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Hobbs...

JR East.(NEWS)
August 1, 2005... JR East's Fastech 360 prototype began test running on the Tohoku Shinkansen on June 25. To improve emergency braking in the light of the Joetsu earthquake, JR East is experimenting with aerodynamic brake flaps to stop a 360 km/h train in a...

New hope for Hope Downs.(NEWS)
August 1, 2005... THE ACQUISITION by Rio Tinto of a stake in the Hope Downs iron ore project, announced on July 1, has cleared the way for construction of a rail link to the mine. Hope Downs is due to start producing ore in 2008, and the promoting joint...

Ceneri tunnel start.(NEWS)
August 1, 2005... THE SWISS parliament has released an initial SFr1.3bn tranche of funding for the Ceneri base tunnel, which forms part of the AlpTransit Gotthard project. Proposals for the 15.4 km tunnel between Bellinzona and Lugano were approved in 2003,...

Concessions revised.(NEWS)
August 1, 2005... NEW concessions to operate 14 regional routes in the Netherlands were awarded to NS Reizigers on July 1, in line with legislation that came into effect on January 1 this year. Most of the concessions are limited to two years or less, giving...

Zimbabwe split.(NEWS)
August 1, 2005... THIS MONTH is due to see the Zimbabwe government take over responsibility for ownership and financing of rail infrastructure, with the implementation of the Railways Amendment Act 1997. The Act provides for the transfer of NRZ-owned...

Acela Express.(NEWS)
August 1, 2005... Amtrak put four of its Acela Express high speed trainsets back into service on July 11, operating four trips each way per day between New York and Washington DC. Since the 20 trainsets were taken out of service in April with cracked brake discs...

PNR study.(NEWS)
August 1, 2005... REHABILITATION of Philippine National Railways' Main Line South from Calamba to Legaspi moved a step closer with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on July 6. Watched by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and visiting Polish Prime...

Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn.(NEWS)
August 1, 2005... Connex subsidiary Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn has been awarded an eight-year contract to operate the 88 km Berlin-Lichtenberg-Strausberg-Kostrzyn line in Brandenburg using Talent DMUs; NBE will take over from DB in December 2006.

Stock contracts renegotiated.(NEWS)
August 1, 2005... SPANISH National Railways has revised two rolling stock contracts originally awarded on February 24 2004 to reflect the requirements of the PEIT infrastructure plan (p459) and changing expectations of its future rolling stock requirements. ...

Upgrade funding package in place.(NEWS)
August 1, 2005... RESEAU Ferre de France President Jean-Pierre Duport participated in a ceremony at Clermont-Ferrand on June 30 to launch upgrading work on the main line to Paris. Under an agreement between the French government, Auvergne region and...

Bombardier takes Dutch regional order.(NEWS)
August 1, 2005... NETHERLANDS Railways has awarded a [euro]248m contract to Bombardier, partnered with Siemens, for 18 four-car and 17 six-car EMUs for regional services. Five consecutive options for 16 four-car and 16 six-car EMUs could take the fleet to 974...

International Association of Railway Operations Research.(NEWS)
August 1, 2005... The International Association of Railway Operations Research (www.iaror.org) was founded in June, following a seminar at Delft University of Technology. IAROR intends to bring together academic and professional railway research to enhance the...

NSB wins Gjovikbanan tender.(NEWS)
August 1, 2005... NORWEGIAN railway operator NSB has been awarded a 10-year contract to run passenger services on the Oslo-Gjovik line from June 2006 until mid-2016. The 123 km Gjovikbanan was the first inter-city route in the country to be put out to...

Renegotiation draws to a close.(NEWS)
August 1, 2005... A PUBLIC HEARING was due to be held on July 29 or during the first week of August to consider new terms for the two freight concessions held in Argentina by America Latina Logistica, operated as ALL-Central and ALL-Mesopotamica (RG 6.05 p349)....

Boring starts on Pajares base tunnel.(NEWS)
August 1, 2005... SPANISH PRIME MINISTER Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was present at La Pola de Gordon on July 13 to mark the start of work on the 25 km Pajares base tunnel. The first of five machines to be used on the [euro]1.4bn project, a Herrenknecht...

Bombela wins Gautrain race.(CITY NEWS)
August 1, 2005... ON JULY 2 Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa announced that the Bombela Consortium had been chosen as preferred bidder for the Gautrain Rapid Link. Financial negotiations are expected to take around six months. Bombela is 50% owned by...

Depot plan tops WMATA budget.(CITY NEWS)
August 1, 2005... WORK is due to start this month on a $141.4m project to expand capacity at three maintenance and servicing depots on the Washington DC metro network. The package was scheduled for approval by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit...

CPCS Transcom.(CITY NEWS)
August 1, 2005... CPCS Transcom has been appointed to advise Jordan's Public Transport Regulatory Commission on the BOOT tendering for construction of the planned US$100m light rail line between Amman and Zarqa, which will use a 33 km section of the Hedjaz...

Smart card deal.(CITY NEWS)
August 1, 2005... VICTORIA Premier Steve Bracks announced on July 12 that the Kamco consortium had been selected by the Transport Ticketing Authority for a A$494m contract to supply and operate a statewide smart card fare collection system. Led by US...

Two fatal accidents in June.(CITY NEWS)
August 1, 2005... Following two fatal accidents in June, in which 10 people died, Indonesia's Minister of State Enterprises Sugiharto announced on July 5 that the government was considering whether to hive off the state railway's Jakarta suburban network....

TTC to invest in trams and metro.(CITY NEWS)
August 1, 2005... ON JUNE 22 Toronto Transit Commission voted to buy a new fleet of up to 242 low-floor trams, as part of major upgrading of the city's ageing tram network. Commissioner Jope Milhevc said the project would give the city 'a first-class...

A ceremonial first test.(CITY NEWS)
August 1, 2005... A ceremonial first test run on the extension of Lyon light rail route T1 from Perrache to Confluences was staged on June 30. Participating in the celebrations were three mayors: Gerard Collomb of Lyon, Jean-Luc Da Passano of Irigny, and...

Delhi Metro completes Line 2.(CITY NEWS)
August 1, 2005... CEREMONIES were held on July 2 to mark the completion of the second metro line in the Indian capital. The 7 km section from Kashmere Gate to Central Secretariat was inaugurated by Sonia Gandhi, Chair of the United Progressive Alliance party....

MTR Corp.(CITY NEWS)
August 1, 2005... Last month MTR Corp, Hong Kong Police and the Fire Services Department carried out an emergency drill at Penny's Bay station in preparation for opening of the Disney Resort Line. Around 700 adults and 300 children voluteered to help test...

French firms take Italian contracts.(CITY NEWS)
August 1, 2005... ON JULY 5 French transport group Transdev confirmed that it had been selected for a six-year contract to operate the metro, funicular, rack railway and bus services in Genova. With 630 000 inhabitants making an average of 239 trips per...

Mexico suburban to be re-tendered.(CITY NEWS)
August 1, 2005... THE MEXICAN government has reaffirmed its commitment to the capital's proposed suburban rail link after both bidders were disqualified from the tendering process. Communications & Transports Secretary Pedro Cerisola insisted on July 11 that the...

SFM.(City News in Brief)
August 1, 2005... Mallorca operator SFM has let contracts worth [euro]114.9m for construction of the island's first metro line in Palma (RG 5.05 p244). Linking Plaza de Espana with Campus de la Universitat, the 7.2 km line will be built in three stages. Three...

Morocco.(City News in Brief)
August 1, 2005... A consortium of Semaly, CID and STIB has won a [euro]2m contract from Societe d'Amenagement du Bouregreg to develop plans for Morocco's first light rail line. The 17-month contract covers preliminary studies and alignment definition for two...

Madrid.(City News in Brief)
August 1, 2005... On June 23 the Madrid regional government authorised the start of work on a 12 km circular tram route in Parla, 20 km south of the capital, which is expected to open by July 2007. A 40-year concession has been awarded to a consortium of...

RET.(City News in Brief)
August 1, 2005... Rotterdam operator RET has ordered 21 three-section articulated light metro trainsets from Bombardier to operate RandstadRail services between Rotterdam and Den Haag (RG 4.05 p209). Costing [euro]83m, the new units to be delivered in 2008 will...

Helsinki City Transport.(City News in Brief)
August 1, 2005... Helsinki City Transport has started construction of a new tram line serving the industrial area around Talgo Oy's Pasila works. Due to open towards the end of 2007, as part of HKL's Vision 2012 package, it will be operated by a new Route 9...

Madrid metro.(City News in Brief)
August 1, 2005... On July 18 Madrid metro announced that it would spend [euro]650m to purchase 432 Series 2000 cars for lines 2, 3 and 4. Due to enter service from February 2006 onwards, the trains will be formed into 36 six-car sets for Line 3 and 54 four-car...

Metro Corp Ltd.(City News in Brief)
August 1, 2005... Bangkok Metro Corp Ltd applied to the Securities & Exchange Commission on July 5 for a 2.55bn baht share flotation as part of a capital restructuring which will raise its share capital from 7.35bn to 11.95bn baht. Mass Rapid Transit Authority...

Australia.(INTELLIGENCE)
August 1, 2005... Australia: On June 24 QR announced the purchase of Melbourne-based container and logistics firm CRT Group, which specialises in plastics and food products. FreightLink began a container service between Melbourne and Adelaide on July 4,...

Belgium.(INTELLIGENCE)
August 1, 2005... Belgium: SNCB-Holding announced on June 24 that it had signed a memorandum of understanding to sell its subsidiary ABX Logistics Worldwide. The sale is conditional upon European Commission approval of a restructuring plan for ABX.

Czech Republic.(INTELLIGENCE)
August 1, 2005... Czech Republic: The first 25 kV 50 Hz train ran on the 22 km Rybnik-Lipno branch in southern Bohemia on June 17, after a KC211m conversion of the line from 1.5 kV DC. The 24 km Tabor-Bechyne branch is now CD's only remaining 1.5 kV route. ...

Europe.(INTELLIGENCE)
August 1, 2005... Europe: On June 25 Railways of Montenegro introduced a daily sleeper service between Bar and Skopje, and a weekly through coach between Bar and Budapest.

Germany.(INTELLIGENCE)
August 1, 2005... Germany: A ceremony on June 24 marked the official start of work to dig a second tunnel parallel to the Busch Tunnel between Aachen and the Belgian border. The new bore will permit the existing tunnel to be modernised and converted to single...

India.(INTELLIGENCE)
August 1, 2005... India: In a Rs20m pilot project, the Centre for Railway Information Systems plans to fit 1 000 wagons used between Talcher and Paradip with RFID tags which can be read using hand-held computers. If the trial is successful, RFID could be...

Ireland.(INTELLIGENCE)
August 1, 2005... Ireland: On July 19 Transport Minister Martin Cullen announced the start of design work on the [euro]65m Laois Traincare Depot. To be built on a 15.8 ha site in Portlaoise, it will maintain 120 inter-city DMU cars being built by Rotem (RG 5.05...

Jordan.(INTELLIGENCE)
August 1, 2005... Jordan: The Executive Privatisation Council has appointed CPCS Transcom to advise on the sale of the Aqaba Railway. An attempt to privatise the line in 1999 failed when the parties were unable to agree terms.

Netherlands.(INTELLIGENCE)
August 1, 2005... Netherlands: The transport ministry has instructed ProRail to begin work on the 50 km Hanzelijn link between Lelystad and Zwolle planned to open in 2012. Holland Railconsult is to provide technical advice to ProRail and will also carry out...

Serbia.(INTELLIGENCE)
August 1, 2005... Serbia: Serbian Railways joined CER at the association's general assembly held in Paris in June. SZ also presented an application from UNMIK Railways, operator of services in Kosovo.

Spain.(INTELLIGENCE)
August 1, 2005... Spain: ADIF has brought into service CTC on the 124.1 km between Villanueva de la Serena and Zafra via Merida. Signalling was undertaken by Alcatel under two contracts worth a total of [euro]12.5m, and track-train radio was installed by...

United Kingdom.(INTELLIGENCE)
August 1, 2005... United Kingdom: The Middlesbrough-Whitby, St Earth-St Ives and Watford-St Albans lines were officially designated as Community Rail routes in July, in an effort to improve traffic and cost control by increasing local involvement (RG 4.04 p192)....

CMKS Lokomotivy.(INTELLIGENCE)
August 1, 2005... CMKS Lokomotivy in Ceska Trebovo has rolled out two prototype 100 km/h Class 755 diesel-electric locos, rebuilt from Class 753 machines. They have Caterpillar 3512B DI-TA engines rated at 1 455 kW driving through a Siemens Drasov 1FB2631...

Alstom.(INTELLIGENCE)
August 1, 2005... On June 22 Alstom unveiled a full-size mock up of its latest Pendolino trainsets. Alstom's Savigliano plant will deliver 12 of the Giugiaro-designed sets to Trenitalia during 2006. These will be equipped for 3 kV DC and 25 kV 50 Hz, and 14...

Bosnia.(Finance)
August 1, 2005... Bosnia: EBRD and EIB are to provide a [euro]140m loan for modernisation of the rail network, following the passing of a law on structural reform that separates accounting of passenger and freight operations and creates an infrastructure...

Europe.(Finance)
August 1, 2005... Europe: On July 13 Eurotunnel presented confidential proposals for restructuring of its debt to the Ad Hoc Committee which represents the majority of the Channel Tunnel operator's creditors.

France.(Finance)
August 1, 2005... France: The departement of Essonne is providing [euro]5m towards a [euro]55m three-year emergency investment programme agreed by RFF and SNCF to improve reliability on RER Line D. Work will include remodelling at Corbeil-Essonnes as well as...

Japan.(Finance)
August 1, 2005... Japan: On July 7 the Japan Railway Construction, Transport & Technology Agency announced plans to sell up to 600 000 of the government's 886 000 shares in JR Central, equivalent to 40% of the company. Investment group Privee Zurich has...

United Kingdom.(Finance)
August 1, 2005... United Kingdom: The Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council has granted the University of Warwick [pounds sterling]270 000 for further research into non-contact ultrasonic detection of rail defects.

USA.(Finance)
August 1, 2005... USA: On July 1 the Commonwealth of Virginia established a Rail Enhancement Fund, which will provide $23m annually for selected infrastructure projects.

Zimbabwe.(Finance)
August 1, 2005... Zimbabwe: The government has made Z$27bn available for improvements at NRZ, including refurbishment of steam locos used on shunting and commuter services.

Angola.(Market)
August 1, 2005... Angola: RITES has won five contracts totalling US$40m for staff training and the supply of rolling stock and workshop equipment for the rehabilitation of the CFN line between Menongue and Namibe.

Australia.(Market)
August 1, 2005... Australia: United Goninan has completed delivery to QR National of nine heavy haul diesel-electric locomotives and 310 coal wagons with electronically controlled pneumatic brakes, for use on Hunter Valley coal trains to the port of Newcastle.

Czech Republic.(Market)
August 1, 2005... Czech Republic: Next month Lostr Louny will complete the delivery to Railion of 80 Sggrss container flats which it is building under a KC200m contract.

Germany.(Market)
August 1, 2005... Germany: On June 23 Angel Trains Europa placed a [euro]80m order with Stadler for 19 three and five-section Flirt EMUs for use from 2007 on services between Paderborn, Bielefeld, Munster, Osnabruck and Rheine.

India.(Market)
August 1, 2005... India: Ansaldo Signal subsidiary Union Switch & Signal India has been awarded a contract to supply ETCS Level 1 equipment for the Delhi-Agra route. Although referred to as TPWS, it is a different technology to the similarly-named system in...

Serbia.(Market)
August 1, 2005... Serbia: Vossloh Cogifer has been awarded a [euro]6m contract to supply turnout components for installation on the Beograd-Bar line. Using a grant from the Canadian government, Serbian Railways signed a [euro]1.9m contract on June 9 for...

South Africa.(Market)
August 1, 2005... South Africa: Surtees Group has purchased two Chinese-built 1 067 m gauge 2 200 hp diesel-electric locos with 16-cylinder Caterpillar engines, for use on haulage contracts at mines and industrial sites. Spoornet has awarded Protekon a R5.7m...

Svensk Biogas.(Market)
August 1, 2005... On June 20 Svensk Biogas unveiled a Y4 railear converted at a cost of [euro]600 000 to run on biogas produced from organic material (RG 7.05 p390). Due to run on the Linkoping-Vastervik route, it has a range of 550 km and a top speed of 130...

Spain.(Market)
August 1, 2005... Spain: RENFE has invited bids by August 29 for supply of 80 Civia suburban EMUs. Worth [euro]455.7m, the contract is divided into one lot of 40 five-car sets and a second lot consisting of 11 five-car sets, 28 four-car sets and one three-car...

Sudan.(Market)
August 1, 2005... Sudan: Indian Railways is currently regauging six diesel locos from metre to 1 067 mm gauge for export by RITES to Sudan within the next two months. Varanasi loco works is also supplying three 1 350 hp diesel-electrics to Sudan.

Switzerland.(Market)
August 1, 2005... Switzerland: Matterhorn-Gotthard Railway has placed a SFr42m order with Stadler for two three-section and three four-section metre-gauge panoramic trainsets. They will be delivered from December 2007 for use on the Brig-Zermatt route.

Syria.(Market)
August 1, 2005... Syria: CFS has ordered a Tracklayer TL70 turnout replacement machine from Desec for delivery in spring 2006.

Tunisia.(Market)
August 1, 2005... Tunisia: Corys TESS has delivered two driving simulators to SNCFT's Hammam Lif training centre. One is a full cab EMD loco simulator including a motion platform with five degrees of freedom, the second is static. Both have a 280 km track...

Turkmenistan.(Market)
August 1, 2005... Turkmenistan: On July 14 China Northern's Tangshan plant dispatched the first nine of 54 soft sleeper coaches ordered by TPK.

United Kingdom.(Market)
August 1, 2005... United Kingdom: Balfour Beatty Rail projects has been awarded a [pounds sterling]1m contract by ACT for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link Ripple Lane signalling project. An SSI-controlled connection between Network Rail and CTRL infrastructure will...

USA.(Market)
August 1, 2005... USA: Kansas City Southern has selected 3i enterprise asset management software from Spear Technologies to manage maintenance of its fleet of over 500 locomotives.

Canada.(Metros)
August 1, 2005... Canada: On June 27 Calgary city council approved the 3 km Northeast light rail extension from Whitehorn to Westwinds-McKnight (RG 1.05 p10). The C$75m route will open in 2007. The 3 km Northwest extension from Dalhousie to Crowfoot with one...

China.(Metros)
August 1, 2005... China: Hong Kong's Executive Council has approved plans to extend MTR's Island Line 3 km west from Sheung Wan to Kennedy Town, adding three stations at a cost of HK$7bn. The line is expected to take four or five years to complete.

France.(Metros)
August 1, 2005... France: On July 1 EIB signed an agreement to lend an initial tranche of [euro]120m for the second phase of the light rail programme in Bordeaux, which will see the three routes extended by 20 km to reach 44 km by 2008.

School of Engineering & Electronics.(Metros)
August 1, 2005... On June 29 Prof Mike Forde, Carillion Professor at the School of Engineering & Electronics at the University of Edinburgh and organiser of the Railway Engineering 2005 conference in London, presented Railway Gazette International with an award...

EVAG.(Metros)
August 1, 2005... Erfurt transport operator EVAG opened a 3.6 km extension to its tram Route 4 on June 20. Serving the airport and Bindersleben, it has six stations and cost [euro]20m to construct

Germany.(Metros)
August 1, 2005... Germany: Darmstadt operator HEAG has ordered 18 three-section low-floor ST13 trams from Alstom and Bombardier for [euro]39m. The air-conditioned cars will be delivered from January to December 2007. Nurnberg metro and light rail operator...

Hungary.(Metros)
August 1, 2005... Hungary: EIB is lending [euro]875m to finance up to 75% of the costs of the 10.5 km Metro Line 4 now under construction, and the acquisition of 22 five-car trainsets, for which tenders have been called.