Railway Gazette International articles from December 2005

Railway Gazette International archives from December 2005

Gunn fired by Amtrak board.(COMMENT)
December 1, 2005... THE BOARD of US inter-city passenger operator Amtrak announced on November 9 that it had decided to 'release' the corporation's President & Chief Executive Officer David Gunn. Amtrak Chairman David M Laney said the business 'now requires a...

Toll's bid for Patrick could be blocked.(COMMENT)
December 1, 2005... THE EXTRAORDINARY confrontation between the joint owners of Pacific National took a new twist on November 10, when the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission raised substantial objections to Toll Holdings' A$4.6bn bid for Patrick Corp....

HSL-Zuid needs ETCS back-up.(COMMENT)
December 1, 2005... ON NOVEMBER 7 Dutch operator High Speed Alliance announced that it had asked Minister of Transport Karla Peijs for permission to install a back-up signalling and train protection system on HSL-Zuid. The request was also made 'on behalf of the...

Security screening.(COMMENT)
December 1, 2005... UK TRANSPORT Secretary Alistair Darling confirmed on November 14 at a UITP conference on anti-terrorism measures for public transport that trials of airport-style security equipment will be carried out at London Underground and main line...

Toledo AVE link inaugurated.(NEWS)
December 1, 2005... THE 21.48 km branch from the Madrid-Sevilla high speed line at La Sagra to Toledo was officially opened on November 15 by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, accompanied by Development Minister Magdalena Alvarez. Designed...

Renfe's [euro]537m new train spend.(NEWS)
December 1, 2005... SPANISH national operator RENFE announced on October 26 that it is to order 107 trainsets for medium-distance services, within a budget of [euro]537m. According to the company, this unprecedented investment in regional rolling stock will...

Chinese Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan attended a ceremony on October 21 to mark the start of construction on the privately-financed Qian'an-Caofeidian railway in Hebei province.(NEWS)
December 1, 2005... Chinese Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan attended a ceremony on October 21 to mark the start of construction on the privately-financed Qian'an-Caofeidian railway in Hebei province, which is intended to relieve the Datong-Qinhuangdao heavy haul line....

Chinese order 300 km/h trains.(NEWS)
December 1, 2005... CONTRACTS were signed in Berlin on November 10 for Siemens to supply a fleet of 60 high speed trainsets to Chinese Railways, in partnership with Tangshan Locomotive & Rolling Stock Works. The deal was initialled by Chinese Railway Minister...

Belgian spending boosted.(NEWS)
December 1, 2005... SNCB Holding has presented to the Ministry of Enterprise for approval a budget of [euro]4.8bn for investment over the next three years, of which [euro]3.3bn is destined to go on infrastructure works. Infrastructure authority Infrabel plans...

Standard gauge to Korinthos.(NEWS)
December 1, 2005... REVENUE SERVICES on Hellenic Railways' standard gauge line between Athens and Korinthos began on October 5, after an introductory week of free operation. The route was formally inaugurated on September 26 by Transport Minister Michalis...

AFE upgrade bids.(NEWS)
December 1, 2005... THE GOVERNMENT of Uruguay is expecting to invite bids in January 2006 from private companies interested in forming a joint venture with AFE to upgrade the national network and operate freight and passenger services. Following a conference...

KRRI.(NEWS)
December 1, 2005... KRRI President Chae Nam-Hee announced at Eurailspeed last month that an order is likely to be placed before the end of 2005 for 10 KTX350 high speed trainsets for use on the Honam line between Seoul and Mokpo; Korail issued a request for...

Finnish Railways.(NEWS)
December 1, 2005... Finnish Railways has invited tenders by January 9 for the construction and leasing of 20 double-deck inter-city coaches, having received no acceptable bids in a previous tender that closed on October 30. VR says the new tender is backed by a...

Arriva expands.(NEWS)
December 1, 2005... UK-BASED rail and bus operator Arriva has won a contract from Land transport authority Bayerische Eisenbahngesellschaft to run 160 km/h inter-urban passenger services on the route linking Munchen, Hof and Furth im Wald in southern Germany. ...

Finnish cut-off completed.(NEWS)
December 1, 2005... THE LAST rail was laid on September 28 to complete the 74 km cut-off between Kerava and Lahti in Finland. Work on the project began in October 2002, and the line is expected to open for revenue operation in September 2006. Partially funded...

Iron ore port link.(NEWS)
December 1, 2005... THE SIGNING of a Memorandum of Understanding on October 29 is expected to accelerate the start of construction of a heavy haul iron ore line in southern India next year. The 114 km link between Obulavaripalem and Krishnapatnam will shorten...

Australian Rail Track Corp.(NEWS)
December 1, 2005... Australian Rail Track Corp has awarded a A$200m contract to the Transport Express Alliance joint venture of Barclay Mowlem Construction and Balfour Beatty Australia to undertake the infrastructure elements of its Sydney-Brisbane route upgrading...

ADIF places high speed contracts.(NEWS)
December 1, 2005... ADIF has awarded contracts worth a total of [euro]459m for civil works on seven sections of the Madrid-Valencia high speed line, totalling 51 km. This includes the 6.5 km between Embalse de Contreras and Villagordo del Cabriel, awarded to...

Infrabel.(NEWS)
December 1, 2005... Infrabel has completed the flyover on the southern approach to Brussels Midi, which will carry Thalys and Eurostar services into their dedicated platforms, saving 3 min from December 2006. With the timetable change, on December 11 this year,...

Spain issues first freight licences.(NEWS)
December 1, 2005... THE SPANISH Ministry of Development has issued a licence to operate freight trains on the national network to Continental Rail. This follows the granting of licences at the end of September to fellow private-sector company Comsa Rail Transport...

TCDD orders 250 km/h trainsets.(NEWS)
December 1, 2005... TURKISH STATE Railways has awarded CAF of Spain a contract worth [euro]180m to supply 10 trainsets to run on the Istanbul-Ankara high speed line from 2008. Based on the RENFE Class 120, the six-car trainsets will have aluminium bodyshells...

Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp.(NEWS)
December 1, 2005... Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp achieved a speed of 315 km/h on October 31, during test running with its Series 700T trainsets. THSRC Chairman Nita Ing said a revised financial plan would be released by the end of November, following the decision...

Rolling motorway shuttles stepped up.(NEWS)
December 1, 2005... AUSTRIAN operator Okombi relaunched its rolling motorway services on the Brenner main line on November 3, with 10 round trips a day departing at two-hourly intervals. The move trebled capacity on the route, allowing 360 lorries a day to be...

Saudi Railways Organisation.(NEWS)
December 1, 2005... Saudi Railways Organisation has taken delivery of the first nine of 13 Premier class coaches being built by Rotem for its principal services between Riyadh and Dammam; they are fitted with Grammer seats derived from the German ICE3 design, SRO...

Dublin dominates Irish investment.(CITY NEWS)
December 1, 2005... RAIL expansion projects in Dublin and across the country form the backbone of the [euro]34.4bn Transport 21 investment package unveiled by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Transport Minister Martin Cullen at Dublin Castle on November 1. Bringing...

Voters back NYC rail expansion.(CITY NEWS)
December 1, 2005... VOTER APPROVAL on November 8 of a $2.9bn state transportation bond act will provide additional funding for New York's long-planned Second Avenue subway and LIRR's East Side Access extension to Grand Central Terminal. MTA Chairman Peter...

Minsk metro expands.(CITY NEWS)
December 1, 2005... THE metro network in the capital of Belarus was extended by 3.9 km on November 7, when the city's public transport department MinskTrans inaugurated a further section of Line 2. Running northwest from Pushkinskaya to Kamennaya Gorka, with...

MTR Corp and KCRC.(CITY NEWS)
December 1, 2005... Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang confirmed in mid-October that the region's government is close to agreeing terms for the proposed merger of MTR Corp and KCRC. To protect minority MTR shareholders from the losses being made by the...

Lausanne Mayor Daniel Brelaz.(CITY NEWS)
December 1, 2005... Lausanne Mayor Daniel Brelaz visited the Alstom works at Valenciennes in October to see the first of 15 two-car trainsets for the city's M2 automated metro, which is due to open in 2008, carrying 6 600 passengers/h at a commercial speed of 16.6...

Line 1 automation contract.(CITY NEWS)
December 1, 2005... ON NOVEMBER 7 Paris metro operator RATP signed a [euro]30.8m contract with Siemens Transportation Systems for the automation of Line 1. Due to be completed by 2010, the contract covers the supply of lineside equipment and a radio...

Local politicians in Denver participated in a ceremony.(CITY NEWS)
December 1, 2005... Local politicians in Denver participated in a ceremony on November 10 to mark the completion of tracklaying on the $880m T-REX southeast light rail extension. The two branches along I-25 and I-225 totalling 30.5 km are due to open in December...

Athens metro plans growth.(CITY NEWS)
December 1, 2005... A FURTHER 23.8 km is to be added to the Athens metro by 2013, according to plans confirmed last month by Attiko Metro SA. This will be in addition to 12.7 km already under construction, bringing the total length of the network to 108.9...

Bern to boost S-Bahn capacity.(CITY NEWS)
December 1, 2005... A THREE-phase programme to expand capacity on the Bern S-Bahn network in 2008, 2010 and 2012 was announced by the canton's Director of Transport Barbara Egger-Jenzer on November 4. Under an agreement between the operating partners BLS...

Feeders planned.(CITY NEWS)
December 1, 2005... TENDERS are to be called next year for the construction of three rail feeder routes totalling 62.5 km to connect the growing Delhi Metro network with towns outside the metropolitan region. On November 5 the Delhi government confirmed that...

Avenida Hermanas Mirabal in the Villa Mella district.(CITY NEWS)
December 1, 2005... On November 10 work began on a viaduct that will carry the Santo Domingo metro along Avenida Hermanas Mirabal in the Villa Mella district, to the north of the city centre. Work on the first section of the metro network proposed for the capital...

Africa.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2005... Africa: The Union of African Railways has established a fifth regional group, covering central Africa. A seminar is being organised to discuss railway security and joint initiatives against AIDS and malaria.

Austria.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2005... Austria: Linzer Lokalbahn services began using the main station in Linz on November 17, following the signing of a track access agreement with OBB.

Canada.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2005... Canada: Canadian National has begun the two-year long formal process to close seven branch lines in Saskatchewan. Because of changes in the grain industry, the routes with a total length of 526 km have not carried traffic for three years.

Czech Republic.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2005... Czech Republic: On January 1 Viamont will take over the operation of passenger services on the 53 km route between Karlovy Vary and Mariaske Lazne, having submitted a bid for the five-year franchise which was 24% lower than incumbent operator...

Europe.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2005... Europe: Railion and Green Cargo have signed an agreement to co-operate in international freight transport, primarily between Sweden, Germany and Italy.

France.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2005... France: SNCF has opened a new facility at Vaise in Lyon built at a cost of [euro]15m to maintain AGC DMUs deployed on TER services in the Rhone-Alpes region. A further [euro]30m is to be spent at Chambery and in Lyon, where a facility for...

Germany.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2005... Germany: The Land of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has awarded DB Regio a contract worth [euro]23m a year to operate Baltic coast services between Hamburg, Rostock and Sassnitz from December 2007 to December 2019.

Hungary.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2005... Hungary: Under a year-long programme financed by the European Union, ADIF of Spain is to work with MAV on developing improvements to infrastructure maintenance and operations control. This may lead to ADIF providing consultancy services on a...

International.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2005... International: The RZD board has been asked to approve plans to establish an international joint venture owned 50.1% by Russian Railways and 49.9% by Railion Deutschland. EurasiaRailLogistics will provide freight transport between China,...

Mexico.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2005... Mexico: Utility diversion work was due to begin last month for the project to introduce commuter services between Mexico City's Buenavista terminus and Cuautitlan (RG 10.05 p591).

Nepal.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2005... Nepal: A body comprising the governors of nine District Development Committees has been formed to initiate the process of building a rail link between Kathmandu and Birgunj close to the Indian border.

Netherlands.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2005... Netherlands: On December 10 2006 Connexxion will take over operation of the Amersfoort-Ede-Wageningen line from NS Reizigers under a 15-year concession (RG 8.05 p460). There will be a half-hourly service, and new rolling stock will be...

Poland.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2005... Poland: PCC Rail Szczakowa has begun operating a twice-weekly container train service between Brzeg Dolny in Lower Silesia and the port of Swinoujscie.

Spain.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2005... Spain: Tunnelling work on the new cross-city route for RENFE and FEVE services under Gijon resumed on November 10, following approval of the revised alignment announced in June (RG 7.05 p392). Under a programme costing [euro]7.18m, ADIF has...

Sri Lanka.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2005... Sri Lanka: On November 11 the Transport Ministry signed an agreement with Chinese firm Crnc for the construction of a double-track railway between Matara and Kataragama in the south of the country.

United Kingdom.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2005... United Kingdom: On October 14 Secretary of State for Transport Alistair Darling launched the Rail Accident & Investigation Branch. Modelled on similar bodies for the air and maritime industries, RAIB is focused on safety improvements and does...

Bosnia.(Finance)
December 1, 2005... Bosnia: The Spanish government has agreed to provide a [euro]67.6m loan which is to be used to fund the acquisition of nine Talgo trainsets by BHZIK. Deliveries are expected to take place in 2008-09.

Romania.(Finance)
December 1, 2005... Romania: The EU's ISPA programme is to fast-track [euro]49m of funding towards repairing flood-damaged railway and road infrastructure, including two destroyed rail bridges on TEN Corridor IX.

Spain.(Finance)
December 1, 2005... Spain: Under an agreement signed on October 27, the Ministry of Development is to provide [euro]30.6m towards a [euro]51m project to lower a 2.17 km section of the Sevilla-Cadiz route through Puerto Real, including 856 m in tunnel and a new...

Sri Lanka.(Finance)
December 1, 2005... Sri Lanka: The Ministry of Transport announced in October that the Austrian government is to provide [euro]20m towards the cost of upgrading the Colomo-Batticaloa route. Sri Lanka Railways will receive technical assistance from OBB.

USA.(Finance)
December 1, 2005... USA: On November 8, 53% of state voters approved the creation of the Texas Rail Relocation & Improvement Fund, which will finance the relocation of railways from urban areas. Rights-of-way which are vacated could be used for mass transit.

Venezuela.(Finance)
December 1, 2005... Venezuela: JBIC has signed a [yen]15.8bn buyer's credit agreement with the government of Venezuela to support the export of depot equipment, signalling and telecoms for use on the 45 km Caracas-Tuy Medio line now under construction.

Angola.(Market)
December 1, 2005... Angola: China Northern has signed a contract to supply four 1 500 kW diesel-electric locos and two of 1 678 kW. The 1 067 mm gauge machines with a top speed of 90 km/h will be delivered from the February 7 Locomotive Works in Beijing in the...

Argentina.(Market)
December 1, 2005... Argentina: Five bids have been received for a contract worth up to 105m pesos to build a new elevated alignment for a 14.5 km section of the Buenos Aires-Mendoza main line flooded by the La Picasa lake (RG 7.05 p390). The preferred bidder will...

Australia.(Market)
December 1, 2005... Australia: On November 4 EDI Rail announced a A$75m contract to supply 11 GT46C diesel-electric locos with EMD engines and AC traction to SCT Logistics in the second half of 2007, and provide maintenance services for 10 years. The 4 300 hp...

Austria.(Market)
December 1, 2005... Austria: Plasser & Theurer is currently testing a machine which is able to tamp four sleepers simultaneously. It will be displayed at the VDEI exhibition in Munster, Germany, on May 30-June 1 2006.

Belarus.(Market)
December 1, 2005... Belarus: Rigas Vagonbuves Rupnica is constructing a six-car multiple-unit for Belarusian Railway which the Latvian rolling stock firm hopes will lead to export orders from Russia, Ukraine and EU member states. RVR forecasts turnover of US$20m...

China.(Market)
December 1, 2005... China: Lucchini Sidermeccanica of Italy has won a contract worth [euro]6.5m to supply wheels and axles for 60 EMUs with a top speed of 200 km/h which Alstom is building for Chinese Railways.

Congo.(Market)
December 1, 2005... Congo: In a ceremony in Brazzaville on October 6 the ministers for Communications and Industry officially put into service a CK6E diesel loco with a Caterpillar 3516B engine supplied to CFCO by China Northern.

Finland.(Market)
December 1, 2005... Finland: Infrastructure manager RHK has awarded three five-year fixed-price maintenance contracts which will start from January 1 2006. CMC Terasto won the contract for the eastern and western areas and RN Rakennutaja the southern region....

Germany.(Market)
December 1, 2005... Germany: Connex has exercised an option to purchase seven Bombardier Talent three-car DMUs worth [euro]18m for use on NordWestBahn services from autumn 2006.

Poland.(Market)
December 1, 2005... Poland: Sand and mineral hauler PTKiGK has purchased OBB's five Class 1822 dual-voltage locomotives, which could be fitted with signalling equipment for use on cross-border trains to Germany.

Russia.(Market)
December 1, 2005... Russia: Following tests with two prototype vehicles, Metrowagonmash is building three-car DMUs for RZD's Moscow Ring services. Voith Turbo will supply 65 transmissions during 2006 for use in the units' MTU-engined powerpacks.

Spain.(Market)
December 1, 2005... Spain: RENFE has awarded Wagons-Lits a [euro]52.2m contract to provide onboard catering services for its Main Line business unit, which is expected to offer savings of [euro]6.2m over the preceding contract as well as a substantial improvement...

Turkey.(Market)
December 1, 2005... Turkey: In October Dalian Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co received confirmation of an order to supply Turkey Steel Co with 10 Bo-Bo diesel-electric locomotives. The 80 tonne machines will have a top speed of 35 km/h, Caterpillar 3508 engines and...

United Kingdom.(Market)
December 1, 2005... United Kingdom: Last month HSBC Rail awarded a [pounds sterling]87m contract to design and build depots at Ashford and Ramsgate to the DEPCO consortium, which was responsible for depots at Northam and Bedford. The facilities will be used to...

Vietnam.(Market)
December 1, 2005... Vietnam: On November 2 ZTE of China was awarded a 1 000bn dong contract financed by China Import-Export Bank to modernise signalling and telecoms on lines radiating from Hanoi over the next four years.

Outgoing Commissioner for International Co-operation Costello Garang.(Pointers)
December 1, 2005... Outgoing Commissioner for International Co-operation Costello Garang has announced that a 'crucial financial deal' has been completed which will allow construction of Sudan's US$2bn southern extension railway from Wau to Juba, Torit and...

Mitsubishi held talks with Ukraine.(Pointers)
December 1, 2005... In October representatives of Mitsubishi held talks with Ukraine's Minister of Transport Viktor Bandar to discuss the possibility of constructing a fast rail link between Kyiv and Boryspil Airport.

Atlantic to Katima Mulilo.(Pointers)
December 1, 2005... Namibia is studying two options for a rail link from the Atlantic to Katima Mulilo on the Zambezi, in the Caprivi Strip between Botswana and Zambia. A 750 km line could run to the existing Grootfontein line which would give access to Walvis...

On November 2 California High Speed Rail Authority unanimously approved an environmental impact report for a proposed 1 100 km rail project estimated to cost $37bn.(Pointers)
December 1, 2005... On November 2 California High Speed Rail Authority unanimously approved an environmental impact report for a proposed 1 100 km rail project estimated to cost $37bn. The vote permits the start of detailed evaluation of specific routes and the...

Indian Railways.(Pointers)
December 1, 2005... Managing Director V K Agarwal has said that RITES will submit its draft report on plans for heavy freight corridors to Indian Railways by the end of this year. Lines with 25 to 30 tonne axleloads would be built along the sides of the Golden...

Ministry of Federal Planning, Public Investment & Service.(Pointers)
December 1, 2005... A presidential decree published on October 25 has granted Argentina's Ministry of Federal Planning. Public Investment & Service powers to call tenders for the operation of passenger services between Buenos Aires and the cities of Cordoba and...

China.(Metros)
December 1, 2005... China: On November 9 Changchun Railway Vehicle Co was awarded a contract to supply 34 stainless steel trainsets for Beijing metro Line 10. Deliveries will start in January 2007, and the trains will be formed of three motor cars and three...

Czech Republic.(Metros)
December 1, 2005... Czech Republic: Ostrava Transport has begun taking delivery of five VarioLF T3RN.EV trams based on heavily-modernised CKD T3 vehicles. Rebuilt by a consortium of CKD Pragoimex, VKV Praha, KOS Kmov, Cegelec and DP Ostrava, the 35% low-floor cars...

Egypt.(Metros)
December 1, 2005... Egypt: The National Tunnels Authority has called tenders for the 4.5 km Abbasiya-Attaba first phase of Cairo metro Line 3. Contracts will be awarded by February 2006, and construction will take four years.

France.(Metros)
December 1, 2005... France: Work on extensions to the Strasbourg light rail network totalling 13.5 km is expected to resume shortly. This follows a November 4 ruling by the appeal court in Nancy that overturned an earlier decision to revoke the declaration of...

Hungary.(Metros)
December 1, 2005... Hungary: BKV has appointed a consortium of Mott MacDonald, Fomterv and Uvaterv to prepare tender documentation for the [pounds sterling]790m Line 4 metro project. An initial 7.7 km section between Kelenfoldi and Keleti is expected to open in...

Philippines.(Metros)
December 1, 2005... Philippines: Manila's Light Rail Transit Authority has cancelled its agreement for SNC-Lavalin to build a 12 km southern extension of Line 1 from Baclaran to Cavite and will put the US$897m project out to competitive tender. LRTA has asked the...