Railway Gazette International articles from December 2006

Railway Gazette International archives from December 2006

THSRC launch in confusion.(COMMENT)
December 1, 2006... DECEMBER 7 is due to see an 'inauguration ceremony' take place at Taichung for the 346 km high speed line between Taipei and Kaohsiung. Already postponed by a year to October 31, the milestone event was put back again when it became clear that...

Compromise starts German privatisation timetable rolling.(COMMENT)
December 1, 2006... FIERCE squabbling between the political parties nearly sank the deal at the last moment, but on November 9 agreement was finally reached within Germany's coalition government on how to privatise Deutsche Bahn. Within days of the announcement...

Idrac strikes first.(COMMENT)
December 1, 2006... SNCF President Anne-Marie Idrac has set out on the long journey to convince the French railway trade unions that they must move with the times. Fully aware that the unions planned a strike on November 6 to protest about wages, recruitment,...

Standard gauge contracts.(NEWS)
December 1, 2006... THE NIGERIAN government has selected international partners to develop the first sections of the 8 000km standard gauge network which it intends will replace the country's existing 1 067mm gauge routes over the next 20 years at a projected cost...

Tours-Vierzon electrification starts.(NEWS)
December 1, 2006... THE PLANTING of an overhead line mast at Villefranche-sur-Cher on October 26 marked the formal start of work on a [euro]107m project to electrify the Tours-Vierzon line. Reseau Ferre de France President Michel Boyon was joined for the...

Spoornet orders 50kV locos.(NEWS)
December 1, 2006... SOUTH AFRICAN rail operator Spoornet is to get 32 new locomotives for its 861 km Sishen-Saldanha iron ore line at a cost of R1.1bn. Delivery of the Class 15E locos will run from March to November 2009, enabling Spoornet to phase out 80 diesel...

RENFE record spend.(NEWS)
December 1, 2006... SPANISH national operator RENFE is planning to spend a record [euro]1.2bn on rolling stock in 2007, of which [euro]574m has been allocated to high speed trains including classes 102 and 103 as well as Alvia and Altaria trainsets. Existing Talgo...

Orbital enquiry.(NEWS)
December 1, 2006... NOVEMBER 6 saw the start of the formal public enquiry into plans to develop an orbital suburban line around the northeast of Paris. The Tangentielle Nord project envisages laying two new tracks alongside the existing Grande Ceinture freight...

Rift Valley takes over at last.(NEWS)
December 1, 2006... A CEREMONY in Nairobi on November 1 marked the formal handover of the Kenya and Uganda railways to the Sheltam-led Rift Valley Railways consortium, following a signing ceremony in Kampala attended by Sheltam Managing Director Roy Puffet,...

Trans-Asian accord signed.(NEWS)
December 1, 2006... MEETING IN Busan on November 10, representatives from transport ministries in 40 countries formally endorsed the Trans-Asian Railway programme drawn up by the UN Economic & Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (RG 11.05 p728). The...

Pilbara stock orders.(NEWS)
December 1, 2006... AUSTRALIAN rolling stock builder United Group announced in October that it had won three orders to supply locomotives and wagons for the Pilbara iron ore railways in Western Australia. BHP Billiton has ordered 480 Golynx iron ore wagons as...

High speed line heads north.(NEWS)
December 1, 2006... WITH WORK progressing towards the target of opening the Madrid-Valladolid high speed line at the end of next year (p778), the Spanish Ministry of Development has published the final alignment for the next phases of the project. Designed...

Barajas Airport to get rail link.(NEWS)
December 1, 2006... ON NOVEMBER 7 the Spanish Ministry of Development announced that it had called tenders for works to build a new rail link between Madrid Chamartin and Terminal 4 at Barajas Airport. Work is expected to take 34 months to complete within a budget...

Luanda line revival on course.(NEWS)
December 1, 2006... RAIL SERVICES between the Angolan provinces of Luanda and Malanje are on course to resume in the first half of 2007, according to Malanje governor Cristovao da Cunha. He confirmed on November 5 that the rehabilitation of DCFM's 1 067mm...

BLS unveils base tunnel strategy.(NEWS)
December 1, 2006... SWISS operator BLS marks completion of the Lotschberg base tunnel on December 7. Preparations for opening included tests with a loco-hauled test train at up to 230km/h in early October, and this month Deutsche Bahn's ICE-S test train is...

East Japan Railway.(NEWS)
December 1, 2006... East Japan Railway has completed what it believes is the world's first test run with a fuel cell hybrid train, reaching 50 km/h at Yokohama City on October 19. Built with a diesel hybrid power pack, JR East's experimental New Energy Train has...

RailAmerica Inc.(NEWS)
December 1, 2006... Operator of 42 short lines in the USA and Canada, RailAmerica Inc announced on November 15 that it had 'entered into a definitive merger agreement' valued at around US$1.1bn under which global asset manager Fortress Investment Group will take...

rail4chem.(NEWS)
December 1, 2006... On November 9 European open-access operator rail4chem signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Frankfurt with the ALE alliance of 15 trade unions representing train drivers in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Hungary, Netherlands, Spain, Croatia and...

Vietnam Railway Corp.(NEWS)
December 1, 2006... Vietnam Railway Corp announced on November 8 that the Prime Minister had approved plans for a US$160m upgrading of the Hanoi-Kunming line from Yen Vien on the outskirts of the capital to the Chinese border at Lao Cai, as part of the Trans-ASEAN...

Downer EDI wins Sydney contract.(CITY NEWS)
December 1, 2006... A CONTRACT worth A$8bn to finance and build 626 double-deck EMU cars for Sydney's 1.5 kV DC CityRail network was announced by RailCorp on November 10. The winning bid was submitted by Reliance Rail, a consortium led by Downer EDI that also...

T-REX opens.(CITY NEWS)
December 1, 2006... TWO DAYS of celebrations and free rides preceded the launch of revenue service on the Southeast light rail line in Denver on November 19, a month ahead of schedule. Built at a cost of US$880m, the two-branch route along Interstates 25 and 225...

Bilbao progress.(CITY NEWS)
December 1, 2006... A CONSORTIUM of Obras Subterraneas/Viuda de Sainz and Excavaciones Cantabricas has been awarded a [euro]57.9m contract to build a 2.4 km extension of the Bilbao Metro from Etxebarri to Ariz and Basauri. Mostly underground with two new stations,...

Dominican fit-out.(CITY NEWS)
December 1, 2006... ON OCTOBER 31 the Dominican Republic's Oficina para la Reorganizacion del Transporte confirmed a [euro]99m contract for electrical and mechanical works on the metro line now under construction in Santo Domingo. The contract has been...

East London contract awarded.(CITY NEWS)
December 1, 2006... VISITING worksites on November 15, London's Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy confirmed that major works are about to start on the East London Line extension programme. The [pounds sterling]363m main works contract for Phase 1 of what TfL...

Second ring for Moscow to go ahead.(CITY NEWS)
December 1, 2006... MOSCOW City Government has approved plans to build a second metro ring around the Russian capital. Moscow Metro President Dmitry Gaev says the 260 km network is now carrying 9 million passengers/day, which is putting pressure on...

Sevilla plans suburban growth.(CITY NEWS)
December 1, 2006... SPANISH Development Minister Magdalena Alvarez visited Sevilla on November 13 to unveil the details of a [euro]129m programme to expand the city's suburban rail network, which would grow by 43 km with 17 new stations. Two new routes would...

Commuter rail to feed trams.(CITY NEWS)
December 1, 2006... AFTER 10 YEARS of planning, a groundbreaking ceremony was held in Portland, Oregon, on October 25 to mark the start of work on the 23.6 km Washington County commuter rail project. Local operator TriMet, which is managing the scheme,...

Koreans choose VAL208.(CITY NEWS)
December 1, 2006... CONTRACTS for the construction and fitting-out of a further automated light metro in South Korea were awarded on November 14. Feasibility studies for a feeder line connecting the northern suburban centre of Uijeongbu with Hoirong station on...

Now on test in Wien is the first of 26 bi-directional Flexity Outlook trams being built by Bombardier for the Marseille light rail network at a cost of [euro]61m.(CITY NEWS)
December 1, 2006... Now on test in Wien is the first of 26 bi-directional Flexity Outlook trams being built by Bombardier for the Marseille light rail network at a cost of [euro]61m. Styled by MBD Design with wide windows, wooden seats and a 'Mediterranean...

Shensong Line Mass Transit Co.(City News in Brief)
December 1, 2006... On November 6 Shanghai Shensong Line Mass Transit Co signed a [euro]257m contract with Bombardier Transportation and Changchun Bombardier Railway Vehicles for a fleet of 51 six-car Movia trainsets. Due for delivery from mid-2008, they will...

EIB.(City News in Brief)
December 1, 2006... The Romanian government signed a loan agreement with EIB on October 20 releasing [euro]63m towards a [euro]127m investment package for modernisation of the Bucuresti metro. Metrorex hopes to use the money to upgrade disabled access to stations,...

VAG and Siemens.(City News in Brief)
December 1, 2006... As part of the testing of the RUBIN automatic train control technology, Nurnberg metro operator VAG and Siemens began running automatic trains in mixed traffic from November 6. Formerly restricted to running at night after normal operation had...

Construction work has started on a 1450m test section for metro Line 2 in the Chinese city of Xi'an.(City News in Brief)
December 1, 2006... Construction work has started on a 1450m test section for metro Line 2 in the Chinese city of Xi'an. Running from Zhangjiapu to Youjiazhuang, the section will take 30 months to build at a cost of 270m yuan. Work on the rest of the 26.4 km...

UK Transport.(City News in Brief)
December 1, 2006... On October 18 UK Transport Minister Dr Stephen Ladyman announced that the government had decided to grant legal powers and planning consents to Network Rail for the Thameslink 2000 scheme to upgrade the north-south cross-London rail corridor in...

Transport Minister Dominique Perben.(City News in Brief)
December 1, 2006... French Transport Minister Dominique Perben reached an agreement on October 26 with representatives from the transport authorities' association GART and the Association of City Mayors releasing additional government funding for several urban...

Bulgaria.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2006... Bulgaria: Transport Minister Peter Mutafchiev has announced that financially independent passenger, freight and traction divisions of BZD will be created in a restructuring which will take effect from January 1 2007. Bulgarian State Railway...

China.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2006... China: A train ferry service across the Bohai Sea between Lushun and Yantai began on November 6. The 440m yuan ferry can carry up to 50 wagons on the 6 h voyage, and will be joined by a second vessel on the 160 km route early in 2007.

Europe.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2006... Europe: On November 10 Eurotunnel signed a contract with Dutch transport and logistics firm Nedexco for the transport of 300000 lorries on Channel Tunnel freight shuttle service in 2007-11. Eurotunnel said this is the longest and highest-volume...

France.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2006... France: Railion Nederland has applied for safety certification to operate in France, with the aim of running block trains from the Netherlands, through Belgium and into France without needing to change drivers at the border. In June 2007...

Germany.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2006... Germany: Regentalbahn AG has been selected to operate Freilassing-Berchtesgaden services in Bayern for 12 years from December 13 2009, in co-operation with Salzburg AG. Air-conditioned low-floor trains will be procured for use on the route. ...

India.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2006... India: The Railways Board has approved work to complete the doubling-tracking of Southern Railway's broad gauge route from Madurai to Dindigul by 2008, at a cost of Rs1.3bn. The Ministry of Railways and RITES have called tenders seeking...

Iran.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2006... Iran: Last month the presidents of RAI and Russian Railways signed a memorandum of understanding to increase co-operation, focusing on the acquisition by Iran of Russian-made equipment, electrification in Iran, and Russian participation in...

Italy.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2006... Italy: Members of parliament have voted in favour of a cabinet-approved motion scrapping plans for a bridge across the Straits of Messina to Sicily. An international consortium to undertake the [euro]3.8bn construction project had been selected...

Mozambique.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2006... Mozambique: Freight and passenger services have been restored to Lichinga, situated 262 km from Cuamba on a branch off the northern CFM line between Nacala and Malawi (RG 6.04 p363). Most of the route has been out of commission since the civil...

Turkey.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2006... Turkey: The Archimede measuring train developed by Mer Mec for Italian infrastructure manager RFI is to be used to inspect the Eskent-Eskisehir section of the Ankara-Istanbul line. This will be the first section of the route to be modernised to...

EDI Rail.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2006... The first of 24 additional EMUs being supplied to QR's Brisbane Citytrain by EDI Rail's Maryborough plant for A$270m began test running on October 27. The 16 IMU inter-urban sets will enter service by mid-2008, followed by eight suburban sets...

Africa.(Market)
December 1, 2006... Africa: Chemin de Fer Djibouto-Ethiopien has named Spanish firm Ineco as preferred bidder for a [euro]2.2m contract to supervise rehabilitation works on the 781 km railway. The EU-funded work includes replacement of 20 kg/m rail with 40 kg/m,...

Angola.(Market)
December 1, 2006... Angola: The Integral Coach Factory at Perambur in India has supplied Angolan Railways with an initial batch of 22 second class 1 067 mm gauge coaches which were ordered through RITES. A further 19 coaches were to be despatched last month, with...

Australia.(Market)
December 1, 2006... Australia: QR has awarded Serco an A$8.5m two-year contract covering two measuring systems. A gauge-convertable road-rail vehicle will be equipped for track, electrification and rail profile recording, and an automated inertial geometry...

Canada.(Market)
December 1, 2006... Canada: Quebec North Shore & Labrador Railway has awarded Union Switch & Signal a resignalling contract which includes the replacement of relay-based CTC interlockings along the 418 km route with 103 MicroLok 11 systems by the end of 2008....

Europe.(Market)
December 1, 2006... Europe: DB has awarded a consortium of Siemens and Alstom a contract to equip 26 Class 189 locos with ETCS and the Dutch ATB system for use on Railion trains between Rotterdam and Nordrhein-Westfalen via the Betuwe Route. An option covers a...

France.(Market)
December 1, 2006... France: On November 5 SNCF and RFF began using an Alstom computerised interlocking at Strasbourg. Supplied under a [euro]70m contract awarded in March 2001, the interlocking handles 1 275 possible routes and will manage up to 1 000 trains a...

Germany.(Market)
December 1, 2006... Germany: Stadler Pankow has received its largest order to date, to supply Angel Trains Europa with 25 FLIRT EMUs worth a total of [euro]100m. The four-car 160 km/h units will be used by Keolis on Hellweg services around Hamm from December 2008....

India.(Market)
December 1, 2006... India: Texmaco has been awarded a Rs1.45bn contract to supply 900 bogie flat wagons to Container Corp, which will supply wheels worth Rs560m to the manufacturer.

Iran.(Market)
December 1, 2006... Iran: The economic council has approved the [euro]152m purchase by Raja Passenger Trains of 200 coaches and catering vehicles from Polour Sabz, which will form a joint venture with a foreign company. A further [euro]52.5m will be spent by RAI...

Russia.(Market)
December 1, 2006... Russia: Vyksa Metallurgical Plant has signed a 109m rouble contract to purchase two sets of ultrasonic wheel inspection equipment from St Petersburg based company Vimatek.

Spain.(Market)
December 1, 2006... Spain: On October 31 FGC President Joan Torres signed a [euro]53.5m contract with a consortium of Alstom, Bombardier and CAF for the supply of a further nine Class 213 EMUs for the Llobregat-Anoia route. RENFE has awarded Dimetronic a...

Ukraine.(Market)
December 1, 2006... Ukraine: Czech firm CMKS Holding is setting up a joint venture with UZ for the modernisation of Class CME3 diesel-electric locos. The work includes installation of Caterpillar engines in place of the original CKD Type K6S 310 DR, new electrical...

USA.(Market)
December 1, 2006... USA: Wabtec Railway Electronics has signed a contract to provide its Electronic Train Management System on 24 locos and 24 coaches used on the Rock Island Line of Chicago commuter operator Metra. Due to enter service in 2008, ETMS uses GPS and...

Zimbabwe.(Market)
December 1, 2006... Zimbabwe: NRZ has taken delivery of 11 000 lengths of rail from China. Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe provided US$3m and New Limpopo Bridge Projects Investments US$7.4m for the rails, which will be used to repair around 133 km of tracks on the route...

Cantus joint venture of Hessischer Landesbahn and Hamburger Hochbahn.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2006... From December 12 the Cantus joint venture of Hessischer Landesbahn and Hamburger Hochbahn will put its Stadler-built FLIRT EMUs into service on the Nordost-Hessen network; a Hanau-Assenheim test train crosses the Nidda bridge on October 30 ...

Now known as T4, or the Ligne des Coquetiers, the Bondy-Aulnay light rail line was officially inaugurated on November 18.(INTELLIGENCE)
December 1, 2006... Now known as T4, or the Ligne des Coquetiers, the Bondy-Aulnay light rail line was officially inaugurated on November 18. SNCF President Anne-Marie Idrac and RFF President Michel Boyon were joined for the opening by Jean-Paul Huchon, President...

China.(Metros)
December 1, 2006... China: MTR Corp has begun a year-long trial of LED lighting developed by Hong Kong University of Science & Technology. Arrays of 56 LEDs have replaced fluorescent strips in a car used on the Tsuen Wan Line, and MTR hopes to achieve a 10%...

Colombia.(Metros)
December 1, 2006... Colombia: As part of an upgrade of control systems at Medellin Metro, Indra is to supply the Da Vinci system developed in conjunction with Spanish infrastructure authority ADIF. This brings together control of signalling, electrification,...

France.(Metros)
December 1, 2006... France: Ile-de-France regional council has voted to provide [euro]5.25m for further studies and preliminary works on the extension of Paris light rail route T3 from Porte d'lvry to Porte de la Chapelle (RG 4.06 p201).

India.(Metros)
December 1, 2006... India: On November 11 a 2.8 km extension of Delhi Metro Line 3 was opened from Barkhamba Road to Indraprastha, serving intermediate stations at Mandi House and Pragati Maidan. This completes the Phase 1 extension project, taking the three line...

Netherlands.(Metros)
December 1, 2006... Netherlands: On October 29 HTM began light rail services between Den Haag Monstersestraat and Zoetermeer Javalaan on RandstadRail Line 4. A provisional service between Rotterdam Hofplein and Nootdorp using refurbished RET metro trains had begun...

Singapore.(Metros)
December 1, 2006... Singapore: Last month SMRT returned to service the first of 66 trainsets used on the North-South Line which are receiving interior modernisation work costing S$2.2m per set under a two-year project running to 2008. Changes include accessibility...

Spain.(Metros)
December 1, 2006... Spain: Work is due to begin before the end of this year on a new station at Rivas-Futura on Madrid Metro Line 9, due to open in the first half of 2008. The Puerta de Arganda-Arganda del Rey section of Line 9, built with private finance (RG 1.01...

UK.(Metros)
December 1, 2006... UK: On October 25 the government granted initial approval for two planned extensions to the Nottingham Express Transit tramway, and announced a contribution of [euro]437m towards the cost. The city and county councils will provide a further...

USA.(Metros)
December 1, 2006... USA: The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved a $43m grant to rehabilitate New Orleans trams and buses damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Around half the money will fund repairs to 24 heritage-style trams inundated by 1.5 m of...

ZSR.(People)
December 1, 2006... On October 23 Dalibor Zeleny was appointed General Manager of Slovak infrastructure operator ZSR, succeeding interim manager Milan Solarik, who returns to the post of Deputy Director-General, Operations. Zeleny was General Manager of Czech...

ZSSK Cargo.(People)
December 1, 2006... On September 22 Matej Augustin was appointed Chairman of the executive board and Director General of freight operator ZSSK Cargo, replacing Pavol Kuzma. On the same date, Miloslav Luzak, Ivana Pinosova, Jan Simco and Jaroslav Bajuzik joined...

ZSSK.(People)
December 1, 2006... On October 11 Milan Chupek was appointed Chairman of the board and General Manager of national passenger operator ZSSK, replacing Ondrej Matej. On the same date, Igor Krska, Jan Kovacik, Pavol Gabor and Michal Veres were appointed to the board....

Canada.(Finance)
December 1, 2006... Canada: On November 14 Minister of Transport Lawrence Cannon announced C$8m of government funding enabling first nation owned company Tshiuetin Rail Transport to continue to provide services between Sept-Iles and Schefferville, Quebec until the...

Croatia.(Finance)
December 1, 2006... Croatia: On November 11 Minister of Finance Ivan Suker signed a [euro]37.5m financing agreement with KfW IPEX-Bank to fund the purchase of signalling equipment and track materials from MAN Ferrostaal. These will be used in upgrading the...

France.(Finance)
December 1, 2006... France: SNCF, RFF, central government and the Bretagne region are to fund a [euro]34m programme that will see 126 stations refurbished in 2006-12. At a cost of [euro]100m, a further 23 DMUs are to be delivered for TER services in the region by...

Iran.(Finance)
December 1, 2006... Iran: The Islamic Development Bank has allocated a [euro]19.7m one-year short-term finance facility to RAI for the purchase of spare parts for locomotives, signalling, telecoms and permanent way.

Spain.(Finance)
December 1, 2006... Spain: The European Investment Bank has signed an agreement to lend ADIF [euro]200m over 30 years to fund construction of the Cordoba-Malaga high speed line. EIB is to provide a total of [euro]1bn for the project, of which [euro]600m has so far...

UK.(Finance)
December 1, 2006... UK: On November 6 the University of Birmingham and the Manufacturing Advisory Service launched a two-year Technology Transfer in Railways programme and a supply chain-focused Rail Business Improvement programme, funded by Advantage West...

Vietnam.(Finance)
December 1, 2006... Vietnam: On October 4 Vice-Minister of Planning & Investment Cao Viet Sinh and French Minister of Foreign Trade Christine Lagarde signed a [euro]200m soft loan for a [euro]458m project to build a 12.5 km urban railway between central Hanoi and...

Zimbabwe.(Pointers)
December 1, 2006... It is understood that Russia is interested in building the long-delayed rail connection between Harare and the dormitory town of Chitungwiza 15 km to the south, after a 48-member Russian delegation visited Zimbabwe to review possible economic...

Malaysia.(Pointers)
December 1, 2006... Last month Malaysia's cabinet committee on public transport approved in principle plans for a 13.4 km rail link between Kuala Lumpur International Airport's main terminal and the Low Cost Carrier Terminal, which opened for the use of no-frills...

India and Pakistan.(Pointers)
December 1, 2006... Representatives from India and Pakistan met last month to discuss the possible introduction of freight services on the Munabao-Khokhropar line, which reopened to passengers in February after being abandoned since 1965 (RG 4.06 p192).