Railway Gazette International articles from December 2008

Railway Gazette International archives from December 2008

Governments and voters back rail spending.(COMMENT)
December 1, 2008... Amid all the coverage of the US Presidential election on November 4, and the victory of Democratic candidate Barack Obama, there has as yet been little focus on the implications for the rail sector. When Americans turned out in record numbers,...

Infrastructure budget up.(MAIN LINE)
December 1, 2008... NORWAY: The government's 2009 budget allocates NKr8.84bn for rail spending, an increase of NKrl.3bn on 2008. There is a particular focus on maintenance and renewals. Funding for infrastructure manager Jernbaneverket is up 22% to NKr7.07bn,...

Lux launches Lux lines.(MAIN LINE)
December 1, 2008... LUXEMBOURG: Plans for the construction of two new lines serving the southern part of the Grand Duchy were officially announced by Transport Minister Lucien Lux on October 15. The ministry has launched public consultation over alignment options...

Electronically controlled pneumatic brakes.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
December 1, 2008... A final rule on electronically controlled pneumatic brakes was issued by the Federal Railroad Administration on October 15, allowing US railways to begin installing a standardised system. FRA requires ECP brake systems to comply with existing...

Morocco.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
December 1, 2008... On November 14 French minister for foreign trade Anne-Marie Idrac signed a [euro]625m loan agreement with Mo rocco to part-fund the planned [euro]2bn Casablanca--Tanger high speed line, for which Alstom will supply 18 double-deck TGV Duplex...

Estonia will accede to the COTIF convention.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
December 1, 2008... Estonia will accede to the COTIF convention establishing a uniform system of laws governing international rail freight and passenger transport on January 1 2009. It is the last of the 25 EU states with railways to join, as its traffic is...

Baghdad.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
December 1, 2008... On October 29 Iraqi Republic Railways launched a commuter service linking Yousifiyah and Kazimiyah with Baghdad Central station. 'The train is faster than cars, it avoids stopping in traffic jams and dozens of checkpoints that people are...

The prime ministers of India and Japan.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
December 1, 2008... The prime ministers of India and Japan have agreed a [yen]450bn Japanese official development assistance loan towards the Vadodara--Rewari first phase of the western Dedicated Freight Corridor.

Mozambique.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
December 1, 2008... On October 19 the first train in 25 years reached Marromeu on the lower Zambezi River in Mozambique, at the end of an 80 km branch off the Sena line from Beira, destroyed in the civil war and currently being rebuilt by Rites and Ircon....

Canadian Pacific.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
December 1, 2008... Canadian Pacific has cut its 2009 capital investment programme to around C$820m, down c$200m on the combined figures for CP and DM&E in 2008. 'We are pacing our capital investments to match the needs of our customers', explained Chief Financial...

Chinese Railways.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
December 1, 2008... Asian Development Sank is providing a technical assistance grant of US$800 000 to prepare an energy efficiency strategy for the Chinese Railways.

Shinkansen prototype launched.(MAIN LINE)
December 1, 2008... JAPAN: West Japan Railway and JR Kyushu have unveiled the first of 29 eight-car Shinkansen trainsets which will operate through services between Shin-Osaka and Kagoshima-Chuo when the second phase of the Kyushu Shinkansen has been completed....

Loan targets western China development.(MAIN LINE)
December 1, 2008... CHINA: The Asian Development Bank has announced a US$300m loan towards the US$8.6bn cost of building a 820 km railway from Lanzhou in Gansu province, through Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces to the manufacturing city of Chongqing. Intended to...

Suburban spending.(MAIN LINE)
December 1, 2008... ARGENTINA: On October 25 Transport Secretary Ricardo Jaime announced a 600m pesos investment plan for 2009-11 on the Belgrano Sur commuter network in Buenos Aires. This has been operated for the government by a consortium of operators since...

Fuel buys wires.(MAIN LINE)
December 1, 2008... NEW ZEALAND: In October the government confirmed it would approve Auckland Regional Council's request to introduce a regional car fuel levy to pay for transport infrastructure which could not otherwise be funded on a reasonable timescale. ...

Botniabanan freight starts.(MAIN LINE)
December 1, 2008... SWEDEN: Freight traffic is now running on a 26 km section of the Botniabanan between Ornskoldsvik and Husum, using 4 km spur to serve M-Real's pulp and paper mill in Husum. Chief Executive of Botniabanan AB Lennart Westberg told 220 guests...

Port tunnel PPP finalised.(MAIN LINE)
December 1, 2008... BELGIUM: Work started on November 12 on the Liefkenshoek Connection which will increase rail capacity in the port of Antwerpen. Infrastructure manager Infrabel confirmed on November 5 that it had reached financial close on a PPP deal under...

Velaro at sea.(MAIN LINE)
December 1, 2008... EUROPE: The first of eight Sapsan high speed trains for Russian Railways left the German port of Sassnitz Mukran for Russia on November 13. Siemens awarded DB Schenker the contract to deliver the cars from its Krefeld plant. Because of...

Belgrano to be split.(MAIN LINE)
December 1, 2008... ARGENTINA: By means of a decree published on October 31, the federal government has begun the process of returning the metre-gauge Belgrano network to public ownership. The concession awarded to Belgrano Cargas SA in 1999 was to be terminated...

Private freight.(MAIN LINE)
December 1, 2008... PORTUGAL: Open-access freight operator Takargo launched its first regular services on October 13, running two trains a day between Setubal and Alverca. These are carrying containers for shipping company Port-line, which operates between...

RFF signs performance contract.(MAIN LINE)
December 1, 2008... FRANCE: On November 3 Reseau Ferre de France signed a five-year performance contract with the government covering the condition, use and development of its 29 973 km network. It was signed by RFF President Hubert du Mesnil, Minister of Finance...

CN buys back lines.(MAIN LINE)
December 1, 2008... CANADA: Three lines sold by Canadian National in the 1990s have been repurchased from Quebec Railway Corp at a cost of C$49.8m. As well as the Ottawa Central Railway, New Brunswick East Coast Railway and Chemin de fer de la Matapedia et du...

Marmaray EMUs ordered.(MAIN LINE)
December 1, 2008... TURKEY: On November 11 Hyundai Rotem announced that it had signed a [euro]580m contract to supply the rolling stock for the Marmaray cross-Bosporus tunnel project in Istanbul (RG 11.08 p844). The South Korean firm saw off competition from...

Grain branch upgrades funded.(MAIN LINE)
December 1, 2008... AUSTRALIA: Premier of Victoria John Brumby announced on October 20 that the state is to refurbish more freight-only branch lines as part of an A$38.7m funding package to support the state's rural economy. The state government has launched a...

Istanbul metro expands.(URBAN RAIL)
December 1, 2008... TURKEY: Test running on the extension of Istanbul heavy metro Line M2 between Taksim and Sishane began on November 7, in preparation for the opening of two extensions to the existing 8.5 km line early next year. Mayor Kadir Topbas has confirmed...

More capacity for Montreal commuters.(URBAN RAIL)
December 1, 2008... CANADA: Montreal's Agence Metropolitaine de Transport will supplement its commuter rail services in January, running an extra 80 trains per week to increase capacity by 14%. In addition, nearly 2 000 more parking spaces will be made available...

Buenos Aires car order.(URBAN RAIL)
December 1, 2008... ARGENTINA: On November 5 President Fernandez and Minister of Transport Ricardo Jaime signed a US$653.8m framework agreement for 279 metro cars with Chinese consortium Citic. The deal includes spares, technical services and training, although...

Line 1 finished.(URBAN RAIL)
December 1, 2008... POLAND: The final section of Warszawas first metro line between Slodowiec and Mlociny was completed on October 25, an event celebrated with an afternoon of free travel on November 1. The 20 km line with 21 stations has taken 25 years to...

M2 opens.(URBAN RAIL)
December 1, 2008... SWITZERLAND: Revenue service on Lausanne automatic metro Line M2 began on October 27 when the first train left Ouchy station at 05.26 bound for Croisettes. The 6 km route climbs 338 m during the 18 min journey, with gradients up to 11.4%. ...

Downtown line contracts awarded.(URBAN RAIL)
December 1, 2008... SINGAPORE: Land Transport Authority has awarded three major contracts, totalling more than S$1bn, covering the supply of signalling, communications systems and rolling stock for the 40 km Downtown Line automated metro, Phase I of which is now...

Hiawatha expansion.(URBAN RAIL)
December 1, 2008... USA: A five-block extension of the Hiawatha light rail line in central Minneapolis passed a major milestone on November 5 when Balfour Beatty Rail welded the final section of track at the intersection of Fifth Street and First Avenue. Due...

Oyster deal supports efficiency savings.(URBAN RAIL)
December 1, 2008... UK: Transport for London announced on November 14 that it had agreed a new contract for the management of the Oyster smart card ticketing system. In August TfL gave two years' notice that it was exercising a break option in the 17-year...

Signalling orders.(URBAN RAIL)
December 1, 2008... SPAIN: FGV has awarded Dimetronic a [euro]31.5m contract for the installation of automatic train control on Valencia metro lines 1, 3 and 5 over the next 24 months. Dimetronic will install its TBS 500 DTG equipment, providing ATO and...

Iarnrod Eireann to order 432 DART cars.(URBAN RAIL)
December 1, 2008... IRELAND: Despite the economic downturn and drastic cutbacks in public finances, Iarnrod Eireann is going ahead with a plan to order 432 EMU cars for Dublin's DART 1.5 kV DC electrified suburban network at a cost of nearly [euro]900m. This...

Airport link underway.(URBAN RAIL)
December 1, 2008... USA: A ceremony in Salt Lake City on October 22 marked the start of construction on the $300m Airport TRAX light rail line. The 9.7 km five-stop branch will diverge from the main north-south line at Arena, heading west to Terminal One. It is...

Mumbai.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
December 1, 2008... Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority is to establish a Special Purpose Vehicle to develop metro Line 2 on a PPP basis. Mmrda will form part of the SPV but will not provide any financial equity. The 38 km line between Charkop, Bandra...

Bordeaux.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
December 1, 2008... The 2 km extension of Bordeaux tram Line B from Bassins a Flot to Claveau opened on October 20, bringing the total length of the line to 15.2 km with 31 stops.

San Francisco.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
December 1, 2008... San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency on October 21 approved a wide-ranging plan to improve Muni Metro light rail services. A new E-Embarcadero line using heritage trams will relieve the existing F-Market & Wharves line, J-Church...

New Jersey.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
December 1, 2008... The board of New Jersey Transit has approved $l24m of funding to allow consultants THE Partnership to start final design work on the Trans-Hudson Express Tunnel to Manhattan, once the project's environmental impact statement has been approved,...

Delhi.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
December 1, 2008... On November 14 Delhi Metro Rail Corp successfully conducted a trial run on the 6-4 km Vishwavidyalaya--Jahangirpuri extension of Line 2, about 11 months ahead of schedule. Trial running will last for up to five weeks, with the five-station...

Tyne & Wear.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
December 1, 2008... An OJEU notice was issued by local transport authority Nexus on November 3 inviting expressions of interest in a concession to operate the Tyne & Wear Metro for seven years from April 1 2010. Nexus will continue to own and manage the metro,...

Dhaka.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
December 1, 2008... A 100m taka feasibility study for the Dhaka mass transit project is due to start in December, financed from government funds. Originally proposed in 2002, progress on the proposed rail network in the capital of Bangladesh has been hampered by...

Beijing.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
December 1, 2008... Construction of a suburban railway from Beijing city centre to the southern suburb of Daxing began on November 16. The 21.8 km line will have 11 stations and is due for completion in November 2010.

New York.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
December 1, 2008... Granite Construction Northeast inc has won a $161m contract from MTA New York City Transit to refurbish five stations on Line B to Brighton. Scheduled to start in November 2008, the work will take 38 months to complete.

Bucuresti.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
December 1, 2008... The 4.7 km section of Bucuresti metro Line M3 between Nicolae Grigorescu and Linia de Centura was opened on November 20. Meanwhile, a 3.1 km extension of Line M4 from 1 Mai to Laramet is currently under construction. Offers for the 10-year...

Tunis.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
December 1, 2008... Tunis light rail operator Transtu opened the El Mourouj 2--Mourouj 4 extension of Line 6 on November 12, completing a 6.8 km route from Med-Ali (RG 4.07 p209).

New York.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
December 1, 2008... New York MTA has ordered a further 382 R160 metro cars from the Alskaw joint venture of Alstom and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The $784m order announced on October 10 is a second option on a July 2002 contract for 660 cars worth $961.6m. The...

Lyon.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
December 1, 2008... On October 30 Sytral approved [euro]1-1bn of investment in the Lyon transport network between 2009 and 2014. This includes [euro]4877m for existing projects, such as the metro Line B extension to Oullins and the extension of tram Line T4 to...

Shenyang.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
December 1, 2008... CNR Changchun Railway Vehicle Co rolled out its first train for Shenyang metro Line 1 on October 17. A total of 23 six-car trains will be manufactured for the 28 km line, which will have 22 stations.

Alger.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
December 1, 2008... Alger metro authority EMA is expected to sign shortly a [euro]50m contract for Keolis to operate the city's first tram route; the other bidders for the 10-year concession were RATP Developpement and Transdev.

Warszawa signs 15 year contract.(URBAN RAIL)
December 1, 2008... POLAND: The city of Warszawa's suburban rail subsidiary SKM has signed a 15-year operating contract with transport authority Zarzad Transpotru Miejskiego. Running from 2010 to 2024, it covers the operation of 154 million train-km on one...

Sydney metro deferred.(URBAN RAIL)
December 1, 2008... AUSTRALIA: New South Wales Transport Minister David Campbell has announced that the proposed North West metro in Sydney is to be deferred because of 'the size of capital required and the current economic climate'. "The government is facing...

Barcelona station contracts awarded.(URBAN RAIL)
December 1, 2008... SPAIN: Catalunya's infrastructure manager Ifercat has awarded concessions to build and manage 26 stations on Barcelona metro Line 9 to two consortia headed by FCC and Dragados. Both concessions will last for 30 years after completion of the...

Airport S-Bahn to open.(URBAN RAIL)
December 1, 2008... GERMANY: From December 11 passenger services will begin running on the branch of Hamburg S-Bahn Line S1 from Ohlsdorf to the city's international airport. The 3 km double-track branch diverges from the existing network north of Ohlsdorf and...

Longer trams.(URBAN RAIL)
December 1, 2008... FINLAND: Verkehrs Industrie Systeme of Halberstadt has begun supplying Helsinki city transport company HKL with low-floor centre sections to lengthen 41 two-section articulated trams dating from the mid-1980s. A prototype centre section...

China.(CONTRACTS)
December 1, 2008... CHINA: Polish firm Rafamet has delivered an additional UFB125N wheel lathe to CSR Sifang under a 3.2m zloty contract.

Europe.(CONTRACTS)
December 1, 2008... EUROPE: NedRailways expects to receive regulatory approval this month to acquire Abellio, a German rail and bus operating venture owned by investment firm STAR Capital Partners (75.2%) and the city of Essen. Last month NedRailways acquired...

Germany.(CONTRACTS)
December 1, 2008... GERMANY: BeNEX has been selected to operate Dieselnetz Ober-franken services in Bayern from mid-2011 to 2023. The contract covers 4.5 million train-km a year, and planned investment of [euro]70m includes the purchase of around 40...

Israel.(CONTRACTS)
December 1, 2008... ISRAEL: ISR has chosen Tri-Logical Technologies to supply a US$2m GPS-based monitoring system capable of displaying streaming images from obstacle detection cameras at level crossings on screens in the cab.

Russia.(CONTRACTS)
December 1, 2008... RUSSIA: On December 18 RZD will auction 25% plus one share of refrigerated freight subsidiary Refservice, with a minimum price of 961m roubles. The state railway said the auction will test market interest in rail assets.

UK.(CONTRACTS)
December 1, 2008... UK: Arriva has acquired Crewe-based train maintenance company LNWR for [pounds sterling]2.4m.

Viaduct pushed into place.(MARKET)
December 1, 2008... FRANCE: As part of a [euro]250m modernisation of the Paris--Rouen--Le Havre line, infrastructure manager RFF has replaced the Oissel viaduct at a cost of [euro]18m. Spanning the Seine near Rouen, the viaduct carries around 250 trains a day. ...

Gravita on test.(MARKET)
December 1, 2008... CZECH REPUBLIC: Voith Turbo Lokomotivetechnik's prototype Gravita 10BB shunting and short-haul locomotive began test running at the Velim circuit during November. Deutsche Bahn has placed a [euro]250m order for 130 of the diesel-hydraulic...

China.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
December 1, 2008... CHINA: China Railway Group has been awarded a 4.7bn yuan contract for Section 1 of the Shijiazhuang--Wuhan line, a 2.9bn yuan contract for Section 1 of the Changdu--Dujiangy-an line, and a 1.8bn yuan contract for works on the Wuhan--Guangzhou...

Czech Republic.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
December 1, 2008... CZECH REPUBLIC: On October 29 Skanska, Subterra and Leonhard Weiss completed a KC4.6bn project to modernise a 244 km section of the Prerov--Ceska Trebova line which provides a link between SZDC corridors 1 and 2.

Finland.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
December 1, 2008... FINLAND: Infrastructure manager RHK has commissioned an Alister-Cargo electronic interlocking supplied by Funkwerk IT at the Tampere hump yard. It controls 31 tracks, 34 turnouts and 94 retarders.

France.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
December 1, 2008... FRANCE: Alstom, Inexia and Legrand have won a 53m contract for signalling equipment on the eastern branch of LGV Rhin-Rhone (RG9.07 p543). Alstom has a separate [euro]4.3m order for a Smartlock 400 interlocking for Dijon-Perigny, and Ansaldo...

Morocco.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
December 1, 2008... MOROCCO: Cegelec has announced a contract to provide electrification equipment for the 18 km two-line tramway under construction in Rabat; opening is planned for 2010.

Poland.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
December 1, 2008... POLAND: PKP PLK has appointed Mott MacDonald and subcontractors Kolprojekt and Movares to supervise track upgrading projects with a total value of [euro] 160m.

Romania.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
December 1, 2008... ROMANIA: AFER's test track at Faurei has been upgraded at a cost of 10m. The 137 km circuit is now suitable for 200 km/h running, the smaller 2.2 km ring for 60 km/h.

Spain.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
December 1, 2008... SPAIN: OHL has won a [euro]46.3m civils contract on the 20.3 km La Hiniestra--Perilla de Castro section of the Madrid--Ourense high speed line. Sando and Arcebansa are to build the 32.6 km between Perilla de Castro and Otero de Bodas for...

Sweden.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
December 1, 2008... SWEDEN: VR Rata of Finland has been awarded a SKr150m five-year contract starting in May 2009 to maintain the section of the heavy haul iron ore line between Gallivare and the Norwegian border.

UK.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
December 1, 2008... UK: Last month C Spencer Ltd began work on a [pounds sterling]20m contract to upgrade East Midlands Trains' Derby Etches Park depot by early 2010, including the construction of two sheds for the maintenance of Bombardier Class 222 DEMUs.

Belgium.(ROLLING STOCK)
December 1, 2008... BELGIUM: Bombardier has been awarded a [euro]168m sub-contract to undertake painting, final assembly and testing at its Brugge plant of 115 of the Desiro ML trainsets on order from Siemens for Brussels RER services (RG 5.08 p289).

China.(ROLLING STOCK)
December 1, 2008... CHINA: Last month China Southern announced orders from the Ministry of Railways for passenger rolling stock from the 25G vehicle family worth a total of l.6bn yuan. On November 10 MOR said it plans to invest around 300bn yuan in locomotives and...

Congo Dr.(ROLLING STOCK)
December 1, 2008... CONGO DR: On November 3 China Northern shipped a total of four 1 000 hp CKD5 Bo-Bo and 1 800 hp CKD7C Co-Co diesel-electric locos from Dalian. Ordered in June 2007, the CKD7C single-cab 1 067 mm gauge locos have CAT3512 engines and will be used...

Croatia.(ROLLING STOCK)
December 1, 2008... CROATIA: In late October Koncar returned to HZ the first of 10 electric locomotives being refurbished under a contract signed in September 2007.

Iran.(ROLLING STOCK)
December 1, 2008... IRAN: In October Ata Tous Rail Corp awarded Tuvasas a [euro]87.2m contract to supply 84 couchette, eight buffet and eight generator cars within 24 months.

Kazakhstan.(ROLLING STOCK)
December 1, 2008... KAZAKHSTAN: On October 23 China Southern's Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive subsidiary announced a US$100m order to supply KTZ with 4.8 MW electric locos with AC drives and a top speed of 200 km/h.

Lithuania.(ROLLING STOCK)
December 1, 2008... LITHUANIA: LG has exercised an option for a further 10 Siemens ER20CF freight locos, to be delivered from May to September 2010 in a deal worth more than [euro]35m including maintenance. They are an option on a [euro]123m order for 34 placed in...

Malaysia.(ROLLING STOCK)
December 1, 2008... MALAYSIA: KTMB is reported to have selected Mitsubishi and Hyundai Rotem to supply 30 EMU cars worth 240m ringgit for Kuala Lumpur--Ipoh services.

Montenegro.(ROLLING STOCK)
December 1, 2008... MONTENEGRO: TZV Gredelj of Croatia has won a [euro]3.5m contract to modernise 10 ZCG coaches. Five will re-enter service by June in time for Beograd--Bar holiday traffic.

Netherlands.(ROLLING STOCK)
December 1, 2008... NETHERLANDS: Bestuur Regio Utrecht has agreed to lease six three-car Wien trams for sneltram operator Connexxion (RG 5.08 p 279). They will be introduced in January to work limited-stop peak services on the Nieuwegein line.

Poland.(ROLLING STOCK)
December 1, 2008... POLAND: Following the transfer of long-distance regional trains from PKP PR to PKP Intercity, the intercity division plans to call tenders early next year for delivery of 55 double-deck coaches by 2012. In addition, 57 new EMUs will be sought,...