Railway Gazette International articles from January 2005

Railway Gazette International archives from January 2005

THSRC needs more than luck.(COMMENT)(Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp agrees for compensation)
January 1, 2005... ON NOVEMBER 26 Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp finally agreed to pay US$65m to the Eurotrain consortium formed to bid for the electrical and mechanical equipment on Taiwan's 346 km high speed line between Taipei and Kaohsiung. Eurotrain,...

Report highlights signalling renewal.(Office of Rail Regulation)
January 1, 2005... THE UK's Office of Rail Regulation published on November 29 its first annual report on how Network Rail is meeting the stewardship requirements of its licence, ORR's targets, and those set in its own Business Plan. Covering the year to March 31...

Not green enough yet.(COMMENT)(railroads conference)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... RAIL'S assumed environmental advantage (RG 12.04 p811) took a few more knocks on November 19 at a high-level conference on railways and the environment in Berlin attended by around 200 representatives from business and polities. The 22...

Railway Directory.(COMMENT)(Advertisement)
January 1, 2005... READERS may now purchase the 2005 edition of our industry reference work Railway Directory, compiled and edited by Chris Bushell. The 110th edition of Railway Directory provides up-to-date information and contact details for the world's...

A year of celebration: 1835-1905-2005; 170 years of railway publishing.(RG 100)(Railway Gazette International)(Editorial)
January 1, 2005... THIS YEAR is a landmark in the history of Railway Gazette International. July 26 marks the centenary of the Railway Gazette title, although its antecedents trace the lineage back to 1835. 2005 is also a notable date for three of our other...

Infrastructure fund launched.(NEWS)(Conseil d'Administration de l'Agence de Financement des Infrastructures de Transport de France begins operations)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... FRENCH transport infrastructure finance agency AFITF is to be fully operational on January 1 2005, following the publication on December 1 of its establishing decree. AFITF's 12-strong board will have six members nominated by the government,...

Bonds support Russian spending.(NEWS)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... RUSSIAN Railways' first 12bn rouble bond issue was launched on December 8, when three tranches of 1 000-rouble bonds were sold by public subscription at the Moscow Inter-Bank Currency Exchange. The receipts will help to fund RZD's 148-1bn...

Argentine investment.(NEWS)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... DURING THE recent state visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao, the government of Argentina signed letters of intent with China Beiya Escom International Ltd and the 20th Bureau of Chinese Railways that could see US$8bn invested in railway...

NSB.(NEWS)(Rail services)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... NSB takes over the operation of Oslo--Goteborg inter-city services on January 1 with the winding up of the Linx joint venture with SJ. Linx services from Goteborg to Kobenhavn will be replaced by SJ intercity trains between Goteborg and Malmo...

ARR adopts PTC.(NEWS)(ALASKA Railroad)(Positive Train Control )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... ALASKA Railroad has awarded a $4.8m contract to Union Switch & Signal for installation of Positive Train Control on its 846 km network, for commissioning in the first quarter of 2007. PTC is intended to prevent collisions, enforce permanent...

CD Pendolino.(NEWS)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... On November 18 CD Pendolino trainset 680 001 set a new Czech rail speed record of 237.0 km/h during commissioning trials on the upgraded 25 kV 50 Hz line between Vranovice and Breclav south of Brno. In the current timetable EC trains cover the...

Bids in for EFE signalling upgrade.(NEWS)(Empresa de Los Ferrocarriles del Estado )(Contracts)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... CHILEAN state railway EFE was due to select last month a preferred bidder for a US$103m contract to upgrade and maintain signalling, electrification and telecommunications equipment under its 2003-05 investment programme (RG 10.04 p660). Work...

Kazakh link completed.(NEWS)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... CEREMONIES were held at Arka on November 30 to mark the opening of the Khromtau--Altynsarino line by President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who dispatched the first grain train over the route. The 403.9 km line between Donskoye and...

Koralm tunnel exploration.(NEWS)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... CONSTRUCTION of Austrian Federal Railways' planned Klagenfurt--Graz high speed line moved a step closer on December 4, when work began on pilot bores for the 32.8 km Koralm tunnel. New line authority HL-AG has been developing plans for the...

City of Truro.(NEWS)(Restoration services)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... On November 30 a special train hauled by 'City of Truro' marked the restoration of double track on 11.3 km of Network Rail's Plymouth--Penzance main line between Probus and Burngullow. The second track was lifted by BR in 1986 to save the cost...

SNCB budget set.(NEWS)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... LAST MONTH the board of Belgian National Railways approved a [euro]1.48bn investment programme for 2005. The bulk of the money, [euro]814.6 m, will come from the government, and [euro]80m from the Brussels RER fund. Another [euro]6.5m will...

Cross-border revival.(NEWS)(Rail Services)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... MEETING in Islamabad on December 2-3, officials from the Pakistan and Indian railways boards agreed to reopen a second rail route between the two countries. The metre-gauge link between Khokhrapa in Sindh province and Munaba in Rajasthan...

Cordoba--Malaga tracklaying starts.(NEWS)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... ON NOVEMBER 29 Spanish Development Minister Magdalena Alvarez joined GIF President Antonio Gonzalez at the site of the new station in Bobadilla (RG 12.04 p812), to be known as Antequera-Santa Ana, to mark the start of tracklaying on the...

Beira Railway Company.(NEWS)(agreements)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Mozambique Railways Chairman Rui Fonseca signed an accord with the Chief Executive of the Beira Railway Company Anil Madan in Beira on December 10 to mark handover of the 1 067 mm gauge Machipanda and Sena lines to the concessionaire, owned 51%...

NS spending rises.(NEWS)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... NORFOLK SOUTHERN announced on December 2 that it planned to invest $938m during 2005, compared to $810m in 2004 and $798m the year before. The biggest single element, $438m, will fund track renewals and bridge maintenance. Another $23m will...

Chinese Railways.(NEWS)(Services)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Chinese Railways launched through trains from Guangzhou to Haikou on December 5, using the recently-completed train ferry link across the Qiongzhou Straits between Guangdong and Hainan Island. Journey time is 12 h including a 55 min ferry...

Airport line concession close.(CITY NEWS)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... A CONSORTIUM led by SNC-Lavalin and including Serco has been selected for a concession to design, build and operate the planned Richmond--Airport--Vancouver rapid transit line. TransLink subsidiary RAV Project Management Ltd was due to...

Connex wins Metrolink race.(CITY NEWS)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... SOUTHERN California Regional Rail Authority board of directors has selected Connex to operate the Metrolink commuter rail network in Los Angeles, replacing Amtrak with effect from July 1 2005. The $210m five-year contract is Connex's second...

Tokyo Monorail.(CITY NEWS)(Services)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... A 900 m extension of the Tokyo Monorail to serve lerminal 2 at the city's domestic Haneda Airport was inaugurated on December 1. The US$650m second terminal, mainly used by ANA, was opened on the same day Photo: Kazumiki Miura

BA car order back on track.(CITY NEWS)(agreements)(Buenos Aires)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... ON DECEMBER 10 Alstom Chairman & CEO Patrick Kron signed an agreement that will see 65 metro cars ordered for the Buenos Aires network assembled at the company's La Plata works in Argentina. Deliveries from Alstom's Lapa works in Sao Paulo,...

MTR branches out.(CITY NEWS)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... ON DECEMBER 3 Hong Kong MTR Corp signed a formal agreement to build and operate Beijing metro Line 4, which is due to open in time for the 2008 Olympics. MTRC is taking a 49% stake in the project, as will the state-owned Beijing Capital...

Ma On Shan.(CITY NEWS)(Rail Services)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Following the receipt of safety approval from the Hong Kong Railway Inspectorate, Kowloon--Canton Railway Corp confirmed on December 14 that the 11.4 km Ma On Shan rail link would be officially opened for revenue service on December 21....

Bangkok bid battle.(CITY NEWS)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... A CONSORTIUM of Siemens Transportation Systems and Sino-Thai Engineering & Construction was confirmed on December 13 as preferred bidder for the DBOM concession to build the express rail line to serve Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi International...

RATP to run Firenze light rail.(CITY NEWS)(Regie Autonome des Transports Parisiens)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... ON DECEMBER 8 Paris Transport Authority announced that its international subsidiary RATP Developpement had won the concession to design, build and operate the light rail network in Firenze. The three-line network serving Firenze and the...

Hiroshima develops low-floor LRV.(CITY NEWS)(Light Rail Vehicle)(Hiroshima Electric Railway)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... IN MARCH, Hiroshima Electric Railway will put into service the first 100% low-floor tram to be built entirely in Japan. Designated [U.sup.3].ALFA, the car has been developed by Kinki Sharyo, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Toyo Electric...

$350m loans for Venezuela projects.(CITY NEWS)(Funding)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... ON NOVEMBER 30 the Andean Development Corp announced that it had approved three loans worth a total of US$350m to fund rail and metro projects in Venezuela. The suburban railway under construction between Caracas and Tuy Medio (RG 9.04...

Moscow opens Expo monorail.(CITY NEWS)(Rail Services)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... DEMONSTRATION services began running on Russia's first monorail on November 20, following the award of an operating certificate earlier in the month. According to Moscow Deputy Mayor Petr Aksenov, revenue service on the 8.6 km elevated...

US Congress.(City News in Brief)(Funding)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... On November 20 the US Congress passed a funding appropriations bill for the 2005 fiscal year, allocating $7.6bn for public transport, a 5.2% increase over FY 2004. This includes $3.3bn for capital investment, $1.4bn for new starts and $1.2bn...

Crossrail.(City News in Brief)(Services)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... An expanded version of London's east--west Crossrail project was unveiled on December 15 by Superlink Ltd, a group of experienced rail managers. They believe Crossrail will fail because of 'a huge gap in funding', whereas Superlink would cost...

Sheremetyevo.(City News in Brief)(Services)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Russian Railways launched a dedicated service to Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport on November 21. Pending completion of a new branch into the airport in 2007, the service runs every 2 h from Savelovsky station in the city to Lobyna, from where bus...

Grande Ceinture Ouest.(City News in Brief)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... SNCF and RFF officially opened the Grande Ceinture Ouest orbital rail service between Noisy-le-Roi and Saint-Germainen-Laye on December 11 (RG 6.04 p322), linking suburbs to the west of Paris. Trains run half-hourly off-peak and every 15 min at...

C-Train still growing.(CITY NEWS)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... FIVE LIGHT RAIL investment projects are included in Calgary's five-year transport infrastructure programme for 2005-10, approved in November. Total cost of the package is put at C$2bn, including 35 road schemes. The light rail elements are...

Australia.(INTELLIGENCE)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Australia: Queensland has amended its rail safety investigation laws to match national standards, retrospectively dated to cover the diesel tilt train derailment north of Bundaberg on November 16 (p16). QR has increased capacity on its...

Canada.(INTELLIGENCE)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Canada: On November 2 Great Western Railway, a group of farmers and other parties, took over 496 km of former CP line southwest of Swift Current, Saskatchewan from Westcan Rail for C$5.5m.

Chile.(INTELLIGENCE)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Chile: On December 3 the first of five Class 444 EMUs being acquired from RENFE by EFE for [euro]13.5m was loaded onto a ship at Malaga. Deliveries following refurbishment at RENFE'S Malaga workshops are due for completion this year.

Europe.(INTELLIGENCE)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Europe: Meeting in Zaragoza on December 7, the transport ministers of France and Spain agreed to begin studies in 2005 of potential route options for a high-capacity central rail crossing of the Pyrenees. The founding statutes of the GEIE to...

France.(INTELLIGENCE)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... France: SNCF has invited bids for its parcels, express and logistics subsidiary Sernam, hoping to sell the business as a going concern by spring 2005. ABN AMRO France is acting as financial adviser.

India.(INTELLIGENCE)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... India: The cabinet has agreed to introduce a bill to parliament to create a Rail Land Development Authority with the task of encouraging commercial use of railway land and air space. Commercial developments could realise up to Rs2bn in three...

Latvia.(INTELLIGENCE)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Latvia: On December 2 LLC Ventspils Nafta Terminals began using a 66-wagon oil transhipment terminal at the port of Ventspils. The 12.9m lat facility has an annual capacity of 4.5 million tonnes of crude or 5.5 million tonnes of gas oil.

Malawi.(INTELLIGENCE)(Repair)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Malawi: Work to repair damage to the Rivirivi Bridge caused by Cyclone Delfina in January 2003 is nearing completion, and CEAR hopes to restore train services shortly.

Slovakia.(INTELLIGENCE)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Slovakia: On January 1 ZSSK is to be split into a state-owned passenger operator Zeleznicna Spolocnost Slovensko AS and joint stock freight company Zeleznicna Spolocnost Cargo Slovakia AS. ZSSK Cargo is to be privatised by the end of 2005, in a...

South Africa.(INTELLIGENCE)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... South Africa: A team has been set up by the government to implement the consolidation of Metrorail, SA Rail Commuter Corp and Shosholoza Meyl into a single body reporting to the Department of Transport, leaving Spoornet to concentrate on...

Spain.(INTELLIGENCE)(contracts)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Spain: Tenders are to be called to build a new 11.9 km alignment that will replace the section of the Zaragoza--Canfranc route running through the centre of Huesca which has six level crossings, at a cost of [euro]28.7m. RENFE has awarded...

Sweden.(INTELLIGENCE)(Services)(Hector Rail )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Sweden: Hector Rail ran its first train on December 12, from Hallsberg to Halden, using two Rc3 locos hired from SJ. Hector Rail has bought six ASEA El15 locomotives from MTAS in Narvik, and three are being refurbished by EuroMaint in Notviken....

Switzerland.(INTELLIGENCE)(Mergers)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Switzerland: Appenzeller Bahnen, Roschach-Heiden-Bergbahn, Trogenerbahn and Bergbahn Rheineck-Walzenhausen have agreed to merge on January 1 2006.

United Kingdom.(INTELLIGENCE)(Translink)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... United Kingdom: Hong Kong's MTR Corp has taken a 29% stake in a joint venture with current East Coast Main Line franchisee GNER to bid for the Integrated Kent Franchise. Other bidders for IKF are FirstGroup and a joint venture of Stagecoach and...

Brush Traction.(INTELLIGENCE)(agreements)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... December 15 saw a MTU 16V 4000 R41 engine ceremonially placed in a Class 43 HST power car at the Brush Traction works in Loughborough. Brush has a [pounds sterling]1.5m contract to re-engine two power cars which will be evaluated on First Great...

RZD.(INTELLIGENCE)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... As part of the celebrations to mark 70 years of railways in the Krasnoyarsk region, RZD President Gennady Fadeyev and Regional Governor Alexander Hlopotin inaugurated a new station building at Krasnoyarsk on December 7, completed at a cost of...

Angola.(Finance)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Angola: Finance Minister Andre Lui Brandao has announced plans to spend US$4bn rehabilitating 2 722 km of track in four phases over the next 11 years. The US$78m first phase is nearing completion, the second will see US$90m of modernisation...

China.(Finance)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... China: Asian Development Bank has approved a US$180m loan towards the US$548m cost of a 167 km single-track line from Lijiang to Dali in Yunnan province, serving 11 stations. Opening is planned for 2009.

Czech Republic.(Finance)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Czech Republic: On November 11 parliament agreed to guarantee a [euro]45m credit from Eurofima, which will fund purchase of 26 coaches, 14 Class 471 EMUs and 20 Class 380 three-system electric locos during 2005.

Netherlands.(Finance)(Ministry of Transportation)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Netherlands: The Transport Ministry has reserved [euro]340m towards the cost of replacing a viaduct in central Delft with a tunnel. Work is planned to start in 2010.

Romania.(Finance)(CFR Calatori )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Romania: CFR Calatori has received a [euro]73.8m 10-year loan from ING and HVB for the purchase of 57 Siemens Desiro DMUs by the end of 2006.

Russia.(Finance)(BaltTransServis)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Russia: EBRD is lending US$40m to BaltTransServis to buy oil tank wagons and freight locos. The company holds a railway carrier licence and plans to start operating trains on behalf of oil producers. By 2007 Russian Railways is to invest...

Vietnam.(Finance)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Vietnam: The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has allocated 7.2bn dong to upgrade level crossings in the city.

USA.(INTELLIGENCE)(Divestments)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... USA: On December 8 RailAmerica announced the completion of the sale of its Arizona Eastern Railway and West Texas & Lubbock Railroad subsidiaries to Permian Basin Railways. On November 29 the Surface Transportation Board approved Kansas...

Australia.(Market)(agreements)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Australia: EDI Rail has signed a contract to supply BHP Billiton Iron Ore with 13 GMEMD SD70ACe diesel-electric locomotives of 4 300 hp, spares and support, with options for more. Delivery will be in late 2005.

Bulgaria.(Market)(agreements)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Bulgaria: On December 7 BDZ announced it had selected Siemens for supply of 25 DMUs. Two demonstrator Desiro sets will initially be supplied, with the other 120 km/h units to follow in late 2005. The [euro]67m cost will be recovered through...

Canada.(Market)(agreements)(Greater Toronto Transit Authority)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Canada: Go Transit has ordered a further 30 BiLevel commuter coaches from Bombardier for C$26m.

China.(Market)(agreements)(China Railways)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... China: CR has ordered 180 heavy-haul electric locos from Siemens and CSR Zhuzhou Electric Loco Works for delivery in 2006-07. Derived from the earlier Class DJ1, the 9.6 MW twin-unit locos are intended to operate on the 620 km...

Czech Republic.(Market)(Lostr A.S. )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Czech Republic: Lostr is to supply CD with 100 Tadnss four-axle hopper wagons with sliding roofs and 50 Sggmrss six-axle 120 km twin-unit container flats. OOS Ostrava will supply 200 Habbillnss covered four-axle wagons with sliding walls. Astra...

India.(Market)(Products)
January 1, 2005... India: Siemens has been awarded a Rs230m contract to provide a GSM-R network and handsets between Guwahati, New Jalpaiguri and Malda. Nortel has won a similar Rs150m contract covering the route between Howrah and Dhanbad. On November 29...

Kenya.(Market)(contracts)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Kenya: South African, Chinese and Indian firms have been approached by Kenya Ports Authority, which is seeking bids for the construction of 400 container flat wagons to increase capacity on the line to Uganda.

Malaysia.(Market)(agreements)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Malaysia: KTMB has signed a five-year agreement worth 100m ringgit to operate landbridge trains carrying sealed containers between Malaysia and Thailand on behalf of Freight Management Holdings Bhd.

Trenitalia.(INTELLIGENCE)(Rail services)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Trenitalia launched a daily low-cost passenger service between Roma, Firenze, Bologna and Milano on December 12. TrenOK is operated by a reliveried ETR 450 trainset; a ticket for the 4 h 27 min trip costs [euro]9 and can be bought on-line or...

Celebrations were held at Leeds on December 13 to mark the launch on the previous day of the Northern Rail franchise operated by Serco and NedRailways.(INTELLIGENCE)(Northern Rail Car Corp)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Celebrations were held at Leeds on December 13 to mark the launch on the previous day of the Northern Rail franchise operated by Serco and NedRailways. Northern merges the former First North Western and Arriva Trains Northern businesses to...

Toll NZ.(Pointers)(Product development)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Toll NZ is considering plans to assemble locomotives in New Zealand and to develop its wagon construction business there. Local assembly of motive power would be cheaper and cut lead times, according to Chairman Mark Rowsthorn.

Kenyan.(network railway line linking sudan, kenya and uganda)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki announced on December 12 that the NEPAD alliance had agreed to fund a feasibility study for a standard-gauge 'high speed' railway to connect Mombasa with the proposed network linking southern Sudan, northern Kenya...

National Economic & Development Authority.(endorsement of railroad construction and refurbishment proposals in Philippines)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... The Philippines National Economic & Development Authority has endorsed proposals to rehabilitate and extend PNR's Main Line South. Phase 1 covers refurbishment of the 422 km Calamba--Legaspi section at a cost of US$628m. The US$304m Phase 2...

Provincial Development & Reform Commission.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Shaanxi's Provincial Development & Reform Commission plans to seek up to 4.9bn yuan in private-sector funding for construction of the 386 km Xi'an--Pingliang heavy-haul coal railway in 2006-09. The route is one of 10 new lines totalling 50bn...

Russian.(transport ministers of Russia and Ukraine signed a memorandum of understanding)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... On November 11 Russian Transport Minister Igor Lewitin and his Ukrainian counterpart Georgi Kerpan signed a memorandum of understanding for introduction of faster passenger trains between Moscow and Kyiv with effect from August 1 2005.

Trans-Asean.(railroad construction between China and Myanmar)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... As part of the Trans-ASEAN project, the governments of China and Myanmar signed a memorandum of understanding in November under which China will help finance construction of a 232 km crossborder line from Lashio to Muse, linking MR with the CR...

Gulf Cooperation.(Gulf Cooperation Council)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Transport Ministers in the Gulf Cooperation Council are to call bids shortly for a one-year feasibility study for a 1 984 km railway from Kuwait to Qatar and Oman along the south of the Gulf; construction would take six years at a cost of...

French Transport.(transportation policy)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... French Transport Minister Gilles de Robien signed an accord with his counterparts Karla Peijs (Netherlands), Renaat Landuyt (Belgium) and Lucien Lux (Luxembourg) on December 9 covering development of a new Rotterdam--Lyon rail freight axis over...

Northwest Railway Co.(Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Zambia's private-sector Northwest Railway Co has announced plans to build a 175 km line from ZR's railhead at Chingola to Solwezi. The Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa has offered to help fund the US$55m line, which would carry 74...

Sweden.(BMT Rail-STIBI AB contracts)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Sweden: Botniabanan AB has awarded Alcatel a contract to design and deploy communication systems on the route, which includes 15 tunnels totalling 25 km. BMT Rail and STIBI AB have been awarded a two-year rolling stock management contact...

Turkey.(Canac Inc-contracts)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Turkey: Canac Inc has signed a C$793 000 contract funded by the World Bank to provide consultancy services for a restructuring of TCDD.

United Kingdom.(HSBC Rail awards contract to Bombardier)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... United Kingdom: HSBC Rail has awarded Bombardier a [pounds sterling]45m contract to refurbish 61 Class 315 four-car suburban EMUs leased to operator One. The work will be carried in Derby, for completion in June 2008. Trinity Rail has...

USA.(Market)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... USA: Montana Rail Link has ordered 16 GM-EMD SD70ACe locos of 4 300 hp. Five new locos will replace eight older ones on coal and grain trains. They will have IntelliTrain remote monitoring and diagnostics, allowing maintenance staff to access...