Railway Gazette International articles from January 2007

Railway Gazette International archives from January 2007

Eddington report is music in Treasury ears.(COMMENT)
January 1, 2007... AS GNER's ambitious InterCity East Coast franchise starts to fall apart (p6), Virgin Rail Group's West Coast business is getting up and running again. On December 13, UK Secretary of State for Transport Douglas Alexander announced the end...

Barrot tackles cross-acceptance red tape.(COMMENT)
January 1, 2007... A SERIES of measures to 'support the revitalisation of the railway sector' was announced by European Commission Vice-President Jacques Barrot on December 13. Insisting that 'we need to streamline and reduce the amount of rules that railway...

Reform is not the answer.(COMMENT)
January 1, 2007... 'THE ZIMBABWE RAILWAY continues to be critical for the growth of regional and international trade', reports the World Bank following a recent study of the country's transport infrastructure. At the centre of international routes linking the...

High speed advances in Spain.(NEWS)
January 1, 2007... SPANISH PRIME MINISTER Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero officially opened the 100 km Cordoba-Antequera section of the Cordoba-Malaga high speed line on December 16, accompanied by Development Minister Magdalena Alvarez. Two days later she joined...

Norfolk Southern.(NEWS)
January 1, 2007... Norfolk Southern announced on December 11 that it planned to spend $1.34bn on capital improvements in 2007. The budget provides $884m for infrastructure works, including $610m for track and bridge renewals, $73m for capacity enhancement and...

Wires to Tanger.(NEWS)
January 1, 2007... MOROCCAN railway administration ONCFM has awarded two contracts to Cegelec totalling [euro]20m for electrification work on its two lines to Tanger. Signed in Paris on December 11, the first covers the erection of 150 track-km of 3 kV DC...

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo participated in a ground-breaking ceremony at Kajola on November 28 to mark the start of work on the first phase of the country's planned double-track standard-gauge network.(NEWS)
January 1, 2007... Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo participated in a ground-breaking ceremony at Kajola on November 28 to mark the start of work on the first phase of the country's planned double-track standard-gauge network. Totalling 1315 km, the...

Action threatened on liberalisation.(NEWS)
January 1, 2007... SLOVENIA and Portugal were warned on December 12 by the European Commission to implement rules on liberalisation of the rail market or face a legal challenge in the European Court of Justice. Neither country has notified the EC of the...

Bin Ladin wins north-south work.(NEWS)
January 1, 2007... SAUDI Bin Ladin Group confirmed on November 27 that it had been awarded the main construction contract for Saudi Arabia's 2000 km north-south mineral railway, which is due to be completed by 2011. Eight consortia submitted bids for the work...

Betuwe Route Exploitatie Maatschappij.(NEWS)
January 1, 2007... Dutch infrastructure company Betuwe Route Exploitatie Maatschappij has been renamed Searail Ltd ahead of the opening of its dedicated freight corridor. Diesel-hauled services had been expected to start using the 25 kV electrified line on...

Four GE Transportation C30-EMP diesel-electric locomotives ordered.(NEWS)
January 1, 2007... Four GE Transportation C30-EMP diesel-electric locomotives ordered by Sheltam Grindrod were unloaded at Durban on November 30. The US$20m order covers 20 locos, which are being built in Brazil and have 12-cylinder engines with electronic fuel...

Renfe must break even by 2010.(NEWS)
January 1, 2007... UNDER THE terms of a 2006-10 contract-programme signed with the government on November 28, Spanish national operator RENFE has been set the challenge of ensuring that all of its divisions are breaking even within five years. From 2010 it...

East Coast to be re-franchised.(NEWS)
January 1, 2007... EXPRESSIONS of Interest to operate the UK's InterCity East Coast franchise were invited by the Department for Transport on December 15. Submissions are due by January 15, with the aim of having a new operator in post within 12 to 18 months. ...

Continental Rail ready to roll.(NEWS)
January 1, 2007... ON NOVEMBER 25 Continental Rail became the first private freight operator to be awarded a safety certificate for the Spanish national network, enabling it to bid for paths from infrastructure authority ADIF. The certificate is valid for five...

Coal branch planned.(NEWS)
January 1, 2007... BOTSWANA RAILWAYS CEO Andrew Lunga announced on November 17 that the railway is planning to build a rail connection from Erasmus on its main line to serve the Mmamabula coalfield, which is being developed by Toronto-based CIC Energy Corp and...

SNCB.(NEWS)
January 1, 2007... The first M6 double-deck driving trailer for SNCB was presented on December 4 at Bombardier's Brugge plant. One of 32 second class cars, it is part of an [euro]167m order for 70 coaches placed in October 2004, which includes 19 multifunctional...

OBB buys into ICE-T pool.(NEWS)
January 1, 2007... 'WE DO NOT have anything against competition, but it is important to note that our competitors are not our neighbour railways, but the car and the plane', insisted DB Chairman Hartmut Mehdorn in Salzburg on December 9. He had just signed...

Ministers back multimodal service.(NEWS)
January 1, 2007... ANNOUNCING THE results of a joint study on December 4, French Transport Minister Dominique Perben and Minister for Environment & Sustainable Development Nelly Olin backed rail and maritime development in the Rhone valley and the 'Langeudoc...

Czech electrification progress.(NEWS)
January 1, 2007... DECEMBER 8 saw the start of 3 kV DC electric services on the 27 km single-track route between Ostrava-Svinov and Opava-Vychod in the Czech Republic, marking the completion of a KC1.73bn upgrading for 100 km/h operation, which has cut journey...

Uruguay launches parallel PPPs.(NEWS)
January 1, 2007... URUGUAY'S MINISTRY of Transport & Public Works was due to open on December 18 for a period of one month a data room for companies preparing to bid for contracts to upgrade and maintain 962 km of the national rail network. Bidders will be...

Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp.(NEWS)
January 1, 2007... Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp announced on November 29 that it had decided to postpone the official inauguration ceremony scheduled for December 7 (RG 12.06 p757). Emphasising that the company was working through a list of improvement works and...

East-west containers.(NEWS)
January 1, 2007... THE VISION of through freight trains linking Berlin and Beijing, taking 12 days for the 9 800 km, was painted by Deutsche Bahn Chairman Hartmut Mehdorn, following the signing of a three-way accord in the Chinese capital on November 20. ...

Manila capacity expanded.(CITY NEWS)
January 1, 2007... ON DECEMBER 10 Philippines President Gloria Arroyo and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe formally inaugurated the first of 12 new four-car trains being supplied as part of a 8.9bn pesos upgrade of Manila light rail Line 1. After cutting a...

Rhine-Ruhr Express to go ahead.(CITY NEWS)
January 1, 2007... FEDERAL Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee signed an agreement on November 17 that will bring about long-planned improvements to rail services in Germany's Rhine-Ruhr area. The Rhine-Ruhr Express project will see around [euro]1.3bn...

Metroquatro victory.(CITY NEWS)
January 1, 2007... HAVING SELECTED Metroquatro as preferred bidder (RG 9.06 p493), the Sao Paulo state government has now agreed a 30-year concession with the consortium to operate and maintain the first phase of Line 4 between Luz and Taboao da Serra. ...

Siemens and Thales.(CITY NEWS)
January 1, 2007... Following the recent award of a contract for electrical works to Siemens and Thales (RG 12.06 p761), a joint venture between France's CIM and TSO has agreed a contract worth [euro]35m with the Dominican Republic's Oficina para la Reorganizacion...

Lyon.(CITY NEWS)
January 1, 2007... Lyon's T3 tram route was opened for service on December 4, with an inaugural ceremony taking place the week before on November 27. The line links the city centre with the city's eastern suburbs, running for 14.7 km from Part-Dieu to Meyzieu on...

Overground shortlist.(CITY NEWS)
January 1, 2007... TRANSPORT for London announced on December 15 that it had shortlisted two consortia to submit 'best and final offers' for the contract to operate London Overground services on the North and East London lines. Four groups were invited to...

Ayalon quadrupling.(CITY NEWS)
January 1, 2007... ISRAEL'S TRANSPORT ministry has asked Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to define as a project of national importance a US$465m plan to quadruple the Ayalon Corridor cross-city rail link through Tel Aviv. The third track on the 22 km route between...

Phoenix LRVs arrive.(CITY NEWS)
January 1, 2007... PHOENIX LIGHT rail promoter Valley Metro Rail took delivery of the first of 50 low-floor LRVs from Kinki Sharyo on December 5. The 27.4 m long vehicles are being shipped to Phoenix from the Japanese manufacturer's Osaka plant for final assembly...

Evergreen II completed on time.(CITY NEWS)
January 1, 2007... A CEREMONY at London's Marylebone station on December 12 marked the completion of Chiltern Railways' [pounds sterling]70m Evergreen 11 capacity expansion project. UK Transport Minister Tom Harris was joined for the ribbon-cutting by Laing Rail...

The inauguration of route T3 on December 15 saw trams return to the streets of the city of Paris after a gap of nearly 70 years.(CITY NEWS)
January 1, 2007... The inauguration of route T3 on December 15 saw trams return to the streets of the city of Paris after a gap of nearly 70 years. Mayor Bertrand Delanoe (second left) was joined at Porte de Versailles station to cut the ribbon by RATP President...

Jordan's Public Transport Regulatory Commission.(City News in Brief)
January 1, 2007... Jordan's Public Transport Regulatory Commission has appointed CPCS Transcom to advise on re-tendering of the proposed Amman-Zarqua light rail line. A previous attempt in 2005 failed to attract investors or operators for the concession to...

On November 26 residents of Bern voted 70% in favour of revised plans to provide SFr26m towards the Swiss capital's Tram West project, having rejected earlier proposals in 2004.(City News in Brief)
January 1, 2007... On November 26 residents of Bern voted 70% in favour of revised plans to provide SFr26m towards the Swiss capital's Tram West project, having rejected earlier proposals in 2004. The canton is expected to approve a further grant of SFr30m to...

Federal Transit Administration.(City News in Brief)
January 1, 2007... The Federal Transit Administration has approved the start of preliminary engineering on the proposed $930m, 17.7 km Central Corridor light rail line in Minneapolis. The 16-station line will link Minneapolis and St Paul, running mainly along...

DPMK.(City News in Brief)
January 1, 2007... Construction of a fast light rail route to the airport at Barca is among the projects planned in a major investment programme announced by Kosice transport authority DPMK. The KS2.85bn vision, known as Korid, will also see the construction of a...

Africa.(INTELLIGENCE)
January 1, 2007... Africa: 24 coaches built in Pretoria for DR Congo have been seized by National Railways of Zimbabwe. DRC had defaulted on monthly payments for 50 coaches leased from NRZ in 1998, and the railways have now agreed that the vehicles impounded in...

Belgium.(INTELLIGENCE)
January 1, 2007... Belgium: On December 7 SNCB Holding signed an agreement to sell 100% of its ABX Belgium Distribution road transport subsidiary to General Logistics Systems of Amsterdam.

Canada.(INTELLIGENCE)
January 1, 2007... Canada: On December 1 CN paid C$25m to buy the Savage Alberta Railway from Salt Lake City-based Savage Companies. The 586 km line in northern Alberta had been sold by CN in 1999.

Croatia.(INTELLIGENCE)
January 1, 2007... Croatia: HZ has completed the reinstatement of war-damaged 25 kV electrification equipment on the Strizivojna-Vrpolje-Slavonski Samac line, part of the corridor from the Hungarian border through to Bosnia and the Adriatic port of Ploce.

Europe.(INTELLIGENCE)
January 1, 2007... Europe: In November the first train crossed the repaired bridge over the Danube near Bogojevo. Traffic on the route between Serbia and Croatia collapsed with the wars of the 1990s, and the bridge was damaged by NATO forces in 1999. The...

France.(INTELLIGENCE)
January 1, 2007... France: The Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region has signed a new contract with SNCF for the operation of TER local services, running until December 31 2016. The region will provide [euro]190.9m a year in operating subsidy. It is the first of 13...

Germany.(INTELLIGENCE)
January 1, 2007... Germany: On November 24 parliament formally instructed the federal government to draw up plans for privatising Deutsche Bahn. Draft legislation is to be drawn up by the end of March (RG 12.06 p757).

Netherlands.(INTELLIGENCE)
January 1, 2007... Netherlands: Last month Swiss logistics company Bertschi began work on a [euro]10m rail terminal in the Port of Rotterdam. The 3.5 ha facility has space to be tripled in size, and will initially have three 450 m tracks; it will handle four...

Slovakia.(INTELLIGENCE)
January 1, 2007... Slovakia: Last month ZS Brno, Betamont Zvolen and Eltra Kosice completed the installation of 25 kV electrification on ZSR's 22 km Zvolen-Banska Bystrica route. EU funding met 75% of the KS1.1bn cost.

UK.(INTELLIGENCE)
January 1, 2007... UK: The National Rail timetable has been published online as a series of PDF documents for the first time. The May 2007 edition will be the last published on paper, the Association of Train Operating Companies saying demand has fallen from...

Bangladesh.(Finance)
January 1, 2007... Bangladesh: The World Bank has approved the US$40m Bangladesh Railway Reform Programmatic Development Policy Credit, a 40-year credit granted to support rail reform as part of a long-term strategic partnership between the government, World...

China.(Finance)
January 1, 2007... China: On November 29 Asian Development Bank announced a US$300m loan towards the construction of a 520 km double-track railway from Taiyuan to Dingbian, 232 km of single track from Dingbian to Zhongwei, and 192 km of single track from Dingbian...

Europe.(Finance)
January 1, 2007... Europe: On November 24 French Transport Minister Dominique Perben and his Italian counterpart signed a formal request addressed to the European Commission for a funding contribution towards the [euro]13.7bn Lyon-Torino high speed line.

Kenya.(Finance)
January 1, 2007... Kenya: Standard Chartered and Barclays banks have signed a KSh1.68bn medium-term loan with Magadi Soda Co, which plans to import 104 hopper wagons and purchase eight metre-gauge locomotives to increase capacity on its trains carrying soda ash...

Romania.(Finance)
January 1, 2007... Romania: In November the World Bank approved a US$180m Transport Sector Support loan, towards a US$225m programme of rail and road maintenance and modernisation.

Vietnam.(Finance)
January 1, 2007... Vietnam: Asian Development Bank has announced a US$1.7m grant funded by the Government of Japan for the production of a mass transit master plan for Ho Chi Minh City. Work will include the completion of preliminary designs for two metro lines...

Argentina.(Market)
January 1, 2007... Argentina: Tenders are to be called for the supply of four locomotives and 100 wagons for the Rio Turbio-Rio Gallegos route operated by mining company YCRT, and the refurbishment of 190 existing wagons. This follows the award of a 108.2m pesos...

Canada.(Market)
January 1, 2007... Canada: Thales is to supply smart card ticketing and back-office systems as a subcontractor to Accenture, which has been awarded a 10-year contract worth C$250m to install and support an integrated fare collection scheme for nine transport...

China.(Market)
January 1, 2007... China: Czech manufacturer Bonatrans has won a KC100m order to supply 3000 wheels to Hong Kong's MTR Corp in 2007-09.

Denmark.(Market)
January 1, 2007... Denmark: Banedanmark awarded Strukton Railinfra a contract to measure 3200 km of track and catenary during December. Measurements were undertaken using Eurailscout's UFM 120 inspection train, with analysis and graphical display using the...

France.(Market)
January 1, 2007... France: On November 24 Bombardier announced an additional [euro]467m order for 112 AGC multiple-units for SNCF, representing a number of French regional authorities. Deliveries of the dual-mode and dual-voltage units from Bombardier's Crespin...

Netherlands.(Market)
January 1, 2007... Netherlands: At the end of November Arriva placed a [euro]30m order with Stadler for one two-car and six three-car 1.5 kV DC GTW electric multiple-units for use on the 49 km Dordrecht-Geldermalsen line which Arriva took over in December under a...

Russia.(Market)
January 1, 2007... Russia: Bryansk Machine Building Factory has delivered to Uralkali the last of 400 fertiliser wagons ordered in March. Design modifications have increased the capacity of the Type 19-3116 to 70.5 tonnes, with a 71 tonne model to be launched in...

South Africa.(Market)
January 1, 2007... South Africa: Spoornet has announced plans to purchase a further 212 diesel and electric locomotives for its General Freight Business division at a cost of R6.1bn.

Spain.(Market)
January 1, 2007... Spain: Within a budget of [euro]62.78m, tenders are to be called for the construction of 3.58 km of new infrastructure between Redondela and Soutomaior on the Vigo-Pontevedra route. The double-track formation will be designed for...

Sweden.(Market)
January 1, 2007... Sweden: On December 5 Skanetrafiken signed an order for 49 Coradia Lirex EMUs to be supplied by Alstom at a cost of [euro]240m. They will be delivered from Salzgitter to the southern Swedish region's transport operator in the second half of...

UK.(Market)
January 1, 2007... UK: Serco Assurance has been awarded a contract to carry out testing of the Class 395 EMUs being built by Hitachi for domestic services on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. Static testing will begin in Japan this spring, with dynamic testing on...

USA.(Market)
January 1, 2007... USA: California High Speed Rail Authority has appointed a consortium of Parsons Brinckerhoff, Systra and local companies to provide programme management for the proposed 1100 km 350 km/h line between San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles and...

Canada.(Metros)
January 1, 2007... Canada: Greater Vancouver transport authority TransLink has awarded Bombardier a US$99m contract for 34 Mkll SkyTrain light metro cars, with options for a further 38 cars totalling US$92m. The linear induction trainsets will be manufactured in...

China.(Metros)
January 1, 2007... China: Managing Director of Hong Kong Tramways Frankie Yick Chi-ming has announced a feasibility study for an extension to form a circular route along the waterfront from Western Market to Sheung Wan, Wan Chai, the Star Ferry pier and...

Croatia.(Metros)
January 1, 2007... Croatia: A 1 km extension of the Osijek tramway to serve the Bosutsko shopping area opened on December 2. There are three stops, and further extensions are planned.

Germany.(Metros)
January 1, 2007... Germany: On December 14 Hamburg Hochbahn awarded a consortium of Alstom and Bombardier a contract to supply 27 three-car DT5 trainsets in 2009-13, with an option for a minimum of 40 more which would take the value to [euro]240m. The DT5 trains...

India.(Metros)
January 1, 2007... India: The government of Kerala has accepted a study prepared by Delhi Metro Rail Corp recommending the construction of a 25.3 km elevated metro between Aluva and Petta in Kochi, with a future extension to Tripunithura. Three expressions of...

Italy.(Metros)
January 1, 2007... Italy: The first two 950 mm gauge Skoda 06T trams for Cagliari were delivered on December 1, and launch of the 7 km tram-train service between Repubblica and Monserrato is planned for March. Also in Sardinia, FdS formally opened the 2.5 km...

Mexico.(Metros)
January 1, 2007... Mexico: On December 13 Alstom announced a [euro]56m contract from Mexico City metro authority STC for the refurbishment of 25 trainsets on Line 8, and the provision of maintenance for 10 years. Replacement propulsion systems supplied from...

Romania.(Metros)
January 1, 2007... Romania: Brasov's single tram route closed on November 18. Trolleybuses have replaced trams on the 7 km line which opened in 1987 and needed extensive modernisation.

Spain.(Metros)
January 1, 2007... Spain: The 2.4 km extension of Madrid Metro Line 5 from Canillejas to Alameda de Osuna was opened on November 24. It is expected to generate an additional 6 million passenger-journeys a year on Line 5, an increase of 5% on current traffic...

Ukraine.(Metros)
January 1, 2007... Ukraine: Zurich transport operator VBZ has donated to the city of Vinnitsa 13 'Karpfen' and 12 'Mirage' trams which have been made redundant by deliveries of Cobra low-floor vehicles. They will be delivered to Ukraine in 2007-08, and are...

UK.(Metros)
January 1, 2007... UK: Transport for London has awarded DeltaRail a [pounds sterling]6m contract to develop and support software for the creation, analysis and publication of timetables for all London Underground lines. Carillion Construction has awarded...

USA.(Metros)
January 1, 2007... USA: Sacramento RTD opened the 1 km light rail extension from 7th and K Street to Sacramento Valley Amtrak station on December 8.

Venezuela.(Metros)
January 1, 2007... Venezuela: Test running on Line 1 of Maracaibo Metro between La Vanega and El Varillal began on November 25. Poyry's Infrastucture & Environment business group has been awarded an [euro]8m extension of its contract to provide supervisory...

CEPA.(Pointers)
January 1, 2007... Responsible for developing transport infrastructure in EI Salvador, port authority CEPA has presented the legislative assembly with a pilot scheme for reviving the national rail network. Commuter services could be introduced this year over the...

Toronto Transit Commission Chairman Howard Moscoe.(Pointers)
January 1, 2007... Toronto Transit Commission Chairman Howard Moscoe has put forward a proposal to automate the city's metro services at a cost of C$750m, saying capacity of the Yonge Line could be increased by 40% and an all-night service could be run using one...

Karachi Circular Railway.(Pointers)
January 1, 2007... On December 4 the Sindh government approved in principle the revival of the Karachi Circular Railway. The $1bn scheme would be undertaken by Pakistan Railways, with the route then transferred to the Karachi Urban Transport Corp which has PR,...

Buenos Aires.(Pointers)
January 1, 2007... The experimental light rail route serving the Puerto Madero redevelopment area in Buenos Aires (RG 9.06 p493) was expected to begin operations on January 20. Two Alstom Citadis LRVs were due to be shipped from the Spanish port of Bilbao on...

The Aragon regional government and the municipality have agreed to begin studies and tendering for a light rail route in the Spanish city of Zaragoza.(Pointers)
January 1, 2007... The Aragon regional government and the municipality have agreed to begin studies and tendering for a light rail route in the Spanish city of Zaragoza, running east to west from Delicias station to Miraflores and expected to open in 2011. Cost...

Jakarta and Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.(Pointers)
January 1, 2007... Expressions of interest in constructing a US$100m rail ink between Jakarta and Soekarno-Hatta International Airport have been received from 10 companies, according to PT RailLink, which will operate the line. The government hopes construction...

Sydney.(Pointers)
January 1, 2007... On November 20 New South Wales Premier Morris lemma announced a $660m transport investment programme for Sydney. Completion of the North West Rail Link to Castle Hill and The Hills Centre will be brought forward from 2017 to 2015.