Railway Gazette International articles from July 2005

Railway Gazette International archives from July 2005

One hundred years and still rolling.(CENTENARY)
July 1, 2005... SURVEYING the world railway industry in mid-2005, on the occasion of our Centenary, it is clear that steel wheels on steel rails still have formidable potential for further development. In the following pages we have indulged in the luxury...

170 years of railway publishing.(CENTENARY)
July 1, 2005... 1835-1905-2005 This issue commemorates the centenary of the first issue of Railway Gazette on July 21 1905. However, today's portfolio of publications can trace its roots back through many famous titles to the launch of The Railway...

100 years ago.
July 1, 2005... Compared with the average of a series of previous years, the record of railway accidents in 1904 reads favourably on the whole. This is the opinion expressed by Sir Herbert Jekyll in the recent general report to the Board of Trade on the...

Reporting on 100 years of key developments in the rail industry.(MILESTONES)(Calendar)
July 1, 2005... 1905 UK: July 21. First edition of Railway Gazette published. Russia: Regular through operations begin on the Trans-Siberian Railway after completion of Circum-Baikal railway. 1906 Switzerland-Italy: January 25. First train...

Congratulations from our readers: on learning that Railway Gazette would be celebrating its centenary this month, and marking 170 years of unbroken service to the railway industry, many of our readers have been kind enough to send their congratulations and good wishes.(MESSAGES)
July 1, 2005... Railway Gazette looks back on 100 years of publication as a specialised periodical, and on 170 years of tradition as the leading journal for the world railways. Your history is as long as that of the railway on the European continent. The...

Brazil's remarkable revival.(COMMENT)
July 1, 2005... WRITING in Companhia Vale do Rio Doce's 2004 annual report, CEO Roger Agnelli states boldly that CVRD 'has been responsible for the rebirth of the Brazilian railroad rolling stock industry'. This remarkable claim warrants further examination....

Heavy haul expertise is there to be mined.(COMMENT)
July 1, 2005... HAD SOME catastrophe struck Rio de Janeiro on June 13-16, the railway industry would have been deprived of what is arguably the world's most valuable gathering of railway engineering expertise. Around 600 delegates attended the IHHA's...

Back to square one.(COMMENT)
July 1, 2005... UNABLE to agree terms with the last of five potential bidders, the Argentinian government has quietly shelved its plans to sell a 79% stake in metre-gauge freight operator Belgrano Cargas to the private sector (RG 6.05 p350). Negotiations...

2020 vision in green.(COMMENT)
July 1, 2005... AN ENTICING vision of attractive, sustainable and efficient public transport, contributing to a higher quality of life, was painted by speaker after speaker at the International Union of Public Transport's 56th World Congress, which took place...

Interstate freight boost.(NEWS)
July 1, 2005... AUSTRALIAN Rail Track Corp has called tenders by August 12 for upgrading work between Melbourne and Sydney, with around 450 potential partners invited to join the Southern Alliance. A$500m is to be spent on the route as part of ARTC's...

RENFE plans for growth.(NEWS)
July 1, 2005... RENFE President Jose Salgueiro has unveiled the Spanish national operator's 2005-09 strategic plan, which forecasts revenue to grow by 79.6% and passenger traffic to increase by 19.3% by 2009. The [euro]5.5bn investment programme for...

Six cars for the first of 16 AVE 103 S Velaro E trainsets being built by Siemens arrived at Hendaye on June 12.(NEWS)
July 1, 2005... Six cars for the first of 16 AVE 103 S Velaro E trainsets being built by Siemens arrived at Hendaye on June 12. Three days later they were sent by road to the AVE workshops at La Sagra, where they will be mated with two intermediate cars...

Cross-border co-operation accord.(NEWS)
July 1, 2005... A LETTER of Intent setting out terms for the operation of TGV Est Europeen was signed in Strasbourg on May 23 by SNCF President Louis Gallois and DB Chairman Hartmut Mehdorn. Also present at the event were the then French Transport Minister...

Channel Tunnel Rail Link.(NEWS)
July 1, 2005... On June 1 the UK Strategic Rail Authority signed contracts worth [pounds sterling]250m with Hitachi Europe Ltd for 28 A-Train modular EMUs to operate domestic services on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (RG 12.04 p828). The units are expected to...

Banverket to pilot ERTMS Regional.(NEWS)
July 1, 2005... PROSPECTS for the installation of interoperable signalling on secondary routes moved ahead in May, when the International Union of Railways approved the Functional Requirements Specification for a simplified version of ETCS known as ERTMS...

Hokkaido Shinkansen.(NEWS)
July 1, 2005... On May 22 Japanese Land, Infrastructure & Transport Minister Kazuo Kitagawa, and JR Hokkaido Chairman Shinichi Sakamoto participated in ceremonies at Shin-Hakodate to mark the start of work on the first phase of the Hokkaido Shinkansen, which...

Port line started.(NEWS)
July 1, 2005... VIETNAM Railways announced on June 1 that work had started on the creation of a 130 km rail link from Hanoi to the new deep-water port at Cai Lan. Expected to cost 4bn dong, the project involves the reconstruction of DSVN's residual...

Real work starts at ERA.(NEWS)
July 1, 2005... CEREMONIES were held in Valenciennes on June 16 to inaugurate the European Railway Agency, which was created last year to advise the European Commission as part of the Second Railway Package (RG 8.04 p449). ERA Executive Director Marcel...

Argentina shops for passenger trains.(NEWS)
July 1, 2005... THE ARGENTINIAN government has signed an agreement with the Spanish trade development organisation Expansion Exterior that will see 96 trainsets and 536 locos and coaches bought from RENFE and FEVE over five years at a cost of 1.1bn pesos. ...

ECP braking to roll out on coal route.(NEWS)
July 1, 2005... SPOORNET is moving ahead with plans to introduce electronically-controlled pneumatic braking on its Ermelo-Richards Bay heavy haul coal line. A pilot train with cable-based ECP provided by Wabtec began running in July 2000, and the...

Completion of tracklaying on the Nurnberg-Ingolstadt high speed line was marked with a ceremony at Kinding on June 13.(NEWS)
July 1, 2005... Completion of tracklaying on the Nurnberg-Ingolstadt high speed line was marked with a ceremony at Kinding on June 13. DB's regional president for Bayern Klaus-Dieter Josel was joined by German Parliamentary Secretary for Transport Iris Gleicke...

Reform on track.(NEWS)
July 1, 2005... PLANS are on course for conversion of Pakistan Railways to a corporation at the end of July, Railways Minister Mian Shamim Haider announced on June 20. The minister said the plans were awaiting approval by the federal cabinet. The Railways...

High speed trains.(NEWS)
July 1, 2005... Russian Railways announced on June 3 that Siemens had selected Transmashholding as its joint venture partner to build RZD's future fleet of high speed trains. During talks between the then RZD President Gennady Fadeyev and Dietrich Moller of...

Tunnels completed.(NEWS)
July 1, 2005... WITH THE WESTERN bore holed through at 12.30 on June 1, tunnelling work has been completed on the 28.4 km Guadarrama tunnel on the Madrid-Valladolid high speed route. Spanish Development Minister Magdalena Alavarez had been on hand when the...

Alternative fuels on test.(NEWS)
July 1, 2005... LAST MONTH, three railways unveiled projects intended to reduce the rail industry's dependence on diesel fuel. On June 14, Brazilian industrial giant Companhia Vale do Rio Doce announced in Rio de Janiero that it will use biological fuel on...

Trenitalia.(NEWS)
July 1, 2005... On June 8 Bombardier announced that it had won a [euro]35m contract from Trenitalia to upgrade 60 ETR500 power cars for dual-system operation. Built by the Trevi consortium in 1992, the original 3 kV DC power cars will be rebuilt with 25 kV 50...

Resignalling deal.(NEWS)
July 1, 2005... AFTER a lengthy hiatus in awarding major signalling contracts, Network Rail announced on May 24 that it had selected Siemens for a [pounds sterling]50m resignalling of the Portsmouth, Fratton and Havant area. Work is due to start this...

Flood repair funds.(NEWS)
July 1, 2005... ON JUNE 13 the Andean Development Corporation signed an agreement to lend the Argentinian government US$35m, which will be used to fund a US$50.8m project to raise a section of ALL-Central's Buenos Aires-Mendoza main line that has been flooded...

Israel Railways.(NEWS)
July 1, 2005... Israel Railways has called prequalification tenders for a framework contract to install and maintain electrification equipment on key parts of its network. A conference for interested companies or contractors is being held on June 29, and bids...

Private finance needed.(CITY NEWS)
July 1, 2005... CHINESE Railways started construction of its latest dedicated passenger railway on June 12, with a ceremony on the borders of Hebei and Shanxi provinces. Expected to cost 12.6bn yuan, the 189 km route linking the provincial capitals at...

Corridor study.(CITY NEWS)
July 1, 2005... THE MINISTRY of Development has called tenders for a preliminary study into creating a 'high performance' route between the north coast of Spain and the Mediterranean Sea. The proposed route would connect with the high speed line between...

Dubai metro contract awarded.(CITY NEWS)
July 1, 2005... ON MAY 29 representatives of Dubai Municipality and the Dubai Rapid Link consortium signed a 12.45bn dirham contract for final design and construction of the planned driverless metro in the United Arab Emirates' second largest city. The...

Taiwan's Vice-Minister of Transport & Communications Chou Li-Liang and Wien's Deputy Mayor Sepp Rieder participated in celebrations at the Siemens SGP plant on June 1 to unveil the first of 42 three-car EMUs for the Kaohsiung Metro.(CITY NEWS)
July 1, 2005... Taiwan's Vice-Minister of Transport & Communications Chou Li-Liang and Wien's Deputy Mayor Sepp Rieder participated in celebrations at the Siemens SGP plant on June 1 to unveil the first of 42 three-car EMUs for the Kaohsiung Metro; following...

Tren Urbano opens.(CITY NEWS)
July 1, 2005... JUNE 6 saw the start of revenue services on the 17.7 km Tren Urbano metro line in San Juan, Puerto Rico, which links the western suburbs of Bayamon and Guaynabo with Santurce, serving 16 stations. Construction began in 1996, and the line...

Toulouse.(CITY NEWS)
July 1, 2005... On June 3 Semaly announced that it had been awarded a [euro]8m project management contract for the development of an initial 11 km light rail line in Toulouse, in consortium with Garcia-Diaz, Sud Ouest Infra, and Urbanismes et Acoustiques....

DLR keeps growing.(CITY NEWS)
July 1, 2005... AT A CEREMONY in Woolwich on June 13, Mayor of London Ken Livingstone and Transport Minister Karen Buck marked the start of work on the Docklands Light Railway extension from King George V to Woolwich Arsenal. The 2.5 km extension is to be...

TfL's flagship sets sail.(CITY NEWS)
July 1, 2005... THE 20-year old project to extend the East London Line took a decisive step forward last month when Transport for London invited bidders to prequalify for the main infrastructure works contract for Phase 1. Described as the organisation's...

The first of 59 extra cars being built by Alstom for London Underground's Jubilee Line was unveiled on June 6.(CITY NEWS)
July 1, 2005... The first of 59 extra cars being built by Alstom for London Underground's Jubilee Line was unveiled on June 6. PPP contractor Tube Lines plans to lengthen the trains from six to seven cars in December. This month Alstom is expected to deliver...

Sydney plans cross-harbour tunnel.(CITY NEWS)
July 1, 2005... NEW South Wales Premier Bob Carr announced on June 9 that A$8bn would be spent over the next 15 years on construction of a new deep-level north-south tunnel under Sydney's central business district. The line would continue under the...

Edmonton.(CITY NEWS)
July 1, 2005... With a 300 m light rail extension to the University of Alberta's Health Sciences Center on course to enter revenue service on January 1 2006, Edmonton city council voted on May 31 to accelerate construction of the 8 km South Line by three...

Capital growth.(CITY NEWS)
July 1, 2005... PLANS FOR another north-south metro line across the Chinese capital were unveiled by the Beijing Municipality on June 9. Line 9 is designed to open up development zones on the western side of the city. The 18.3 km route with 15 stations is...

Buenos Aires.(CITY NEWS)
July 1, 2005... Head of the Buenos Aires city government Anibal Ibarra has announced that work on three more metro lines will start in 2007. Legislation has been passed authorising Lines F, G and I, which will total 27 km. The 7.6 km Line F will-link Plaza...

Plans amended.(CITY NEWS)
July 1, 2005... ON JUNE 17 the Spanish Ministry of Development began public consultation on its proposal to alter the alignment of the cross-city tunnel in Gijon, where work began in April 2003. This is one of a number of major changes to the project announced...

The last of 170 Class 77 Siemens/Vossloh diesel locos being supplied to SNCB for [euro]340m was handed over at Antwerpen Noord on June 16.(INTELLIGENCE)
July 1, 2005... The last of 170 Class 77 Siemens/Vossloh diesel locos being supplied to SNCB for [euro]340m was handed over at Antwerpen Noord on June 16. The 90-tonne B-B locos are powered by a 1 150 kW ABC engine through a Voith L4r4 hydraulic transmission,...

Australia.(INTELLIGENCE)
July 1, 2005... Australia: Toll opened an A$20m freight terminal at Townsville in early May. A joint venture of Toll and Pacific National began running 1.067 mm gauge freight services from Brisbane to Cairns in March.

Brazil.(INTELLIGENCE)
July 1, 2005... Brazil: Portugese construction firm Somague Engenharia has completed a feasibility study for a US$570m rail link between Sao Paulo and the regional airport at Campinas, 90 km away.

Canada.(INTELLIGENCE)
July 1, 2005... Canada: On May 20 the Canadian Transportation Agency revoked Prairie Alliance for the Future's railway operating licence. PAFF was unable to afford liability insurance after poor harvests hit traffic on the 300 km of grain branches it leased...

Chile.(INTELLIGENCE)
July 1, 2005... Chile: EFE has taken delivery of the second of five Class 444 EMUs purchased for US$3.5m from RENFE for the Santiago-Chillan route. Eight refurbished Class 440 EMUs have been acquired for US$16.8m to operate commuter services from November on...

Czech Republic.(INTELLIGENCE)
July 1, 2005... Czech Republic: On June 1 Skanska ZS and SSZ completed modernisation works worth KC988m at Chocen. AZD Praha supplied an ESA 11 electronic interlocking. Work is now underway on a KC2.5bn upgrading at Usti nad Labem for completion by October...

Transport Secretary Alistair Darling.(INTELLIGENCE)
July 1, 2005... Transport Secretary Alistair Darling officially opened Britain's seventh integrated control centre on June 8. Network Rail, Central Trains and Virgin Trains staff will be based at the London North Western ICC in Birmingham, overseeing train...

Estonia.(INTELLIGENCE)
July 1, 2005... Estonia: On June 9 investors in Baltic Rail Services, the majority shareholder in Eesti Raudtee, sent a Notice of Dispute to the government claiming a breach of bilateral investment treaties. The problem centres on track access charges levied...

Georgia.(INTELLIGENCE)
July 1, 2005... Georgia: Georgian Railways Chairman David Onoprishvili and Transport Minister Alexei Alexischvili announced on June 9 that GR is to be restructured as a commercial company, with the government giving up control of the network and its right to...

Germany.(INTELLIGENCE)
July 1, 2005... Germany: Rail4chem has carried out a month-long trial of purchasing electricity for traction power from independent supplier PCC Energie rather than from DB. TUI announced on June 6 that it had agreed to sell its rail logistics and wagon...

International.(INTELLIGENCE)
July 1, 2005... International: UITP launched a Middle East & North Africa division at its 56th World Congress in Roma. The division has 41 members, with an office in Dubai; its first meeting will be held in Syria in September.

Slovakia.(INTELLIGENCE)
July 1, 2005... Slovakia: On June 10 infrastructure manager ZSR reopened the final 9 km section of the High Tatras Electric Railway between Stary Smokovec and Vysne Hay, completing KS 160m of repairs to the metre gauge network which was badly damaged by storms...

Spain.(INTELLIGENCE)
July 1, 2005... Spain: On May 23 RENFE extended suburban route 7 in Barcelona from Cerdanyola Universitat to Martorell, bringing into service stations at Sant Cugat and Rubi on the Castellbisbal-Mollet route. This was opened in 1982 as a freight bypass around...

Switzerland.(INTELLIGENCE)
July 1, 2005... Switzerland: Regionalverkehr Mittelland expects to sell by the end of this year its Cargo/Crossrail business, which operates freight services between the Ruhr region of Germany and northern Italy.

Ukraine.(INTELLIGENCE)
July 1, 2005... Ukraine: Systra and Scott Wilson have formally begun a programme 'aimed at strengthening the institutional capacity' of Ukrainian Railways, under a contract signed on March 15. Tender documents will be drawn up for a proposed...

USA.(INTELLIGENCE)
July 1, 2005... USA: On June 1 Genesee & Wyoming completed the acquisition of Rail Management Corp's rail operations for $243m cash and the assumption of $1.7m of non-interest bearing debt. The deal covers 14 short line, port and industrial operations...

Talgo Oy.(INTELLIGENCE)
July 1, 2005... On June 23, Talgo Oy unveiled its Talgo 22 prototype double-deck trainset, which has been built to test the concept of an EMU with through gangways on both levels (RG 11.02 p683). Launched in Helsinki, the [euro]8m train has been co-funded by...

Chile.(Finance)
July 1, 2005... Chile: EFE has secured loans worth a total of US$400m to finance electrification, signalling and telecommunications projects under its US$1bn 2003-05 investment programme. US$72m was raised through a bond issue on the local market.

China.(Finance)
July 1, 2005... China: In May China Development Bank and China Railway Construction Corp signed an agreement for a 20bn yuan development loan and the provision of financial services in 2005-10.

France.(Finance)
July 1, 2005... France: The funding agreement signed on June 1 for the [euro]107m Tours-Vierzon electrification scheme comprises [euro]60m from the Centre region, [euro]30.1m from the government, [euro]15.8m from the European Union and [euro]1m from RFF. Work...

Russia.(Finance)
July 1, 2005... Russia: International Finance Corp is to provide Russky Mir with a US$45m loan and a further US$55m in a syndicate with Natexis Banques Populaires, to fund development of the Tamansky oil terminal and its railway business.

Spain.(Finance)
July 1, 2005... Spain: EIB has signed an agreement to lend ADIF a further tranche of [euro]500m to fund the construction of the high speed line between Madrid and the French border. EIB has so far provided [euro]1.3bn out of a total commitment of [euro]2.5bn...

USA.(Finance)
July 1, 2005... USA: The Federal Railroad Administration announced two grants to Alaska Railroad on May 27. $24.8m will be used for track upgrading, while $14m will fund preliminary engineering and environmental studies for a proposed 129 km extension from...

Australia.(Market)
July 1, 2005... Australia: The Thiess Hochtief joint venture has awarded iQR and BT Contractors an A$20m contract to lay 26.2 km of slab track and construct emergency walkways on the Epping to Chatswood line in Sydney (RG 6.03 p371) by August 2006.

Bulgaria.(Market)
July 1, 2005... Bulgaria: On June 11 Siemens and BDZ signed a [euro]117m contract for the supply and maintenance of 15 three-car and 10 four-car Desiro Classic EMUs, which will be delivered to BDZ's Varna depot for final assembly in 2007-08.

France.(Market)
July 1, 2005... France: SNCF has exercised options in a November 2000 contract with Alstom and Bombardier for a further 22 three-car TER 2N NG Coradia Duplex double-deck EMUs to be delivered from the end of 2006 for use in Rhone-Alpes, Lorraine and Nord-Pas de...

Germany.(Market)
July 1, 2005... Germany: LNVG has exercised an option with Bombardier for 78 double-deck coaches and nine locomotives to work push-pull services in Niedersachsen. Deliveries from plants in Gorlitz and Kassel will take place between May 2006 and late 2007.

Hungary.(Market)
July 1, 2005... Hungary: Stadler and Ganz Transelektro have been confirmed as winners of a contract to supply MAV with 30 four-car suburban FLIRT trainsets worth SFr225m for Budapest, with a SFr235m option for a further 30 and a 30-year maintenance agreement....

India.(Market)
July 1, 2005... India: By September IR is to select a telephone call centre operator to provide a national travel information line. Pilot projects in Karnataka and Bihar are receiving a daily average of 40 000 calls.

Japan.(Market)
July 1, 2005... Japan: JR Freight has announced plans to purchase a further 15 locomotives this year above the 11 electric and four diesel locos already on order.

Latvia.(Market)
July 1, 2005... Latvia: Systra has begun a five-year project to assist Latvian Railways in the upgrading of signalling on the route from the Baltic coast at Ventspils to the border with Belarus at Indra. The contract was signed in November 2003, but the...

Netherlands.(Market)
July 1, 2005... Netherlands: Ascom is to supply NS with more than 300 touch-screen ticket vending machines worth SFr22m. Passengers will be able to use credit cards and cash to charge the national multi-mode smart card which is now being rolled out.

Poland.(Market)
July 1, 2005... Poland: PESA has been awarded a 12m zloty contract to supply a 3 kV DC EMU based on the EN95 prototype (RG9.04 p548) to operate regional services around Lodz from May 2006. The Bydgoszcz manufacturer has supplied two SA103 railbuses to Rzeszow,...

Spain.(Market)
July 1, 2005... Spain: RENFE has awarded Patentes Talgo a [euro]144.7m contract to supply 10 gauge-changing trainsets to operate at up to 220 km/h on overnight services, due to enter service at the start of 2008. Accommodating a total of 234 passengers,...

Tanzania.(Market)
July 1, 2005... Tanzania: Panache Tanzania has placed a US$5m order with Quick Fab in South Africa for 100 wagons to operate on Tanzania Railway. The forwarding company expects to cut shipping times between Dar Es Salaam and Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo and...

United Kingdom.(Market)
July 1, 2005... United Kingdom: Marconi has won a framework contract worth up to [pounds sterling]15m over five years from Network Rail to renew communications in the Southeastern area.

USA.(Market)
July 1, 2005... USA: Wabtec Corp subsidiary MotivePower has signed a $12m contract to overhaul 55 GP38-2 and 15 GP 15-1 locos owned by Helm Financial Corp and leased to UP. On May 20 Virginia Railway Express awarded Sumitomo Corp and Nippon Sharyo a $109m...

Zambia.(Market)
July 1, 2005... Zambia: In June Railway Systems of Zambia took delivery of the first four of eight 3 600 hp diesel-electric locos being supplied from the USA at a cost of US$660 000.

Canada.(Metros)
July 1, 2005... Canada: Following rejection of an appeal against the environmental study, Toronto Transit Commission is due to begin work next month on the C$65m St Clair Avenue West Transit Improvement Project to rebuild 6.5 km of street tramway on reserved...

China.(Metros)
July 1, 2005... China: Boring of two 4.7 km tunnels was completed on Guangzhou Metro Line 3 on June 3. Tracklaying will be completed by September 10, and shadow running is planned by the end of the year. Hong Kong's MTR Corp signed a memorandum of...

Finland.(Metros)
July 1, 2005... Finland: Helsinki Metro is discussing with the city council's transport committee the possibility of introducing fully-automated operation from 2010. Issues to be investigated include the choice of technology, plus the use of platform screen...