Railway Gazette International articles from June 2005

Railway Gazette International archives from June 2005

Competitive pressure may lie behind Amagasaki crash.(COMMENT)
June 1, 2005... SHOCKWAVES spread across Japan on April 25 as the country struggled to come to terms with the disastrous derailment of a heavily-loaded JR West commuter train at Amagasaki in the suburbs of Osaka. At 09.18 a seven-car Series 207 EMU forming...

Indian metros to take off.(COMMENT)
June 1, 2005... UNPRECEDENTED investment in metro projects is planned in India, in the wake of the success of the Delhi metro, where the initial 8-3 km of Line 1 from Shahdara to Tis Hazari opened in December 2002. The next 4.5 km followed in October 2003,...

Conference call.(COMMENT)
June 1, 2005... WITH all speakers now confirmed for the Railway Gazette Centenary Congress on July 1, we are in the final stages of preparation for a very special event. Topics include Switzerland's successful national regular-interval timetable--a...

Private line to serve mines.(NEWS)
June 1, 2005... THE ZAMBIAN government has formalised an agreement with the private-sector Northwest Railways Ltd to build a new line serving the country's Northwest province. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on April 25 by Communications & Transport...

EMUs ordered.(NEWS)
June 1, 2005... PLANS to order a fleet of dual-system EMUs reached fruition on May 9, when Mumbai Railway Vikas Corp confirmed the award of a Rs9.25bn contract to Siemens. The deal is being supported by the World Bank as part of a major upgrading and expansion...

Ministry of Communications & Transport.(NEWS)
June 1, 2005... Legislation transposing European Union directives into national law is due to be approved by the Bosnia-Herzegovina parliament this month. According to BHZIK Deputy General Manager Hamdija Saljic, a new regulatory agency will be formed as part...

Bypass approved.(NEWS)
June 1, 2005... ON MAY 17, French Transport Minister Gilles de Robien announced the award of a Declaration of Public Utility for construction of a rail bypass around Nimes and Montpellier. Initially designed as part of TGV Mediterranee, the 70 km line is...

High speed to Guadalajara.(NEWS)
June 1, 2005... PROPOSALS to develop a network of high speed passenger railways in Mexico moved forward at the end of April, when the Ministry of Communications & Transport appointed Systra to assist with drawing up tenders for the first route. The...

Brasil Ferrovias restructured.(NEWS)
June 1, 2005... THE BRAZILIAN transport ministry announced on May 6 that it had completed a recapitalisation of Brasil Ferrovias, which controlled the Ferronorte, Ferroban and Novoeste concessions. Earlier this year federal investment bank BNDES agreed to...

Novoeste Brasil shareholders.(NEWS)
June 1, 2005... Novoeste Brasil shareholders Previ 20.8% Funcef 20.8% Constran 18.6% LAIF 17.7% BRB 6.5% JP Morgan 5.5% Bradesco 4.1%

Base tunnel holed through.(NEWS)
June 1, 2005... AN EXPLOSION shook the ground at 10.52 on April 28 near the Swiss mountain resort of Kandersteg, marking the final breakthrough in construction of the 34.6 km Lotschberg base tunnel. Transport Minister Moritz Leuenberger, one of around 1...

Philippine revivals take shape.(NEWS)
June 1, 2005... TENDERS are to be called by the end of July for reconstruction of the Phividec rail network on the Philippine island of Panay. The Chairman of Philippine Investment & Development Corp Ofelia Bulalong announced on May 11 that work would...

NRC shortlist.(NEWS)
June 1, 2005... NIGERIA's Bureau of Public Enterprises has shortlisted nine consortia to tender for a contract to provide consultancy services for the planned privatisation of Nigerian Railways Corp. Around 20 companies had submitted expressions of...

Driver training contracted out.(NEWS)
June 1, 2005... SWISS Federal Railways is to transfer its driver training activities to the specialist company Login which already trains other staff involved in public transport. From January 2006 Login will take over training of all SBB drivers. While...

French freight first.(NEWS)
June 1, 2005... JUNE 13 is due to see the start of open-access freight train operations on the French national rail network, when Connex subsidiary CFTA Cargo starts hauling international traffic between France and Germany. Connex announced on April 26...

EWS set to follow.(NEWS)
June 1, 2005... UK FREIGHT operator EWS announced last month that it would order 'at least 360' wagons during 2005 to be used 'in Britain and mainland Europe'. At present EWS operates solely within Britain, although it shares with SNCF exclusive rights to haul...

Pakistan Railways.(NEWS)
June 1, 2005... Federal Minister of Railways Mian Shamin Haider announced on May 9 that Pakistan Railways is to be converted into a state-owned corporation by June 30. He expected the Pakistan Railways Corporation Act to be placed before parliament this month,...

Cross-desert cut-off planned.(NEWS)
June 1, 2005... WORK IS to start this year on a 1 390 km line across the Ulan Buh and Badain Jaran deserts in northern China, connecting Inner Mongolia, Gansu and Xinjiang. No timetable has been announced for completion of the line, which is being managed...

Ministers agree high speed timetable.(NEWS)
June 1, 2005... MEETING in Lisboa on May 4, Spanish Development Minister Magdalena Alvarez and Portuguese Minister of Public Works, Transport & Communications Mario Lino confirmed the timetable for completing high speed links between the two countries. A...

CKD Vagonka of the Czech Republic.(NEWS)
June 1, 2005... After more than 25 000 km of test running over six months, Finnish train operator VR Oy put into service on May 17 the first of 16 diesel railcars being supplied by CKD Vagonka of the Czech Republic under a [euro]26.5m contract. Able to run at...

Signalling works.(NEWS)
June 1, 2005... POLISH infrastructure manager PKP PLK SA has awarded two contracts for main line resignalling, which will be supported by the European Union's Cohesion Fund. A [euro]30.5m contract has been awarded to Alcatel and Kommunikacyjne Zaklady...

ASFA upgrade.(NEWS)
June 1, 2005... RENFE Operadora and infrastructure authority ADIF have approved a joint programme to upgrade the ASFA intermittent automatic train protection system, including new in-cab displays of braking curves and target speeds. The first phase...

ARTC studies train control.(NEWS)
June 1, 2005... AUSTRALIAN Rail Track Corp has selected Lockheed Martin to assist with a A$20m technical and economic study of the potential for cab signalling based on satellite navigation and radio communications, allied to radio control of points. The...

Faster in Galicia.(NEWS)
June 1, 2005... THE SPANISH Ministry of Development has awarded a consortium of Copasa and Corsan-Corviam Construccion SA a [euro]28.4m contract to build a new double-track alignment 4.3 km in length between Ordes and Queixas on the Santiago de Compostela-A...

Trans-European Networks.(NEWS)
June 1, 2005... The European Union has decided to appoint 'co-ordinators' to facilitate the development of 30 major infrastructure projects under the Trans-European Networks programme, bringing together promoters and financiers in different countries and...

1 000 cars in Bangkok package.(CITY NEWS)
June 1, 2005... FORMAL proposals for a package of new metro lines and extensions in Bangkok totalling 94 km were submitted to the Thai government by the Mass Rapid Transit Authority on May 12. In January MRTA was authorised to begin design for two new...

Konkar Elektroindustrija.(CITY NEWS)
June 1, 2005... On April 27 Konkar Elektroindustrija unveiled the first of 70 TMK2200 Crotram all-low-floor cars being supplied to Zagreb tram operator ZET at a cost of 824m kuna. Able to run at 70 km/h, the five-section metre-gauge car has 1+1 seating for 48...

Barcelona to lease more stock.(CITY NEWS)
June 1, 2005... BARCELONA TRANSPORT authority ATM has signed a contract worth [euro]65m to lease 10 Series 6000 trainsets for metro Line 1. Due to be delivered between May and December 2007, the five-car trainsets each accommodating up to 1 116 passengers...

Tehran Metro.(CITY NEWS)
June 1, 2005... Tehran Metro reported on May 8 that it had put into service the first of 300 new cars ordered from China two years ago, allowing peak-hour services on lines 1 and 2 to be enhanced from 10 to 4 min headways. The air-conditioned cars were...

Nantes tries tram-train.(CITY NEWS)
June 1, 2005... PROPOSALS to reopen the 64 km railway between Nantes and Chateaubriant as a tram-train route were unveiled for public consultation by the Pays-de-la-Loire region last month. This paves the way for a detailed planning study costing [euro]4m. ...

Depot contracts.(CITY NEWS)
June 1, 2005... MADRID regional government has awarded contracts worth a total of [euro]181.3m for the construction of four new rolling stock depots and the expansion of an existing facility on Line 4 in the Hortaleza district. The depots are needed to...

Tren Urbano.(CITY NEWS)
June 1, 2005... Daily services began running on the San Juan Tren Urbano metro line in Puerto Rico at the end of April, with up to 30 000 passengers a day being carried free during the start-up phase. Revenue operation was due to begin on May 23 when bus...

DLR expands.(CITY NEWS)
June 1, 2005... DOCKLANDS Light Railway ordered 24 more articulated cars from Bombardier on April 28, as part of a programme to expand the capacity of its busiest route from Bank to Lewisham via Canary Wharf. Platforms are being lengthened so that trains...

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Transport Minister Meir Shitrit.(INTELLIGENCE)
June 1, 2005... Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Transport Minister Meir Shitrit travelled on a special IC3 DMU to Ashkelon on April 18, ahead of the ceremonies to mark the opening of the Ashdod-Ashkelon line to...

Argentina.(INTELLIGENCE)
June 1, 2005... Argentina: At a cost of [euro]3.8m, the federal government has purchased 17 two-car Class 9600 DMUs from Portuguese Railways. The 1 000 mm gauge units are to be deployed on the Belgrano Norte commuter route in Buenos Aires operated by...

Bolivia.(INTELLIGENCE)
June 1, 2005... Bolivia: Ferroviaria Oriental SA is to invest US$7m this year in upgrading the 146 km Montero-Yapacani route for soya traffic. Having commissioned a second railbus and completed track renewals, Andina Railway has extended its...

Bulgaria.(INTELLIGENCE)
June 1, 2005... Bulgaria: The Transport Ministry has issued an operating licence to Bulgarian Railway Co, which is the second private firm to obtain rights to use the national network.

Chile.(INTELLIGENCE)
June 1, 2005... Chile: On April 28 freight operator FEPASA signed a 10-year extension to its track access contract with EFE, which now runs to 2024.

Czech Republic.(INTELLIGENCE)
June 1, 2005... Czech Republic: SZDC has chosen Ansaldo Segnalamento to install ETCS Level 2 on a 22 km pilot section of Corridor 1 between Kolin and Poriany. Work is to be completed by mid-2008 at a cost of [euro]9.7m.

France.(INTELLIGENCE)
June 1, 2005... France: Electric services on the 70 km Rennes-St Malo line are due to start on December 11, following the completion of a [euro]135m project being funded by RFF, the government, Bretagne and Ille-et-Vilaine. RFF has agreed to provide...

Germany.(INTELLIGENCE)
June 1, 2005... Germany: On June 10 passenger services will be restored on the 23 km line between Dissen/Bad Rotherfelde and Osnabruck in Niedersachsen, which was closed in 1992.

Indonesia.(INTELLIGENCE)
June 1, 2005... Indonesia: The government is preparing to call tenders for construction of a 10.5 km railway from Manggarai to Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, at a cost of 696bn rupiah (MR 04 p25).

Italy.(INTELLIGENCE)
June 1, 2005... Italy: Open access freight operator Strade Ferrate del Mediterraneo was renamed Railion Italia on April 28, reflecting the German company's 95% stake.

Morocco.(INTELLIGENCE)
June 1, 2005... Morocco: ONCFM has announced plans to build a 50 km cut-off between Mechra-bel-Ksiri and Sidi-Yahya, which will cut journey times between Rabat and Tangier by 1 h. It will also build a 120 km branch to Nador from Taourirt on its eastern main...

Pakistan.(INTELLIGENCE)
June 1, 2005... Pakistan: PR has started a feasibility study for a new line linking Quetta and Bannu via Bostan and Kohat, providing a direct link between Baluchistan and NorthWest Frontier provinces parallelling the Afghan border.

Netherlands.(INTELLIGENCE)
June 1, 2005... Netherlands: NS Reizigers is to re-call tenders for single-deck suburban EMUs to be introduced from 2008; an earlier contract awarded to Bombardier was cancelled following a court challenge by Alstom.

Spain.(INTELLIGENCE)
June 1, 2005... Spain: The eastern bore of the 28.4 km Guadarrama tunnel on the Madrid-Segovia high speed line was holed through on May 5 in a ceremony attended by Development Minister Magdalena Alvarez. On April 28 RENFE introduced a daily return high...

Swaziland.(INTELLIGENCE)
June 1, 2005... Swaziland: Parliament has approved amendments to the Swaziland Railways Act 2002 permitting the introduction of private capital for investment in the rail network.

Switzerland.(INTELLIGENCE)
June 1, 2005... Switzerland: SBB and BAV have completed initial studies for upgrading the line between St Gallen and St Margrethen at a cost of SFr80m. With approval expected in 2008, the work will be completed by 2010.

Tanzania.(INTELLIGENCE)
June 1, 2005... Tanzania: Rites and the Great Lakes Railway consortium of Comazar, Bollore and Sheltam submitted tenders on April 13 for the concession to run the TRC network. According to CPCS Transcom, technical evaluation is to be completed by the end of...

Uganda.(INTELLIGENCE)
June 1, 2005... Uganda: URC reopened a further section of its Northern line in May, allowing trains to run as far as Gulu, 378 km from Tororo.

United Kingdom.(INTELLIGENCE)
June 1, 2005... United Kingdom: The Scottish Executive and Strategic Rail Authority have commissioned Arup to prepare a long-term strategy for development of the Scottish rail network, which will feed into Network Rail's Scottish Route Utilisation Study. ...

USA.(INTELLIGENCE)
June 1, 2005... USA: BNSF has reached agreement to buy the 592 km Core Railroad linking Aberdeen, Mitchell, Canton and Sioux Falls from the state of South Dakota for $41.6m.

Zimbabwe.(INTELLIGENCE)
June 1, 2005... Zimbabwe: NRZ has completed resignalling of the 472 km Bulawayo-Victoria Falls line, including installation of UHF communications. Supply of 14 new locos and wagons from China has been delayed pending an initial downpayment from NRZ.

Australia.(Finance)
June 1, 2005... Australia: The Federal budget presented in Canberra on May 10 included A$110m to improve links between Dynon intermodal terminal and Melbourne port, A$110m to separate freight and passenger trains between Strathfield and Hornsby in Sydney,...

Czech Republic.(Finance)
June 1, 2005... Czech Republic: EIB has agreed to provide a KC830m credit to fund completion of Praha Metro's 4.9 km Ladvi-Letnany extension of Line C, which is due to open around the end of 2007 (RG 6.04 p322).

France.(Finance)
June 1, 2005... France: Lyon transport authority Sytral has signed a loan agreement with EIB providing [euro]200m towards its [euro]600m investment plan for 2002-08; this includes tram routes T3 and T4, the Line A metro extension to La Soie and Line B...

India.(Finance)
June 1, 2005... India: Asian Development Bank has approved a US$579m loan to IR to support capacity expansion and safety upgrading works on the Golden Quadrilateral main lines and connecting routes.

United Kingdom.(Finance)
June 1, 2005... United Kingdom: Announcing preliminary results for the year to March 31 2005 on May 11, FirstGroup reported that turnover at its rail division had increased from [pounds sterling]954m to [pounds sterling]1 059m, generating a profit of [pounds...

USA.(Finance)
June 1, 2005... USA: On May 6 Federal Transit Administrator Jennifer Dorn signed a full-funding grant agreement releasing $193m of federal assistance for the $427m South Corridor light rail line in Charlotte; the 15.4 km route now under construction is...

Argentina.(Market)
June 1, 2005... Argentina: Coal mining company YCRT has called tenders for four locos and 60 wagons for its 750 mm gauge railway between Rio Turbio and Rio Gallegos in Patagonia, where movements resumed last month.

Australia.(Market)
June 1, 2005... Australia: Barclay Mowlem has been awarded an A$2m contract to install a new crossover as part of the Bondi Junction turnback and stabling project on the CityRail network in Sydney.

Chile.(Market)
June 1, 2005... Chile: Thales has been awarded a contract to provide SCADA systems for a five-station extension of Santiago metro Line 2. It will also supply monitoring equipment for a new station on Line 5.

China.(Market)
June 1, 2005... China: On May 19 Bombardier announced that it had won a US$89m contract to install a CX-100 automated peoplemover at Beijing Capital International Airport in time for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Czech Republic.(Market)
June 1, 2005... Czech Republic: SZDC has called tenders for upgrading the 30.1 km Plzen-Stibro section of the Cheb-Mosty u Jablunkova Corrridor 3, due for completion in November 2008 within a budget of KC4bn. Bids have also been invited for the 24.4 km Zabreh...

Egypt.(Market)
June 1, 2005... Egypt: As part of the Interinfra consortium. Alcatel has supplied communications for the 2.6 km extension of Cairo metro Line 2 to El Mounib, including train radio, CCTV and passenger information systems.

France.(Market)
June 1, 2005... France: SNCF has ordered an additional 48 AGC multiple-units from Bombardier Transportation for [euro]186m, for delivery between February 2007 and March 2009. Bringing the number of AGC units ordered to 427, this latest option includes the...

Iraq.(Market)
June 1, 2005... Iraq: Mafeks International of the USA has been awarded a US$13.5m contract to supply a communications-based train control system to IRR, including the supply of onboard equipment for 100 double-cab locomotives and a dispatch office system.

Netherlands.(Market)
June 1, 2005... Netherlands: Arriva has ordered 43 diesel-electric GTW vehicles from Stadler at a cost of SFr220m for use on its services in Friesland and Groningen. The fleet will consist of 27 three-car and 16 two-car sets; eight of the trains will be...

Pakistan.(Market)
June 1, 2005... Pakistan: Under a contract to supply 1 300 wagons over a period of three years, China Dong Fang Electric Corp was due to deliver the first 150 vehicles by the end of June.

Spain.(Market)
June 1, 2005... Spain: Construcciones y Promociones Coprosa SA has been awarded a [euro]22.4m contract for civil works and tracklaying on an 11.9 km new alignment for the Tardienta-Canfranc route avoiding the centre of Huesca (RG 1.05 p12). ADIF has...

Turkey.(Market)
June 1, 2005... Turkey: On April 22 TCDD received tenders for supply of 32 EMUs to operate cross-Bosporus commuter services between Istanbul and Haydarpasa. Bids were received from Japan's Marubeni Corp, a consortium of Mitsubishi and Hitachi, Mitsui with...

Turkmenistan.(Market)
June 1, 2005... Turkmenistan: The Ministry of Railway Transport is to order for US$14.5m 20 000 tonnes of rail for the 560 km Ashgabad-Dashoguz route. A $1.64m contract was also due to be signed for the supply of 2 000 tonnes of rail chairs.

United Kingdom.(Market)
June 1, 2005... United Kingdom: Heery UK has been awarded a contract to manage the design and construction of an infrastructure maintenance depot at Singlewell on Section 1 of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. Due for completion at the end of September 2006, the...

USA.(Market)
June 1, 2005... USA: Denver RTD has appointed Carter & Burgess and Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas to act as programme manager for the $4.7bn FasTracks rail network expansion project (RG 12.04 p815). TTX has ordered 1 950 intermodal well wagons from...

Bombardier's Derby.(INTELLIGENCE)
June 1, 2005... Taking shape at Bombardier's Derby plant is the first of two prototype eight-car trainsets for London Under-ground's Victoria Line, which is due to start test running in 2008. Bombardier is to deliver 47 of these trainsets to Metronet by 2011...

Great Australian Trunk Rail System.(Pointers)
June 1, 2005... An A$3.1bn alternative to the Australia Transport & Energy Corridor for an inland route between Melbourne and Brisbane has been proposed for inclusion in the Federal Government's AusLink project. The Great Australian Trunk Rail System would...

TGV Rhin-Rhone.(Pointers)
June 1, 2005... On May 9 RFF began the acquisition of 1 300 ha of land for construction of the eastern branch of the TGV Rhin-Rhone between Dijon and Mulhouse. Divided into 15 lots, civil works contracts are due to be awarded during the first quarter of 2006.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy.(Pointers)
June 1, 2005... Projects to double-track and electrify KTMB routes are to resume under the Ninth Malaysia Plan which starts next year, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy has confirmed.

Afghanistan.(Pointers)
June 1, 2005... The government of Afghanistan is considering proposals to build 100 km of railway from Kandahar to Chamman in Pakistan. Public Works Minister Shorah Ali Safari said last month that he hoped approval would be granted later this year.

Alaska.(Pointers)
June 1, 2005... The US state of Alaska and Canada's Yukon Territory have agreed to share the US$5m cost of a feasibility study for a 1 840 km railway to connect the Alaska Railroad with the CN network at Fort Nelson. Expected to cost up to $2.3bn, the new...

Lake Van.(Pointers)
June 1, 2005... Meeting RAI President Mohammad Saeidnejad in Tehran last month, Turkish State Railways President Talat Aidin reported that studies were progressing for a new railway to replace the train ferry route across Lake Van.

Brisbane.(Pointers)
June 1, 2005... Deputy Mayor of Brisbane David Hinchliffe has proposed construction of a light rail route over the next five years to link the city centre with Spring Hill; further suburban extensions would follow.

Montreal.(Pointers)
June 1, 2005... Aeroports de Montreal and Transport Canada have committed C$90m to develop a non-stop dedicated rail link between the city centre and Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.