Railway Gazette International articles from June 2009

Railway Gazette International archives from June 2009

Heavy haul at the cutting edge.(COMMENT)
June 1, 2009... Later this month delegates from around the world will be converging on Shanghai for the 9th International Heavy Haul conference (p35). The three days of seminars will be followed by a technical visit to the Datong - Qinhuangdao line, which is...

[euro]5bn suburban spend.(MAIN LINE)
June 1, 2009... SPAIN: Development Minister Jose Blanco and President of the Madrid regional government Esperanza Aguirre unveiled a 2009-15 investment plan on May 20 that will see spending of [euro]5bn to improve suburban services in the Spanish capital. This...

DB places ET 430 order.(MAIN LINE)
June 1, 2009... GERMANY: DB Regio has placed a [euro]452m order for 83 four-car ET 430 electric multiple-units, to be delivered between February and December 2012 for use on Stuttgart suburban services. The order announced on May 5 follows the signing of a...

Commissioning begins in Cairo.(MAIN LINE)
June 1, 2009... EGYPT: Egyptian National Railways has begun commissioning the first 15 of 40 Electro-Motive Diesel JT42CWRM locomotives being supplied under the first order for the Class 66 family from outside Europe. The locomotives have 12N-710G3B...

Upgrading contracts.(MAIN LINE)
June 1, 2009... CANADA: Industrial Rail Services has been awarded contracts to overhaul VIA Rail Canada's 98 LRC coaches and undertake accessibility improvements to 12 Renaissance cars. The work at IRSI's plant in Moncton, New Brunswick, will be supported by...

Brenner base tunnel.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
June 1, 2009... Doris Bures, Altero Matteoli and Wolfgang Tiefensee, transport ministers of Austria, Italy and Germany respectively, signed a Letter of Intent in Roma on May 18 to proceed with the Brenner base tunnel; other signatories were Ferrovie dello...

Driver advisory system.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
June 1, 2009... Iarnrod Eireann is expecting savings of [euro]2m a year and a 7% cut in carbon emissions as a result of trials of a driver advisory system which uses braking, gradient and train position data to save on fuel. Automatic shutdown of onboard...

Siemens Velaro Rus.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
June 1, 2009... A Siemens Velaro Rus high speed trainset reached 281 km/h during trials between Okulovka and Mstinskiy Most on May 2. This is the first time that such a speed has been achieved on the Russian railway', said RZD Senior Vice-President Valentin...

Coeur Saint-Lazare.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
June 1, 2009... On May 13 Sophie Boissard, head of SNCF's stations department, launched the 30-month third phase of the Coeur Saint-Lazare project to refurbish the Paris terminus. Spie Batignolles will open up the concourse with 20 escalators to improve...

East African Railways Master Plan.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
June 1, 2009... CPCS Transcom International has submitted its recommendations for the East African Railways Master Plan, priced at US$35.5bn. Railways are proposed in Tranzania, to link Uganda, Sudan, DR Congo and Rwanda, and from the Kenyan coast to Ethiopia...

Intermodal reform.(MAIN LINE)
June 1, 2009... BELGIUM: As part of an ongoing rationalisation of its freight business, SNCB consolidated its two intermodal subsidiaries with effect from May 1. Maritime container shipper IFB (Inter Ferry Boats) and road-rail operations specialist TRW...

A rolling programme optimises wiring.(MAIN LINE)
June 1, 2009... UK: Two financially-viable main line schemes plus strategic infills offering the best value for money would initiate the rolling programme of electrification set out in a draft strategy published for consultation by Network Rail on May 15. ...

Auckland to install ETCS.(MAIN LINE)
June 1, 2009... NEW ZEALAND: Infrastructure manager Ontrack has awarded Westinghouse Rail Systems Australia a A$75m contract to install ETCS Level 1 equipment as part of the Auckland metropolitan area resignalling project. It is the first substantive contract...

Trans-Siberian in a week.(MAIN LINE)
June 1, 2009... RUSSIA: RZD's Scientific & Technical Council has endorsed plans to speed up container trains, notably Trans-Siberian transit traffic. Although volumes have fallen sharply in its traditional markets, RZD believes that there is a major...

Electric services launched.(MAIN LINE)
June 1, 2009... ALGERIA: President Abdelaziz Bouteflika inaugurated electric outer-suburban passenger services from Alger on May 2, following a month of testing. Regular operations began the next day. From Alger the 25 kV 50 Hz wiring runs 54 km east to...

LCR debt restructuring approved.(MAIN LINE)
June 1, 2009... UK: The European Commission announced on May 13 that it had approved [pounds sterling]5.l69bn in 'one time, last time' UK government state aid for London & Continental Railways, the owner of High Speed 1 and the UK portion of Eurostar. The...

Barcelona transfer agreed.(MAIN LINE)
June 1, 2009... SPAIN: With effect from January 1 2010, responsibility for planning, managing and setting fares on suburban services in Barcelona is to transfer from national to regional government, after an agreement was reached on May 7 between Development...

Entities in Charge of Maintenance.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
June 1, 2009... Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Romania signed a memorandum of understanding establishing common principles for certifying Entities in charge of Maintenance of wagons on May 14. By...

Narita International Airport.(News in Brief)
June 1, 2009... Development Bank of Japan and Mizuho Corporate Bank have arranged a [yen]23bn loan for the [yen]126bn project to build a more direct rail link between Tokyo and Narita international Airport. Services will be operated by Keisei Electric Railway,...

Uruguay's.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
June 1, 2009... Following the release of US$26m in government funding, Uruguay's state railway AFE is to undertake track renewals on the 422.1 km between Pintado and Rivera in 2009-10 at a total cost of US$29-7m. Work is expected to take 16 months to complete...

Macedonian Railways.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
June 1, 2009... Bulgarian consultancy Eurotransproject has been appointed to prepare preliminary plans to extend the Macedonian Railways line to Kicevo by around 160 km to reach the Albanian border. The [euro]1m study will take a year, with construction...

Canadian National.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
June 1, 2009... Canadian National has sold its Grenada subdivision, Water Valley branch and Natchez subdivision in Mississippi totalling 400 km to Grenada Railway and Natchez Railway for undisclosed terms.

Concepcion.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
June 1, 2009... Within a budget of US$649 000, Chile's Ministry of Public Works has called tenders for an engineering study to extend the Biotren commuter network in Concepcion over the 17 km from Lomas Coloradas to Coronel. Upgrading the route is expected to...

Zaragoza and Pamplona.(News in Brief)
June 1, 2009... To accelerate construction of a high speed line between Zaragoza and Pamplona, the Spanish Ministry of Development has agreed that construction of the 65 km between Pamplona and Castejon de Ebro will be tendered by the Navarra regional...

Trans-pyrenean projects progress.(MAIN LINE)
June 1, 2009... EUROPE: During an intergovernmental summit on April 28, the transport ministries of France and Spain met to discuss progress to develop rail links between their countries and in particular high speed connections. On the French side the existing...

EBRD provides [euro]100m loan.(MAIN LINE)
June 1, 2009... SERBIA: The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development signed a [euro]100m loan agreement with state railway Zeleznice Srbije on May 8. This will part-fund the purchase of around 30 two or three-car regional EMUs, for which tendering is...

Steps to liberalisation.(MAIN LINE)
June 1, 2009... INDONESIA: Presidential approval is expected this month for regulations implementing legislation passed in 2007 to liberalise the rail sector. This will mark the start of a three-year period of reform which aims to attract private operators and...

EIB funds Sena revival.(MAIN LINE)
June 1, 2009... MOZAMBIQUE: The government signed a [euro]65m loan agreement with the European Investment Bank in April to fund development at the port of Beira and its rail link. [euro]42m will go towards reconstruction of the 680 km Sena Railway to the coal...

Three on PPP shortlist.(MAIN LINE)
June 1, 2009... FRANCE: RFF President Hubert du Mesnil announced on May 11 that consortia led by Bouygues, Eiffage and Vinci Concessions had been shortlisted for a 'partnership contract' to build the Contournement Nimes - Montpellier. The bypass around the two...

'Strong interest' in Sydney.(URBAN RAIL)
June 1, 2009... AUSTRALIA: New South Wales' Transport Minister David Campbell announced on May 19 that 35 Australian and international organisations had registered interest in the Integrated Metro Operations contract, which covers fitting out, operation and...

Montreal may electrify.(URBAN RAIL)
June 1, 2009... CANADA: Agence Metropolitaine de Transport and Hydro-Quebec agreed on May 5 to invite proposals for a study to determine the feasibility of electrifying four of Montreal's commuter rail routes totalling 250 km. Only one line, the...

South LRT inaugurated.(URBAN RAIL)
June 1, 2009... CANADA: The first 2.3 km of Edmonton Transit's C$673m South LRT extension from Health Sciences Centre to South Campus was formally opened on April 25, with revenue services starting the next day. The remaining 5.2 km to Century Park is expected...

Cairo to extend.(URBAN RAIL)
June 1, 2009... EGYPT: A consortium headed by French construction company Vinci expects to receive the go-ahead imminently to start work on the second section of Cairo metro Line 3. This will continue the underground line eastwards by 6.2 km from Abbasiya to...

Line 1 to Mladost.(URBAN RAIL)
June 1, 2009... BULGARIA: Another section of Sofia Line 1, from Vasil Levski Stadium to Mladost, was formally opened on May 8, adding 5.6 km with three intermediate stations. Line 1 is now being operated in two separate sections, but the link between the...

Toronto picks Flexity Outlook.(URBAN RAIL)
June 1, 2009... CANADA: Toronto Transit Commission voted unanimously on April 27 to confirm the selection of Bombardier's Flexity Outlook low-floor tram design as the base model for its next generation fleet, following a recommendation by officials the...

Alexandra tram renovation.(URBAN RAIL)
June 1, 2009... EGYPT: In April Czech manufacturer AZD Praha won a [euro]10m contract to supply modern signalling and interlocking equipment for a tram route in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. AZD will be responsible for installing new traffic signals,...

Sustainable urban transport funded.(URBAN RAIL)
June 1, 2009... FRANCE: On April 30 Jean-Louis Borloo, the minister responsible for transport, announced 50 projects selected to receive a share of the [euro]800m allocated under the Grenelle de l'Environnement initiative to finance sustainable urban transport...

Federal budget support.(URBAN RAIL)
June 1, 2009... AUSTRALIA: The 2009 federal budget issued on May 12 contained significant spending on rail, including allocations for urban rail which has traditionally been the responsibility of the state governments. The largest allocation goes to...

Master Plan unveiled.(URBAN RAIL)
June 1, 2009... ABU DHABI: Tenders for construction of the first of 30 light rail routes are to be invited in the next two months, following the official launch of the emirate's Surface Transport Master Plan 2030 by the Crown Prince, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed...

Crossrail construction launched.(URBAN RAIL)
June 1, 2009... UK: After years of planning and uncertainty, construction of Crossrail became a reality on May 15 when the first of nearly 400 steel piles, each 18.5 m high, was launched by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Mayor of London Boris Johnson. ...

English encouragement.(URBAN RAIL)
June 1, 2009... UK: Light rail is returning to the agenda in England, following a period when national policy has favoured bus-based projects. Contracts are expected to be signed this month for a major revitalisation of Britain's only traditional tramway,...

More tunnels.(URBAN RAIL)
June 1, 2009... INDIA: Delhi Metro Rail Corp has completed construction of its deepest tunnel to date. Part of the 22.7 km Airport Express Link being built by Delhi Airport Metro Express, the 1556 m tunnel starts at New Delhi railway station and is 45 m deep,...

Citadis still popular.(URBAN RAIL)
June 1, 2009... FRANCE: Phase 1 of Lyon's fourth tram line entered service on April 20. Linking Jet d'Eau to Feyzin, the [euro]185.3m line T4 is 10 km long with 18 stops, and is operated by 13 Citadis trams. Sytral, the city's transport authority, was one...

BART plans fleet replacement.(URBAN RAIL)
June 1, 2009... USA: On May 6 Bay Area Rapid Transit District announced an ambitious $3.4bn plan to purchase 700 metro cars to replace its entire 669-car fleet, some of which are nearly 40 years old, and increase capacity to handle 500 000 weekday passengers....

More stimulus spending.(URBAN RAIL)
June 1, 2009... USA: Grants totalling $742.5m for 12 major transit projects were announced by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on May 7. The money from the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act will be directed to schemes that have already been awarded full...

Suburban vision.(URBAN RAIL)
June 1, 2009... POLAND: On April 20 Dolnolskie voivodship presented plans to develop an intensive suburban network in Wroclaw. Implementation should start this year, although the date has still not been set, and tenders for new rolling stock are expected...

Gold rush.(URBAN RAIL)
June 1, 2009... AUSTRALIA: Expressions of interest are due to be called later this year for the Gold Coast light rail project. Promised A$365m in federal funding, Queensland state and the local government must now identify sources of finance for the remainder....

Delhi.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
June 1, 2009... A 2.1 km one-station extension of Delhi metro Line 3 from Indraprastha to Yamuna Bank opened on May 10.

Shenyang.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
June 1, 2009... Following an agreement in principle signed last November (RG 1.09 p15), MTR Corp, Shenyang Metro Group and the Shenyang municipal government signed a 30-year operations and maintenance concession for the future metro lines 1 and 2 on May 7.

Portland.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
June 1, 2009... The US Department of Transportation has awarded US$75m to the Portland Streetcar Loop project. Work on the 5.3 km extension is underway, for completion in 2011. Seven trams will be acquired from United Streetcar, which will design and build the...

Miami.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
June 1, 2009... A groundbreaking ceremony was held on May 1 for the 3.9 km $526m Metrorail extension from Earlington Heights to the future Miami Intermodal Center now being built adjacent to Miami International Airport. The event also marked the 25the...

Portland - Milwaukie.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
June 1, 2009... TriMet has selected Hatch Mott MacDonald to provide preliminary engineering services for the 11.7 km east segment of the Portland - Milwaukie light rail extension.

Melboure's.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
June 1, 2009... The Victoria state budget commits A$562.3m for an extension of Melbourne's Epping line to South Morang. Several other projects also receiving funding, including A$5m to start procurement of up to 50 new trams.

Warszawa.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
June 1, 2009... Mazowieckie Voivodship signed 15 year operating contracts on May 19 with Koleje Mazowieckie, which runs the regional passenger service, and with Warszawska Kolej Dojazdowa for the 33 km light rail network connecting Warszawa with neighbouring...

Arad.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
June 1, 2009... In the absence of alternative commercial funding, EBRD has agreed to provide a further [euro]13m credit to support the completion of a tramway and street rehabilitation programme at Arad in western Romania which was launched in 2005 using...

Bucuresti.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
June 1, 2009... A consortium of Metroul and Systra has been selected to supervise construction of Bucuresti Metro Line 5. The 60 month project includes 14 stations and a depot.

Australia.(CONTRACTS)
June 1, 2009... AUSTRALIA: Macarthur Coal has awarded Pacific National a long-term contract to haul export coal in Queensland. Running trains on the Goonyella and Blackwater systems from April made PN the first competitor to QR in the state's export coal...

Czech republic.(CONTRACTS)
June 1, 2009... CZECH REPUBLIC: Private freight operator OKD Doprava has bought forwarding and logistics company Cechofracht from Cyprus-based Hattisburg Enterprises for an undisclosed price.

Germany.(CONTRACTS)
June 1, 2009... GERMANY: Husa Transportation Group of the Netherlands has taken over Rent-a-Rail and SRS Rail Service, under a plan to acquire a position in the German rail market through acquisitions and co-operation with regional players.

Italy.(CONTRACTS)
June 1, 2009... ITALY: Accor Group company Treno has been awarded a three-year contract extendable for two years to provide catering on Trenitalia services from July 1.

Poland.(CONTRACTS)
June 1, 2009... POLAND: PKP and French firm Nexity have signed an agreement to redevelop Warszawa Zachodnia station in 2010-12.

USA.(CONTRACTS)
June 1, 2009... USA: A team led by InfraConsult and including Halcrow is to advise Los Angeles County MTA on transport projects which could be accelerated using PPP models. GE Transportation has supplied six Locotrol locomotive remote control units for...

DMUs shipped to Ghana.(MARKET)
June 1, 2009... GHANA: CNR Tangshan has delivered two diesel multiple-units for Accra - Tema commuter services. The 1067 mm gauge DMUs are expected to be cheaper to operate and capable of more intensive utilisation than locomotive-hauled trains on the 25 km...

Rack DMUs enter service.(MARKET)
June 1, 2009... GREECE: Four Stadler custombuilt rack DMUs are due to start regular operations on OSE's 750 mm gauge Diakofto - Kalavrita line from June 1. The three-car units were supplied in 2007 under a SFr34.8m contract, but had not entered service...

Algeria.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
June 1, 2009... ALGERIA: Rail development agency ANESRIF has awarded Nortel further contracts to supply GSM-R equipment for the 930km east-west High Plateau line (RG 9.08 p699). Frequentis is supplying FTS3020 terminals.

France.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
June 1, 2009... FRANCE: SNCF has selected 3Com and BT to modernise its LAN infrastructure to support CCTV and ticketing under a three-year contract. Last month RFF awarded Alstom a [euro]3.8m contract to supply a Smartlock 400 computerised interlocking...

India.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
June 1, 2009... INDIA: Ahluwalia Contracts has been awarded contracts totalling Rs1.1bn to build Tollgate, Hosahall and Vijayanag stations on the Bangalore metro.

Ireland.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
June 1, 2009... IRELAND: IE has awarded German firm DS Schwellen a [euro]23m contract to supply concrete sleepers for a number of short-term capital projects including the Kildare quadrupling, Cork - Midleton, Dunboyne reopening and the Western Rail Corridor.

Morocco.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
June 1, 2009... MOROCCO: Alstom has supplied signalling equipment for Jorf Lasfar station, completing the [euro]20.5m resignalling of the line from Nouasseur under a contract placed in 2006.

Netherlands.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
June 1, 2009... NETHERLANDS: ProRail has awarded the HanzaRailTeam consortium of VolkerRail, Strukton and Arcadis a [euro]164m contract for tracklaying, catenary and noise barriers on the Lely-stad - Zwolle Hanze line which is due to open in December 2012.

Pakistan.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
June 1, 2009... PAKISTAN: PR has selected Bombardier to resignal the Lodhran - Khawnewal - Shahdara Bagh line in a Rsl0.7bn project to be funded by the Islamic Development Bank.

Saudi Arabia.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
June 1, 2009... SAUDI ARABIA: A joint venture of Foster + Partners and Buro Happold has been appointed to design stations for the Haramain high speed railway. The rapid three-year timescale means the Jeddah, King Abdullah Economic City and 'exceptional, iconic...

Spain.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
June 1, 2009... SPAIN: ADIF has awarded a joint venture of Dragados and Tecsa a [euro]171.4m contract to undertake the first phase of a [euro]520m programme to increase capacity at Madrid Atocha (RG 3.09 p30). The initial package includes the conversion of...

Sweden.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
June 1, 2009... SWEDEN: Banverket has awarded Siemens a [euro]33 3m contract to install six Sitras SFC Plus compact and low-noise modular static frequency converters to supply traction power in the Greater Stockholm area.

Taiwan.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
June 1, 2009... TAIWAN: Mott MacDonald has been appointed design consultant for communications and ventilation works for a [pounds strelling]l.4bn project to place 9 km of line in Kaohsiung in tunnel by 2018.

UK.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
June 1, 2009... UK: Amey won all five of Network Rail's civil asset examination inspection framework contracts, which replace 20 contracts with more than 14 suppliers.

USA.(INTELLIGENCE)
June 1, 2009... USA: Ansaldo STS has a $11.8m contract to replace an interlocking at Silver Spring on the Washington metro. Sound Transit has awarded Railworks Track Systems a $37.4m contract for track, signal and grade crossing upgrades on 11 km of...

Bangladesh.(ROLLING STOCK)
June 1, 2009... BANGLADESH: BR has signed contracts to buy 50 flat wagons and five brake vans from Chinese shipbuilding company Apshara International for delivery within the next 12 months at a cost of 327m taka.

Canada.(ROLLING STOCK)
June 1, 2009... CANADA: CN has bought three EMD F40 locomotives and 14 passenger cars from Ansco Investment Co, which operated them on the Denver Ski Train which ceased on March 29. The stock will be refurbished to re-equip the Agawa Canyon Tour Train in a C$...

Mozambique.(INTELLIGENCE)
June 1, 2009... MOZAMBIQUE: India's Golden Rock workshop is converting a 1 676 mm gauge locomotive to Cape gauge and fitting new controls as part of a plan to supply locos which are more powerful than previous metre-gauge locos delivered for the Sena line. ...

Nigeria.(ROLLING STOCK)
June 1, 2009... NIGERIA: Last month GE Transportation and the Federal Ministry of Transportation signed a letter of intent for the supply of 25 C25 EMPD six-axle diesel locomotives. They will be built at Contagem in Brazil for delivery in 2010 for use on...

Poland.(INTELLIGENCE)
June 1, 2009... POLAND: Sigma Tabor has acquired 46 one and two-car Wadloper DMUs from Netherlands Railways for use on various rural services. On April 24 Warminsko-Mazurskie voivodship signed a 28m zloty order with PESA for three two-car DMUs to be...

Russia.(ROLLING STOCK)
June 1, 2009... RUSSIA: Slovakfirm Tatravagonka will supply Freight One with 1000 sliding roof wagons once Russian certification is obtained for two prototypes by August. Derived from the Habinss design, the sliding roof wagons will offer a 10m loading length,...

Singapore.(ROLLING STOCK)
June 1, 2009... SINGAPORE: On May 6 LTA announced that a consortium of Kawasaki Heavy Industries and CSR Qingdao Sifang had won a S$368m contract to supply 22 six-car trains for the North-South and East-West lines in 2011-12. The order runs in parallel with...