Railway Gazette International articles from March 2007

Railway Gazette International archives from March 2007

Records fall as the French forge ahead.(COMMENT)
March 1, 2007... AN UNOFFICIAL world rail speed record of 554.3 km/h was set in France on February 13 during trials on TGV Est. This comprehensively beats the 515.3 km/h rail record that SNCF established on May 18 1990 and surpasses the 552 km/h achieved by the...

UP reports record results.(COMMENT)(Financial report)
March 1, 2007... REPORTING its 2006 results on January 25, Union Pacific announced its 'best year ever', with commodity revenues up by 15% to an all-time record of $14.9bn for the year. Operating income in the fourth quarter grew by 52% to nearly $810m. ...

Grands projets now the norm.(COMMENT)
March 1, 2007... MARCH 15 will see the official inauguration by RFF of the first 300 km of TGV Est between Paris and Baudrecourt. Three months ahead of SNCF's planned opening to traffic on June 10, the date leaves a slot for more ultra-high-speed trials...

ADIF plans [euro]23bn spend.(NEWS)
March 1, 2007... ON JANUARY 26 the Spanish cabinet approved the 2007-10 contract-programme between the government and ADIF, which will see the infrastructure authority receive a total of [euro]11.9bn from the state. Over this period ADIF is planning to spend a...

Fortescue goes its own way.(NEWS)
March 1, 2007... ON FEBRUARY 8 construction work commenced on another iron ore line into the Chichester Ranges from Port Hedland, Western Australia. Fortescue Metals Group is building the 260 km line to link its port facilities at Anderson Point to its...

Freightliner prepares to compete in Poland.(NEWS)
March 1, 2007... LAST MONTH the first four of seven EMD low-emission Class 66 locomotives ordered by Freightliner PL was delivered to Rotterdam, where they are being modified by NedTrain before entering service on open-access coal services in Poland in the...

Laos link launched.(NEWS)
March 1, 2007... WORK to link Laos to Thailand's rail network officially began on January 19, when Lao Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh and Thai Deputy Prime Minister Pridiyathorn Devakula attended a ground-breaking ceremony in Dongphosy. This will be the...

BDZ separation.(NEWS)
March 1, 2007... THE BULGARIAN cabinet approved a plan to further restructure Bulgarian State Railways on January 18, following the creation of financially independent passenger, freight and traction divisions of the national operator on January 1 (RG 12.06...

Property road-show.(NEWS)
March 1, 2007... A MAJOR property development programme along the coast of the Indian Ocean is at the heart of the Sri Lankan government's plans to revive its ailing state railway. A road-show for potential investors is to take place in Dubai, Singapore...

Open access high speed bid.(NEWS)
March 1, 2007... BIDS ARE due to close around February 28 for supply and maintenance of a fleet of 25 high speed trains, with an option for up to 10 more sets. A group of four leading Italian businessmen is planning to launch services on three domestic routes...

Pendolino deal falls apart.(NEWS)
March 1, 2007... THE SURGE of passengers riding Virgin's tilting Pendolinos after the UK's West Coast Main Line was upgraded for 200 km/h operation has created an urgent need for two extra vehicles in each of the 53 nine-car trainsets. Under a 'handshake...

Five qualify to build CDG express.(NEWS)
March 1, 2007... FRENCH Minister of Transport Dominique Perben announced on January 30 that five consortia had qualified for the concession to develop a dedicated rail link to Paris Charles-de-Gaulle airport (RG 9.06 p485). The five bids are from: Eiffage...

ADIF awards.(NEWS)
March 1, 2007... SPANISH infrastructure authority ADIF has awarded contracts for civil works on three sections of the high speed line between Madrid and Valencia, all lying between the capital and Cuenca. A joint venture of Constructora San Jose and Arcion is...

Festive start for Chinese sets.(NEWS)
March 1, 2007... HIGH SPEED trainsets have begun trial services between Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Shenzen and Guangzhou, marking the latest step in Chinese Railways' passenger service upgrade. The first services operated on the line to Hangzhou on...

Bratislava commissions expansion studies.(NEWS)
March 1, 2007... A CONSORTIUM of Bratislava-based contractors Dopravoprojekt and Infraprojekt has been appointed by Railways of the Slovak Republic to draw up a KS940m detailed feasibility study for three major investment projects in the capital. ...

Trenitalia.(NEWS)
March 1, 2007... Trenitalia has started refurbishing 900 loco-hauled coaches and reforming them into fixed-formation trainsets branded as Eurostar City Italia to work its premium 200 km/h inter-city services. Each set has two first class and eight second class...

Second high speed line for Argentina?(NEWS)
March 1, 2007... ON FEBRUARY 8 President Nestor Kirchner launched tendering for the second high speed line planned in Argentina, linking Buenos Aires with Mar del Plata. It is hoped to complete tendering this August, including the award of contracts for civil...

Cordoba re-openings.(NEWS)
March 1, 2007... ON JANUARY 24 the Argentinian government announced that it had awarded a joint venture of Benito Roggio and Herso a contract to restore the former Mitre route between Rio Primero in Cordoba province and Sumampa in Santiago del Estero, closed to...

EurailCo GmbH.(News in Brief)
March 1, 2007... Angel Trains is to lease 16 Siemens Desiro Main Line EMUs to EuRailCo GmbH subsidiary Trans Regio for regional services along the left bank of the Rhine between Mainz and Koln. EuRailCo, a joint venture between RATP Developpement and Transdev,...

Financial close of the R25bn Gautrain rapid rail link project was reached on January 25.(News in Brief)
March 1, 2007... Financial close of the R25bn Gautrain rapid rail link project was reached on January 25, with the Bombela Concession Co and lead arrangers and underwriters Standard Bank and Rand Merchant Bank arranging a commercial debt package worth R3.1bn....

Transport & Communications.(News in Brief)
March 1, 2007... Minister of Transport & Communications Duei Tsai has approved the opening of the northern section of Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp's line between the temporary terminus at Panciao and Taipei. Arriving passengers were allowed to ride through to...

Transportation & Road Safety.(News in Brief)
March 1, 2007... Minister of Transportation & Road Safety Shaul Mofaz has asked Israel Railways to accelerate the planning of a rail link between Haifa and Nazareth. A build-operate-transfer model is proposed for the 1bn shekel project, which is not included in...

South Korean.(News in Brief)
March 1, 2007... The South Korean government has decided to allocate 450bn won towards the further development of domestic maglev technology by the Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials and Rotem. 'We plan to build a 7 km line by 2012 on which automatic...

Second Avenue contract.(CITY NEWS)
March 1, 2007... SKANSKA USA Civil, Schiavone Construction and JF Shea Construction were due to sign a contract in mid-February to build the first section of the Second Avenue subway in Manhattan. The $333m agreement with the Metropolitan Transportation...

Five firms have been shortlisted to operate the Alger metro.(CITY NEWS)
March 1, 2007... Five firms have been shortlisted to operate the Alger metro. French groups Keolis, Veolia and RATP face competition from MetroRoma and Metro de Madrid for the concession. The first section of the line is scheduled to open at the end of 2008,...

Napoli Line 6 opens.(CITY NEWS)
March 1, 2007... ITALIAN Prime Minister Romano Prodi attended an inauguration ceremony for Napoli metro Line 6 on January 11, in advance of the start of passenger services on February 4. A successor to various long-delayed tram and light metro schemes, the...

The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County.(CITY NEWS)
March 1, 2007... The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County has begun planning for four more light rail lines in Houston by opening contract negotiations with Washington Group International. The MTA expects WGI to complete programme development and...

Green light for missing link.(CITY NEWS)
March 1, 2007... WORK IS DUE to begin during the second quarter of 2007 on the 1 km Parc-Sud section of the TEC light metro in the Belgian city of Charleroi, expected to open at the end of 2010 to complete a long-planned city centre loop. With one...

The Azerbaijan government has approved a three-year development programme for the Baku metro.(CITY NEWS)
March 1, 2007... The Azerbaijan government has approved a three-year development programme for the Baku metro. New stations are proposed for the Badamdar district, Sumgait and Heydar Aliyev Airport. However, the metro's Chief Executive Taghi Ahmadov rejected...

Hochbahn restructures.(CITY NEWS)
March 1, 2007... HAMBURGER Hochbahn AG is to bring its rail and bus operations together into a single holding company in a bid to accelerate its expansion programme. The firm, which operates a number of regional rail services in partnership across Germany...

The first of a batch of 80 additional ULF type A trams for Wien was rolled out at the Siemens plant in the Austrian capital on January 18.(CITY NEWS)
March 1, 2007... The first of a batch of 80 additional ULF type A trams for Wien was rolled out at the Siemens plant in the Austrian capital on January 18. The order includes 70 type B cars, and 300 ULFs will be in service in the city by 2014. The bodies are...

Line 5 grows.(CITY NEWS)
March 1, 2007... PRESIDENT Michelle Bachelet of Chile joined Transport Minister Sergio Espejo and Santiago Metro President Blas Tomic on January 25 to mark the start of work on a 14.2 km extension of Line 5 from Quinta Normal to Plaza de Maipu. Running for...

Bangkok growth goes ahead.(CITY NEWS)
March 1, 2007... A 165bn baht programme for expansion of Bangkok's metro network has been approved by the government of Thailand. The latest package calls for construction of five routes totalling 118 km. The government's final decision comes after the...

Line E extension contract.(CITY NEWS)
March 1, 2007... A CIVIL ENGINEERING contract for the extension of Buenos Aires metro Line E was officially awarded to Benito Roggio on February 16, with the expectation that construction would start within 90 days. The US$346m deal was announced by...

Two cities adopt smart tickets.(CITY NEWS)
March 1, 2007... AFFILIATED Computer Services announced on February 12 that it had won a US$14m three-year contract from Marseille Provence Metropole to implement a multi-operator and multi-modal contactless ticketing system across the city. ACS will...

Thales to resignal Piccadilly Line.(CITY NEWS)
March 1, 2007... LONDON Underground PPP contractor Tube Lines announced on January 29 that it had awarded Thales a [pounds sterling]160m contract extension covering the resignalling of the Piccadilly Line. Thales took over contracts to supply Seltrac...

Metro_Centro nears completion.(CITY NEWS)
March 1, 2007... NEXT MONTH is due to see completion of a 1.32 km light rail route in Sevilla, built in conjunction with a programme to pedestrianise streets in the historic core of the city. The first phase of Metro_Centro runs from Prado de San Sebastian to...

Madrid action plan.(CITY NEWS)
March 1, 2007... ON JANUARY 22 a package of measures to ease overcrowding and improve service reliability on Madrid Metro Line 6 was announced by Elvira Rodriguez, Minister for Transport & Infrastructure in the Madrid regional government. On the busiest...

Australia.(INTELLIGENCE)
March 1, 2007... Australia: A replacement 200 m bridge across the Murrumbidgee at Wagga Wagga in New South Wales was opened on January 3. The A$16m project undertaken by Arenco under ARTC's A$2.4bn North South Rail Investment programme allowed an increase in...

Belgium.(INTELLIGENCE)
March 1, 2007... Belgium: Infrabel has established a traffic control centre at its Brussels headquarters, replacing the former national control centre and regional centres in Gent, Antwerpen, Namur and Mons. Built at a cost of [euro]7.5m, the facility has 156...

Czech Republic.(INTELLIGENCE)
March 1, 2007... Czech Republic: On January 18 SZDC inaugurated the latest section of Corridor 2 to be upgraded from 120 to 160 km/h operation. The 17.4 km double track line from Prerov to Olomouc was modernised by OHL and Skanska at a cost of KC2.7bn.

Europe.(INTELLIGENCE)
March 1, 2007... Europe: Thalys trainsets are to be replaced by TGVs on Brussels-Marne-la-Vallee services from April 1. This will release Thalys units for refurbishment, including the installation of ETCS Level 2 in preparation for the opening of high speed...

France.(INTELLIGENCE)
March 1, 2007... France: The government has approved the construction of a station on TGV Mediterranee at Allan south of Montelimar, serving a catchment area with a population of 500000. The [euro]77m project is included in the draft 2007-13 contract-plan with...

Germany.(INTELLIGENCE)
March 1, 2007... Germany: Metronom is to take over services on 93 route-km of regional lines from Hamburg to Luneburg and Tostedt in December, under a contract with the transport authorities in Hamburg and Niedersachsen running to December 2010.

Hungary.(INTELLIGENCE)
March 1, 2007... Hungary: MAV has selected the Pro Cargo consortium led by the CA-1B subsidiary of UniCredit to advise on the privatisation of MAV Cargo by the end of this year.

Netherlands.(INTELLIGENCE)
March 1, 2007... Netherlands: Construction of the [euro]901m Hanze Line between Lelystad and Zwolle was officially launched on January 30. Opening of the 50 km route is now envisaged for 2013 (RG 12.06 p798).

Spain.(INTELLIGENCE)
March 1, 2007... Spain: RENFE has introduced suburban services over the 8 km between Alacant Terminal and Sant Vicent Centre, with one intermediate stop at the new Universitat d'Alacant station. A total of 16 trains operate in each direction during the week.

Switzerland.(INTELLIGENCE)
March 1, 2007... Switzerland: Railion Deutschland has acquired Brunner Railway Services, which it will use to develop wagonload traffic between Switzerland and Germany. On February 9 AlpTransit Gotthard let a contract for construction of the Erstfeld...

UK.(INTELLIGENCE)
March 1, 2007... UK: The Rail Safety & Standards Board has appointed ESR Technology to research ways to reduce vehicle mass per passenger.

USA.(INTELLIGENCE)
March 1, 2007... USA: Fortress Investment Group's acquisition of RailAmerica was completed on February 14 (RG 12.06 p759). Following disappointing results during testing between Chicago and St Louis, Illinois Department of Transportation has withdrawn from...

China.(Finance)
March 1, 2007... China: On January 30 the World Bank approved a US$200m loan towards double-tracking and partial realignment of the Lupanshui-Zhanyi section of the Guiyang to Kunming railway. This will increase capacity to accommodate growing business from...

Europe.(Finance)
March 1, 2007... Europe: Eurofima reported a net profit of SFr45.4m in 2006, down 4% on 2005. Cashflow fell 6% to SFr46.7m. The value of new railway equipment financed fell from SFr3.8bn to SFr2.3bn, while total assets were up 2.5% to SFr34.3bn with the...

France.(Finance)
March 1, 2007... France: Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking has been selected to provide finance for the [euro]80m acquisition of five TER-2N NG and six AGC EMUs by the Centre region for SNCF TER services on the Paris-Chartres and Tours-Vierzon...

Russia.(Finance)
March 1, 2007... Russia: Under a programme launched in July 2002, RZD has allocated 1bn roubles for 1067 to 1520 mm gauge conversion work in Sakhalin during 2007. Two cut-offs and five new bridges will be opened this year.

Vietnam.(Finance)
March 1, 2007... Vietnam: On February 8 the French Development Agency signed three 20-year soft loans totalling k123m to fund the proposed urban railway between Nhon in Tu Liem and central Hanoi (RG 2.07 p57), as well as upgrading of the DSVN line from the...

Angola.(Market)
March 1, 2007... Angola: AF Group's SwedeRail business has been appointed to provide the National Railway Institute with technical assistance for the restructuring of railway legislation.

Australia.(Market)
March 1, 2007... Australia: Union Switch & Signal has won a contract to supply signalling and other asset protection systems for the Lang Hancock Railway in Western Australia. The remote 50 km line will serve a mine being developed by a joint venture of Rio...

Cambodia.(Market)
March 1, 2007... Cambodia: Last month Vietnam Railways began delivering the first of 100 wagons it is supplying to Royal Cambodian Railways using Vietnamese government credit.

China.(Market)
March 1, 2007... China: On February 12 Dalian Loco Works and Bombardier announced a [euro]1.1bn contract to supply 500 electric freight locos to the Ministry of Railways in 2009-11. Based on a design Bombardier supplied to LKAB for its Kiruna iron ore...

Europe.(Market)
March 1, 2007... Europe: Eurotunnel has bought five Brush Class 92 locomotives from Eurostar for [pounds sterling]2m. The 5 MW multi-voltage locos built in 1993-96 will be used to develop international freight subsidiary Europorte 2.

France.(Market)
March 1, 2007... France: Funded by four regions, SNCF has placed a [euro]322m order with Alstom for 39 three-car and 12 four-car Coradia Duplex TER 2N NG double-deck EMUs. Bombardier will supply power bogies and work on 63 of the 165 cars, due for delivery in...

Germany.(Market)
March 1, 2007... Germany: Leasing company Angel Trains Cargo has placed a [euro]48m order for 19 diesel locos of various types with Kiel-based Vossloh Locomotives GmbH. Deliveries will run throughout 2007, and the locos will be leased to operators in France,...

Romania.(Market)
March 1, 2007... Romania: In mid-January the government signed contracts totalling [euro]275m for upgrading work on the section of pan-European Corridor IV between Fundulea and Fetesti. Astaldi will undertake infrastructure modernisation, Siemens is part of a...

Spain.(Market)
March 1, 2007... Spain: FEVE has awarded FCC Construccion a [euro]3.3m contract to carry out platform modifications and other works at Virxe do Mar and Santa Icia in preparation for the doubling of the Ferrol-Xuvia route to accommodate more suburban services....

Sweden.(Market)
March 1, 2007... Sweden: Hector Rail has ordered 10 Bombardier Traxx F140AC locos, with options for a further 10. To be delivered in 2008-09, the 5.6 MW 140 km/h locos will be equipped to work cross-border trains between Sweden, Denmark and Germany.

Turkey.(Market)
March 1, 2007... Turkey: On January 15 TCDD signed a YTL74.9m contract with a consortium of Net Yapi and Gulcubuk Insaat for civil works on the first 100 km of the 250 km/h Ankara-Konya fast line. A YTL84.3m contract had previously been awarded to Mustafa Ozcan...

UK.(Market)
March 1, 2007... UK: On January 26 and February 6 Network Rail awarded a series of five-year framework contracts under which contracts for signalling projects worth up to [pounds sterling]300m can be awarded to Carillion (South Thames), Jarvis (North East), May...

USA.(Market)
March 1, 2007... USA: Ulster County Transportation Council in New York State has appointed Systra to plan a real-time train detection system. This would alert emergency services before CSX trains up to 1.5 km long arrive at level crossings, allowing response...

Argentina.(Metros)
March 1, 2007... Argentina: Alstom has been awarded a contract to provide signalling and a control centre for the 3.6 km extension of Buenos Aires metro Line A from Primera Junta to Nazca. Under a two-stage programme, work on the extension is scheduled for...

Canada.(Metros)
March 1, 2007... Canada: Toronto Transit Commission is considering proposals to acquire a fleet of low-floor trams. These would gradually replace the existing CLRV fleet, which would receive a low-cost overhaul to keep the cars running until sufficient modern...

France.(Metros)
March 1, 2007... France: Alstom delivered the first of 23 Citadis 302 trams to Le Mans on January 8, ready for on-track testing to begin on February 19. Opening of the 15 km tramway is planned for November.

Italy.(Metros)
March 1, 2007... Italy: Alstom has been awarded a [euro]68m contract to renew signalling and install continuous radio links to give a 30% capacity increase on Milano metro Line M1.

Pakistan.(Metros)
March 1, 2007... Pakistan: Meeting in February, the National Mass Transit Authority agreed that private companies will be commissioned to undertake feasibility studies for urban rail systems in Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta and Hyderabad.

Poland.(Metros)
March 1, 2007... Poland: In January Skoda Transportation handed over the first two of 17 five-section 70% low-floor trams ordered by Wroclaw though two contracts signed in 2005.

Romania.(Metros)
March 1, 2007... Romania: Bombardier has received a [euro]33m order to supply Bucuresti metro operator Metrorex with a further six Movia metro trainsets by 2008. The six-car trains are being partly-funded by the European Investment Bank, and final assembly will...

Spain.(Metros)
March 1, 2007... Spain: FGV has taken delivery of the first two of 30 Flexity Outlook LRVs which Bombardier is supplying at a cost of [euro]81m. The 32.5 m long, 100% low-floor bidirectional vehicles are to be deployed in Alacant and Valencia (RG 2.07 p60). ...

UK.(Metros)
March 1, 2007... UK: KPMG is offering its 10300 UK staff an Oyster smart card, saying that 300 tonnes of C[O.sub.2] could be saved annually if all London-based staff switched one taxi journey a week to public transport services on which the smart card can be...

USA.(Metros)
March 1, 2007... USA: Southern Florida RTA has awarded a seven-year contract worth $64m, with an optional three-year extension, for Veolia to operate the 116 km Tri-Rail commuter service between Miami and West Palm Beach; the French company will take over from...

First Survey & Design Institute.(Pointers)
March 1, 2007... China's First Survey & Design Institute has completed surveying a planned 253 km branch from the Tibet railway to serve the city of Xigaze southwest of Lhasa. Feasibility studies began in February 2002, and construction of the line is expected...

Jean-Michel Dancoisne.(Pointers)
March 1, 2007... Thalys Director General Jean-Michel Dancoisne has begun talks with DB and NS that could see these railways take a stake in the international high speed train operator, currently owned by SNCF (70%) and SNCB (30%). This would provide capital for...

Iarnrod Eireann and Faber Maunsell are developing plans to construct a 14 storey office block above Tara Street DART station in central Dublin.(Pointers)
March 1, 2007... Iarnrod Eireann and Faber Maunsell are developing plans to construct a 14 storey office block above Tara Street DART station in central Dublin. The [euro]125m scheme would be self-financing, and could be followed by similar developments at the...

Elektriraudtee.(Pointers)
March 1, 2007... Tallinn suburban operator Elektriraudtee has announced that it intends to replace its EMU fleet with 13 new trainsets in 2010-13.

On February 3 the transport ministries of Ukraine, Russia and Hungary agreed to construct an international logistics centre in Zahony.(Pointers)
March 1, 2007... On February 3 the transport ministries of Ukraine, Russia and Hungary agreed to construct an international logistics centre in Zahony. A 1520 mm gauge link will be extended to the town in northeast Hungary from Chop in Ukraine.

The government of Ghana is considering two BOT proposals.(Pointers)
March 1, 2007... The government of Ghana is considering two BOT proposals. Work on an Eastern Line could begin this year with the reconstruction of the existing 330 km line from Tema near Accra to Kumasi. A new line would then run 450 km to Bolgatanga, with a...