Railway Gazette International articles from October 2004

Railway Gazette International archives from October 2004

Capacity crisis may be under control.(Comment)
October 1, 2004... THE WORST may be over in the capacity crisis that threatened to choke North American railways this summer. This was the message to emerge from a summit sponsored by the Association of American Railroads in Kansas City on September 9 to discuss...

Intermodal study highlights future bottlenecks.(Comment)
October 1, 2004... A STUDY commissioned by the International Union of Railways' Combined Transport Group and the International Union of Combined Road-Rail Transport Companies (UIRR) recommends that Europe's transport policymakers, infrastructure companies and...

Australian access rows rumble on.(Comment)
October 1, 2004... ANOTHER entrant to the lucrative iron ore market is seeking access to an existing heavy haul line in the Pilbara, while in Victoria the acquisition of Freight Australia by Pacific National is causing concern among the smaller operators. ...

Chinese to help build rival Pilbara iron ore line.(News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... ON AUGUST 23 Perth-based Fortescue Metals Group announced that it had signed a binding contract with China Railway Engineering Corp for finance and construction of a 490 km rail network in the Pilbara region in northwest Australia. The...

Trains to Tommot.(News)(Tommot to Moscow)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... REGULAR passenger and freight services on another 360 km of the line to Yakutsk in northern Siberia were formally inaugurated on August 28. Russian Railways' First Vice-President Vladimir Yakunin was joined by local politicians from the...

Advanced Technology Safety Initiative.(News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The Association of American Railroads announced on September 7 that it will implement a change to its freight wagon interchange rules on October 1, as part of its Advanced Technology Safety Initiative. The new rules cover the stopping and...

Belgrano bidding commences.(News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... TECHNICAL and financial bids were due by September 30 for the 75% stake in freight operator Belgrano Cargas being privatised by the Argentinian government. Technical bids were to be opened that day and considered over a period running...

Maintenance tendered.(News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... CHILEAN state railway operator EFE has awarded a 16-year contract to Comsa for the first of four infrastructure maintenance areas that are being put out to tender as part of its US$998m investment plan for 2003-05. Under the US$67m deal,...

Uzbekistan Railways.(News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Uzbekistan Railways inaugurated the first section of its Tashguzar--Boysun--Qumqo'rgo'n line on August 20. The 223 km route is intended to complete a direct line from Toshkent to Termez on the Afghanistan border, avoiding the need to pass...

Tex-Mex transfer.(News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... KANSAS City Southern has reached agreement with Grupo TMM SA to take control of the 250 km Texas-Mexican Railway between Corpus Christi and Laredo. KCS and TMM's Mexican rail freight franchisee TFM jointly own Mexrail Inc, which in turn...

King backs branch.(News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... CONSTRUCTION of a 117 km rail link to the city of Nador in northeast Morocco will go ahead over the next three years, following the signing of a financing accord in the presence of King Mohammed VI. The new line will run north to Nador from...

ScotRail signed.(News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... OCTOBER 17 will see the formal handover of responsibility for passenger services in Scotland, when FirstGroup takes over ScotRail from National Express Group. The UK Strategic Rail Authority confirmed on August 20 that it had signed a...

Infrastructure audit ordered.(News)
October 1, 2004... A DETAILED study into the state of the French national rail network is to be completed by July 2005, with a view to determining future maintenance and renewal strategies. RFF President Jean-Pierre Duport and his SNCF counterpart Louis...

Siemens' Wildenrath.(News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Now being commissioned at Siemens' Wildenrath test centre are the first of 28 additional Class ET411 ICE-T2 tilting trainsets for German Railway, which incorporate various improvements from the original ICE-T design. DB expects to have 14 sets...

New Roca concession in sight.(News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... A PUBLIC MEETING was held in Olavarria on September 1 to consider the terms of a new contract for freight operator Ferrosur Roca, as outlined in a letter of understanding signed by officials from the Argentinian government's concession...

Steam and soya sustain FEPASA.(News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... AS THE SUCCESSOR to the Presidente Carlos Antonio Lopez Railway, Ferrocarriles del Paraguay SA has auctioned off 12 000 tonnes of rail and 500 tonnes of other scrap material from the Sapucai--San Pedro del Parana section of the former FCPCAL...

Freight Australia.(News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... On August 31 RailAmerica Inc confirmed that it had completed the sale of its Freight Australia subsidiary to Pacific National for US$285m in cash. The deal announced in March could only be concluded once the Victoria state government had...

First rails laid in Valenciennes.(City News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... CEREMONIES were held in Valenciennes on September 7 to mark the start of tracklaying for the town's light rail network. President of local transport authority SITURV Francis Decourriere, European Investment Bank Vice-President Philippe de...

Chinese agree to fund North Rail.(City News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... CONSTRUCTION is to get underway in November on the first 32 km of Manila's North Rail commuter rail corridor, after illegal settlers along the former PNR right of way are relocated to Venezuela. North Rail Corp Chairman Jose L Cortes Jr...

Bids in for Buenos Aires Line B.(City News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... FOUR BIDS for a contract worth up to 97.3m pesos to build a 1.6 km extension of metro Line B from Los Incas to Villa Urquiza have been received by Buenos Aires metro construction authority SBASE. Benito Roggio, Techint, Dycasa and Skanska...

Santiago Metro.(City News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Santiago Metro President Fernando Bustamente Huerta participated in ceremonies on September 8 to mark the opening of the 1.6 km Line 2 North extension (MR 04 p41). Running from Cal-y-Canto under the Mapocho River, the extension adds two new...

Permskaya prigorodnaya kompaniya.(City News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... On September 1 Russian Railways announced that it had reached agreement to set up a joint venture company to operate suburban services around the city of Perm with effect from mid-2005. The trains are currently run by RZD's Sverdlovsk Railway...

Bangkok strategic expansion plan.(City News)
October 1, 2004... AMBITIOUS plans to expand the growing network of urban rail routes in Bangkok over the next six years were endorsed by the government on September 7. Faced with continuing road congestion problems, Transport Minister Suriya Jungungreangkit...

Two tram-train triumphs.(City News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... LAST MONTH saw further progress on tram-train development in the Netherlands, with the placing of infrastructure contracts for RandstadRail and approval of Leiden's RijnGouweLijn project. On September 1 the city government of Den Haag...

Linz inaugurates mini 'U-Bahn'.(City News)(tramway)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... CELEBRATIONS were held in the Austrian city of Linz on August 31 to mark the opening of a 1.9km section of tramway which includes a 1 km double-track tunnel under the main station. Linzer Linien began regular services on following day. ...

Lagos.(City News)(Ololomaiko to Mile 2)(Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority )
October 1, 2004... Last month the Managing Director & CEO of Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority Dr Dayo Maberola dismissed 'insinuations' that LAMATA was to abandon its plans to develop a light rail network. External Relations Manager Lanre Dada said...

Delhi holes through.(City News)(linking Delhi university with Central Secretariat )(Delhi university and Kashmere gate )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... AT 08.30 ON September 3, a tunnel boring machine broke through at Delhi Main station after a 900 m drive from Chawri Bazaar station. The breakthrough, attended by Delhi Metro Rail Corp Chairman Anil Baijal and Managing Director E...

Lima tenders again.(City News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... BIDS ARE to be called shortly for a 33-year concession to complete and operate the first line of the Lima metro, with tenders to be submitted by February 2005. Limited services are operating on the 9.2 km initial section of Line 1 from...

Phoenix.(City News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Phoenix light rail promoter Valley Metro Rail has awarded its first major construction contract for the 32.6 km project. A joint venture of Sundt/Stacy & Witbeck is to build the maintenance and stabling depot with capacity for 40 cars at a cost...

Interurban study.(City News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... DETAILED DESIGN studies are underway for the construction of an interurban railway in Puerto Rico. It will act as a feeder to the San Juan Tren Urbano metro line now expected to open by the end of this year. The 20 km interurban is due to...

Angola.(Intelligence)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Angola: Following post-war rehabilitation work on the line from Lobito, a Benguela Railway train reached Caimbambo for the first time in 12 years on September 6. Work is now in hand to remove mines and renew track as far as Cubal.

Argentina.(Intelligence)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Argentina: On September 13 ceremonies were held to mark the start of Sefecha passenger service over the final 1.6 km of the branch to Puerto Vilelas near Resistencia in Chaco province. Sefecha has also developed a prototype air-conditioned...

Australia.(Intelligence)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Australia: V/Line took over the operation of former West Coast Railway Melbourne--Warmambool passenger services on September 1, CFCL Australia has agreed to purchase WCR's fleet of nine 1 600 mm gauge locos. QR has begun preparatory work...

Canada.(Intelligence)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Canada: CN plans to invest C$15m clearing its route to Prince Rupert for double-stack container trains, in readiness for the opening of a container terminal at the port during 2005. In September Great Canadian Railtour Co was selected by CN...

Europe.(Intelligence)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Europe: Slovenian, Croatian and Serbian railways signed a co-operation agreement on August 26 to launch a Ljubljana--Beograd express freight service from October 1. Private operators Railtrans and SBE began operating two cross-border daily...

France.(Intelligence)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... France: RFF is to start work in 2005 on double-tracking the Marseille--Aix-en-Provence line to permit a frequent regular interval service. Funded by the national government, the [euro]160m three-year programme will require an 18-month blockade....

Germany.(Intelligence)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Germany: Arriva has been named as preferred bidder to take over the 76.9% stake in Regentalbahn currently owned by the Land of Bayern.

Iran.(Intelligence)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Iran: RAI has taken delivery of 52 former Danish State Railways passenger coaches. Railog GmbH organised three trains to transfer the out-of-gauge stock by rail through eight countries.

South Korea.(Intelligence)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... South Korea: Korea Rail Network Authority officially completed double tracking and modernising the Cholla line from Iksan to Yeosu at a ceremony in Namwon on August 30. The line will be electrified at a cost of 1 200bn won for use by high speed...

Nigeria.(Intelligence)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Nigeria: NRC has revived the movement of petrol by rail to Kano, NRC is to spend N100m refurbishing 10 tank wagons.

Sweden.(Intelligence)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Sweden: The environmental impact enquiry into construction of the 17 km Malmo Citytunneln cross-city link was completed on August 27. Preliminary work is under way, and major construction is expected to start later this year for completion in...

United Kingdom.(Intelligence)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... United Kingdom: On September 17 the Strategic Rail Authority announced that it had signed an agreement with National Express Group to extend the Silverlink passenger franchise for two years until October 17 2006. On the night of August 21...

USA.(Intelligence)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... USA: Newly-formed Genesee & Wyoming Inc subsidiary Tazewell & Peoria Railroad has signed an agreement to lease the assets of the 32 km Peoria & Pekin Union Railroad from NS, UP and Illinois Central for 20 years, with provision for five-year...

Australia.(Finance)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Australia: Perpetual's Diversified Infrastructure Fund has taken a 5-6% equity stake in Asia Pacific Transport Joint Venture, operator of the Adelaide--Alice Springs--Darwin route. A$23m of federal funding additional to larger sums linked...

Hong Kong MTR Corp.(Finance)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... China: Hong Kong MTR Corp reported a net profit of HK$1.2bn for the six months to June, up from HK$113m in the period in 2003. Turnover was HK$4bn, with HK$2-6bn coming from fares and HK$246m from airport services.

Europe.(Finance)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Europe: A consortium of five banks has appointed White & Case as legal advisor on the financing of the Perpignan--Figueras rail link.

Lithuania.(Finance)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Lithuania: LG recorded sales of 484m litas in the first half of 2004, up 17% year-on-year. Freight traffic was up 11% to 21.9 million tonnes.

Pakistan.(Finance)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Pakistan: Asian Development Bank has offered US$2bn to fund a rail link from Chaman into Afghanistan, with a view to eventually reaching the Central Asian republics. The funding would also help improve rail and road links to India.

Poland.(Finance)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Poland: PKP PLK plans to invest 6-6bn zloty in infrastructure modernisation by 2006. After 2006 3-5bn zloty will be spent annually, and a 800m zloty EIB loan is to be sought to fund work.

USA.(Finance)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... USA: Following the receipt of the final instalment of federal funding on September 1, work is to begin this autumn on a $17m maintenance depot in Stockton for Altamont Commuter Express.

Australia.(Market)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Australia: Desec supplied a TL70 Tracklayer machine to Rail Corp of New South Wales during August. China Northern has won a contract to supply 75 container flat wagons to Australia during October, the company's third Australian order this...

Czech Republic.(Market)(CD)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Czech Republic: In November CD will begin a six-year lease from AAE of 50 Shimmns steel coil wagons built by Tatravagonka.

Denmark.(Market)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Denmark: Atkins Rail is to carry out detailed design and safety validation of geographic relay boxes at Ringsted Central station on Sjaelland under a [pounds sterling]500 000 contract with main contractor Bombardier.

Europe.(Market)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Europe: Scott Wilson will undertake technical due diligence for the Perpignan--Figueras high speed line under a [pounds sterling]90 000 contract awarded by the TP Ferro consortium.

Finland.(Market)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Finland: Skanska Tekra Oy has been awarded a [euro]23.7m contract to build the 14 km Labbacka rail tunnel and a road tunnel by the end of 2006 to provide access to Vuosaari harbour near Helsinki.

India.(Market)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... India: Pfleiderer and Patil Rail Infrastructure have formed a joint venture to participate in the construction of the 300 km long Jammu--Srinagar link. It is planned to supply Rheda 2000 ballastless track for the line which will include...

Israel.(Market)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Israel: Denya-Sibus has won a US$24m tender to build the Modi'in--Latrun section of IR's planned direct line to Jerusalem. Binat Communications is to supply IR with US$1.5m of Cisco video and data equipment to link stations and control...

Malaysia.(Market)
October 1, 2004... Malaysia: MAN B & W Diesel Ltd has signed a contract to supply 16RK215 engines for 20 diesel locomotives which Dalian Locomotive Works is building for KTMB, plus two spare engines.

Poland.(Market)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Poland: Rail World Inc has acquired 36 out of 49 Soviet-built diesel locos from Estonian Railways which were put up for auction by concessionaire Baltic Rail Services in August. In total, 46 locos were sold for US$1.5m. Rail World plans to use...

Spain.(Market)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Spain: Nexans has signed a [euro]5m contract with Alcatel and Siemens to supply signalling, track circuit and balise cables for use on the Madrid--Toledo, Lleida--Barcelona and Segovia--Valladolid high speed lines.

Switzerland.(Market)(Euro THURBO)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Switzerland: Euro THURBO has exercised an option for nine Stadler FLIRT four-section EMUs worth SFr73m, for use on cross-border services to Germany from autumn 2006.

Turkmenistan.(Market)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Turkmenistan: The Ministry of Railways has awarded Davenport Industries a contract to supply concrete sleeper manufacturing equipment to increase production capacity to 480 000 sleepers per year from January to speed construction of the...

United Kingdom.(Market)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... United Kingdom: EMCOR Rail has secured an [pounds sterling]11m contract from Rail Link Engineering to undertake design, procurement, installation and commissioning of engineering services for Stratford and Ebbsfleet stations on CTRL Section 2....

USA.(Market)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... USA: Nashville RTA has awarded LB Foster Co a $3-4m order for rails which will be used for track rehabilitation as part of the $39.7m Nashville--Lebanon commuter rail project. In August Johnstown America Corp completed delivery of 120...

Vietnam.(Market)(Duong Sat Viet Nam)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Vietnam: In August DSVN took delivery of 20 diesel locomotives worth US$14.4m from China's Ziyang Locomotive Works.

Bolivia.(Pointers)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... As part of a US$72.5m project to develop a new port complex on the River Paraguay at Puerto Busch in Bolivia, a 140 km rail link has been proposed from Motacucito on the Santa Cruz--Puerto Suarez route. Also serving iron ore deposits at El...

Czech.(Pointers)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... In August a spokesman for the Czech Transport Ministry said construction of a network of high speed lines could begin in the 2020s. A 700 km network of 300 km/h lines could cost KC350bn.

Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia.(Pointers)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Transport ministers from Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia have signed a memorandum stating their intention to construct the 120 km Kars--Akhalkalaki section of the planned Kars--Baku route. A feasibility study will now be prepared and the...

Pakistan Railways.(Pointers)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Pakistan Railways has announced it will rebuild 102 km of the Mirpur Khas--Islamkot metre-gauge line between Naukot and Islamkot as a 100 km/h broad-gauge route to access coal reserves in Thar.

China's Ministry of Railways.(Pointers)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Three possible routes for the trans-ASEAN rail link have been put forward by China's Ministry of Railways. The 4 200 km Central Line would run from Kunming via Laos; the 4 900 km Western Line via Ruili and Myanmar; and the 5 500 km Eastern Line...

Canada.(Metros)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Canada: Toronto Transit Commission is considering a C$200m plan to overhaul its 196 non-articulated trams in 2006-13. This would extend their lives by around 10 years, allowing replacement at the same time as TTC's articulated cars.

China.(Metros)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... China: On September 16 MTR Corp confirmed that it and KCRC had submitted their joint report on a possible merger to the Hong Kong government (p697). MTR Chief Executive C K Chow said a merger could benefit all stakeholders and create 'a single...

Czech Republic.(Metros)(DPO Inekon)(Ostrava Transport Authority)(Inekon Group Praha )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Czech Republic: The DPO Inekon consortium of Ostrava Transport Authority and Inekon Group Praha has won a KC220m contract to modernise 32 Plzen trams.

Egypt.(Metros)(Helwan terminus)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Egypt: The Helwan terminus of Cairo metro Line 1 was modernised during a month-long closure in July.

France.(Metros)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... France: The European Investment Bank is providing a [euro]100m loan towards the construction of two automatic peoplemovers to replace shuttle bus services within Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle Airport. CANCA has notified Alstom of its intention...

Germany.(Metros)(Leipzig Transport)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Germany: LFB is to start work this month on an initial series of 12 Leoliner articulated trams (RG 1.04 p8) for parent company Leipzig Transport. Following the withdrawal of Siemens from the joint development, LFB has identified a new industry...

India.(Metros)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... India: Proposals for a 22 km east-west Kolkata metro Line 2 linking Rajarhat to Howrah and New Dasnagar via a tunnel under the Hoogly River have been submitted to the Prime Minister (RG 6.04 p321). Kamataka state expects financial closure...

Jordan.(Metros)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Jordan: The Ministry of Transport has completed a feasibility study for a US$112m light rail line between Al Zarqa and Amman. Construction of the line, which could be extended to Amman airport, is planned to start in 2008; it is expected to...

South Korea.(Metros)(MTrans Holdings Sdn Bhd )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... South Korea: Malaysian firm MTrans Holdings Sdn Bhd has signed an agreement with the Gangam District of Seoul to establish a joint venture to build a 6.7 km monorail. Based on technology used in Kuala Lumpur, the line would cost US$175m.

Philippines.(Metros)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Philippines: World Bank investment arm International Finance Corp is to advise the government in the procurement of US$800m of funding required for a build-operate-transfer extension of Manila Metrorail Line 1 by 12 km south from Baclaran to...

Spain.(Metros)(Sevilla)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Spain: Last month Lovat supplied a 6 m diameter earth-pressure balance tunnel boring machine to Sevilla, where it will bore 4.6 km of tunnels for Line 1 of the light metro.

Singapore.(Metros)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Singapore: This month Hyderbad-based Balaji Railroad Systems is to supply Alstom with eight sets of three track panel transporting wagons worth US$225 000 for use in the construction of the Circle Line.

Switzerland.(Metros)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Switzerland: Ceremonies were held in the Zurich suburb of Oerlikon on September 14 to mark the start of work on the Glatttal light rail line. The first section with six stations will run for 3 km to Auzelg from Messe-Hallenstadion, where a...

Turkey.(Metros)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Turkey: A consortium of Yapi Merkezi, Ansaldobreda and Siemens has been selected to negotiate a contract to build the planned 17.5 km light rail line in Kayseri.