Railway Gazette International articles from October 2006

Railway Gazette International archives from October 2006

Alpine rail freight under threat.(COMMENT)
October 1, 2006... THE FUTURE of rail freight through the Swiss Alps is up for discussion, with formal consultation on fundamental issues due to end on October 16. Back in the late 1990s a law was passed requiring freight hauled by road across the Alps to be...

Coal line listing may start a trend.(COMMENT)
October 1, 2006... CHINA'S Daqin Railway Co has been listed on the Shanghai stock exchange since early August following a successful initial public offering in mid-July that raised almost 15bn yuan, equivalent to nearly US$2bn. The IPO saw 3.03 billion...

Gigaliners revive giant lorry danger.(COMMENT)
October 1, 2006... PREDICTABLY, the concept of lorries far exceeding the current EU weight limit of 44 tonnes has resurfaced with a trial of so-called Gigaliners in Germany. A Gigaliner consists of a tractor-trailer unit to which is coupled a further...

Emsland disaster shatters maglev dream.(COMMENT)
October 1, 2006... ON THE MORNING of September 22 the three-section TR08 Transrapid maglev vehicle collided at around 180km/h with a guideway maintenance vehicle at the Emsland test facility near Lathen in north Germany. Altogether 23 people were killed and 10...

BBI airport link contracts.(NEWS)
October 1, 2006... CONSTRUCTION OF a station beneath the new terminal building at Berlin Brandenburg International Airport (currently Berlin-Schonefeld) is set to start next year, following the signing on September 5 of contractual agreements covering procurement...

Veolia to expand in French freight.(NEWS)
October 1, 2006... PLANS TO FORM a joint venture to run intermodal services across Europe are taking shape in France. Maritime shipping group CMA CGM has broken off negotiations with SNCF subsidiary Naviland Cargo and is now looking to work with Veolia Transport...

Last Pajares contracts awarded.(NEWS)
October 1, 2006... SPANISH infrastructure authority ADIF has awarded the last two civil works contracts (RG 5.06 p241) for the new alignment between La Robla and Pola de Lena on the Leon--Oviedo route which includes a 25km base tunnel under the Pajares pass....

FRA backs ECP.(NEWS)
October 1, 2006... THE USE of Electronically Controlled Pneumatic brakes on freight wagons in North America is set to increase, following an announcement by the US Federal Railroad Administration on August 17. FRA intends to issue a notice of proposed...

Ecuador.(NEWS)
October 1, 2006... On August 28 President Alfredo Palacio of Ecuador signed an agreement transferring the national railway network to a consortium of 34 municipalities. It has been estimated that the largely moribund system will require a budget of US$6m in 2007,...

Five signalboxes for Switzerland.(NEWS)
October 1, 2006... THE GO-AHEAD for two more regional control centres was announced by Swiss Federal Railways on August 25, as part of a programme that will see the majority of the country's 3 000 km trunk rail network controlled from five centres by 2015. ...

Electrostars to go Overground.(NEWS)
October 1, 2006... MAYOR OF LONDON Ken Livingstone announced on September 5 that Transport for London is to introduce a new London Overground branding for its London Rail franchise, for which TfL has shortlisted four bidders. London Rail will operate the...

The first of 10 five-car DMUs being built for Syrian Railways is being tested by South Korean manufacturer Rotem.(NEWS)
October 1, 2006... The first of 10 five-car DMUs being built for Syrian Railways is being tested by South Korean manufacturer Rotem, and will be handed over to CFS this autumn for use on Damascus--Aleppo services. The 160km/h units have 560kW Cummins QSK 19...

Grant launches double-stack corridor.(NEWS)
October 1, 2006... A PROJECT to create the Heartland Corridor for double-stack container trains linking the Port of Virginia near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay with the Port of Huntington Tri-State on the Ohio River, and also the Port of Columbus in central Ohio,...

Meeting in Lhasa.(NEWS)
October 1, 2006... Meeting in Lhasa at the end of August, Nepal's Deputy Prime Minister Kahadga Prasad Sharma Oli and the Chairman of Tibet Autonomous Region Qiangba Puncog discussed plans to extend the Golmud--Lhasa railway to the Nepal border at Nyalam in...

Busy time at La Sagra.(NEWS)
October 1, 2006... SPANISH Development Minister Magdalena Alvarez visted the RENFE workshops at La Sagra near Toledo on September 6 to view progress with acceptance trials of Class 103 high speed trainsets. RENFE has received 12 of the 16 units ordered from...

Argentina.(NEWS)
October 1, 2006... The government of Argentina has confirmed that three consortia have prequalified for the contract to build a high speed line between Buenos Aires, Rosario and Cordoba (RG 9.06 p488): OHL, CAF and Chediack; Alstom, Iecsa, Isolux and Emepa; and...

Transandine accord.(NEWS)
October 1, 2006... PRESIDENTS Michelle Bachelet of Chile and Nestor Kirchner of Argentina met on September 12 to sign a joint declaration announcing the start of tendering for the project to re-open the 225km route between Mendoza and Los Andes in Chile (RG 5.06...

SNCF.(NEWS)
October 1, 2006... SNCF announced on August 30 that it has restructured part of its engineering services unit as a stand-alone subsidiary company known as Inexia. With around 250 staff, the company will bid for outside contracts from the beginning of 2007; an...

Delhi calls for 400 cars.(CITY NEWS)
October 1, 2006... INTERNATIONAL competitive tenders have been called for design, manufacturing and commissioning of 400 metro cars to operate the second phase of the Delhi metro network, along with staff training and technology transfer. Delhi Metro Rail...

Line 4A opens in Santiago.(CITY NEWS)
October 1, 2006... PRESIDENT of Chile Michelle Bachelet joined Santiago Metro President Blas Tomic on August 16 to officially open Line 4A from La Cisterna to Vicuna Mackenna. Connecting lines 2 and 4 and serving four intermediate stations, Line 4A has cost US$...

Ermont remodelling completed.(CITY NEWS)
October 1, 2006... On August 27 bay platforms at the remodelled Ermont-Eaubonne station in the northwestern suburbs of Paris were brought into use for a new direct service to Saint-Lazare, introduced following a three-year programme of works costing [euro]196m....

Vitoria LRT takes shape.(CITY NEWS)
October 1, 2006... WITH WORK expected begin in July next year, the Basque regional government's railway infrastructure authority ETS has opened an office in Vitoria to present to the public details of the city's new light rail network. The first phase of the...

Wien U1 reaches Leopoldau.(CITY NEWS)
October 1, 2006... AUSTRIAN Transport Minister Hubert Gorbach and Wien Mayor Michael Haupl participated in ceremonies on September 2 to mark the extension of the capital's metro line U1 to serve Floridsdorf and Donaustadt. Totalling 5.1 km including the...

Sytral.(CITY NEWS)
October 1, 2006... Lyon transport authority Sytral has awarded a [euro]12m contract to Semaly for engineering design on the 1.7km extension of metro Line B from Gerland to Oullins. The [euro]194m project, which includes tunnelling through complex geology beneath...

Sofia extensions.(CITY NEWS)
October 1, 2006... THE BULGARIAN government has reached agreement with the Sofia municipality over the funding of two more sections of the capital's metro network, at a total cost of [euro]283m. Of this [euro]218m is needed for construction work and [euro]65m for...

STAR and Putra to grow.(CITY NEWS)
October 1, 2006... TENDERS ARE to be invited early next year for three new light rail and metro projects in Kuala Lumpur, which will double the capital's urban rail network from 50 km to 100 km over the next four years. Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Najib...

TTC confirms Bombardier order.(CITY NEWS)
October 1, 2006... ON AUGUST 30 Toronto Transit Commission voted unanimously to buy 234 subway cars from Bombardier for the Yonge--University--Spadina line, under a C$674m sole-source contract which is well below the C$750m budgeted for the order. The deal...

Four line up in Mexico City.(CITY NEWS)
October 1, 2006... MEXICO's Deputy Under-Secretary of Transport Aaron Dychter announced on August 24 that Alstom, Bombardier, CAF and Siemens were amongst the companies that had expressed interest in bidding for the second and third phases of the programme to...

Prince inaugurates Oslo ring line.(CITY NEWS)
October 1, 2006... NORWEGIAN Crown Prince Haakon formally inaugurated the final section of Oslo's metro ring line on August 21, with a ceremony at Sinsen station and a special train using one of Oslo Sporveier's new Siemens-built trainsets. Built at a total...

Brussels network grows.(CITY NEWS)
October 1, 2006... AS THE FIRST step in STIB's Plan 2020 programme, extensions to two tram routes and metro Line 2 were opened on September 4. Route 94 (Kerkhof Jette--Wiener) has been lengthened by 2.2km from Wiener to Herrmann Debroux, providing interchange...

Trinidad bids in.(CITY NEWS)
October 1, 2006... SIX BIDS were received by the August 28 deadline for offers to design and construct the Trinidad Rapid Rail Project (RG 1.06 p8), connecting Port of Spain with Curepe. An official of the Trinidad & Tobago Works & Transport Ministry...

BA orders Chinese stock.(CITY NEWS)
October 1, 2006... THE GOVERNMENT of Argentina has signed a contract worth US$123m to buy 24 diesel-electric locomotives and 160 passenger cars for the San Martin commuter route in Buenos Aires. They will be supplied by China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock...

Southeast corridor under way.(CITY NEWS)
October 1, 2006... DALLAS Area Rapid Transit announced on September 5 that work had started on the southeastern leg of its Green Line, which is due to be completed by 2010. The 44.5 km Green Line will link Carrolton in the northwest to Pleasant Grove in the...

Orleans chooses APS.(CITY NEWS)
October 1, 2006... ALSTOM announced on September 18 that it had been selected to provide the second tram line in Orleans, following on from its work on the French city's first line which opened in 2000. The [euro]108m contract covers design and supply of all...

Virginia Governor Timothy M Kane rejected proposals for a tunnel to carry the Washington Metro extension.(CITY NEWS)
October 1, 2006... On September 6 Virginia Governor Timothy M Kane rejected proposals for a tunnel to carry the Washington Metro extension to Dulles airport through Tysons Corner, favouring the original plan for an elevated alignment. Construction of the 37km...

Argentina.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2006... Argentina: The federal government has invited tenders by October 20 for the operation of a weekly return passenger service between Buenos Aires and Posadas. TEA has been operating the service since 2003 under a concession awarded by the...

Australia.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2006... Australia: Toll Holdings has surrendered the lease on Melbourne's Dynon intermodal terminal to Victoria Rail Track Corp, the first divestment required to satisfy competition requirements agreed as part of its takeover of Patrick Corp. ...

China.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2006... China: Construction of the west-bound bore of the 21.05 km Wushaoling tunnel in Gansu province was completed in August, following opening of the east-bound tunnel on March 30 (RG 5.06 p248).

Europe.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2006... Europe: The national railways of Bulgaria and Serbia have agreed to increase the maximum gross weight of cross-border trains, and establish a joint body to manage international traffic between the countries.

Georgia.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2006... Georgia: Georgian Railway is to fund an US$5.5m project lasting eight months to reopen the 42 km line Kutaisi--Tkibuli line which has been out of use since 2003.

Germany.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2006... Germany: Work started on August 23 to electrify the 85 km route from Hamburg to Lubeck and Travemunde in Schleswig-Holstein. Completion is planned in 2008, with upgrading and double-tracking of the 7 km from Schwartau-Waldhalle to...

Hungary.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2006... Hungary: In December GySEV will take over the Szombathely--Szentgotthard line from national operator MAV, which will continue to manage property along the 54km route.

Japan.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2006... Japan: JR-East planned to introduce automatic topping-up of View Suica smart cards from October 1. When the value stored on a passenger's card drops below a certain level, a specified amount of Suica electronic money will be added when the card...

Malawi.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2006... Malawi: In August Central East African Railways took delivery of four EMD G12 diesel-electric locomotives donated by Taiwan Railway Administration and shipped via the port of Nacala in Mozambique. The 1067 mm gauge locos will be converted from...

Pakistan.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2006... Pakistan: On September 6 Sind's Minister for Transport Mohammad Adil Siddiqui said the government is reviewing proposals from foreign companies interested in modernising the Karachi Circular Railway. The Ministry of Railways has put...

Turkmenistan.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2006... Turkmenistan: Work has begun on a loop connecting Crossing point 93 on the Turkmenbashi--Ashkhabad line with Ovadandepe on the Ashkhabad--Dashoguz route. Freight facilities will be developed at Ovadandepe, and 10ha of land is being planted to...

UK.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2006... UK: Network Rail is to build a [pounds sterling]12m signalling centre at Cowlairs which will replace an existing centre at Glasgow Central, and eventually other signalling centres in the west of Scotland. [pounds sterling]180m will be spent...

USA.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2006... USA: Genesee & Wyoming's newly-formed subsidiary Chattahoochee Bay Railroad Inc has paid $6m to acquire the assets of Gulf & Ohio Railways affiliate Chattahoochee & Gulf Railroad and the contiguous H & S Railroad Co. On August 2...

Africa.(Finance)
October 1, 2006... Africa: Reflecting increases in fuel and steel prices, the European Commission has increased from [euro]40m to [euro]50m a grant committed in 2003 for the rehabilitation of the Djibouti-Ethiopia Railway. A contractor is expected to be appointed...

Australia.(Finance)
October 1, 2006... Australia: In August Macmahon Holdings announced that owing to 'current uncertainty surrounding Macmahon's ability to recover its investment in Asia Pacific Transport', it had made a non-recurring adjustment of A$19.9m to fully write down to...

Georgia.(Finance)
October 1, 2006... Georgia: The World Bank's Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility has granted US$230 000 to Georgian Railway under the Assistance in Freight Marketing scheme.

Romania.(Finance)
October 1, 2006... Romania: On August 23 Standard & Poor's lowered its long-term corporate credit rating on CFR Marfa from B+ to B, with negative outlook. Analyst Eugene Korovin said this reflects constraints on direct state support after EU accession, and that...

Vietnam.(Finance)
October 1, 2006... Vietnam: The Swiss government is to provide SFr16.9m towards the modernisation of signalling at seven stations on the Hanoi--Ho Chi Minh City route, under an agreement signed on September 12.

Algeria.(Market)
October 1, 2006... Algeria: SNTF has selected Nortel to deploy a GSM-R network on the line from El Gourzi to Touggourt in the east of the country.

Germany.(Market)
October 1, 2006... Germany: On September 15 Alstom rolled out the first of 10 Coradia Lint 41 DMUs ordered in January 2005 by leasing company FAHMA at a cost of [euro]27m. Fitted with exhaust particle filters, the units will enter services on the Taunus route in...

Europe.(Market)
October 1, 2006... Europe: On September 20, Angel Trains Europe confirmed a [euro]55m order for 18 Euro 4000 diesel locos from Vossloh, with options for a further 12.

India.(Market)
October 1, 2006... India: IR has announced orders worth RS3.2bn for the supply of almost 9 000 wagons by Burn Standard (980 vehicles), Braithwaite (609), Bharat Wagons(431), Bridge & Roof (159), and private sector companies Besco (1 520), Texmaco (1 354),...

Russia.(Market)
October 1, 2006... Russia: RZD subsidiary Refservice has drawn up specifications for the production of 1 520 mm gauge insulated wagons. Details have been sent to FTD Fahrzeugtechnik Dessau, with a view to the production of around 500 wagons a year from 2008.

UK.(Market)
October 1, 2006... UK: Metronet Rail has begun using data from ground-penetrating radar surveys undertaken by rail geophysical company Zetica to investigate embankments and cuttings on London's Metropolitan Line.

USA.(Market)
October 1, 2006... USA: Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District has appointed Systra to assess the feasibility of operating additional NICTD services over 23 km of Metra tracks between Millennium and Kensington stations in Chicago. Corys TESS has...

Spanish city of Valencia.(Pointers)
October 1, 2006... The regional government is planning a light metro route that will serve 16 communities with a total population of 420 000 lying to the south of the Spanish city of Valencia. Expected to open in 2010, the 35 km route would serve a total of 30...

Bogota.(Pointers)
October 1, 2006... A court in Bogota has suspended proceedings for a second period of 60 days, expiring on October 9, to enable government agency INCO and Tren de Occidente to renegotiate the terms of the Pacific railway concession in Colombia (RG 5.06 p241)....

FTA.(Pointers)
October 1, 2006... On August 23 the FTA approved the start of final design work on the $307.3m Northstar commuter rail project between Minneapolis and Big Lake. A full funding grant agreement is expected to be finalised in May 2007, with six daily round trips...

Pacific National and the state government signed a memorandum of understanding preparing the way for negotiation of a rescue package for Tasmania's railways.(Pointers)
October 1, 2006... In September Pacific National and the state government signed a memorandum of understanding preparing the way for negotiation of a rescue package for Tasmania's railways. The state will buy back the infrastructure lease for A$1 and contribute...

Canada.(Metros)
October 1, 2006... Canada: On September 6 the STM board voted to award the Groupement DST joint venture of Dessau-Soprion, SNC Lavalin and Tesult a contract to oversee the procurement of 366 metro cars for Montreal. STM is negotiating a sole-source contract worth...

France.(Metros)
October 1, 2006... France: STUR was due to take delivery last month of the final five of eight additional VAL trainsets ordered from Siemens Transportation Systems by the greater Rennes authority at a cost of [euro]28.5m. With 110 000 passenger-journeys a day,...

India.(Metros)
October 1, 2006... India: Minister of State for Urban development Ajay Maken has confirmed that the Kerala state government has invited expressions of interest in a planned PPP project for the construction of a 25.3 km elevated light metro linking Alwaye and...

Israel.(Metros)
October 1, 2006... Israel: Construction has begun on Jerusalem's light rail line. The City Pass consortium has started track laying at Hapisga junction on Herzl Boulevard, and track on the northern section around French Hill is also set to be laid this year. The...

Mexico.(Metros)
October 1, 2006... Mexico: Telvent has signed a [euro]4m contract to upgrade the ticket systems on the Monterrey metro and three city bus routes for contactless smart cards.

Philippines.(Metros)
October 1, 2006... Philippines: The LRTA board has approved revised plans for the 11.7 km southern extension of Manila Line 1 from Baclaran in Paranaque City to Bacoor in Cavite province. The cost is now put at around US$600m, lower than original suggestion of...

Poland.(Metros)
October 1, 2006... Poland: Tenders are to be called in the first six months of next year for construction of the initial phase of Warszawa metro Line 2. The 6.5 km underground line will run from Rondo Daszynskiego beneath the River Wisla to Wilenski station in...

Russia.(Metros)
October 1, 2006... Russia: Samara metro has bought pseudo-wire circuit emulation technology from RAD Data Communications, to collect audio information from police telephones and reporting information from fire sensors. Video over IP is being provided for CCTV...

Spain.(Metros)
October 1, 2006... Spain: FGV has awarded Vossloh a contract to build 20 Class 4300 trainsets for Line 1 of the Valencia metro (RG 7.06 p378). Deliveries from Vossloh's Albuixech plant are due to be completed within 22 months.

Taiwan.(Metros)
October 1, 2006... Taiwan: Minister of Transportation & Communications Tsai Duei is evaluating the viability of a proposed NT$5bn light rail line between Hongshulin MRT station in Tapei and a development area near Tamsui. Trial operations on the first section...

UK.(Metros)
October 1, 2006... UK: Strathclyde Partnership for Transport has awarded Alstom a [pounds sterling]1.4m contract to overhaul and refurbish the Glasgow subway's eight trailer cars, with the installation of new panelling, flooring, seats and upgraded lighting by...

USA.(Metros)
October 1, 2006... USA: A Skanska-led joint venture including ECCO II, Edwards & Kelcey and Parsons Brinckerhoff has been awarded a $279m design and build contract to expand Metro-North's Croton-Harmon commuter rail depot, located 60 km north of New York city (RG...

Eurostar unveiled Ebbsfleet International.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2006... Last month Eurostar unveiled Ebbsfleet International station on Section 2 of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. Close to the M20, M25 and M2 motorways, it has 9 000 parking spaces and will be served by seven doily trains to Paris and five to...

Odakyu Electric Railway was awarded the Japanese Blue Ribbon.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2006... Last month the Odakyu Electric Railway was awarded the Japanese Blue Ribbon prize for the most stylish train introduced in 2005. The Series 50 000 Romance VSE articulated 10-car electric multiple-unit operates services between Shinjuku in Tokyo...

A highlight of InnoTrans in Berlin was Voith's Maxima 40 CC.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2006... A highlight of InnoTrans in Berlin was Voith's Maxima 40 CC. Hailed as 'the world's most powerful diesel-hydraulic', the six-axle loco was unveiled by Hinrich Krey of Voith Turbo Lokomotivtechnik on September 19. Voith announced plans to build...

The prototype TGV-POS trainset for TGV Est international services underwent certification testing in Switzerland in August.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2006... The prototype TGV-POS trainset for TGV Est international services underwent certification testing in Switzerland in August, including trials on the Gotthard corridor between Biasca and Airolo. On September 20, French Prime Minister Dominique de...

Barcelona Metro.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2006... Barcelona Metro has unveiled the first of 50 Series 9000 trainsets that Alstom is supplying for lines 2 and 9 at a cost of [euro]296.6m under a train leasing agreement. The five-car units can carry 959 passengers, are equipped for driverless...

Freight competition in Germany.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2006... Sir -- I refer to your interview with Norbert Bensel, CEO of DB AG Transport & Logistics (RG 9.06 p545), and I would like to put the record straight. Mr Bensel describes Germany's rail freight market as being highly competitive, and...

Infrastructure separation works.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2006... Sir -- I would dispute David Burns' interesting analysis of rail privatisation (RG 9.06 p517) in respect of freight. He suggests that 'if on-rail competition is considered a necessity, the most efficient way to integrate track and train is for...

Mary Peters was appointed Transportation Secretary in the USA on September 5.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2006... Mary Peters was appointed Transportation Secretary in the USA on September 5, replacing Norman Mineta who stepped down earlier this year. Peters was head of Arizona Department of Transportation, where she worked for 16 years. She is also a...