Railway Gazette International articles from October 2007

Railway Gazette International archives from October 2007

Three-way battle in the basin.(COMMENT)
October 1, 2007... THE ANNOUNCEMENT on September 5 that Canadian Pacific Railway is to purchase the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corp for US$1.48bn came as a surprise to US industry experts and financial analysts, who queried the high price that CPR is...

DB sale weathers more storms.(COMMENT)
October 1, 2007... THE German government's bill to privatise Deutsche Bahn AG was presented to the Bundestag for its first reading on September 21. Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee had to defend the bill against forceful opposition that had been building up...

Competitors force SNCF to act.(COMMENT)
October 1, 2007... OLIVIER Marembaud, SNCF's Deputy Director-General, Freight, was stung into calling a press conference on September 5 after La Vie du Rail revealed that wagonload service was to be withdrawn from 262 terminals in western France from November 30,...

Munchen maglev funded.(NEWS)
October 1, 2007... ON SEPTEMBER 25 the regional government of Bayern reached an agreement to fund a [euro]1.85bn maglev to link Franz Josef Strauss Airport with Munchen Hauptbahnhof. President of Bayern Edmund Stoiber announced the agreement in a national...

Eurostar carried over 700 invited guests on an inaugural train from Brussels Midi to London St Pancras International on September 20, setting a new time record for rail travel between the two capitals.(NEWS)
October 1, 2007... Eurostar carried over 700 invited guests on an inaugural train from Brussels Midi to London St Pancras International on September 20, setting a new time record for rail travel between the two capitals. Train 9125 left Brussels at 11.05 and took...

Second Zurich tunnel launched.(NEWS)
October 1, 2007... AFTER NINE years of planning, Swiss Federal Railways formally started work on September 20 for the second cross-city rail tunnel in Zurich. SBB President Andreas Meyer and Zurich regional president Rita Fuhrer participated in the ceremonies to...

Chinese to plug Ilebo-Kinshasa gap.(NEWS)
October 1, 2007... AGREEMENTS were signed in Kinshasa on September 17 which provide for China to fund a major railway project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The rail element of a US$5bn loan package, signed by Congolese Minister for Public Works &...

Greek contracts.(NEWS)
October 1, 2007... HELLENIC Railways' infrastructure projects subsidiary Ergose confirmed in mid-September that it had awarded a contract to Thales for the installation of ETCS Level 1 trackside equipment on the main line between Athens and Thessaloniki. ...

BR upgrade loan.(NEWS)
October 1, 2007... THE GOVERNMENT of Bangladesh expected to sign an accord with the Japan Bank for International Co-operation before the end of September, releasing a US$112m soft loan to fund upgrading work on the national rail network. The funding will...

The Karelian Trains joint venture of RZD and VR awarded a [euro]120m contract to Alstom in September for the supply of four dual-system Pendolino trainsets to operate 220 km/h services between Helsinki and St Petersburg.(NEWS)
October 1, 2007... The Karelian Trains joint venture of RZD and VR awarded a [euro]120m contract to Alstom in September for the supply of four dual-system Pendolino trainsets to operate 220 km/h services between Helsinki and St Petersburg. To be built at...

Class 246 unveiled.(NEWS)
October 1, 2007... THE FIRST diesel-electric loco in Bombardier's Traxx family was officially launched into service on September 3. For an initial three-month trial, the Class 246 and three double-deck coaches will replace a VT628 DMU on the EVB route between...

Tanzania concession starts this month.(NEWS)
October 1, 2007... THE TANZANIAN government and RITES of India signed a 25-year concession for operation of the 2700 km metre gauge state railway on September 3. The government holds 49% in the newly-established Tanzania Railway Ltd, with RITES holding 51%....

Bulgarian upgrading.(NEWS)
October 1, 2007... FIVE CONTRACTS have been awarded by the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport for upgrading work on the rail network. Astaldi of Italy has been selected for a [euro]163m project to reconstruct and electrify the 143 km international corridor...

Polish progress.(NEWS)
October 1, 2007... A NEW open-access freight operator began revenue services in Poland on September 1, when Freightliner Poland Ltd began moving coal from Bogdanka mine to Kozienice power station. FPL has assembled a fleet of seven Class 66 locomotives and...

Chinese lines get underway.(NEWS)
October 1, 2007... AUGUST 28 saw the formal start of construction on Chinese Railways' 904 km Passenger Dedicated Line between Harbin and Dalian, which is expected to take 5 1/2 years to complete. According to Minister of Railways Li Zhijun, the line is...

Bids in for Mendoza upgrade.(NEWS)
October 1, 2007... IN THE PRESENCE of President Nestor Kirchner, bids to upgrade the route between Buenos Aires and Mendoza (RG 9.07 p524) for use by trains travelling at up to 160 km/h were opened on September 18. The turnkey contract including civil, track and...

Israel Railways' new line from Ben Gurion Airport to Modi'in Outskirts was formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on September 4.(NEWS)
October 1, 2007... Israel Railways' new line from Ben Gurion Airport to Modi'in Outskirts was formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on September 4. He was joined by Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz and the Mayor of Modi'in Moshe Spector. Revenue...

Bidders sought to build diesel loco plant.(NEWS)
October 1, 2007... APPLICATIONS to build a factory able to produce 100 diesel-electric locomotives a year for Indian Railways closed on September 14. Pre-qualified bidders for the joint venture project are to be announced on October 12. A Request for...

Colombia to launch US$600m tender package.(NEWS)
October 1, 2007... TENDERING IS DUE to start this month for the first upgrading projects that Colombia's Ministry of Transport is undertaking under a U$600m investment programme. According to Miguel Bonilla who heads the Rail Group at national concessions agency...

A total of eight companies formed as five consortia have submitted technical bids for a public-private partnership contract to upgrade and maintain up to 962 km of routes on the AFE network in Uruguay (RG 7.07 p404).(NEWS)
October 1, 2007... A total of eight companies formed as five consortia have submitted technical bids for a public-private partnership contract to upgrade and maintain up to 962 km of routes on the AFE network in Uruguay (RG 7.07 p404). Financial bids were due to...

CSX is to spend $6.6bn on capital projects over the next three years, according to Chief Financial Officer Oscar Munoz.(News in Brief)
October 1, 2007... CSX is to spend $6.6bn on capital projects over the next three years, according to Chief Financial Officer Oscar Munoz. He confirmed last month that the railway plans to invest $1.7bn this year, around $1.6bn a year in 2008-09 and $1.7bn in...

On September 10 French intermodal operator Lorry Rail finally began revenue services on the Perpignan-Bettembourg corridor (RG 11.06 p724).(News in Brief)
October 1, 2007... On September 10 French intermodal operator Lorry Rail finally began revenue services on the Perpignan-Bettembourg corridor (RG 11.06 p724). Lorry Rail is running a single train of 20 Modalohr wagons with capacity for 40 semi-trailers, covering...

Slovenian railway agency AZP has selected a consortium of Thales and Iskra Sistemi & Primorje for a [euro]36.4m contract to renew the signalling and telecommunications equipment on the 46 km Divaka-Koper line, which forms part of European Corridor VI.(News in Brief)
October 1, 2007... Slovenian railway agency AZP has selected a consortium of Thales and Iskra Sistemi & Primorje for a [euro]36.4m contract to renew the signalling and telecommunications equipment on the 46 km Divaka-Koper line, which forms part of European...

Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov opened the 223 km Tashguzar-Baysun-Kumkurgan railway on August 24.(News in Brief)
October 1, 2007... Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov opened the 223 km Tashguzar-Baysun-Kumkurgan railway on August 24. The US$447m line reaches 1880 m above sea level as it crosses the Hissar mountains, and has cut 170 km from north-south routes as well as...

Following a meeting with local politicians in Strasbourg on September 7, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon confirmed that the government expected work to start in 2010 on the second phase of LGV Est-Europeenne, subject to agreement of the funding package.(News in Brief)
October 1, 2007... Following a meeting with local politicians in Strasbourg on September 7, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon confirmed that the government expected work to start in 2010 on the second phase of LGV Est-Europeenne, subject to agreement of the...

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa and his Malawian counterpart Mbingu was Mutharika participated in ceremonies at the Mwami border crossing on August 25 to mark the resumption of work on the Mchinji-Chipata rail link, on which construction began in 1982.(News in Brief)
October 1, 2007... Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa and his Malawian counterpart Mbingu was Mutharika participated in ceremonies at the Mwami border crossing on August 25 to mark the resumption of work on the Mchinji-Chipata rail link, on which construction began...

Major investment for Berlin region.(CITY NEWS)
October 1, 2007... MOSTLY funded by the federal government, a [euro]3.5bn package to upgrade the Berlin S-Bahn, renew several lines in Brandenburg and build a link to the expanded Schonefeld airport was unveiled by DB Netz on August 23. Berlin will receive...

Hyderabad shortlist.(CITY NEWS)
October 1, 2007... THE PROVINCIAL government of Andhra Pradesh is expected to call tenders shortly to build a three-line metro in Hyderabad. The Indian Minister for Urban Development Ajay Maken has given the regional government permission to draw up a...

Alstom is to supply 246 metropolis Metro cars to Shanghai in partnership with Nanjing Puzhen Rolling Stock Works for use on Line 10 of the metro.(CITY NEWS)
October 1, 2007... Alstom is to supply 246 Metropolis metro cars to Shanghai in partnership with Nanjing Puzhen Rolling Stock Works for use on Line 10 of the metro. This 36 km line is expected to open in 2009 and will link Hongqiao Airport in the west with New...

Valenciennes extends.(CITY NEWS)
October 1, 2007... A FURTHER 8.8 km of light rail line was inaugurated on August 31 in Valenciennes, with commercial services beginning three days later. The second phase takes the existing 9.5 km line, opened in August 2006, from its original terminus at...

Four tracks to Pinto.(CITY NEWS)
October 1, 2007... MEETING ON September 14, the Spanish cabinet gave its approval for the Ministry of Development to begin tendering for a [euro]143m project to quadruple the San Cristobal de los Angeles-Pinto section of RENFE suburban route C3 in Madrid. ...

More LRT in southern Spain.(CITY NEWS)
October 1, 2007... THE ANDALUCIA regional government has awarded a joint venture of Cosfesa, Modecar and Ortiz a [euro]28.6m contract to undertake civil works on the first section of a 12 km light rail route serving Alcala de Guadaira on the southeastern...

Kelana Jaya upgrade.(CITY NEWS)
October 1, 2007... ON AUGUST 30 Bombardier and its Malaysian partner Hartasuma announced that a contract had been agreed with Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad to upgrade lineside electrical and mechanical systems on the Kelana Jaya Line in Kuala Lumpur. The...

Through-running begins in Kassel.(CITY NEWS)
October 1, 2007... GERMANY'S third tram-train network following those in Karlsruhe and Saarbrucken has been completed in Kassel with the integration of on-street and local main line running on DB Netz. Although light rail vehicles began sharing tracks with...

Nexus funds Metro Re-invigoration.(CITY NEWS)
October 1, 2007... TYNE & WEAR Passenger Transport Authority has put in place the funding for Phase 1 of its 20-year Metro Re-invigoration programme. Taking two years to complete, Phase 1 is costed at [pounds sterling]56.1m. The UK Department for Transport...

Bangkok airport Desiro deliveries begin.(CITY NEWS)
October 1, 2007... THE FIRST two of the nine Desiro EMUs being built for Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport rail link left the German port of Bremerhaven for the five-week journey to Thailand on September 8. The trains are expected to arrive at Laem Chabang in...

With the aim of opening the second light rail line in Santa Cruz de Tenerife towards the end of 2008, the island council hopes to award construction contracts for the [euro]45m project before the end of this year.(City News in Brief)
October 1, 2007... With the aim of opening the second light rail line in Santa Cruz de Tenerife towards the end of 2008, the island council hopes to award construction contracts for the [euro]45m project before the end of this year. Services will run from Tincer...

On September 8 Line T5 of the Trambesos network in Barcelona was extended by 2 km from Sant Joan Baptista to Gorg, serving intermediate stations at Encants de Sant Adria and Sant Roc.(City News in Brief)
October 1, 2007... On September 8 Line T5 of the Trambesos network in Barcelona was extended by 2 km from Sant Joan Baptista to Gorg, serving intermediate stations at Encants de Sant Adria and Sant Roc. The extension cost [euro]33m for civil works and [euro]7m...

The second 3.25 km section of the light rail route in the Spanish town of Parla has now opened to traffic, adding six stops to create a circular network.(City News in Brief)
October 1, 2007... The second 3.25 km section of the light rail route in the Spanish town of Parla has now opened to traffic, adding six stops to create a circular network. The first phase (RG 6.07 p331) with nine stops had been carrying an average of 10000...

On September 12 Chicago Transit Authority awarded a US$91.2m contract to the Kewit-Reyes joint venture for track renewals on 30.5 km of the Blue Line between Addison and O'Hare Airport, where temporary speed restrictions of 25 km/h are in force because of the poor state of the infrastructure.(City News in Brief)
October 1, 2007... On September 12 Chicago Transit Authority awarded a US$91.2m contract to the Kewit-Reyes joint venture for track renewals on 30.5 km of the Blue Line between Addison and O'Hare Airport, where temporary speed restrictions of 25 km/h are in force...

Hong Kong-based Gammon Construction has won a [pounds sterling]55m contract for construction of Chinatown station on Singapore's Downtown Line.(City News in Brief)
October 1, 2007... Hong Kong-based Gammon Construction has won a [pounds sterling]55m contract for construction of Chinatown station on Singapore's Downtown Line, which will provide interchange to the North East Line when Stage 1 of the DTL opens in 2013 (RG 6.07...

Greater Toronto Transportation Authority has approved plans to order 20 more bi-level coaches for GO Transit at a cost of C$60m.(City News in Brief)
October 1, 2007... Greater Toronto Transportation Authority has approved plans to order 20 more bi-level coaches for GO Transit at a cost of C$60m. A further C$20m will be spent on double-tracking parts of the Bradford and Stouffville lines to accommodate all-day...

Victoria's Department of Infrastructure is studying proposals for an A$10bn cross-city rail tunnel under Melbourne.(City News in Brief)
October 1, 2007... Victoria's Department of Infrastructure is studying proposals for an A$10bn cross-city rail tunnel under Melbourne. Running from Footscray in the west to South Yarra in the southeast, the 11 km tunnel would include stations at Parkeville and...

On August 24 Transport for London lodged a formal Expression of Interest with the PPP Administrator to take control of Metronet BCV and Metronet SSL (RG 8.07 p461), with a view to making an offer for the two businesses by the end of September.(City News in Brief)
October 1, 2007... On August 24 Transport for London lodged a formal Expression of Interest with the PPP Administrator to take control of Metronet BCV and Metronet SSL (RG 8.07 p461), with a view to making an offer for the two businesses by the end of September....

Sofia Electric Transport Chief Executive Yordan Vassilev announced in August that SET has been commissioned to develop plans for a light rail line in Skopje, and to prepare a feasibility study that will support an application for EU pre-accession funding.(City News in Brief)
October 1, 2007... Sofia Electric Transport Chief Executive Yordan Vassilev announced in August that SET has been commissioned to develop plans for a light rail line in Skopje, and to prepare a feasibility study that will support an application for EU...

Bayern's Transport Ministry has selected Poyry Infra GmbH to work with DB on development of upgrading plans for the S-Bahn routes to Munchen Airport.(City News in Brief)
October 1, 2007... Bayern's Transport Ministry has selected Poyry Infra GmbH to work with DB on development of upgrading plans for the S-Bahn routes to Munchen Airport. The Erdinger Ringschluss package A includes four-tracking 6 km, doubling another 4 km section...

Argentina.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2007... Argentina: President Nestor Kirchner has announced that 7m pesos is to be spent on rehabilitating the 284.8 km Puerto Deseado-Colonia Las Heras route in the province of Santa Cruz. A 6.9m pesos investment package has also been announced for the...

Bolivia.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2007... Bolivia: The first trainload of silver, lead and zinc concentrate has been dispatched from the San Cristobal mine near Potosi, bound for the port of Mejillones in Chile. Regular traffic is expected to amount to 49 wagonloads a day.

Canada.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2007... Canada: On September 19 CN announced an agreement for Homburg Invest to purchase the Central Station complex in Montreal. The deal is expected to generate C$355m for CN, which will lease back its 17-storey headquarters building and the...

China.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2007... China: Work is due to begin this month on the first phase of the 2bn yuan Chengdu Railway Container Terminal. The 200 ha facility will open in 2008 with an initial annual capacity of 1 million TEU, growing to 2.5 million TEU by 2020.

Europe.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2007... Europe: Work has begun to modernise and electrify the 9 km cross-border link between Lichkov in the Czech Republic and Miedzylesie in Poland. To be completed by mid-2009 at a cost of KC1.54bn, this will provide a continuous electrified route...

France.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2007... France: Under a [euro]9m ticketing investment programme for the TER network in the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region, Optima smartcards are being introduced which will also be valid for travel on bus services and Chemins de Fer de Provence. The...

Liechtenstein.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2007... Liechtenstein: Minister of Transport & Telecommunications Martyin Meyer has signed an agreement with his Swiss and Austrian counterparts creating a steering committee for the proposed FL.A.CH S-Bahn network.

Netherlands.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2007... Netherlands: Groningen province, the city of Veendam, ProRail and Arriva signed a memorandum on August 31 for the re-introduction of passenger services on the 7 km freight line from Zuidbroek junction to Veendam. The cost is put at [euro]10m to...

New Zealand.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2007... New Zealand: Ontrack has completed a NZ$3.2m upgrade of eight stations on the Wairarapa Line from Wellington, using design concepts from Duffill Watts & Tse.

Russia.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2007... Russia: RZD is preparing documentation which will enable it to begin the process of privatising 22 rolling stock workshops by the end of the year, covering around a third of national wagon repair capacity.

Serbia.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2007... Serbia: Following disputes over contractual terms, ZS and TriGranit have abandoned their partnership formed in June 2006 for the development of the long-delayed Prokop station project in Beograd. ZS has now begun negotiations with second-placed...

South Africa.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2007... South Africa: The 861 km Orex heavy haul line was closed for a two-week period of concentrated maintenance activity during August, following similar successful shutdowns in 2005 and 2006. Work included installation of another 12 sets of Alstom...

Spain.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2007... Spain: The Ministry of Development reports that a total of 563 crossings have been removed so far under a [euro]1.32bn level crossing safety plan for 2005-12. This aims to remove a total of 1931 crossings and improve safety at a further 1846...

UK.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2007... UK: Last month Network Rail began a [pounds sterling]75m programme to be completed in February 2008 to resignal 37 km of railway between Birmingham and Warwick, and place it under the control of the West Midlands Signalling Centre. Imerys...

USA.(INTELLIGENCE)
October 1, 2007... USA: A ceremony on August 22 marked the start of work by Union Pacific on a $90m intermodal terminal 22 km southwest of San Antonio, Texas. Replacing two sites within the city, the terminal will have an initial capacity of 100000 containers a...

Croatia.(Market)
October 1, 2007... Croatia: National Railway Equipment Corp has awarded TZV Gredelj a US$12.5m contract to repair and modernise six diesel-electric locos by June 2008. The contract will be followed by another for a further six.

Europe.(Market)
October 1, 2007... Europe: On September 24 Angel Trains ordered another 60 Traxx electric locos from Bombardier for [euro]225m. Bringing the Angel fleet to 70 locos for 15 kV 16.7 Hz operation, 74 multi-system locos and 20 for 3 kV DC, the order includes options...

France.(Market)
October 1, 2007... France: Under a US$30m framework contract with Bombardier, ABB is to supply pairs of traction transformers for the 172 Spacium 3.06 EMUs ordered by SNCF for Ile-de-France services (RG 9.07 p574).

Germany.(Market)
October 1, 2007... Germany: The BeNEX subsidiary of Hamburger Hochbahn and Babcock & Brown Public Partnerships has placed a [euro]16m order with Siemens for six Desiro Classic DMUs. They will be used by ODEG when it takes over Spree-Nei[beta]e regional services...

Italy.(Market)
October 1, 2007... Italy: On September 18 Mer Mec announced it had acquired South Carolina based ImageMap Inc. The Italian firm has also bought French infrastructure monitoring firm Inno-Tech, and formed a technical and marketing partnership with Tecnogamma.

Lithuania.(Market)
October 1, 2007... Lithuania: LG has taken delivery of the first of 34 six-axle Eurorunner ER20 CF diesel-electric freight locos to be supplied by Siemens by mid-2009 under a [euro]120m contract signed in 2005.

Netherlands.(Market)
October 1, 2007... Netherlands: Infraspeed Maintenance has ordered two 120 km/h multi-purpose rail vehicles from Windhoff for use on HSL-Zuid. The 21 m vehicles can accommodate cranes and interchangeable work modules. A consortium of Welling, Zublin and...

Poland.(Market)
October 1, 2007... Poland: Last month ZNLE Gliwice was awarded a contract to modernise four PKP Cargo ET22 electric locos, with 49 more expected to follow. PKP Cargo is planning to upgrade around half its fleet of 900 of the 3 kV freight locos to the standards of...

Russia.(Market)
October 1, 2007... Russia: Last month RZD signed contracts with Transmash Holding for the supply of 109 E5K AC electric freight locos from Novocherkassk and 103 EP2K 3 kV DC passenger locos from Kolomensky Zavod. Vagonmash has delivered 22 coaches and 16...

Spain.(Market)
October 1, 2007... Spain: ADIF has awarded Thales a four-year contract worth [euro]57.5m to maintain signalling on the LZB-equipped Madrid-Sevilla high speed line and the branch to Toledo where ETCS has been installed. It covers a control centre at Atocha as well...

Sweden.(Market)
October 1, 2007... Sweden: LKAB has awarded Funkwerk IT a contract to supply AlisterCargo electronic interlockings and a control centre for the Sjobangarden yard in Kiruna. Work is to begin shortly for completion in 2008.

Ukraine.(Market)
October 1, 2007... Ukraine: Lugansk Works has been awarded contracts to modernise 42 diesel locos for Yakutia Railways by 2010, and to upgrade eight locos for Mongolia in 2008.

UK.(Market)
October 1, 2007... UK: Network Rail has revised its track renewals contracts from six to four, aligning switch and crossing renewal with plain-line work to give efficiency savings expected at 23% over five years. The four contractors are a joint venture of Amey...

USA.(Market)
October 1, 2007... USA: Harsco has received two orders worth a total of $12m for the supply of a 16-stone rail grinder to Singapore Land Transport Authority and two 10-stone grinders to a customer in Japan.

Brazil.(Metros)
October 1, 2007... Brazil: Sao Paulo state government is negotiating with IBRD and JBIC for loans to fund the acquisition of 17 six-car trains for the city's metro network, and the modernisation of signalling and telecoms.

China.(Metros)
October 1, 2007... China: Andrew Corp has won a contract to modify Hong Kong MTR's communications infrastructure to enable migration of the metro's 80 MHz radio system to an 800 MHz tetra system to support more advanced calling functions.

Netherlands.(Metros)
October 1, 2007... Netherlands: Having been suspended since derailments in November 2006 (RG 1.07 p14), services on the Rotterdam Hofplein-Den Haag section of RandstadRail were restored on September 3. Services to Zoetermeer and Oosterheem are still operated by...

Russia.(Metros)
October 1, 2007... Russia: A 3.7 km extension of Moscow metro Line 10 north from Chkalovskaya to Trubnaya opened on August 30.

UAE.(Metros)
October 1, 2007... UAE: Aconex is supplying an online information management and collaboration platform which will control the large volumes of data needed by planners and engineers across numerous dispersed locations during the construction of Dubai's 49 km...

UK.(Metros)
October 1, 2007... UK: Following trials, last month Transys, TfL and Barclaycard launched 'OnePulse', a chip and PIN credit card combined with London's Oyster transport smart card and 'wave and pay' technology for cashless purchases worth less than [pounds...

USA.(Metros)
October 1, 2007... USA: On September 6 the California Transportation Commission approved $314m in capital funding for Phase 1 of the Exposition light rail link in Los Angeles, completing the $640m financing package and ensuring the line will be built as far as...

Venezuela.(Metros)
October 1, 2007... Venezuela: Caracas Metro is to refurbish 200 cars under a three-year programme costing US$60m. This will include modernising traction equipment, braking systems and air-conditioning.

Bulgaria.(Finance)
October 1, 2007... Bulgaria: BDZ is planning a 10-year bond issue to raise [euro]120m to pay off debts, fund the purchase of new rolling stock and refurbish existing vehicles.