Railway Gazette International articles from October 2008

Railway Gazette International archives from October 2008

Another tragedy on the tracks: 'whilst every accident is a tragedy, it provides valuable opportunities to learn'.(COMMENT)
October 1, 2008... What are we to make of the tragic head-on collision between a Metrolink commuter rail service and a UP freight train at Chatsworth in California's San Fernando Valley on September 12, which killed 25 people and injured 135 in the worst US...

ETCS roll-out confirmed.(MAIN LINE)
October 1, 2008... SWITZERLAND: The Ministry of Transport has confirmed plans to roll out ETCS across the entire standard gauge rail network by 2017, at an estimated cost of SFr370m. The decision was announced on August 21, at an event attended by the European...

Air-rail AGVs mooted.(MAIN LINE)
October 1, 2008... EUROPE: Speaking at the opening of Terminal 2G at Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport on September 9, Air France-KLM President Jean-Cyril Spinetta confirmed that the airline was in discussions with Veolia Transport over the establishment of a...

PPP bids submitted.(MAIN LINE)
October 1, 2008... FRANCE: RFF confirmed on September 15 that it had received three bids for the PPP concession to build and maintain the 300 km Tours - Bordeaux high speed line, which is expected to reduce Paris - Bordeaux journeys to 2 h by 2016. This is...

Czech and Slovak.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... The planned merger of CD Cargo and ZSSK Cargo was endorsed by Czech and Slovak Prime Ministers Mirek Topolanek and Robert Fico on August 21. They agreed that both countries would have an equal stake in senior management after the merger, which...

Chile and Argentina.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... The governments of Chile and Argentina have both now declared the project to build a 23 km base tunnel under the Andes (RG 3.08 p137) to be of public interest. A new hydroelectric plant at Punta de Vacas has been proposed to provide power for...

Spanish.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... RENFE'S freight business has formed a joint venture with logistics company Algeposa aimed at increasing its share of the steel products market. The Spanish national operator owns 49% of Railsider which it hopes will increase its turnover from...

French.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... SNCF and the Pays de la Loire region have signed an agreement covering the operation and funding of TER services in 2008-14. The French region is planning to undertake [euro]700m of rail investment up to 2014.

Pakistan.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... Pakistan's Minister for Railways told the senate last month that a study has determined that is it not commercially feasible to construct a rail link from Havelian to China over the Khunjerab Pass which crosses the mountains at 4 700 m.

Croatia.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... As part of a programme of legal reform in anticipation of possible EU membership, last month Croatia passed legislation to establish a railway agency which will provide independent safety regulation and ensure non-discriminatory access to the...

Russia.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... On August 25 Prime Minister Vladimir Putin formally postponed construction of the 460 km Kyzyl - Kuragino railway in the Tuva region of Russia from 2012 to 2014.

France.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... Following electrification of the Tours - Vierzon route, the Centre region of France has funded the introduction of a suburban service between Tours and Blere-la-Croix, comprising 11 return workings each day. The region provided [euro]1.5bn or...

Port project launched.(MAIN LINE)
October 1, 2008... AUSTRALIA: A A$50m project to improve the efficiency of rail services around the Port of Melbourne was formally launched last month. The state of Victoria is contributing A$23.5m to the project, the national government A$10m and ARTC the...

Punta Colonet tenders called.(MAIN LINE)
October 1, 2008... MEXICO: Tendering has begun for a 45-year build and operate concession covering the planned US$5bn Punta Colonet port and railway (RG 1.08 p7). A port for trans-Pacific containers is to be built on the lightly populated west coast of the...

Iranian links make progress.(MAIN LINE)
October 1, 2008... ARMENIA: Construction of a rail link to Iran is likely to be pushed forward with Russian backing, following the recent conflict between Russia and Georgia. At a meeting in Sochi last month, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev discussed the...

DB to develop Qatar plan.(MAIN LINE)
October 1, 2008... QATAR: National development agency Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Co has signed a memorandum of understanding appointing Deutsche Bahn to produce conceptual designs for the development of a passenger and freight rail network. A joint...

RDC sells stake in CEAR.(MAIN LINE)
October 1, 2008... AFRICA: On September 15 Railroad Development Corp announced the completion of the sale of its stake in Nacala Corridor concessionaire Central East African Railway to investment group Insitec of Mozambique (RG 9.08 p586). 'Value and...

Italy.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... On September 17 DB Schenker subsidiary Railion Italia announced its offer to buy a 49% stake in Milano-based NordCargo had been accepted. Spun off from Ferrovienord in 2003, NordCargo transports freight between Germany, Switzerland and Italy,...

Spain.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... Train services are suspended for three months until November 18 on the 94 km Torralba - Soria route in Spain as a [euro]16.6m programme of track renewals is undertaken.

French and Italian.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... On September 10 the European Commission approved an extension to the financial support being provided by the French and Italian governments during the experimental phase of Modalohr rolling motorway services on the 175 km Frejus corridor...

Swedish.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... Under the Grona Taget research programme (RG 9.08 p725), a Bombardier Regina EMU set a Swedish rail speed record of 303 km/h between Toreboda and Skovde on September 14.

France's.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... To finance the acquisition of 24 double-deck EMUs and 16 AGC trainsets for SNCF TER services, France's Rhone-Alpes region has signed a leasing agreement with a consortium of three banks led by Caisse D'Epargne Rhone-Alpes. The 38-year lease...

Swaziland.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... Swaziland Railways has spent US$16m upgrading the eastern line from Mpaka which connects end-on at Goba with the Mozambique Railways branch to the port of Maputo. SR CEO Gideon Mahlalela said the line is now in good condition for another five...

China's.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... Passenger services between Shanghai and Chizhou in China's Anhui province were launched on September 1. Construction of the line took four years.

Croatian and Serbian.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... On August 8 the Croatian and Serbian national railways restarted regular freight traffic across the Bogojevo bridge over the Danube. Passenger services are planned for December.

Spanish.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... On September 15 Class 120 Alvia gauge-changing trainsets replaced Talgo IV formations on RENFE'S Vigo - Barcelona service, which at 1 341 km is the Spanish national operator's longest daytime route. Using high speed infrastructure between...

Fehmarn treaty signed.(MAIN LINE)
October 1, 2008... EUROPE: The German and Danish transport ministers signed a treaty for the construction of the Fehmarn Belt fixed link between Puttgarden and Rodbyhavn on September 3. Scehduled to open in 2018, the DKr33bn link is to be financed, built,...

Base tunnel nears completion.(MAIN LINE)
October 1, 2008... SPAIN: Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero joined Development Minister Magadalena Alvarez on September 13 to witness the holing-through of the eastern bore of the Pajares base tunnel. Forming part of 49.7 km of new alignment being built...

Independent regulator to be created.(MAIN LINE)
October 1, 2008... FRANCE: Secretary of State for Transport Dominique Bussereau presented a bill to cabinet on September 10 paving the way for the establishment of an independent rail regulator. Intended to ensure that there is no discrimination against operators...

Rails laid in Libya.(MAIN LINE)
October 1, 2008... LIBYA: On August 30 Russian Railways began the construction of a 554 km double-track railway parallel to the Mediterranean coast between Surt and Banghazi. The Office for the Implementation of Railway Projects had signed a contract with...

Revival plan completed.(MAIN LINE)
October 1, 2008... JAMAICA: Transport & Works Minister Michael Henry announced the completion of a report detailing plans for reviving the disused national rail network at the end of August. 'As soon as I have the response of the Ministry of Finance, it will be...

Oresund order.(MAIN LINE)
October 1, 2008... DENMARK: DSB has placed a [euro]82m order with Bombardier for a further 10 three-car Contessa inter-regional EMUs for services across the Oresund link to Sweden. The contract includes options for a further 30 units. The trains will be...

Battery hybrid trial ends.(MAIN LINE)
October 1, 2008... UK: Brush Traction is to return the Class 43 HST power car used to test lithium ion battery hybrid traction technology to its original diesel-only specification. Developed with Hitachi and Porterbrook Leasing, the Hayabusa power car has been...

Sudan - Uganda.(MAIN LINE)
October 1, 2008... AFRICA: The transport ministers of Uganda and Sudan signed a memorandum of understanding at the end of August establishing a Joint Ministerial Transport Commission to implement road upgrading and the construction of a 920 km rail link. The...

Czech.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... Czech Railways began running test trains through the Vitkov tunnels in Praha on September 1. The KC9bn cross-city link provides a high-capacity connection between three of the country's main rail corridors (RG 1.06 p42).

ASEAN.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... Discussing the Singapore - Kunming Rail Link at the 10th ASEAN-Mekong Basin Development Co-operation meeting held in Singapore during August, ministers agreed that a conference to attract investment for the project will be convened in early...

Madrid places [euro] 1bn order.(URBAN RAIL)
October 1, 2008... SPAIN: On August 28 the Madrid regional government announced that it will invest [euro]993.7m in new rolling stock for Metro de Madrid. The acquisition will be financed by the region (52%) and the city administration (48%). The metro will...

More electrification planned.(URBAN RAIL)
October 1, 2008... ARGENTINA: By means of a resolution published on September 9, the federal government has added two further electrification projects to its investment programme for the Buenos Aires suburban network. On the Sarmiento route, 830 V DC third rail...

Alstom prototype leaves Valenciennes.(URBAN RAIL)
October 1, 2008... EUROPE: A prototype of the next generation of Citadis trams left Alstom's plant in Valenciennes on September 1, destined for Siemens' test centre at Wegberg-Wildenrath in Germany. Designated X-04, the prototype includes several technical...

Shenyang.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... On August 24 Shenyang Deputy Mayor Xing Kai confirmed that construction had started on the Shenyang section of the Shenyang - Fushun inter-urban light rail project. Operation of the 61.1 km route is expected to commence in April 2009. The line...

Sacramento.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... Sacramento Regional Transit hopes to start work next year on the 6.9 km extension of its South Line from Meadowview Road to Cosumnes River College in Elk Grove, although completion has been delayed a year to 2012, and the price has risen 23% to...

Sydney.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... NSW Department of Commerce has invited Expressions of Interest for the supply of an electronic integrated ticketing system for Sydney. Registrations close on October 16.

Kuala Lumpur.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... Kuala Lumpur metro operator Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad has launched a tender for automatic fare collection equipment for its Kelana Jaya and Ampang lines. Deadline for submissions is December 1.

Budapest Transport.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... The new CEO of Budapest Transport, Istvan Kocsis, wants to restructure BKV as a holding company with separate subsidiaries including BKV Metro, BKV Autobusz, BKV Villamos (trams) and BKV HEV (commuter trains). While the city of Budapest would...

Kaohsiung.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp inaugurated passenger services on its 14.4 km Orange Line on September 14, with eight days of free rides before revenue operations began on September 22. The city's MRT Bureau expects to submit proposals to the...

Miskolc.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... The Hungarian government has backed a HF37.7bn tram upgrading project in Miskolc. This involves renovating the 11 km route, laying 1.4 km of new track, the construction of 45 stops and the acquisition of 31 low-floor trams. Subject to the...

Veolia to run S-Bahn from 2010.(URBAN RAIL)
October 1, 2008... GERMANY: NordWestBahn has been selected to manage the future Regio-S-Bahn services around Bremen from December 2010. Parent company Veolia said it is the first time a private operator has won a contract covering the whole of an electrified...

Second line planned in Santo Domingo.(URBAN RAIL)
October 1, 2008... DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: In his speech accepting a third term of office on August 16, President Leonel Fernandez announced that a second metro line would be built in the capital, Santo Domingo. The opening of the 14.5 km Line 1 running...

Tri-city RER to serve airport.(URBAN RAIL)
October 1, 2008... POLAND: A contract to undertake a feasibility study for a suburban rail network in the Tri-city region of Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot was due to be awarded last month, following acceptance of the initial proposal by Poland's Ministry of Regional...

Light rail preferred.(URBAN RAIL)
October 1, 2008... AUSTRALIA: The preliminary business case for the Gold Coast Rapid Transit project has recommended light rail in preference to bus rapid transit, citing greater capacity and reliability and a longer lifespan. Queensland's Minister for...

Warszawa confirms tram renewal.(URBAN RAIL)
October 1, 2008... POLAND: Mayor of Warszawa Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz has approved a major investment to upgrade the capital's tram network, following her recent decision to postpone construction of metro Line 2 until after 2012. Faced with the prospect that the...

Lakeshore East upgrade.(URBAN RAIL)
October 1, 2008... CANADA: GO Transit has completed a C$69.5m upgrade of its Lakeshore East rail line to reduce congestion and delays which have plagued services between Toronto Union station and Oshawa. A third track has been laid between Danforth and...

Dubai's Palm monorail to begin tests.(URBAN RAIL)
October 1, 2008... UAE: Six months of testing on the Palm monorail in Dubai will start this month, following the delivery of the four three-car trains which were handed over to developer Nakheel at Hitachi's Kasado plant on August 21. A full passenger service is...

Bangalore metro programme gathers pace.(URBAN RAIL)
October 1, 2008... INDIA: With tendering well underway for the first phase of the Bangalore metro, Delhi Metro Rail Corp has been appointed as consultant for Phase II. Phase I consists of two routes running north-south and east-west, intersecting at...

Bursa chooses Bombardier.(URBAN RAIL)
October 1, 2008... TURKEY: Bombardier Transportation has won an order to supply 30 Flexity Swift highfloor light rail vehicles to Bursa Metropolitan Municipality. The [euro]94m contract includes the supply of spare parts, and Bombardier said an option for up to...

Delhi Metro.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... BEML has secured a Rs520m order from Delhi Metro to design and build eight low-cost cars which will be used to lengthen trains from four to six-car formations. BEML is also supplying two nine-car stainless steel EMUs to Indian Railways under a...

Lausanne's M2.(NEWS IN BRIEF)
October 1, 2008... Lausanne's M2 automatic metro was officially inaugurated on September 18. Although the public can travel on the new line between September 18 and 22, commercial operation is not due to start until October 27.

Moscow ring agreed.(URBAN RAIL)
October 1, 2008... RUSSIA: On September 11 Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin and Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov signed an agreement establishing Moscow Railway Ring as an equally-owned joint venture of RZD and the city. The special purpose vehicle will be...

First Tango in Basel.(URBAN RAIL)
October 1, 2008... SWITZERLAND: The first of 60 Stadler Tango trams ordered jointly by Basel city transport company BVB and Baselland regional operator BLT was delivered on September 2. The 45 m long, 75% low-floor metre-gauge car is 2 300 mm wide, 100 mm...

Lima metro concession expected.(URBAN RAIL)
October 1, 2008... PERU: This month is due to see the award of a 40-year concession to complete and operate Line 1 of the Lima metro. The government's private investment agency ProInversion announced in September that final bids were to be submitted by September...

Toronto transit plans.(URBAN RAIL)
October 1, 2008... CANADA: Toronto Transit Commission launched a tender on September 15 for project management and consultancy services to support its ambitious Transit City light rail expansion programme. Estimated value of the contract, which will last about 10...

Singapore to retrofit platform screen doors.(URBAN RAIL)
October 1, 2008... SINGAPORE: The Land Transport Authority has awarded two contracts covering the installation of half-height platform screen doors (HHPSD) at 36 elevated stations along the existing North-South and East-West MRT lines. This initiative forms part...

Chile.(CONTRACTS)
October 1, 2008... CHILE: Zenitel and Sometec are to supply and maintain communication links between train drivers and the control centre on two extensions to Santiago metro lines 1 and 5.

China.(CONTRACTS)
October 1, 2008... CHINA; The Ministry of Railways has awarded HLS Systems and Hitachi a contract to provide control systems for the 105 km Guangzhou - Shenzhen high speed line. Beijing-based HLS values its share of the work at US$29m.

Germany.(CONTRACTS)
October 1, 2008... GERMANY: Hamburger Hochbahn has completed its transition to an operations control and monitoring system developed by Funkwerk Information Technologies. 130 modular controllers from Mitsubishi Electric gather data from key systems at 51 stations...

Israel.(CONTRACTS)
October 1, 2008... ISRAEL: Malam Systems has been awarded a two-year contract worth 20 million sheqels to deploy SAP enterprise resource planning software at ISR.

Singapore.(CONTRACTS)
October 1, 2008... SINGAPORE: Andrew and Intra Wave are installing 3G wireless coverage on the North East Line.

USA.(CONTRACTS)
October 1, 2008... USA: Accenture is to develop company-wide resource planning systems for Amtrak.

CSX.(CONTRACTS)
October 1, 2008... CSX is to deploy WebEOC ST crisis information management software supplied by BCG to assist with emergency planning and incident response.

EMU on test.
October 1, 2008... POLAND: The Zmigrod test circuit near Wroclaw is being used for trials of the prototype 19WE four-car 3 kV DC electric multiple-unit developed by Newag as the successor to its 14WE design. As well as a revised external appearance, changes...

Line 1 trials.
October 1, 2008... SPAIN: Testing of CAF-built rolling stock for the east-west Line 1 in Sevilla began on August 19, using a 4.2 km section between the depot at Cocheras and Gran Plaza. The entire 18 km route between Ciudad Expo and Olivar de Quinto is now...

Australia.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
October 1, 2008... AUSTRALIA: QR had awarded the Synergy Alliance joint venture of United Group and Ansaldo STS a A$250m signalling contracts as part of a coal capacity upgrading programme.

Bulgaria.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
October 1, 2008... BULGARIA: The Ministry of Transport has awarded Poyry contracts totalling [euro]1.7m to undertake feasibility studies and design for the modernisation of the 53 km Sofia - Dragoman and 97 km Sofia - Pernik - Rodomir lines.

Canada.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
October 1, 2008... CANADA: C$2.8m of federal funding has been made available for track rehabilitation, bridge re-decking and the purchase of equipment for the First Nation-owned Keewatin Railway Co in Manitoba.

China.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
October 1, 2008... CHINA: China Railway Group has won a l.64bn yuan contract for construction of a line between Nanchuan and Fulin in Sichhuan province.

Croatia.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
October 1, 2008... CROATIA: Last month the Central Finance & Contracting Agency awarded a consortium of Bombardier and Italian firm Site SpA a [euro]16m contract to install Interflo 250 ETCS Level 1 equipment between Vinkovci and Tovarnik. The 33.5km section of...

Germany.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
October 1, 2008... GERMANY: Rheda 2000 ballastless track from Rail. One has been selected for the 4.3 km City Tunnel project in Leipzig (RG 2.05 p93). Getrac A3 is to be supplied for the upgrading and second bore of the Schluchterner tunnel between Hanau and...

New Zealand.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
October 1, 2008... NEW ZEALAND: As part of a NZ$ 1 bn investment programme announced in 2007, last month Ontrack awarded Balfour Beatty, Maunsell and Evans & Peck a NZ$10m contract for 175 track-km of electrification around Auckland. Work on the Britomart -...

Poland.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
October 1, 2008... POLAND: Systra has signed a contract to provide PKP PLK with engineering designs for the upgrading of the 110 km Rawicz - Poznan line to permit 200 km/h running by 2014.

Turkey.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
October 1, 2008... TURKEY: Istanbul transport authority IETT has awarded Nexans a [euro]8.9m contract to provide contractor Gulermak-Dogus with 726 km of low and 262 km of medium-voltage power cables.

UK.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
October 1, 2008... UK: Jacobs Engineering has been awarded a contract to provide detailed design, construction and maintenance support to the M-Pact Thales consortium which is to extend the Manchester Metrolink light rail network (RG 7.08 p409). Serco has...

USA.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
October 1, 2008... USA: Hampton Roads Transit has awarded Truland Systems a $27.7m contract for electrification and signalling on The Tide light rail line now under construction in Norfolk. Working on behalf of the New York State Department of...

Austria.(ROLLING STOCK)
October 1, 2008... AUSTRIA: Rail Cargo Austria subsidiary Industriewaggon has awarded Tatravagonka a [euro] 34.8m contract to supply OBB with 40 type Eanos open wagons.

Belgium.(ROLLING STOCK)
October 1, 2008... BELGIUM: Alstom is to supply SNCB with a further 956 sets of TBLI + onboard train protection equipment. The contract follows an order for 866 sets placed in 2007, and includes a 10-year maintenance agreement bringing the total value to...