International Railway Journal back issues from May 2006:
A window of opportunity.(This Month)
May 01, 2006; ... THE International Union of Railways (UIC) staged its seventh conference on the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) last month in Budapest. Mr Luc Aliadiere, the UIC's CEO, said that he was very happy that for the first time ERTMS is no longer a development project but a ...
HK rail merger approved.(News)
May 01, 2006 ... HONG Kong's Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTRC) and Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) are to merge in preparation for eventual integration with mainland China's railways. Under the terms of a memorandum of understanding signed last month, MTRC will pay SHK 4.25 ...
SNTF gets $US 5 billion for rail upgrade.(News)
May 01, 2006 ... ALGERIAN National Railways (SNTF) is to receive a $US 5 billion share of a $US 80 billion national reconstruction and economic growth fund. This is in addition to $US 2 billion spent in recent years and will fund projects, including high-speed rail, during the next five years. ...
Eurotunnel seeks more time.(News)
May 01, 2006 ... EUROTUNNEL has asked its creditors for yet more time to negotiate a restructuring of its finances to enable it to start repaying the massive debts incurred constructing the Channel Tunnel. The requested waiver period will expire on July 12 with a review planned in the middle of this month ....
Californian HS moves forward.(News)
May 01, 2006 ... THE California High-Speed Rail Authority is consulting communities on station locations and route alignments in a bid to move the long-awaited project forward. A SUS 9.95 billion bond to finance development of the ...
Alcatel sells rail division to Thales.(News)
May 01, 2006 ... THALES, a global electronics company serving aerospace, defence, and security and services markets worldwide, has agreed to purchase parts of Alcatel, including its transport division, which specialises in mainline and metro signalling and control systems. The 673 [pounds sterling] million ...
Axa acquires Pfleiderer track systems.(News)
May 01, 2006 ... INVESTMENT company Axa Private Equity has bought track systems manufacturer Pfleiderer, Germany. A bid by Vossloh to acquire the company earlier this year was rejected by the German ...
JR East trials fuel cell train.(News)
May 01, 2006 ... JR East will test a fuel-cell powered multiple unit as part of continuing experiments with hybrid power, which have seen diesel/electric trains trialled in Japan. The new train will have two solid macromolecule-type fuel cells, which output 65kW. A ...
China plans massive high-speed expansion.(News)
May 01, 2006 ... CHINA plans to build more than 12,000km of 200km/h railways to connect cities across the country. Four north-south lines, four east-west lines, and three other inter-city lines will be built. Other high-speed lines being built include the Beijing--Wuhan--Guangzhou--Shenzen, and ...
Siemens wins Israeli order.(News)
May 01, 2006 ... SIEMENS has made a breakthrough in the passenger coach market in Israel with an order for 86 coaches worth 125 million [euro] and an option to supply up to 585 more vehicles. The coaches will operate in 10-car push-pull sets including a driving trailer and generator car at ...
NR slashes renewals costs.(News)
May 01, 2006 ... NETWORK Rail (NR), Britain, will spend 7.2 bill[pounds sterling] on renewals over the next three years: a massive 1.8 billion [pounds sterling] increase over expenditure in the last three years. The announcement was made at the April launch of its 2006 business plan, when the ...
Major Polish upgrade planned.(News)
May 01, 2006 ... THE 569km line between Gdynia and Katowice, Poland, is to be upgraded at a cost of 780 million [euro] thanks to European Union funding. Maximum speed on the line will be increased from the present 120km/h to 160km/h and possibly 200km/h in the longer term. Some ...
BLS Cargo traffic booms.(News)
May 01, 2006 ... FREIGHT traffic on BLS Cargo, Switzerland, grew 32% last year to 2.8 billion tonne-km. The growth is credited to a boom in intermodal traffic on the transalpine axis which it operates with minority shareholder Railion, Germany. On its main Lotschberg-Simplon route, traffic grew ...
Gotthard base tunnel opening could be delayed.(News)
May 01, 2006 ... A RULING by the Swiss government could mean that the opening of the new SFr 16.5 billion ($US 12.7 billion) Gotthard base tunnel could be delayed by a year. Almost 60% of the tunnelling work on the 57km tunnel has been carried out--but the Swiss public procurements office ...
New editorial line up at IRJ.(News)
May 01, 2006 ... KEITH Barrow has joined the editorial team of IRJ as news editor. He will also become a contributing editor of IRJ's quarterly sister publication, European Rail Outlook. At the same time IRJ's news editor, Andrew Roden, has been promoted to associate editor of both IRJ and European Rail ...
JR East unveils new EMU.(News)
May 01, 2006 ... A NEW generation of emu has been unveiled by JR East. The E331 is the first series production version of the prototype AC train that began test running in Japan in 2002. The 120km/h, 14-car train has articulated bogies, six of which are powered by the direct drive motor. The E331 is due in ...
Venezuela gets new lines.(News)
May 01, 2006 ... THE governments of Venezuela and Italy have signed an agreement to build two new north-south lines in the centre of Venezuela. One will run between San Juan de Los Morros and San Fernando Apure, a distance of 250km, and the other, about 180km long, from Chaguaramas to La Mercedes and ...
Britain's Rail Safety & Standards Board has appointed Mr Jeremy Candfield as a member of the board.(News)
May 01, 2006 ... BRITAIN's Rail Safety & Standards Board has appointed Mr Jeremy Candfield as a member of the board. Candfield is director ...
Kenya-Uganda concession is finally signed.(News)
May 01, 2006 ... AFTER weeks of delay and negotiations, the concessioning of Kenyan and Ugandan railways was finally completed in early April. Railways in both countries will be operated by Rift Valley Railways (RVR), ...
A consortium of local groups, a Chinese company and three rail unions has been named as the successful bidder for Argentina's metre-gauge Belgrano Railroad.(Argentina)
May 01, 2006 ... A consortium of local groups, a Chinese company and three rail unions has been named as the successful bidder for Argentina's metre-gauge Belgrano Railroad. Ownership will be split between Sideco, Roggio and Emepa (all Argentina), Sanhe (China), three trade unions and the ...
Reconstruction has begun on part of the Buenos Aires-Mendoza main line damaged by flooding almost seven years ago.(Argentina)
May 01, 2006 ... * Reconstruction has begun on part of the Buenos Aires-Mendoza main line damaged by flooding almost seven years ago. The $US 50 million project involves the ...
The British government is to provide 8.17 million [pounds sterling] to allow Chiltern Railways to extend its London-Aylesbury service to a new park-and-ride station north of Aylesbury.(Britain)
May 01, 2006 ... The British government is to provide 8.17 million [pounds sterling] to allow Chiltern Railways to extend its London-Aylesbury service to a new ...
Alcatel has completed the installation of a 10 million [euro] automatic signalling scheme for Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ).(Bulgaria)
May 01, 2006 ... Alcatel has completed the installation of a 10 million [euro] automatic signalling scheme for Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ). The equipment covers ...
Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR).(Canada)
May 01, 2006 ... Mr Brian Grassby has been appointed acting chief financial officer of Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) ...
Services have begun operating on the new artery between Xi'an and Nanjing.(China)
May 01, 2006 ... Services have begun operating on the new artery between Xi'an and Nanjing. Three pairs of express trains ...
The first test trains are due to run on the Golmud-Lhasa section of the Qinghai-Tibet railway in May.(China)
May 01, 2006 ... * The first test trains are due to run on the Golmud-Lhasa section of the Qinghai-Tibet railway ...
Braking systems manufacturer Knorr-Bremse Group, Germany, has announced it achieved a 13.2% growth in sales in 2005.(Germany)
May 01, 2006 ... Braking systems manufacturer Knorr-Bremse Group, Germany, has announced it achieved a 13.2% growth in sales in 2005. The company's rail vehicle systems division accounted for sales ...
Freight operator Railion is founding a mining railway company.(Germany)
May 01, 2006 ... Freight operator Railion is founding a mining railway company. The company, ...
German Rail (DB) has completed a 2.2 million [euro] modernisation of it's ICE high-speed train maintenance facility at Frankfurt Griesheim.(Germany)
May 01, 2006 ... German Rail (DB) has completed a 2.2 million [pounds sterling] modernisation of it's ICE high-speed train maintenance facility at Frankfurt ...
Irish Rail (IE).(Ireland)
May 01, 2006 ... Mr Dick Fearn has been appointed chief executive of Irish Rail (IE) following the departure of Mr Joe Meagher to ...
Texas rail corridor proposed.(News)
May 01, 2006 ... PLANS have been put forward for a new railway line running almost 1000km from Dallas, Texas, into Mexico. It would form part of the ambitious Trans Texas Corridor (ITC) project, which would parallel the saturated Interstate 35 highway and provide road, rail, and pipeline facilities in a ...
SBB sets out reasons for loss.(News)
May 01, 2006 ... SWISS Federal Railways (SBB) has disclosed some more information about how it managed to turn a profit in 2004 into a loss last year despite an increase in traffic (IP0 April p2). Mr Thierry Lalive d'Epinay, chairman of the board of directors, said there were six reasons for the ...
Argentina-Chile link approved.(News)
May 01, 2006 ... ARGENTINA and Chile have agreed on rules for companies bidding to reopen the central trans-Andean railway. The countries have also agreed to examine the feasibility of a 14km tunnel at Agua Negra that would provide a trans-Andean route further north. Under the agreement, bids ...
Record revenues for Eurostar.(News)
May 01, 2006 ... EUROSTAR, which operates high-speed passenger services from London, Britain, to France and Belgium, has achieved record revenues for the first three months of the year. The operator carried 1.7 million passengers in the first quarter of 2006, and sales increased by 7% over the ...
Privatisation of JR Central has been completed after the Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency sold its entire stake in the company.(Japan)
May 01, 2006 ... Privatisation of JR Central has been completed after the Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency sold its entire stake in the company. The agency sold all of ...
The Indonesian government has introduced a bill to permit private investment in the country's rail network.(Indonesia)
May 01, 2006 ... The Indonesian government has introduced a bill to permit private investment in the country's rail network. If it becomes ...
An alliance called Sibelit has been formed by four freight operators with the aim of improving service quality on the Antwerp-Basle-Northern Italy corridor.(International)
May 01, 2006 ... An alliance called Sibelit has been formed by four freight operators with the aim of improving service quality on the Antwerp-Basle-Northern Italy corridor. Sibelit is comprised of B Cargo (Belgium), SNCF Fret ...
The Union of European Railway Industries (Unife) has completed its international standard for efficiency and production quality.(International)
May 01, 2006 ... The Union of European Railway Industries (Unife) has completed its international standard for efficiency and production quality. The ...
The Ethiopian and Djibouti governments have awarded Comazar, South Africa.(International)
May 01, 2006 ... The Ethiopian and Djibouti governments have awarded Comazar, South ...
Work has begun on the construction of the 15.4km Ceneri base tunnel between Belinzona and Lugano.(Switzerland)
May 01, 2006 ... Work has begun on the construction of the 15.4km Ceneri base tunnel between Belinzona and Lugano. Preparation work commenced ...
Freight wagon manufacturer and leasing company Greenbrier has announced a 78% increase in net earnings for the second quarter of its fiscal year, compared with the same period in 2005.(United States)
May 01, 2006 ... Freight wagon manufacturer and leasing company Greenbrier has announced a 78% increase in net earnings for the second quarter of its fiscal ...
A new wireless remote control system has been installed by RailComm at BNSF Railway's Barstow freight yard in California.(United States)
May 01, 2006 ... A new wireless remote control system has been installed by RailComm at BNSF Railway's Barstow freight yard in California. The Blue Flag Indication ...
BNSF has completed 29.4km of a third track on the Joint P Line in Nevada, which the railway shares with Union Pacific.(United States)
May 01, 2006 ... BNSF has completed 29.4km of a third track on the Joint P Line in Nevada, which ...
Norfolk Southern.(United States)
May 01, 2006 ... Norfolk Southern has named Mr Donald Seale as it's new executive vice-president and chief marketing officer. Seale joined the railway in 1976 and has served in a number ...
JV signs Beijing metro line concession.(Transit News)
May 01, 2006 ... THE first public-private partnership for a metro line in mainland China has been sealed with the signing of a concession agreement for Line 4 of the Beijing Metro with a joint venture company, Beijing MTR Corporation. The corporation was formed by the operator of Hong Kong's ...
Alstom extends Dublin LRVs.(Transit News)
May 01, 2006 ... THE Republic of Ireland's Railway Procurement Agency has placed a 24 million [euro] order with Alstom for 26 10m-long modules to extend from 30 to 40m the length of the Citadis light rail vehicles operating on the Red Line of the Luas network in the capital Dublin. This will ...
Bombardier loses on home ground.(Transit News)
May 01, 2006 ... TWO stalwarts of Canadian industry, Bombardier and SNC Lavalin, have lost a contract worth up to $US 600 million for a light rail line in Ottawa. "Preferred proponent" status has been bestowed on a group headed by Siemens and including PCL Constructors Canada, and Dufferin ...
Mitsui/Rotem win TCDD contract.(Transit News)
May 01, 2006 ... A LONG-TERM, low-interest matching loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and the Export-Import Bank of Korea, countering a proposal from a Spanish company, enabled a Japan-Korea consortium of Mitsui and Rotem to win a contract for 96 commuter ...
Japan supports Vietnam metro.(Transit News)
May 01, 2006 ... THE Japanese government has pledged financial support for construction of a metro in Vietnam's largest city, Ho Chi Minh City. A development assistance loan will be used to help build the first line, 13.7km long linking Ben ...
Third metro line for Dubai.(Transit News)
May 01, 2006 ... DUBAI announced a third line for its under-construction metro project just as work started on the first line. Called the Blue Line, it ...
Massive Delhi growth planned.(Transit News)
May 01, 2006 ... AMBITIOUS plans to extend Delhi's metro system to cover 400[km.sup.2] of the city have been announced by the managing director of Delhi Metro Rail (DMRC), Dr E Sreedharan. The announcement came shortly before a 6.5km extension to the planned suburb of Dwarka was opened on April ...
Bergen goes for LRT.(Transit News)
May 01, 2006 ... A LIGHT rapid transit system in Bergen, Norway, has been approved by the parliament. The 10km line is expected to cost NKr 1.64 billion ($US 256 ...
Edinburgh LRT gets go-ahead.(Transit News)
May 01, 2006 ... THE Scottish parliament has given its approval for a 33.5km two-line light rail network in Edinburgh. A business case will be presented later this year and the first phase should be up and running by 2010. Alstom, Bombardier, CAF, Spain, ...
The first rails for a 13km extension to the Strasbourg, France, light rail network were laid on April 11.(Transit News)
May 01, 2006 ... THE first rails for a 13km extension to the Strasbourg, France, light rail ...
Jakarta seeks new metro funding.(Transit News)
May 01, 2006 ... THE Indonesian government has formed a consortium of public and private firms to take over the financing and construction of a $US 550 million metro line in the capital, Jakarta. The consortium consists of 10 state enterprises and five private companies, one of which, PT Bukaka Trans ...
Seattle airport link approved.(Transit News)
May 01, 2006 ... THE final 2.7km of a light line to Seattle-Tacoma international airport in Washington state, United States, has been approved and will open in December 2009, a few months after the opening of the first part of the line from Seattle to Tukwila. Free shuttle buses will transfer passengers ...
Systra/RATP Development consortium, France, has won a contract for assistance with the follow-up of design studies.(Algiers)
May 01, 2006 ... Systra/RATP Development consortium, France, has won a contract for assistance with the follow-up of design studies, installation and ...
City authorities are in talks with neighbours.(Basle)
May 01, 2006 ... City authorities are in talks with neighbours, St Louis, France, and Weil-am-Rhein, Germany, about the possibility of ...
Singapore Technologies Electronics with a local partner has won a $US 15.9 million contract for China's first integrated traffic command centre (TCC) system for the rapidly growing Beijing mass transit network.(Beijing)
May 01, 2006 ... Singapore Technologies Electronics with a local partner has won a $US 15.9 million contract for China's first integrated traffic command ...
The first double-deck suburban cars ever built or operated in Latin America have been delivered to Trenes de Buenos Aires, Argentina, for operation on the Sarmiento line.(Buenos Aires)
May 01, 2006 ... The first double-deck suburban cars ever built or operated in Latin America have been delivered to Trenes de Buenos Aires, Argentina, for ...
L B Foster has won a $US 5 million contract to supply about 72,000 direct fixation fasteners for the Dallas Area Rapid Transit.(Dallas)
May 01, 2006 ... L B Foster has won a $US 5 million contract to supply about 72,000 direct fixation fasteners ...
Bovis Lend Lease, in association with Hong Kong's Mass Transit Rail Corporation (MTRC), has been appointed by the Rail Transport Authority of Dubai to provide strategic project management for phases one, two, and three of the Dubai metro project.(Dubai)
May 01, 2006 ... Bovis Lend Lease, in association with Hong Kong's Mass Transit Rail Corporation (MTRC), has been appointed by the Rail Transport Authority of Dubai to provide strategic project management ...
The 1.6km extension of Grenoble's light rail Line B opened at the end of March.(Grenoble)
May 01, 2006 ... The 1.6km extension of Grenoble's light rail Line B opened at the end of March. It has four stations and serves the town of Gieres, as ...
German Rail (DB) has signed a 500 million [euro] deal to continue operating the Hannover S-Bahn until 2014.(Hannover)
May 01, 2006 ... German Rail (DB) has signed a 500 million [euro] deal to continue operating the Hannover S-Bahn until 2014. This is 11 million [euro]/year less than DB ...
MPK Krakow has ordered 24 low-floor LRVs from a consortium of Bombardier, Solaris, and Vossloh Kiepe at a cost of 43 million [euro].(Krakow)
May 01, 2006 ... MPK Krakow has ordered 24 low-floor LRVs from a consortium of Bombardier, Solaris, and Vossloh Kiepe at a cost of 43 ...