International Railway Journal (IRJ) December 2011 news Summary. 27th December 2011

China to cut railway investment while India looks to boost it CHINA's minister of railways Mr Sheng Guangzu says Yuan 400bn ($US 63.1bn) will be invested in railway infrastructure construction in 2012, which is 15% less than the Yuan 469bn spent this year, and a 42% reduction compared with the Yuan 700bn invested in 2010. Total fixed asset railway investment will be around Yuan 500bn next year.

Ansaldo STS to signal French high-speed line A Euros 46.7m contact has been awarded by Ineo and Inexia to Ansaldo STS to installing signalling equipment on the Sud Europ Atlantique (SEA) high-speed line under construction between Tours and Bordeaux. Adif selects Foster joint venture to design Ourense HS station SPAIN's infrastructure manager, Adif has chosen a joint venture of Foster & Partners, Britain, GOC Engineering Services, Britain, and Spanish architects Cabanelas Castelo, to design a new high-speed station at Ourense on the new line which will connect Madrid with northwest Spain. Essen to have Flexity Classic trams ESSEN Transport Authority (Evag), Germany, has awarded a Euros 72m contract to Bombardier for a fleet of 27 Flexity Classic trams. Two pre-series trams are due to be delivered to Essen in August 2013, with delivery of the series-production vehicles scheduled to begin in March 2014. Queensland rail link opens one month early QR National has completed its $A 1.1bn ($US 1.1bn) Goonyella - Abbot Point expansion project by opening a 69km line to connect the Goonyella and Newlands rail networks in the northern Bowen Basin coalfield. The 20-month project was completed one month early. Qingdao metro cars to have Alstom traction equipment QINGDAO Metro, China, has placed a Euros 26m contract with Alstom and its Chinese joint venture Shanghai Alstom Transport Electrical Equipment for Optonix traction equipment to power 144 cars being built by CSR Sifang for Line 3. Optonix is designed for the Chinese market and is fitted to trains operating on Line 13 of the Beijing metro. RFF awards contract to upgrade Valence rail link FRENCH Rail Network (RFF) has awarded a Euros 80m contract to a consortium led by Alstom to upgrade the so-called Alpine Arc South line. Preliminary studies for the scheme started last month, while work on the nine-month project is expected to start in January 2013. Scottish rail civil engineering contracts awarded NETWORK Rail has awarded three contracts worth £55m as part of the so-called £1bn Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP). Morgan Sindall will rebuild Edinburgh's Haymarket station under a £25m scheme to improve accessibility, link it to the city's new light rail line, and create a rail, bus and taxi transport hub. Bidders invited to pre-qualify for three British franchises BRITAIN's Department for Transport has invited bidders to pre-qualify for three passenger rail franchises. Two of them - Great Western and Essex Thameside - will be for 15 years, but the most complicated, Thameslink will only be for seven years. RZD orders more Sapsan high-speed trains from Siemens RUSSIAN Railways (RZD) has awarded a Euros 600m contract to Siemens to supply a second batch of eight 10-car Sapsan high-speed trains and to maintain them for 30 years. Delivery of the Velaro Rus trains, which will be built in Krefeld, Germany, will start in January 2014 and enable RZD to expand services on the Moscow - St Petersburg line where most of the existing trains operate. Nottingham light rail expansion contract awarded NOTTINGHAM City Council has placed a £570m contact with the Tramlink Nottingham Consortium to build two light rail extensions totalling 17.5km, and operate them along with the city's existing line under a 23-year concession. The project is being financed by Nottingham City Council, which will fund one third mainly through a workplace parking levy, and the British government, which will fund the remaining two thirds under a so-called public finance initiative (PFI). Thales wins São Paulo CBTC contract THE Brazilian-Malaysian consortium responsible for building Line 17 - an 18km monorail - in São Paulo has awarded a contract to Thales to install Seltrac communications-based train control (CBTC) to enable the line to be operated automatically and without drivers. Thales says this is the first CBTC project in Brazil. Rail could benefit from European transport and energy roadmaps THE publication today by the European Commission (EC) of its Energy Roadmap 2050 and the endorsement by the European Parliament of the EC's Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area could benefit rail considerably if there is political backing for more railway investment. French government presents new rail strategy THE French government has adopted four key measures designed to reform the operation of the national rail network to prepare France for new European Union legislation on open access, to streamline operations, to obtain better value for money, and to boost exports. NTV unveils Italo trains ITALIAN open-access high-speed operator Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori (NTV) launched its new trains and services to the Italian and global media on December 13 at the new purpose-built maintenance depot in Nola, north west of Naples. NTV chairman Mr Luca Cordero di Montezemolo opened the event with a message from the Italian President welcoming the creation of the new company and the fact that it has created 2000 jobs, mostly in the economically depressed south of Italy. CAF Oaris begins mainline testing Dynamic testing of CAF's prototype Oaris high-speed emu has begun on the Madrid - Seville high-speed line. The four-car train was outshopped from CAF's Beasain plant in August and initially moved to Toledo for static testing. Huge light rail network planned for southern Moscow PLANS have been unveiled for a network of four light rail lines totalling 214km serving an area to the south of Moscow. The Southern Chord network will extend the reach of the Moscow metro and connect the airports of Domodedovo to the south and Vnukovo to the west. More Flirts destined for Helsinki FINNISH rolling stock company Junskalusto Oy has exercised an option under a contract originally awarded to Stadler in 2006 for nine new Flirt trains worth Euros 54m. The trains will be introduced on a line being built to serve Helsinki Airport which is due to open in 2014. France opens HS line amid huge timetable shake-up TODAY marks the start of commercial services on France's latest high-speed line - TGV Rhin-Rhône - and a major reorganisation of services in which 85% of trains have been rescheduled. Bart Silicon Valley contract awarded BAY Area Rapid Transit's (Bart) proposed Silicon Valley extension took a major step forward on December 8, when the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) board voted unanimously to award a joint venture of Skanska, Shimmick, and Herzog a $US 772m design-build contract for the 16.1km Warm Springs to Berryessa line. Report calls for measures to boost Channel Tunnel usage A report by a British House of Lords inquiry into the performance of the Channel Tunnel says that more than 17 years after opening it has still to realise its full potential, with just a handful of freight operators and one passenger service - Eurostar - using it. The committee is calling for a concerted effort to overcome the remaining barriers to growth.