World Railway News. 28th June 2012

International Railway Journal


KIWIRAIL has begun the technical and legal process to revalue its assets to better reflect the revenue they generate.

SPEAKING at a visit to view progress of construction on the Tel Aviv light metro, Israel's transport minister, Mr Yisrael Katz, said he will present a motion very soon to the government to build a rail network covering the entire Greater Tel-Aviv Area, known locally as the Dan Agglomeration.

GERMAN Rail (DB) has ordered 38 additional Coradia Lint regional trains from Alstom in a deal worth €160m. The order consists of 14 trains with 112 seats which is part of a framework contract..

www.railwaygazette.com

The green benefits of rail have long been seen as one of the industry’s inherent advantages. But in the teeth of a global economic downturn, how far is the environment still a priority for operators and suppliers? Many railways are taking concrete steps to manage their energy use, but rail remains partly reliant on decarbonisation of the power grid to deliver green benefits.

In the  interactive debate of  Wednesday June 27, an expert panel of speakers addressed the key issues:

• Peak oil: what are the secure energy sources of the future? How will changes in energy supply affect rail policy? Is rail responsible for sourcing its own green energy?
• How does rail make best use of its energy? What techniques are available to store and re-use energy, both onboard and at stations? How are drivers assisted to minimise power take?
• How is traction technology evolving to meet an energy-scarce future? What benefits are offered by alternative fuels, permanent-magnet motors and composite materials?
• Tighter regulation is impacting rail operations. How do operators and suppliers best respond to stricter noise and emissions standards?
• What can we learn from existing research programmes and case studies such as Sweden’s Gröne Taget?
• The commercial angle: how far do load factors, service frequency and passenger amenities affect the carbon footprint? Is a green train simply a busy train?

In case you were not able to view the debate, you can register for free now and view the broadcast as well read all the comments and questions from our live feed. You will also still be able to continue the debate by posting comments, sharing links and tweeting using hash tag #GreenRail.
Within the feed you will also be able to find and download PDF's of recent articles within Railway Gazette which are very relevant to the discussions.


www.progressiverailroading.com US Railroad News

Progressive Railroading to present free fuel management webcast tomorrow

House, Senate conference committee strikes deal on new transportation bill

VIA Rail advances modernization efforts

CN lands long-term bitumen transportation agreement with Southern Pacific

BNSF, Union Pacific bolster lines in Illinois and Oklahoma

West Baltimore MARC station project advances

World's largest container cranes come to Baltimore port

George resigns from Canadian Pacific's board; Georgia Ports Authority elects board officers

Former New York Gov. Paterson joins MTA's board

www.railway-technology.com Latest News...

Bombardier wins order for 150 additional rail cars from BART
Bombardier Transportation has won a $266m order from the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) to deliver 150 additional rail cars.       
                   
Downer and EMD sign deal to manufacture locomotives outside Australia
Downer EDI has signed a five-year agreement with Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) for the production of Australian-market locomotives at one of its new low-cost overseas facilities.       
                   
New York MTA awards subway station contract to EE Cruz-Tully Construction JV
The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has awarded a $324.6m contract to a joint venture (JV) of EE Cruz and Tully Construction to carry out work associated with 96th Street Station on the Second Avenue Subway.       
                   
Mitsubishi Electric opens railroad HVAC equipment plant in the US
Mitsubishi Electric Power Products has opened a new railway equipment plant near its headquarters and main manufacturing operation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US.