THE first of 31 Link II dmus being supplied by Pesa, Poland, to Czech Railways (CD) was unveiled at the Velim test track on June 28. The first four trains will enter service on regional services in the Czech Republic in September.
RUSSIAN Railways (RZD) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Evraz for a five-year contract to supply rails starting in 2013.The contract which will run until 2017 is worth around Roubles 90bn ($US 2.8bn).
THE first automatic light metro using Siemens' Val system opened today in the Korean city of Uijeongbu, 20km north of Seoul. Line 1, which is U-shaped and elevated, is 11km long and has 15 stations.
THE busy Gotthard line through Switzerland reopens today after a break of four weeks caused by a rock fall at Gurtnellen. Freight trains will be able to run to their normal schedule from this evening
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Alstom has won a €160m contract from German rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) to build 38 Coradia Lint regional diesel multi-unit (DMU) trains.
French rail infrastructure manager Réseau
Ferré de France (RFF) has finalised a public-private partnership (PPP) contract
with OC'VIA, a consortium led by construction firm Bouygues, to build the €1.5bn
Nîmes-Montpellier rail link.
CSR Nanjing Puzhen Rolling Stock has won a
RMB860m ($135m) contract from Dongguan Rail Transit in China to supply 20
six-car metro trains.
Odense picks light rail consultants
DENMARK: Odense Municipality has selected
Parsons Brinckerhoff to assist with project management for the city’s light rail
project, which was one of the schemes outlined in the government’s latest public
transport strategy unveiled on June 12. Under an agreement announced on July 2,
the consultants will provide strategic and economic advice for the initial
14·7 km light rail route, which would have around 15 stops. This is intended to
connect the main station with a new ‘super hospital’ and the university campus,
running from Odense Banegård Center to Rosengårdcentret and Syddansk
Universitet, before terminating at a park & ride facility by the main
east-west motorway. The project is still in the early planning stages, although
a pre-feasibility study has been completed. Concept design is due to begin in
August and will feed into an environmental impact assessment report that will be
submitted to the Ministry of Transport towards the end of 2013. Following
further design work, the city hopes to call tenders in 2015, with the line
expected to open in 2020. Parsons Brinckerhoff's General Manager for
Scandinavia, Jes Hansen, said ‘the creation of light rail is part of an overall
strategy for growth in Odense. We are eager to work on this project, offering
our global experience combined with local expertise’. Parsons Brinckerhoff has
worked on many light rail schemes around the world and is currently involved
with projects in Manchester, Los Angeles, Perth and Phoenix. The company is also
working on heavy rail projects in Denmark, including Banedanmark’s national ETCS
signalling programme.
Slaskie abandons national operator PR in favour of local company
POLAND: Slaskie voivodship's in-house
passenger operator Koleje Slaskie has been directly awarded a three-year
contract to replace Poland-wide Przewozy Regionalne as the provider of all
regional passenger services in the voivodship when PR's current five-year
agreement ends in January 2013. PR operates nationally and is owned by the
voivodship governments. Slaskie has a 9·2% stake, but has been increasingly
unhappy with a tripling of subsidy requirements and a reduction in services. In
response the voivodship set up KS, which started operations on the Gliwice -
Katowice - Czestochowa route on October 1 2011 and took over the Katowice -
Wisla service on June 1 2012. KS has seven EN57, four Stadler Flirt and nine
Pesa Elf electric multiple-units, but estimates that it will need a minimum of
70 units to cover all operations from January. PR currently uses 103 EMUs and
three locomotives in Slaskie, but these will be transferred to other regions. KS
believes 10 new units can be leased quickly, and an order is planned for 15 new
units to be delivered before end of the year. This would still leave a
shortfall. Many of PR's staff would be expected to transfer from PR to KS,
however the voivodship anticipates a reduction in numbers from 1874 to around
1200, including KS's existing workforce of 320. The status of PR's depots in
Katowice, Cz?stochowa and Tarnowskie Góry will also need to be clarified; KS
currently leases a depot in Lazy from PKP Cargo.
Union Pacific subsidiary buys Yard Control Systems business
USA: Union Pacific Corp's PS Technology
subsidiary announced its acquisition of the Yard Control Systems division of
Ansaldo STS USA on June 25. Terms were not disclosed. Based at Norristown in
Pennsylvania, Yard Control Systems provides automation and control technology
for marshalling yards. Later this year it expects to release an updated version
of its Star III hump yard control system. 'Rail yard optimisation is important
for railroads to increase efficiency, create faster delivery times and help
customers compete in a global economy,' said Ashok Fichadia, CEO of PST.
'Efficient yards are critical for managing the forecasted freight rail traffic
growth in coming years.'
EMD and Barloworld form African locomotive joint venture
SOUTH AFRICA: Electro-Motive Diesel and
plant, automotive and handling product distributor Barloworld have formed
Electro-Motive Diesel Africa, a joint venture which will assemble locomotives in
South Africa for the wider southern African market. 'Africa is an important
market for us and the joint venture with an established company, like Barloworld
in southern Africa, will position us well to support the needs of existing and
new customers in South Africa and the region', said Billy Ainsworth, Chief
Executive of EMD's parent company Progress Rail. 'Our commitment to support the
customer base and build a customer-focused business that will increase local
procurement of parts is a key objective.'
CAF forms Power & Automation business
SPAIN: CAF announced the merger of its
Traintic, Trainelec and DTQ4 businesses to form a single CAF Power &
Automation company on July 2. CAF said the new company would design and
manufacture electric power distribution, communications and control systems for
all types of rolling stock, drawing on its own technology and an 'experienced,
adaptable and highly qualified' workforce. It will operate worldwide, with a
particularly strong market presence in India, China, the USA, Brazil, Poland and
the Asia-Pacific region.
First phase of Poznan Glówny PPP redevelopment completed
POLAND: A new main building at Poznan Glówny
station was inaugurated by President Bronisaw Komorowski on May 29. The €7m
building partially spanning platforms 1, 2 and 3 has been developed under a PPP
agreement between infrastructure manager PKP PLK which provided the land, and
Europa Fund III and TriGranit Holding which provided capital and development
expertise. The 6000 m² structure forms the first phase of the 164000 m2 Poznan
City Center development. An integrated transport hub and shopping centre to be
completed by November 2013 will feature 250 retail units, a coach terminal with
19 platforms, cycle lanes and a 1500 space park and ride facility. Under a
planned third phase, the site of the existing station building would be
redeveloped with conference, office and hotel facilities. 'In Poznan we can
utilise our experience in transforming stations into new city centres we have
gained at WestEnd City Center in Budapest and, currently at the initial stage,
Emonika City Center in Ljubljana', said TriGranit CEO Árpád Török.
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