News
Thailand to fund Laotian railway extension
T
HE THAI government has agreed to provide Baht 1.6bn ($US 50m) in financing to support the 7.8km extension of Laos’ only railway to the country’s capital Vientiane by 2014. According to the Bangkok
Post, around 30% of the funds will be aid, while the remainder will be a loan. The initial phase of the
CAF delivers first Civity regional train to Italy T
HE first CAF Civity regional emu for the Italian autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia was delivered to Italian State Railways’ (FS) Osmannoro test centre on July 31 for static and dynamic testing. Friuli Venezia Giulia placed
a ƒ45.6m order last March for eight of the five-car trains, designated ETR 563, with options for additional intermediate vehicles to
lengthen them to six cars, and up to 26 additional trains. The contract includes maintenance for the first year of operation. The 160km/h articulated emus, which are being assembled at CAF’s Beasain plant in Spain, are due to enter service early next year and will be certified for operation in Italy and Slovenia. The region is considering ordering four more sets to operate cross- border services into Austria.
Each 91.6m-long train seats 297 passengers and is equipped with CCTV and video entertainment. The ETR 563 has three
powered bogies with frame- mounted asynchronous traction motors and monoblock wheels with surface-hardened rims. The primary suspension consists of rubber springs and the secondary suspension is pneumatic.
Go Transit goes green with Tier 4 diesels:Wabtec subsidiary MotivePower has been awarded a $US 45m contract by Toronto transit authority Metrolinx to re- engine 11 of its MP40PH-3C locomotives, which are used by Go Transit on commuter services. MotivePower will replace the 16-cylinder EMD 710GB series diesel engines with twin Cummins QSK60s, making them the first passenger locomotives in North America to comply with US Environmental Protection Agency Tier 4 emissions standards. The new engines will reduce diesel particulate emissions by around 85% and Nitrous Oxide emissions by around 75% compared with current models. The first re- engined locomotive will be completed in 2014. Photo: Balcer
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metre-gauge link between Nong Khai, Thailand, and Tha Na Laeng in Laos via the First Friendship Bridge was inaugurated in March 2009. At the time, Thailand had pledged financial assistance to Laos to complete the line as far as Vientiane, but these plans were dropped in favour of building a Chinese-funded high-speed line from Kunming. With the abandonment of the high-speed proposal, Laos has resurrected the plans for extending the metre-gauge line.
Nippon Sharyo opens US rolling stock plant
N
IPPON Sharyo Manufacturing, a
subsidiary of Nippon Sharyo USA, formally launched production at its new plant in Rochelle, Illinois, on July 19. The first contract will be for 160 double-deck emu vehicles for Chicago commuter rail operator Metra, the first of which will be delivered in September and the last in mid-2015.
Rochelle will also manufacture six two-car dmus for Sonoma-Marin Area Rapid Transit in California, six three-car dmus for Metrolinx in Toronto, and eight double- deck locomotive-hauled commuter coaches for Virginia Rail Express.
The facility currently employs around 140 people, although the workforce will expand to more than 300 when full in-house manufacturing of stainless-steel bodyshells begins next year.
IRJ September 2012
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