News
In brief Malaysia
The second phase of a feasibility study into the construction of a high-speed line from Kuala Lumpur to Johor Baru and possibly Singapore is due to be completed soon. If the government approves the project, tenders could be invited by the end of 2013.
Netherlands
SBB orders extra Pendolinos from Alstom S
WISS Federal Railways (SBB) has placed a ƒ200m
order with Alstom for an additional eight ETR 610 Pendolino tilting emus. The order is an option from a contract for seven trains signed in March 2004 by Alstom and Cisalpino, the now defunct joint venture between Trenitalia and SBB.
The 250km/h seven-car trains will seat 430 passengers and will operate alongside the existing sets on Milan - Geneva/Basle and Milan - Zürich services. They will replace SBB’s unreliable ETR 470 Pendolinos, which will be withdrawn by 2014.
The trains will be assembled at Alstom’s Savigliano plant in
Moldova launches upgraded long-distance services
OLDOVAN Railways (CFM) launched an accelerated service between the capital Chisinau and Ocnita on July 28, using the first of a fleet of modernised dmus. The four-car train, which seats 267 passengers in first, second and third-class accommodation, will complete the 283km journey in 5h 15min, a 15-minute improvement on current timings. The upgrade includes installation of air- conditioning and new Volvo Penta Tad1662VE engines, and is being carried out by Remar at is workshops in Pascani, Romania. Remar will modernise 14 trains at a cost of ƒ2.2m per set. The D1Ms were originally supplied by Ganz-Mavag, Hungary, in 1986.
M
OMANIA’s Ministry of Transport has appointed a consortium of PwC, David & Baias and George Butunoiu to recruit directors general and non-executive directors for 10 state-owned transport companies, four of which are in the rail sector. This is part of an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to improve the corporate governance of state-owned energy and transport companies. The IMF, which is providing funds to the Romanian government under a two-year
14 C
northern Italy and are due to be delivered in 2015.
The use of the ETR 610s on the Milan - Zürich route is likely to be a temporary measure as SBB is tendering for 29 new 400m-long high- speed trains for international services via the Gotthard Tunnel. These trains are due to enter service from 2017.
China to boost 2012 investment
HINA’s Ministry of Railways (MOR) has announced it will increase rail investment this year by 16% to Yuan 470bn ($US 73bn) as the country seeks to boost economic growth through infrastructure spending. China’s high-speed programme ground to a halt in the wake of the Wenzhou accident in July 2011 but in recent months the pace of construction has quickened and the high-speed network is expected to reach 8400km by the end of the year.
Documents released in May suggest MOR is eager to attract private investment for a variety of projects, including passenger lines and heavy- haul coal railways. According to domestic media, MOR invested
Yuan 149bn in the first half of this year, a 36.6% decrease compared with the same period in 2011.
Romania seeks new managers for 10 transport companies R
deal, said in June that the government needed to “advance reforms in the energy and transport sectors where price distortions and inadequate governance continue to hamper efficiency.” The IMF urged the
government to intensify its efforts to restructure and privatise state-owned enterprises, and said that slow reforms to date have discouraged investment and are holding back living standards.
The four railway companies are the national infrastructure
manager, CFR Infrastructura, national passenger operator CFR Calatori, the national railway telecoms company, CFR Telecomunicatii, and Metrorex which operates the Bucharest metro. In each case, a new director general and between three and five non- executive directors will be recruited. The new directors general will be mandated with broad powers and authority. Their main mission will be to streamline each company and bring it up to European standards in a reasonably short time.
The Dutch government plans to devolve powers and budgets for Roermond - Heerlen/Maastricht services to the province of Limburg. Zwolle - Groningen/Enschede regional services may also be devolved.
Poland
Railfreight volumes fell 8.9% year-on-year in the first-half of this year. Traffic fell to 111.61 million tonnes, while overall volumes slid by 11.3% to 23.6
billion tonne-km. A Zlotys 161.7m ($US 47.2m) contract has been awarded to Porr Polska to modernise the 51km Bydgoszcz - Torun line. When completed in 2014, the journey time will be cut from 1h 11min to 43 minutes.
Portugal
The 81.5km line between Toree das Vargens and the Spanish border closed on August 15 as part of the national austerity programme. As a result the Lisbon - Madrid overnight train, the Lusitania Express, will no longer run via Caceres but will take a more northerly route through Salamanca.
South Africa
Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) said on August 6 that the Richards Bay heavy-haul line has set a new record for weekly coal volumes of 1.877 million tonnes. TFR carried 6.07 million tonnes of coal to Richards Bay in July, a 10.8% increase over the 5.48 million tonnes it carried in June.
Taiwan
Construction started in July of three new stations on the Taipei - Kaohsiung high-speed line. They will cost $NT 7.5bn ($US 250m) to build and are due to open in mid-2015. IRJ
IRJ September 2012
Photo: David Gubler
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