In brief
construction of a high-speed line between Cairo and Alexandria. The project would be tendered in several phases from the second half of 2013.
Finland
The opening of the new Ring Rail line to Helsinki Vantaa Airport will be delayed by up to six months because of groundwater contamination issues near the airport. The problems have been caused by glycol, which is used to de-ice aircraft, seeping into the soil. The line will now open in mid-2015.
France
research institutions came together in Hannover on September 10 to launch a three-year research and development project that aims to improve the performance of single-wagonload railfreight operations. Viable Wagonload
Production Schemes (ViWaS) has a budget of ƒ4.2m, of which ƒ2.9m will come from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technical
European wagonload research project launched R
EPRESENTATIVES of 10 European companies and
Development. The objectives of ViWaS
include: optimising the performance of last mile operations, including the opportunities for containerisation of freight and
the use of hybrid locomotives improvements to wagons and swap-bodies based on the flex freight system developed
by Wascosa, Switzerland intelligent and inexpensive
telematics for wagons development of an IT interface for wagon-related telematic data, and
new management concepts for rail hubs, focusing on cost-effective bundling of combined and single-wagon traffic.
The project is being co-
ordinated by HaCon, Germany, and partners include: the Zurich ETH technical school; Germany’s Bentheim Railway; Eureka Navigation Solutions, Germany; Fret SNCF;
Consorzio IB Innovation, Italy; Newopera; SBB Cargo; Berlin Technical University; and Wascosa, Switzerland.
AMBIA’s rail network is back under the control of state-owned Zambia Railways after the government revoked the Railway Systems of Zambia (RSZ) concession. Last month Zambian
Railway Systems of Zambia concession revoked Z
president Mr Michael Sata directed the country’s newly- appointed justice minister Mr Wynter Kabimba to review the freight and passenger concession agreement involving the government, RSZ and concessionaire New Limpopo Bridge Projects Investment signed in 2003 amid concerns over the condition of the railway. Soon after launching the review, the government withdrew the concession.
Finance minister Mr Alexander Chikwanda says that there has been “no discernible upgrade of the
IRJ October 2012
The Autonomous Port of Strasbourg has awarded Eurotunnel’s railfreight subsidiary Europorte a five- year contract to operate and maintain the port’s 110km railway network. Strasbourg is France’s second largest inland port handles and more than 1.8 million tonnes of freight per year.
Hungary
A detailed study released by the State Audit Office (ÁSZ) has concluded the current system of financing Hungarian State Railways (MÁV) does not allow it to operate efficiently. ÁSZ found that MÁV and its subsidiaries spent 32% more on staff wages in 2011 than in 2010, and that 50% of the network is affected by speed restrictions, causing delays to at least 10% of passenger trains.
India
Indian Railways has introduced air-conditioned double-deck coaches supplied by Rail Coach Factory on services from Delhi to Jaipur. This is the second route to benefit from the new vehicles, the first being Kolkata
railway system in nine years” and that the situation has been compounded by “an unacceptably high level of derailments, loss of life and damage to property.” He adds that the overall cost of concessioning to the state has been “enormous,” and the performance of RSZ has put the sustainability of the
railway network at risk. Zambia’s attorney general says New Limpopo Bridge Projects Investment may not be eligible for compensation if it is found to have breached the terms of the concession agreement. RSZ’s assets are now likely to be withheld by the state pending the outcome of the case.
Howrah - Dhanbad. Ferrovia Trans Rail Solutions, the joint venture awarded the Rs.1.56bn ($US 28m) contract to build the 66km New Kawadia - Durgapur section of India’s 1839km Ludhiana - Dankuni eastern dedicated freight corridor (DFC), will import a refurbished Harsco Rail tracklaying machine in
7
Photo: G Cooke
Photo: Philip Wormald
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52