In brief Swiss railways place joint emu order Brazil
São Paulo suburban rail operator Paulista Metropolitan Trains Company (CPTM) is to launch an international tender for 65 eight-car emus after the failure of a domestic contest. The government expects the first trains to be delivered by the end of 2014.
Britain F
OUR regional railways operating in the Vaud,
Fribourg, and Berne cantons of western Switzerland have awarded Stadler Bussnang a joint contract worth a total of SFr 150m ($US 158m) to supply 17 metre-gauge emus, which will be delivered between January 2015 and July 2016.
Montreux Oberland Bernois (MOB) will take delivery of four 900V dc trains (pictured), which will allow withdrawal of the railway’s four ABDe 8/8 two-car emus built in 1968. Joux Valley Yverdon-les- Bains Sainte Croix Transport (Travys) has ordered three 15kV 16.7Hz emus from Stadler. Two of these trains will replace life- expired rolling stock while the third will allow the introduction of a half-hourly service on the 24km line from Yverdon-les-Bains on Lake Neuchâtel to Sainte Croix. Fribourg Public Transport
ITAGARH Wagons and FreightCar America announced on February 22 that they have agreed to dissolve their Indian joint-venture company Titagarh FreightCar Private Limited, which was formed in 2008 with the aim of manufacturing and selling aluminium-bodied coal wagons in India.
The two companies say the joint venture began the process of seeking approval from the Indian Railways Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) soon after its inception. However,
IRJ April 2013
(TPF) will receive six 900V dc sets to replace older trains on its 49km metre-gauge network, while Morges-Bière-Cossonay Regional Transport (MBC) has ordered four emus, which will replace trains built in 1981 and support the launch of half- hourly services on the 30km line between Morges and Bière from December 2015. MBC was the legal
representative for the tender, although Stadler will sign separate contracts with each of the four railways.
Stadler says the decision to issue a joint tender for the trains generated significant economies of scale for the four operators, reducing the overall purchase price by SFr 28m, while also offering potential synergies in maintenance provision.
The contract includes options for additional trains which if exercised could be worth up to SFr 80m.
US-Indian wagon venture terminated T
in a statement, FreightCar America said that over time it became apparent that approval would not be obtained within an acceptable timescale and Titagarh FreightCar informed the RDSO last June that it would no longer pursue approval for the design. “We had big plans for the joint venture company when it was incorporated, but those plans were not realised despite considerable effort,” says Titagarh Wagons vice chairman and managing director Mr Umesh Chowdhary (see The last word p52).
As part of Network Rail’s £115m West Coast Main Line power supply upgrade project, ABB has awarded Invensys Rail a contract to provide design, supply and factory testing of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (Scada) remote terminal units for 11 containerised traction substations.
China
Harsco, United States, announced on February 26 that it has won orders to supply 20-stone rail grinders to metro operators in four Chinese cities, all of which are in the process of expanding their networks. Harsco declined to give details of its customers or the value of the contracts. Deliveries of the machines are scheduled for the second half of this year.
France
Strukton Rolling Stock has secured a contract from Tisséo Urban Network to deliver new auxiliary converters for 28 automatic VAL 206 light metro vehicles as part of a major upgrade of Toulouse metro’s rolling stock. The work includes installing 750V dc/72V dc battery chargers and a 750V dc/400V ac inverter. Deliveries will start in the third quarter of 2013.
Germany
Liebherr Transportation Systems has commenced delivery of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems for 135 Bombardier Twindexx double-deck coaches under construction as part of an order for 800 vehicles from German Rail agreed in 2008.
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ) has selected KazElectroPrivod
(KEP), a joint venture of Alstom and Kamkor, Kazakhstan, in a É90m contract to supply 10,000 point machines over a period of 10 years. Alstom’s share of the contract is É65m and delivery will commence this year.
Russia
Transmashholding reported a 22% increase in sales to Roubles 130bn ($US 4.27bn) in 2012 compared with 2011. Sales of electric and diesel freight locomotives were up by 40% and 36% respectively.
Serbia
Serbian Railways (ZS) signed a contract with Stadler on March 4 for a fleet of 21 four-car Flirt emus, which will be used on suburban services in the Belgrade area. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is financing the É100m deal, and the 160km/h trains, which will seat 234 passengers, will be delivered by late summer 2015.
South Africa
A South African corruption watchdog is investigating the Rand 2.3bn ($US 295m) contract awarded by Transnet to CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Company for 95 electric locomotives in October 2012. The investigation follows a complaint lodged in December by the Workers International Vanguard Party, which compared the Transnet contract with a 2005 order in Namibia in which it says the Chinese trains were so unreliable they were withdrawn from active service soon after delivery.
UAE
Etihad Rail has secured a $US 1.28bn loan to finance Stage One of its inaugural project to build the 264km dedicated freight route from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais. The five-year loan will be financed on a club deal basis by National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, and HSBC Bank Middle East, with NBAD acting as both the facility and security agent of the loan. IRJ
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