Israeli projects escape government cutbacks T
HE ISRAELI government has reached an agreement
over controversial plans to cut the budget for new infrastructure projects, which have been put forward as part of proposals intended to reduce the country’s Shekels 39bn ($US 10.8bn) budget deficit.
Under the plans revealed in April by finance minister Mr Yair Lapid, construction would be suspended on a number of rail projects, including the 60km Jezreel Valley Railway
his Turkmen counterpart Mr Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov inaugurated the first direct rail link between the two countries on May 11.
K The 146km line from
Tenge/Uzen in Kazakhstan to Serhetyaka in Turkmenistan is
AZAKH president Mr Nursultan Nazarbayev and
from Haifa to Afula and Bet Sha’an and the 22km Acre - Carmiel line, which the finance ministry argues are not commercially viable. However, last month Lapid
reached an agreement with infrastructure and roads safety minister Mr Yisrael Katz that will allow work to continue on these lines at the expense of a number of road projects, which will be postponed by 1-2 years.
When the plans were announced Katz reacted
the first phase of a project to build a new north-south corridor between Kazakhstan and Iran, providing a more direct rail link along the east coast of the Caspian Sea. Previously rail traffic between Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan was routed via Kungrad in Uzbekistan.
In brief Australia
furiously, denouncing Lapid and his team as “poor, short- sighted and ego-centric clerks.” Katz argued that compensating contractors could cost more than completing the projects and cancelling construction would also upset voters in the affected areas. According to the Israeli
press, Katz had the backing of local mayors, who called on prime minister Mr Benjamin Netanyahu to intervene in the dispute.
Presidential opening for Kazakhstan - Turkmenistan connection According to a report in
the Tehran Timeslast month, construction is nearly complete on the 82km Iranian section of the line between Gorgan and the Turkmen frontier, while the remainder of the line through Turkmenistan is more than 50% complete.
The federal government has allocated $A 50m ($US 49m) in its 2013-14 budget to allow the implementation and testing of an Advanced Train Management System (ATMS) between Port Augusta and Tarcoola in South Australia. ATMS has previously been tested in ‘proof of concept’ trials between Port Pirie and Port Augusta, but earlier this year Australian Rail Track Corporation announced that centralised train control (CTC) would replace current Train Order Working on this section, prompting speculation that ATMS may not be installed on the interstate network.
Brazil
MRS Logistics signed an agreement with Rio de Janeiro state governor Mr Sergio Cabral on April 25 authorising construction of an intermodal terminal at Queimados, 25km northwest of the city of Rio de Janeiro. MRS is expected to invest around Reais 100 million ($US 50m) in the 7000m2 facility, which will be commissioned by 2015.
Britain
The Scottish government has announced that free passenger Wi-Fi is to be installed at 25 ScotRail stations. The fleet of 38 class 380 trains used on suburban services in central Scotland will also be equipped
Siemens unveils first Amtrak Cities Sprinter
S
IEMENS rolled out the first completed ACS64 Cities Sprinter multi-system electric locomotive for Amtrak at its Sacramento plant in California on May 13.
The first units from the $US 466m order for 70 locomotives will undergo trials this summer and are due to enter revenue service in the autumn, augmenting and eventually replacing AEM7 locomotives built between 1978 and 1988. Two pre-series locomotives
IRJ June 2013
will be tested at the TTCI test track in Pueblo, Colorado, while a third unit will be sent to the Northeast Corridor for mainline testing. The remaining 67 locomotives will be delivered to Amtrak by 2016.
The 6.4MW Bo-Bo
locomotives will operate at up to 200km/h on regional and long-distance services on the Northeast Corridor between Boston, New York and Washington, DC, and up to
177km/h on Keystone Corridor trains between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
The Cities Sprinter is based on Siemens’ Eurosprinter and Vectron designs, and meets the latest Federal Railroad Administration safety and crashworthiness standards. The tri-voltage locomotives have a reinforced bodyshell with crumple zones to absorb energy in the event of a collision.
with Wi-Fi by next March. The Department for Transport has allocated £8.75m from its New Stations Fund towards the construction of four new stations, including Ilkeston near Nottingham; Pye Corner in South Wales; Newcourt near Exeter; and
Lea Bridge in east London. The Welsh government has allocated £11.5m for the 3km extension of the Newport - Ebbw Vale Parkway line to a new station at Ebbw Vale Town.
Costa Rica
Incofer has restored suburban services on the 21km line between the capital San Jose, and the city of Cartago, following a modest investment of Colon 3.5bn ($US 6.9m),
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