Financial news Preferred bidder chosen for new Queensland trains
Stib orders fibre- optic network for Brussels Metro
B T
HE government of the Australian state of
Queensland announced on November 20 that it has selected the Bombardier NGR Consortium, comprising Bombardier Australia, John Laing, Itochu Corporation, and Uberior, as preferred bidder for a contract to supply and maintain 75 six-car emus. The 1067mm-gauge trains
are being procured through the Department of Transport’s New Generation Rolling Stock project in partnership with Projects Queensland. Queensland Rail will provide
technical assistance for the introduction and commissioning of the fleet. The contract was scheduled to be finalised last month with the first train scheduled for delivery in late 2015. The entire fleet is due to enter service by December 2018.
The emus will be used on suburban services around Brisbane, providing additional capacity and allowing the withdrawal of life-expired rolling stock.
HE British government has revealed proposals to sell its stake in Eurostar International Limited (EIL), the parent company of Euostar, and London & Continental Railways (LCR) as part of the Treasury’s National Infrastructure Plan, which was published on December 4. The government says it has identified corporate and financial assets with a total value of £20bn, which it intends to sell from now until 2020 to fund infrastructure projects. These
As part of the contract, the
consortium will maintain the trains for 30 years at a purpose-built depot in Wulkuraka near Ipswich. Construction is expected to begin on the new facility immediately after contract signing.
British government mulls Eurostar sell-off T
RUSSELS transport authority Stib has awarded Alcatel-Lucent a contract to supply a fibre-optic broadband communications network as part of the preparations for the automation of the city’s metro system (p22). The Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) network will link 70 metro stations, supporting communications- based train control (CBTC), around 10,000 CCTV cameras, and onboard passenger information systems. It will also provide a real-time LAN connection between all ticket vending machines and ticket offices.
could potentially include LCR’s property assets and the government’s 40% shareholding in EIL, although the government stresses that any sale would be “subject to value for money assessments and key policy objectives.” At present French National Railways (SNCF) holds a 55% share in EIL while Belgian National Railways (SNCB) owns the remaining 5%. EIL was created as a single corporate entity in October 2010 to supersede the joint operation between Eurostar UK, SNCF, and SNCB.
Alcatel-Lucent says the system is the largest ever deployment of Reconfigurable Optical Add-Drop Multiplexer (RODM) nodes on a metro network, with 140 nodes set to be installed as part of the project. The network will be fully-redundant with two parallel loops to ensure high levels of availability. Metro lines 1 and 5 witnessed a 102% increase in ridership between 2000 and 2012, and these lines are being automated to support the introduction of 90-second headways, which will increase peak capacity from 25 to 40 trains per hour. Mixed mode operation is due to start in 2020 with the switch to full driverless operation scheduled for 2023.
railway equipment suppliers took place during the final few weeks of 2013, with the following companies
Flurry of rail industry mergers and takeovers A
spate of mergers and acquisitions among
announcing deals: Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) has agreed to purchase Flagship Rail Services, United States, from Perella Weinberg Partners for $US 1.1bn. Flagship is the ninth-largest wagon leasing company in the United States
with about 15,000 wagons. The Bonatrans Group, Czech
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Republic, has reached agreement with GHH Radsatz International Holding to acquire Gutehoffnungshütte Radsatz, Germany, subject to approval by anti-monopoly authorities. GHH International Holding was formed in 2008 following the merger of GHH Radsatz and Valdunes, France. However, GHH-Valdunes announced a “safeguard procedure” on October 14 2013 to ensure legal protection from
creditors. Stadler Rail, Switzerland, announced on December 2 that
it has signed a contract with Voith to acquire the company’s Dutch train maintenance subsidiary Voith Rail Services (VRS) for an undisclosed sum. VRS, which has revenues of around É20m per year, will be rebranded Stadler Rail
Netherlands. Antitrust authorities in Germany and Austria have approved the merger of VTG and the rail logistics division of Kuehne & Nagel, allowing the launch of VTG Rail Logistics
on January 1. Strukton Rail, Netherlands,
has purchased Balfour Beatty’s Scandinavian rail subsidiary, including all of its current operations in Sweden and Denmark. Financial close is
expected early this year. Škoda Transporation, Czech Republic, has acquired Lokel, which manufactures control systems for diesel locomotives
and multiple units. Cubic, United States, has completed the acquisition of Serco’s British Transport Solutions division for £43.5m. The division will become part of Cubic Transportation Systems.
IRJ January 2014
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