UK finalises Siemens-led consortium for £1.6bn Thameslink deal
The UK Department for Transport (DfT) has finalised the £1.6bn Thameslink rolling stock contract with the Siemens-led Cross London Trains consortium.
The consortium beat out competition from Canadian train manufacturer Bombardier to secure the contract.
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Under the deal, the consortium will be responsible for the construction and maintenance of 1,140 new carriages to be used on London’s Thameslink commuter network.
The rolling stock project is part of the £6bn Thameslink Programme, which is scheduled to be completed in 2018.
Qatar Rail awards Doha Metro contracts worth $8.2bn
Qatar Rail Company has awarded four contracts worth a total of $8.2bn to design and build railway lines as part of the first phase construction of the Doha Metro.
Work under phase one of the project will include the design and construction of four rail lines, as well as an underground section; the entire project is scheduled to start in late 2013 and be complete by 2019.
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By GlobalDataThe planned metro lines include Red Line North (RLN), Red Line South (RLS), Green Line (GLN) and major stations.
Bombardier to deliver 450 electric locomotives to Deutsche Bahn
Canadian rail manufacturer Bombardier Transportation has signed a framework agreement worth up to €1.5bn with Deutsche Bahn (DB) to supply electric locomotives.
The framework agreement involves the delivery of up to 450 locomotives by 2020, with DB’s options allowing for multiple variations and technical options.
Under a call-off option in the framework agreement, DB has exercised the first call-off for 110 locomotives for DB Schenker Rail and 20 units for DB Regio, which will cost €430m.
Bombardier to deliver 96 Movia trains to Stockholm Metro
Bombardier Transportation had secured a SEK5.1bn ($771m) order from Stockholm public transport body Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (SL) to supply 96 Movia trains to the Stockholm metro in Sweden.
In addition to the new-generation C30 metro fleet of 96 trains, the contract also includes an option for an additional 80 Movia metro vehicles.
Bombardier will build the articulated Movia C30 trainsets at its Hennigsdorf plant in Germany and will start delivery from November 2016, with the trains scheduled to commence operations on the Stockholm metro’s Red Line in early 2017.
NSW allocates $6bn to develop rail infrastructure around Sydney
The New South Wales government in Australia has earmarked A$6.4bn ($6.12bn) in its latest budget to execute the ‘big six’ public transport infrastructure projects, the majority of which involve rail network expansion around Greater Sydney.
The capital investment, announced under the four-year state budget, is intended to boost Sydney’s rail capacity, as well as create jobs and improve the state’s economy.
The capital expenditure on public transport infrastructure marks a 32% rise over last year’s A$4.1bn investment.
Larsen & Toubro and Sojitz win $1.15bn Indian freight corridor contract
A consortium comprising Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Japan’s Sojitz has secured a Rs66.9bn ($1.15bn) contract from the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) to build a 626km rail line as part of the proposed western dedicated freight corridor (Western DFC) project.
The double-track line will pass through three Indian states, from Rewari in Haryana to Iqbalgarh in Gujarat via Rajasthan.
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will provide funding for the new freight line, which will be a part of the 1,490km western corridor proposed between Dadri near Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust near Mumbai.
Spain opens Albacete – Alicante high-speed line
Spain has opened a new 165km high-speed rail link between Albacete and Alicante, built at a cost of €1.9bn.
The section completes the high-speed line between Spanish capital Madrid and the Mediterranean city of Alicante, which forms part of the Murcia High-Speed Railway Line.
Spanish rail operator Renfe has started commercial operations on the line with nine Alta Velocidad Española (AVE) services per day in each direction, as well as four additional services at weekends and at peak travel periods.
European rail closer to silent braking technology
A two-year study carried out by the International Union of Railways (UIC) and supported by the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) has shown that usage of composite brake blocks can reduce the noise caused by train brakes.
The EuropeTrain project, undertaken with the participation of 27 railway operators and eight railway manufacturers, delivered its results after successfully testing the LL brake blocks.
During the programme, a test freight train made up of 30 representative freight wagons from a number of European rail freight undertakings, was equipped with LL-type composite brake blocks and operated over 200,000km across Europe.
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