International Railway Journal - May 2008 - (Page 4)

News Russia to invest $US 375 billion by 2015 R USSIA’s transport minister, Mr Igor Levitin, says Roubles 9 trillion ($US 375 billion) will be invested to upgrade and expand its rail network and renew motive power and rolling stock by 2015. Funding for this massive investment programme has already been identified. Russian Railways (RZD) will fund around Roubles 5 billion out of its own profits and proceeds from the sale of subsidiaries. To test the water, a 15% stake in TransContainer was sold for $US 320 million recently. Mr Mikhail Akulov, an RZD vice-president, says that RZD expects to raise about $US 6 billion by 2010 by selling stakes in subsidiaries. The rest will come from an oil-financed infrastructure fund and the private sector. Russia has a Roubles 1.5 trillion infrastructure fund for all modes of transport as well as energy. So far three railway projects have been allocated Roubles 250 billion from the fund. The private sector is funding the construction of new freight lines to extract minerals through concessions. a cost of around $US 80 billion. It will need thousands of new freight wagons, and later on thousands of new coaches. But Russia does not build its own diesel locomotives, and has limited capacity for electric locomotives and freight wagons, so it wants foreign companies to set up shop in Russia to build the locomotives and rolling stock it urgently needs. Investment is already being stepped up. The new Federal Passenger Directorate (FPD), which is taking over responsibility for long-distance passenger services, will invest Roubles 29.4 billion this year compared with Roubles 25 billion last year, and plans to invest Roubles 33.3 billion next year, and Roubles 38.9 billion in 2010. This will enable FPD New lines Two-thirds of the investment will be spent on upgrading the existing 86,000km network and building 8000km of new lines. The remaining third will be used to purchase locomotives, freight wagons and passenger coaches. RZD has 20,000 locomotives (half diesel and half electric), and most will have to be replaced in the next 10 years at to purchase 1051 coaches this year, refurbish existing vehicles, modernise depots, and purchase fare collection equipment. RZD’s Railway Stations Directorate has launched a pilot project at Moscow Kursk with a view to modernising major stations through longterm leases, joint ventures, or trusts. The Directorate is also planning 30 pilot projects to upgrade stations using standard systems. As far as suburban services are concerned, RZD plans, in cooperation with local authorities, to set up another eight suburban or regional passenger joint stock companies in addition to the 11 already functioning. The new companies include services in Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, and Samara. Soaring costs scupper Munich airport maglev RZD to build Libyan line R LANS to build a 37km Transrapid high-speed maglev line from Munich Airport to the city centre have been scrapped after Germany’s transport minister revealed costs for the project have almost doubled. The ƒ1.85 billion project was given the go-ahead last September, when the Bavarian state government, the federal government and Transrapid’s promoters, Siemens and ThyssenKrupp reached an agreement on funding for construction. In March, transport minister Mr Wolfgang Tiefensee P conceded the project cost had increased to as much as ƒ3.4 billion, adding that the federal government is unwilling to commit any more than the ƒ925 million it had previously agreed to contribute. “It is obvious that the champagne corks were popped too soon,” he said. More than ƒ2 billion has been invested in the development of Transrapid technology over the last 30 years, but so far the only commercial application of the technology has been the Shanghai Airport Line. Plans to extend this line to Hangzhou were thrown into doubt in January because of the need to increase the margin between track and housing in densely-populated suburbs of Shanghai, which caused costs to almost double. Last month the German Press Agency quoted China’s National Development and Reform Commission as saying: “We would welcome a sale of the technology to Chinese companies…at an attractive price.” However, ThyssenKrupp has refuted rumours that it was planning to sell the technology to China. USSIAN Railways (RZD) has secured a $US 3.16 billion deal to build a section of Libya’s coastal railway, which will eventually connect Tunisia and Egypt via Tripoli. According to Reuters, the contract to construct the 554km section from Surt to Benghazi was signed by Libyan officials and RZD CEO Mr Vladimir Yakunin. Earlier this year China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) won a $US 2 billion contract to build the adjoining 352km section of the coastal line from Al Khums to Misratah and Surt. Siemens trains for Brussels B ELGIAN National Railways (SNCB) has selected Siemens to supply 95 Desiro Mainline four-car emus for the Brussels RER network in a deal worth ƒ1.43 billion. The trains will be delivered between 2011 and 2016. The contract, which is the largest single rolling stock order in SNCB’s history, is due to be signed this month. 4 IRJ May 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of International Railway Journal - May 2008

International Railway Journal - May 2008 Contents This Month News Transit News Market News Technology News News Analysis Italian Railways on the Road to Recovery High-Speed: On the Home Straight Korea Develops High-Speed Ambitions Setting New Standards for New Rolling Stock India Solves Traction Motor Conundrum Weathering the Storm with Climatic Testing Technology Drives US Train Inspections Rendezvous Full Contact List Advertisers Index The Last Word

International Railway Journal - May 2008

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