International Railway Journal - July 2008 - (Page 10)

News Unife marks 30,000km of ERTMS tracks In brief will be built along the route. French National Railways (SNCF) and the Indian Ministry of Railways are to cooperate on the development of high-speed lines, freight corridors, and capacity enhancements. SNCF says it wants to build a long-term partnership which will benefit both countries. The MoU will also cover safety, signalling, power supply and telecommunications. A 15-day test of doublestack container trains was due to start between Daitari and Jakhapura this month in order to establish what the height of new overhead line equipment should be for freight lines. T Alstom unveils Prima II LSTOM unveiled its new Prima locomotive platform in France on May 20, and claims it is even more flexible than the previous model. The locomotive is available in diesel and electric versions, and the latter can run under up to four voltages commonly A used in Europe. Prima II will have power levels of between 4MW and 6MW, and top speeds of up to 200km/h. The first customer for the new locomotives is Moroccan National Railways (ONCF), which ordered 20 electric locomotives in November 2007 for delivery next year. Bombardier and Balfour Beatty sign Swedish ETRMS deal WEDISH infrastructure manager Banverket and a consortium of Bombardier and Balfour Beatty have signed a framework agreement to roll out the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) in Sweden. The eight-year contract, which is expected to be worth around SKr 930 million ($US 156 million), covers the specification, development and delivery of Bombardier’s Interflo 450 system, which is already being installed on the HE Association of European Rail Industries (Unife) says more than 30,000km of tracks worldwide have been fitted with the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) in its various manifestations. Unife director-general Mr Michael Clausecker said: “These results demonstrate that ERTMS is a genuine European success story. The close collaboration of the industry and the European institutions has resulted in a standard which attracts considerable interest not only in Europe but also in the rest of the world.” In addition to the 30,000km of tracks, 5000 vehicles are in service or contracted to be equipped with ERTMS, and there are plans for its deployment in 27 countries. PANISH passenger operator Renfe has begun testing the first of 29 variable-gauge high-speed trains for use on services from Madrid to northern Spain. The CAF-Alstom class 121 emus will be introduced in September under the Avant brand, operating over the standard-gauge high-speed line from Madrid to Valladolid, where they will switch to broad gauge for the routes to Palencia and Leon in northwest Spain, and to Burgos and Vitoria in the northeast. Indonesia The government is seeking bids for construction of the Jakarta - Soekarno-Hatta International Airport line after the previous contractor failed to start work. The 30km line is expected to cost $US 239 million. S new 190km Botnia Line between Kramfors and Umeå. Under the new contract, Balfour Beatty will install the system initially on the Sundsvall - Kramfors line. In April Bombardier signed a framework agreement with Banverket and its Norwegian equivalent, Jernbanverket, to supply its onboard Ebi Cab 2000 European Train Control System (ETCS), together with products and services on all new and retrofitted vehicles in both countries. International S Dr Hans-Jörg Grundmann will be the new chairman of the Association of European Railway Industries (Unife). Grundmann is the CEO of Siemens Mobility, and succeeds Mr André Navarri, president of Bombardier Transportation. Latvia Freight volumes carried by Latvian Railways (LDZ) rose by 18.6% in the first quarter of the year compared with the same period in 2007. The figure of 14.4 million tonnes compares well with the 12.3 million tonnes carried by road. MAV to buy multi-system locomotives Sri Lanka Proposals to electrify the 64km line from Veyangoda to Panadura are being considered by the Sri Lankan government. If approved, the upgrade would cost around Rs 3 billion ($US 27.8 million). T HE Supervisory Board of Hungarian State Railways (MAV) has reportedly approved the acquisition of 25 Bombardier multi-system Traxx electric locomotives, with an option for 25 additional locomotives. They will be equipped for operation on the 15kV ac, 25kV ac and 3kV dc systems. MAV had hoped to sign the contract earlier this year, but the deal was postponed for political reasons. Zambia The Zambian government has cancelled permission for the North West Rail company to build a line linking the country with Angola because of a lack of progress. IRJ Photo: Alfonso Marco 10 IRJ July 2008

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International Railway Journal - July 2008 Contents This Month News Transit News Market News/Technology News News Analysis Conference Report Korean Railways Face a Bright Future Korean Exports Surge Ahead Ready to Roll in China Velaro Shows Eastern Promise Are You Sitting Comfortably? Compin Meets New Challenges The Fabric of Society Grinding Out a Result Rendezvous Full Contact List The Last Word

International Railway Journal - July 2008

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