International Railway Journal - July 2008 - (Page 8)

News Kazakhstan signs MoU with Alstom for rail projects URING a visit to France by President Nursultan Nazarbeyev of Kazakhstan, a memorandum of understanding was signed between Samruk, Kazakhstan’s national holding company for state-owned enterprises, and Alstom regarding rail and power projects in Kazakhstan. Under the agreement, Alstom is negotiating with Kamkor, a Kazakh railway maintenance company, to upgrade 145 class VL-80 electric locomotives including D Moscow opens third airport rail link T HE Russian capital’s third airport rail link was officially opened on June 10 by Mr Sergey Ivanov, deputy chairman of the Russian government, Mr Igor Levitin, minister of transport, Mr Boris Gromov, governor of the Moscow Region, and Mr Vladimir Yakunin, president of Russian Railways (RZD). Rail services between Moscow Savyolovsky station and Sheremetyevo Airport started on June 11. Trains take about 35 minutes compared with 55 to 65 minutes for current rail and bus services. Another new service will start in September, linking Moscow Belarus station with Sheremetyevo. the supply of transformers and asynchronous traction motors. The two companies are also discussing the assembly of electric locomotives under licence in Kazakhstan. Alstom is also discussing the supply of four Pendolino tilting trains to Kazakhstan State Railways (KTZ) for operation on the 1334km link between the capital Astana and Almaty. KTZ already operates Spanish Talgo tilting trains on an overnight service on this route. Adif tests Talgo in Sardinia LSTOM carried out a series of tests in June on the Betuwe Route dedicated freight corridor in the Netherlands to validate the compatibility of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), and the Dutch ATB system on its Prima 6000 electric locomotive. It was fitted with the Atlas train control system and tests were carried out using ERTMS Levels 0, 1 and 2. The results will allow Alstom to integrate ERTMS-compatible equipment into its new Prima II locomotives. A PANISH infrastructure authority Adif carried out a series of demonstration runs on the Italian island of Sardinia at the end of May, using its variable-gauge Talgo diesel train. The Sardinian government is looking to reduce journey times on the sinuous Cagliari Sassari line from 3h 50min to less than two hours, and is considering purchasing five S trains, each formed of two power cars and six trailers, at a cost of around É50 million. On June 1, the train completed the 261km journey in 2h 16min, with no adjustments made to the infrastructure. Adif says that if a minor upgrade of the infrastructure is carried out, the train could comfortably complete the trip in less than two hours. South Caucasus Railways takes over in Armenia R USSIAN Railways (RZD) subsidiary South Caucasus Railways (SCR) has taken over the former Armenian Railways (ARM), under the terms of its 30-year concession to operate and maintain the 845km network. Under the agreement signed in January, RZD will invest $US 400 million in infrastructure and $US 170 million in rolling stock. SCR says its main priority is to bring Armenia’s railways into line with Russian regulatory standards for maintaining infrastructure and rolling stock. Upgrading will initially focus on main lines which carry 80% of all freight traffic, although SCR is also planning to construct new lines from Yerevan to Batumi and Poti. SCR has a fleet of 85 locomotives, 30 emus, 58 coaches and 2000 wagons. The agreement includes a clause allowing a 20-year extension after the first 20 years of operation. Freight traffic in Armenia declined sharply in the years following the break-up of the Soviet Union and fell to just 1.4 million tonnes per year by 2003, although SCR expects this to recover to 30 million tonnes per year. SCR expects to restart freight services to Turkey next year, and Azerbaijan in 2010. US railways join forces ORFOLK Southern (NS) and Pan Am Railways (PAR) are to enhance the route from Albany, New York, to Boston, Massachusetts, in a bid to increase capacity and line speed. PAR will transfer its 248km line from Mechanicville to Ayer, as well as other secondary lines, while NS will transfer cash and property worth $US 140 million. N 8 IRJ July 2008 Photo: Alfonso Marco

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

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

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.