International Railway Journal - October 2008 - (Page 10) News RDC sells Nacala Corridor stake In brief major development in the evolution of the Nacala Corridor,” says RDC chairman Mr Henry Posner III. “Full integration of the Nacala Corridor into the local private sector represents the next logical step. RDC president and CEAR chairman Mr Bob Pietrandrea added that the sale would bolster RDC’s war chest for future investment opportunities in Africa, which he believes are likely to increase as more African countries privatise their railways. R AILROAD Development Corporation (RDC), United States, has sold its stake in Nacala Railway concessionaire Central East African Railway (CEAR) to Mozambican investment group Insitec. The Nacala Corridor consists of Malawi’s 797km network, the Nayuci Nacala line in Mozambique, and the port of Nacala. The 20-year concession includes passenger services on selected routes. “The sale of our interests to local investors represents a MÁV Cargo takeover will go ahead, says ÖBB USTRIAN Federal Railways (ÖBB) freight arm Rail Cargo Austria (RCA) says it will go ahead with its ƒ400 million takeover of MÁV Cargo, Hungary, contrary to reports in the Hungarian media that suggested RCA had withdrawn from the deal. Last month MÁV Cargo general manager Mr Imre Kovacs was suspended pending an investigation into allegations that he and two colleagues were involved in the sale of 2000 operational wagons at scrap prices in 2002 and 2003. Mr Miklós Völgy has been appointed acting general manager until the end of the year. RCA, and Györ-EbenfurthSopron Railway (GySEV) signed the agreement to buy the former freight arm of Hungarian State Railways (MÁV) in January, and the contract is currently being reviewed by the European Union’s competition authority. Railways (LDZ), despite rumours to the contrary. Netherlands Netherlands Railways (NS) is increasing the number of trains it runs by 3% from the December 14 timetable change. Frequencies are being doubled to four trains per hour on the Utrecht - Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and Utrecht Breukelen lines, and eight per hour at peak times between Amsterdam and Haarlem. Connexxion will run four trains per hour between Amersfoort and Barneveld Centrum. A Indian HS unlikely before 2015 Slovakia The Slovakian operating authorities have granted approval for PKP Cargo, Poland, to operate its ET41 locomotives on the country’s rail network. The locomotives will be used on the Zabrzeg Czarnolesie - Zwardoñ Skalite -ŽZilina line. T HE Indian government has invited international tenders for a pre-feasibility study into the construction of the country’s first high-speed line, but concedes the line will not open until after 2015. The study will examine the feasibility of constructing 300350km/h lines from Delhi to Chandigarh and Amritsar, and from Pune to Mumbai and Ahmedabad. The Ministry of Railways hopes to implement both projects as public-private partnerships (PPP). South Africa The first class 19e dual-voltage locomotive began test running between Pienaars River and Keespoort at the end of August; 32 locomotives have been ordered, and operate on 25kV ac and 3kV dc systems. IKHVIN Railway Car Building Plant (TVSZ), Russia, has sent the first two prototypes of a new design of hopper wagon aimed at the lucrative domestic market for testing. The type 12-9761 wagon has a load capacity of 69.5 tonnes and an internal volume of 88m3. The wagons were built on a prototype production line at Tikhvin, and will be the first wagons built at the $US 800 million plant. Series production is due to begin in 2010. T Sweden Freight operator Green Cargo reported profits of SKr 65 million ($US 10.22 million) for the second quarter of the year - a fall of SKr 16 million compared with the same period last year. Despite the fall in profits, attributed to rising costs, traffic volumes rose by 3.5%. Swedish train operator group Tågoperatörerna says the government should pay for installation of European Rail Traffic Management System equipment on rolling stock for the new Bothnia railway. The cost is estimated at SKr 1.5 million. Green Train breaks Swedish speed record SPECIALLY-equipped Bombardier Regina emu being operated by Sweden’s Green Train project has broken the Swedish rail speed record for the second time this year. The Bombardier emu reached 303km/h on the Töreboda - Skövde line on September 14, beating the record of 295km/h set on July 23. Both record attempts were made on lines designed for 200km/h operation. Green Train is a A five-year research project launched in 2005 by a Swedish consortium of research institutes, consultants and train operators, led by national infrastructure authority Banverket. The project aims to reduce energy consumption, operating costs, and journey times. A full description of the Green Train can be found in IRJ September p51. United States Amtrak says it needs to add extra coaches to its high-speed Acela Express trains, which operate on the Northeast Corridor. While it wants to add to the five-coach sets, there is no funding available for the vehicles. IRJ 10 IRJ October 2008 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/sb/irj0908/index.php#/52
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