International Railway Journal - October 2008 - (Page 9) In brief DSB orders 10 emus from Bombardier ANISH State Railways (DSB) is ordering 10 three-car Øresund emus from Bombardier in a contract worth ƒ82 million, and with an option for a further 30 trains. The emus have a maximum speed of 180km/h and will be able to work cross-border services between Denmark and Sweden over the Øresund bridge. The trains will automatically switch signalling and power systems when crossing the border. tonnes of freight in the first seven months of the year, a 6.8% rise over the same period last year. Passenger traffic rose by 12.6% to 855 million journeys. Construction of the 266km Xian Pinglian railway has been approved, and work will start before the end of the year. The cost is estimated at around ƒ700 million, and it is expected to open in 2012. Guangzhou Railway reported increased operating revenues of Yuan 620 million ($US 90 million) for the first half of the year. Passenger volumes rose 40.9 million, a rise of 16.7%, with revenue from passengers rising 22% to Yuan 3.2 billion. Freight traffic rose 8.8% to 34.5 million tonnes. D The trains will join the existing fleet of 79 emus which already operate cross-border services, and the centre cars will have low floors to provide access for disabled passengers. They will be leased by the Danish National Rail Authority, and will be used by DSBFirst, which takes over Øresund services from January 2009. EC to investigate ‘illegal’ Danish subsidy N investigation has been launched by the European Commission (EC) following accusations that Danish State Railways (DSB) has received illegal subsidies from the country’s Transport Ministry. Arriva and Connex have filed a complaint through A Danish Collective Transport alleging that DSB has been exempted from a tax based on wage costs applied to companies that do not have to pay sales tax. This concerns the ministry’s 2000-04 contract with DSB, as well as the current contract, which expires in 2015. The exemption is worth around DKr 100 million ($US 19 million) per year to DSB. Questions were raised about the tax in parliament as long ago as November 2005, although the government took no further action on the issue until it received the EC’s complaint last month. Czech Republic CD Cargo made a profit of CKr 335 million ($US 19.9 million) in the first half of the year, with sales reaching CKr 9 billion. The operator was split from national operator Czech Railways (CD) in December 2007 and will soon merge with ZSSK Cargo, Slovakia. British upgrade nears completion German Army to build Afghan railway? NE of Afghanistan’s two operational railways could be extended to serve the German army’s main supply base in the country, according to German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel. The project would involve upgrading the 25km line from Termez in southern Uzbekistan to Kheyrabad, and extending it 42km south to Mazar-e-Sharif. No costs have been given for construction. The Termez - Kheyrabad line was constructed in 1982 by the Soviet Union to 1524mm-gauge, and was intended as the first stage of a line to Mazar-i-Sharif and Puli-Khumari, although this was never completed. The only other operational line in Afghanistan is the 9.6km line from Gushgy in Turkmenistan to Towraghondi. A 190km line from Hirat in western Afghanistan to Sangan on the Iranian border is also under construction. Estonia Estonian Railways (ER) is to be restructured into infrastructure and freight sectors next year to comply with European Union requirements. O Germany A group of four regional freight operators in the Ruhr called Maekas is expected to increase railfreight volumes in the region. The operators are SBB Cargo, Mühlheimer Transport, Neuss Düsseldorfer Häfen, and Wanne-Herner Railway and Harbour. Rail.one, Germany, is to supply its Rheda 2000 slab track system for use in the City Tunnel in Leipzig, which is under construction. The 4km tunnel will provide a northsouth connection between the main and Bavarian stations, with S-Bahn and regional express trains using it. The tunnel is due to open in 2011. S THE introduction of a vastly increased timetable on Britain’s London to Glasgow West Coast Main Line approaches in December, one of the last tranches of engineering works on the £9 billion project was completed on-time at the end of August. A programme of resignalling, platform lengthening, new track and overhead line work between Lichfield and Atherstone was completed, while at the busy junction of Nuneaton, new signalling, track and junctions were finished on time. In the Rugby area, where A the line to Birmingham diverges, two new platforms, a new pedestrian subway, refurbishment of a 450m flyover, and associated track and signalling work was undertaken. From December 14, 375 new services will be introduced, and journey times will be cut too: from London to Birmingham, 20 minutes will be saved on the current time of 1h 43min; to Manchester, a cut of 43 minutes will see journey times of 1h 58min; and to Glasgow, almost an hour will be saved, with the fastest trains scheduled for 4h 9min. Latvia The Latvian government says it does not plan to sell Latvian IRJ October 2008 9
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