Russia-China railways cooperation 'huge potential'
01/06/2012 (ChinaDaily.com):SOCHI - China-Russia cooperation on development of high-speed rail and a trans-Eurasian railcorridor has "huge potential", the president of Russian
Railways (RZD) said on Friday.
Under a government strategic plan, Russia will build by 2030 some
20,000 km of new railways,including 5,000 high-speed lines, Vladimir Yakunin told Xinhua on the sidelines of an international railway forum.
"Russia is expected to develop a railway network, including high-speed rail lines, from Kazanand Yekaterinburg (in central Russia)
to Khabarovsk and Vladivostok (in the Far East region),"Yakunin said...
EAC, AfDB sign $428,000 agreement for railway project
03/06/2012 (IPP Media - Tanzania): The Dar es Salaam-Isaka-Kigali/Keza-Musongati railways project get a new push after the East African Community (EAC) and African Development Bank (AfDB) signed a grant agreement for the first disbursement of $428,000 out of an anticipated $1.8million for the railway sector enhancement project.The project is jointly financed by grants from the Indian Trust Fund and the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) infrastructure preparation project facility, both hosted by the bank....
Bullet train service in Kerala by 2021 likely
03/06/2012 (The Times of India): KANPUR: Kerala will become first state in the country where the bullet train capable of running at a speed of 350 km/hour would be introduced. This high speed train would run on a 560-km-long stretch between Trivandrum and Kasaragod. The project would be a joint initiative of Kerala and the Union Governmentand carried out under the guidance of E Shreedharan, principal adviser, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. ..
High-speed train opponents seek to derail Morocco project
04/06/2012 (The Sun Daily - Malaysia): RABAT (June 4, 2012): Seven months after work officially began on the Arab world's first high-speed railway, opponents of the Moroccan project are building up steam, claiming the cash should be spent to help the poor. The 350-kilometre (215-mile) connection between Casablanca and Tangiers, via the capital Rabat, will slash journey times between the north African country's economic hubs from nearly six hours to just over two hours, with trains zooming along at up to 320 kilometres per hour (200 mph)...
Railways to start with Mumbai elevated rail
08/06/2012 (Business Standard - India): With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh setting the ball rolling for infrastructure projects, long-pending railway projects
take centre-stage again. These projects, if implemented within time, could turn around the fortunes of Indian Railways though there is a question mark over the timeline.
According to the target set by the Prime Minister, contracts for the Sonnagar-Dankuni section of the Dedicated Freight Corridor, elevated rail corridor in Mumbai and locomotive factories in
Madhepura and Marhowra should be awarded this year...
Phase 1 of Haramain railway project 45% complete
07/06/2012 (ConstructionWeehOnline): The project’s first phase involves all civil works related to the building of the railway including preparation of the
ground, construction of bridges, culverts and tunnels for the laying of the track.
Al Rajhi Alliance, which is a consortium of China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC), Al Arrab Contracting Company Ltd, and Al Suwailem Company, are carrying out the first phase works...
http://www.constructionweekonline.com/article-17221-phase-1-of-haramain-railway-project-45-complete/
Bullet train gets green signal
08/06/2012 (Khaleey Times - India):The ambitious Rs600billion Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project has finally been given the green signal.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who, along with six ministers, reviewed several gigantic infrastructure projects at a meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday, approved the idea of introducing the high-speed bullet train which will reduce the travel time between the two trading hubs to just four hours, benefiting thousands of Gujarati businessmen and workers. Initially, trains will run at the speed of 200km an hour but gradually, after significant improvements and upgradation of crucial signalling and telecommunication systems, the trains will run at speeds in excess of 350 km an hour...
Bombardier lobbying plan faces heat in South Africa
Russia Railways Unveils Multibillion - Dollar Oversea Projects
09/06/2012 (Rianovosti - Russia):Russia's railway monopoly, Russian Railways, plans to participate in various railway projects worth of total nearly $3 billion in the Middle East and Africa.
The projects will be implemented by Russian Railways' foreign projects subsidiary of Zarubezhstroitekhnologia (ZST), the head of the subsidiary Yuri Nikolsson said on Friday...
Rail line promises to be 'new Silk Road
09/06/2012 (ChinaDaily- China):
Legend has it that Chinese Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty (156-87 BC) once looked to thelands west of his vast empire and proclaimed
them to have people who placed "great value onthe rich produce of China".
That regal observation soon spurred exploration of those foreign lands,
leading to a network oftrading routes between the East and West that came
to be known as the Silk Road.
The historic route declined in the centuries that followed as maritime
trade increased, but thereare now renewed efforts to revive the continental
link - this time through the latest addition tothe Eurasian land bridge rail...
Turkey and Iraq to be connected by rail
12/06/2012 (Haber Monitor - Turkey):Iraqi Ministry of Transport, has announced his intention to mount in Iraq to Turkey through the Habur railroads.
Undersecretary of the Ministry Karim Al Nouri, Iraq and Turkey in the completion of the railway project to connect the railways said that it had reached an agreement with a French company...
Bulgaria's Railway Freight Services Formally on Privatization Table
12/06/2012 (Novinite.Com - Bulgaria): Bulgaria's Agency for Privatization and Post-Privatization Control has formally declared the cargo department of
the Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) for sale.
The privatization of BDZ Freight Services, the only even remotely profitable section of the vastly indebted BDZ, has been a highly controversial matter for the past few years....
Ankara train station tender set for July 17
14/06/2012 (Hurriyet Daily News - Turkey): The Turkish State Railways’ (TCDD) Build-Operate-Transfer model Ankara high-speed train station project is slated
to be tendered on July 17, according to Reuters.
According to the tender announcement in yesterday’s Official Gazette, the initial guarantee payment is set at $1.5 million...
BD, India sign deal to build Khulna-Mongla rail-line
14/06/2012 ( The Financial Express - India):India, under its credit line, will assist Bangladesh to construct a new rail-line between Khulna and Mongla to
connect the country's second seaport with railway network.
In connection with the assistance, the Bangladesh Railway (BR) signed a joint venture consultancy service contract with Consulting Engineers Group Ltd and Nippon Koei India Private Ltd of India
at Railway Bhaban in the city Thursday...
Rail investments to help lower transportation costs in Africa
21/06/2012 (Engineers News - South Africa): Rail infrastructure development in Africa can play a crucial role in the formation of trade corridors, as rail
routes are developed to link major cities, providing companies with access to large markets.
Frost & Sullivan environment and building technology group analyst James Milne said that such links would provide for cheaper passenger and freight transportation....
Greece sinks while other EU states struggle to spend Brussels billions
21/06/2012 (MSNBC.COM USA):It was meant to be one of the great rewards of membership. As the European Union expanded eastward over the past decade, Brussels set aside billions of euros to improve infrastructure - especially the fading communist-era railways - in 10 new member states.But a Reuters investigation has found that just one in 10 euros up for grabs since 2007 has been used, raising questions about Europe's grand plans to stimulate economic growth, reduce traffic deaths and cut carbon emissions...
Ethiopia, China, Djibouti sign $1.5 Billion Rail Deal
26/06/2012 (Somalilandpress - Somalia): ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopia signed a $1.5 billion agreement with state-run China Communications Construction Co. to build a railway to carry potash from mines being developed in the nation’s northeast.
The 360-kilometer (224-mile) line will transport passengers and freight along a route to neighboring Djibouti’s Tadjourah port, which is being built. It should be completed by July 2015, Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its website yesterday...
Russia in Congo Rail Project Talks
26/06/2012 (RiaNovosti - Russia):The Democratic Republic of Congo has held talks with Russian Railway monopoly RZD over possible railway projects and supply of passenger trains in the Central African country, RZD told Prime news agency on Tuesday.
An RZD delegation visited Congo on Monday to discuss construction of railroads in high temperature conditions...