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No.415issue(2013.03.08) |
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Construction set to start on New Taipei light rail systemTweetTAIPEI, Taiwan -- Construction of a light rail system in New Taipei is expected to start this year once the Executive Yuan has given the go-ahead for the project, the Bureau of High Speed Rail under the transportation ministry said yesterday. The New Taipei City Government's plan is to build a light rail system that will serve as an extension from the Tamsui Station of the Mass Rapid Transit system. The two lines will cover a total of 13.99 km and will have 20 stations, as well as a maintenance workshop, the bureau said.The first phase of construction will comprise a 9.55-section that will be composed of elevated and ground-level sections, the bureau said, adding that this part will be completed in six years after construction begins. The remaining 4.44-km ground-level section will include six stations and will be finished in 11 years, the bureau said. The Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and the New Taipei City Government will be responsible for meeting the NT$15.3 billion (US$518 million) cost of the project, it said.
China State Const. Eng. Corp Ltd : The First Road-and-Light Rail Cable-Stayed Bridge in China Successfully Clo..Recently, the Chongqing Fenfangwan Yangtze River Bridge was successfully closed. This is the first road-and-light rail cable-stayed bridge in China which is constructed by CSCEC. The Chongqing Fenfangwan Bridge, designed as parallel steel wire stay cables, two pylons, and semi-floating structural system, has a total length of about 900 meters, with an overall consumption of steel of 26,000 tons. The bridge is divided into two layers of decks, the upper layer being for two-way and six traffic lanes, and the lower deck for passageway of Chongqing Rail 5. The Bridge, being part of Chongqing City's urban development strategies, is expected to open for traffic at the end of June this year, and it would play a significant role in promoting the economic development in the surrounding areas. (from the 6th Bureau & China Steel Structure)
China interested in concession on Belgrade-Budapest railBELGRADE -- The construction of a 350 km high speed rail on Corridor 10 between Belgrade and Budapest would cost between 1.5 and two billion euros, Tanjug is reporting. The news agency is quoting sources with the Serbian Ministry of Transportation who said that China was interested in the realization of this project. It would be financed by a Chinese loan, but that country also showed an interest "in some other kinds of participation, such as concession construction". Interest rates of the Chinese loans range between 1.5 and 3 percent. The length of the rail section through Serbia would be 184 km, and 166 km through Hungary. The ministry announced that a working group will be formed soon to deal with the preparations for the project of construction of the Belgrade-Budapest railway allowing speeds over 200 km/h. The working group will comprise representatives of the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Serbian Railways and experts. The journey between Belgrade and Budapest now takes more than eight hours with the average speed of 43 kmph, while the new railway with the speed of 130 kmph would reduce the travel to three hours. The Ministry of Transportation said that the high speed railway between Belgrade and Subotica, northern Serbia near the border with Hungary, could be built in four to five years, and the draft of the main project would cost EUR 5.8 million. The project envisages reconstruction and modernization of the railway. The works, without the new bridge over the Danube River, would cost around EUR 885 million. Serbian Transport Minister Milutin Mrkonji? and Hungarian Ambassador to Serbia Oszkar Nikowitz agreed Monday on the need to form a working group to deal with preparations for the construction of a Belgrade-Budapest railway. After meeting at the Serbian Ministry on Monday, the two officials told Tanjug that it is in both countries' interest that it be a trans-European railway route connecting Serbia to the Western Europe.
Lanka: China expands new port, Hambantota with rail linksAfter losing Burma to the West, the Lankan port of Hambantota and the Pakistani port of Gwadar have become more important for China. If China wants to convert the ocean into a Chinese lake and if Beijing wants to reach the Pakistani Arabian Sea via land, Gwadar is very important for Sino trade and business. If China is to avoid the mess in the Malaca Straits (where Chinese shipping is in sight of Bharati guns in the Andaman islands) China needs Gwadar. The port of Hambantota is an important pitstop for Chinese shipping as it traverses the long distance from the South China Sea and the sea near the Maldives and through Lanka.Beijing’s Export-Import Bank, the largest bank in the world will provide a loan of $278.2 million to Sri Lanka to expand the port and link it to the other cities via rail. Building the new port has stoked tensions in the region. Big bully Bharat is chagrined by Hambantota and Gwadar. Linking Hambantota with the biggest coastal town of Matara will further expand the growing Chinese influence on the island nation that has just emerged from a twenty year civil war stoked by India which funded, trained and supported the LTTE Tamil Tiger terrorists. It was Pakistani arms and “advisors” and Chinese equipment delivered on the battlefield by Pakistan which defeated the insurgency. Pakistani forces were also on the ground in Lanka defending the integrity of the island nation. The $59 billion Lankan economy has been increasingly relying on Beijing, both for financing and technical expertise for reconstruction efforts like the port and railway projects. Delhi fears that the $1.5 billion port gives the Chinese navy a strategic boost in the region. Lanka has rejected Delhi’s concerns and said China’s presence was strictly for business reasons, not political. Delhi had the opportunity to build the port and help Lanka–Bharat opted to try to bifurcate the tiny island on religious lines and gobble up the island. Bharat failed to divide the island and now Lanka is friendlier to Beijing and Islamabad than Delhi.
China to provide loan for rail track to key Sri Lankan portChina's Export-Import Bank will provide a loan of $278.2 million to Sri Lanka to help lay a rail track to a key port which Beijing is building that has stoked concern in neighboring India. The port of Hambantota on the southern tip of the Indian Ocean island nation is envisioned as a refueling and service point for cargo ships, which pass a few kilometers away on one of the world's busiest East-West shipping lanes.Sri Lanka's finance ministry said on Tuesday that the Chinese loan will be used to construct a 27 km single-line track connecting Hambantota to Matara, the biggest coastal town in the south. "The demand for transport between the Southern Province and other provinces of the country will increase due to developments in the Southern region and operations of the Hambantota Port," the finance ministry said. Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa been pushing for development of infrastructure projects in the south, since the end of the civil war in May 2009. The $59 billion economy has been increasingly relying on China, both for financing and technical expertise for reconstruction projects. Under the new railway loan, $200 million will be provided under a preferential buyer's credit facility and the balance $78.2 million will be a Chinese government concessional loan facility, the Sri Lankan finance ministry said in a statement. The loan will be offered at a 2 percent annual interest rate with a repayment period of 20 years, including a five year grace period. China has loaned $1.5 billion for construction of the Hambantota port and $209 million for a nearby airport, which will be launched on March 18. Beijing's expanding influence in Sri Lanka has caused concern in India, which feels hemmed in by a string of similar port developments stretching from Myanmar to Pakistan and that it fears give the Chinese navy a strategic boost in the region. Rajapaksa has rejected New Delhi's concerns and said China's presence was strictly for business reasons, not political.
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China grips technology to brake world fastest train: scientistBEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- China has mastered braking technology to stop the world's fastest trains that travel a maximum speed of 500 kilometers per hour (km.p.h.), a railway scientist said on Thursday. The eddy-current braking testing system has been completed and put into use, Li Heping, a senior researcher of China Academy of Railway Sciences, told Xinhua News Agency in an exclusive interview.Eddy-current braking, a high-end technology for rail transportation, is used in high-speed trains traveling at 200 km.p.h. or above. The technology is under development in countries that have high-speed railways. Chinese researchers can make dynamic simulation to brake high-speed trains at a maximum speed of 500 km.p.h., and launch testing research of eddy-current braking in all speeds and situations, he said. Li noted that China is internationally advanced in overall technologies of high-speed trains. "Chinese high-speed railways are safe. I, as a researcher, travel by high-speed trains whenever possible. I hope fellow countrymen have confidence in the safety of China's high-speed trains," said Li. The country's first high-speed railway, linking the Chinese capital Beijing and the neighboring port city Tianjin, was inaugurated on Aug. 1, 2008, with trains traveling at a speed that could reach 350 km per hour. In December last year, the high-speed line linking Beijing and Guangzhou -- the world's longest -- went into service, bringing China's total high-speed rail network in operation to a length of more than 9,300 km. China plans to have 18,000 km of high-speed lines in operation by 2015. Tests show China's new-generation high-speed trains can run as fast as 486.1 km.p.h., a record high in the world. Li also disclosed China will put dual-powered high-speed trains into operation next year, with self-owned intellectual properties. The trains, driven by electric force and cells, will mainly be used for inter-city routes traveling 200-250 km.p.h., leaving no emissions. Dual-powered trains are fueled with cells in areas without electric traction. "The technology will fill the technology gap in the world and mark a major breakthrough in the research of high-speed train dynamics," said Li.
First CSR cars arrive in Buenos Aires ARGENTINA: An initial batch of 41 coaches built by CSR of China for the San Martín commuter route was unloaded in Buenos Aires on February 28. The shipment also included a further two CSR Qishuyan diesel locomotives for the San Martín route. Minister of the Interior & Transport Florencio Randazzo said that deliveries of the 160 coaches and 24 locomotives that CSR is supplying would be completed within ‘90 or 120 days’. The new San Martín fleet represented a US$133m investment by the federal government, he said, of which 15% had been paid in advance. The balance was to be provided over a 10-year term at an interest rate of 7?5%, including a two-year grace period.Randazzo added that the 25 nine-car EMUs that CSR Sifang is building for the Sarmiento route and the 30 six-car EMUs for the Mitre network were expected to arrive within 13 months. ‘We are going to replace all the old trainsets and double capacity’, he said. In the meantime, deployment of the new high-platform San Martín cars on Mitre route was under consideration to replace the ‘worn out’ Mitre fleet. The federal government has also acquired passenger rolling stock for the medium-distance routes from Buenos Aires to Rosario and Mar del Plata. ‘We are now tendering the track renewal works’, said Randazzo.
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Taiwan: Seven contractors and 12 officials of TRA charged with corruptionOn 27 February 2013, seven contractors and 12 officials of Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) were charged with corruption. These defendants, including Chung Chao-hsiung and Huang Ming-jen who held Deputy Director-General posts at TRA, were alleged to have involved in three bribery cases. These 12 TRA officials were alleged to have obtained bribes from contractors, including Chuan Sheng Construction. A winning bid of around TWD 800mn (EUR 20.51mn USD 26.98mn) had been submitted by Chuang Sheng Construction with the aid from TRA officials. Chuan Sheng Construction won a bridge reconstruction project on South Link Line.
India: Proposal unveiled to tie freight charges to fuel pricesIndia's Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal unveiled a proposal to link freight charges to fuel prices, effective 1 April 2013. The move is predicted to lead to an average 5.8% increase in freight rates. Once the new charges are implemented, the revised freight rates for iron and steel will stand at INR 1,541.50 (EUR 21.75 USD 28.62) per tonne, urea at INR 920 per tonne, both coal and cement at INR 724.80 each and the freight rates for iron ore (domestic) will be at INR 664 per tonne. According to Bansal, the freight rates will be revised biannually, leaving passenger fares unchanged. Bansal further stated a mechanism will be needed to neutralise the impact of fuel prices on operating expenses.
China: Zhuhai orders Sirio trams from CNR Dalian-AnsaldoBreda JVZhuhai is the first customer for low-floor 'Sirio' trams which are being manufactured by a joint venture of CNR Dalian and AnsaldoBreda. They will be fitted with the TramWave surface current collection system. The total number of trams to be ordered was not specified."
China: CNY 2.5bn unsecured bills to be issued by China Railway MaterialsChina Railway Materials has appointed China Construction Bank as the lead underwriter and bookrunner and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank as the joint lead underwriter for a planned bills issuance on 29 February 2013. With a maturity term of 270 days, the unsecured bills are valued at CNY 2.50bn (EUR 305.13mn USD 401.46mn). The company, which is involved in supply chain services for railway materials and steel products, will use CNY 1.7bn of the proceeds for working capital replenishment and CNY 800mn for bank loan repayment.
Indian Railway freight grows up by 5.1%Freight loading by Indian Railways during the fiscal 2011-12 registered an increase of 5.1%. The Railways carried a total freight of 969.1 MMT as against 921.7 MMT in 2010-11. The total freight target for 2012-13 has been fixed at 1025 MMT. During April to November, 2012, Indian Railways carried 647.1 MMT of revenue earning freight traffic. This is 4.7% higher than the traffic carried (618.05 MMT) during corresponding period of the previous year.
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Japan to provide P30-B loan for LRT-1 extensionMANILA, Philippines - The governments of the Philippines and Japan are set to ink a P30- billion loan agreement next month to bankroll the acquisition of trains for the P60.6-billion Light Rail Transit line 1 (LRT-1) extension to Bacoor in Cavite. DOTC Undersecretary Jose Lotilla said in an interview with reporters on the sidelines of the pre-bid conference of the Cavite LRT-1 extension project that the tentative date of the signing of the loan package with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is on March 15.“We expect to sign the loan denominated in Japanese yen worth roughly about P30 billion on March 15,” Lotilla stressed. He added that the terms of the concessional loan are still being finalized but it would be include a provision requiring Japanese companies to be involved in the deal. Proceeds of the loan through an official development assistance (ODA) scheme of the Japanese government amounting to P30 billion would be used to acquire up to 39 new Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs) for the project. The Cavite extension project would increase the span of LRT-1 to 32.4 kilometers from 20.7 kilometers with a new south endpoint in Niog, Bacoor, Cavite instead of Baclaran. The extension project includes 10 stations, 10.5 kilometers of viaduct, support beams, and three intermodal facilities. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Approximately 10.5 kilometers of the Cavite Extension System would be elevated and 1.2 kilometers would be at grade level serving nearly four million residents of Para?aque, Las Pi?as, and the Province of Cavite. The cost was placed at about P30.6 billion. Lotilla said the DOTC has decided to pursue the construction of 10 stations instead of an option of only eight stations. The stations would include Redemptorist church in Baclaran, MIA Road, Asiaworld, N. Aquino, Dr. Santos, Manuyo Uno, Las Pinas, Zapote, Talaba, and finally Niog. Last November, the DOTC’s special bids and awards committee has cleared the participation of the Light Rail Manila Consortium, MTD-Samsung Group, San Miguel Infrastructure Resources Inc., and DMCI Holdings Inc. after beating the Oct. 22 deadline. The Light Rail Manila consortium is led by First Pacific’s Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) with 33 percent followed by diversified conglomerate Ayala Corp. with 33 percent, AC Infra Holdings Corp. with 12 percent, Macguarie Infra Holdings Philippines PTE Ltd with 10 percent, and RATP Development SA with one participation unit. The group’s railway infrastructure would be handled by Bouygues travaux Publics SA, Obrascon Huarte Lain SA, and Leighton Contractors Asia Ltd. while the railway system would be handled by Alstom Transport Sa and Ansaldo STS s PA. The operation and maintenance would be handled by RATP Development SA. On the other hand, the MTD-Samsung group is composed of MTD Capital Bhd. with 33 percent followed by Samsung C&T Corp. with 20 percent, Union Equities Inc. with 15 percent, DM Wenceslao & Associates with 12 percent, and Primewater Infra Corp. with 20 percent. The railway infrastructure would be handled by MTD Capital and Samsung C&T and system by Hyundai Rotern Co. The operation and management will be handled by Seoul Metro. Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. through San Miguel Infra Resources Inc. lead the group composed of GS Engineering and construction Corp. and POSCO Engineering and Construction Co ltd. The railway set would be taken care of POSCO Engineering Co Ltd. and the railway system would be handled by Korea Railroad Corp.
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