CONSTRUCTION was officially launched in Barru, Indonesia, on August 12 on the first phase of the railway network on the island of Sulawesi.

 

The first line will run north along the coast from Makassar, the provincial capital of South Sulawesi, to the port of Pare-Pare. The total cost of the first phase is Rs 9 trillion ($US 769m) including rolling stock.

 

Last year the six provincial governments of Sulawesi signed a memorandum of understanding with the Indonesian Ministry of Transport to develop plans for a 2000km network on the island. The Makassar Pare-Pare line is being developed under a separate accord signed by the South Sulawesi government and the ministry in 2012.

 

 

 

 

 

OMAN Railway Company (ORC) announced a shortlist of prequalified bidders on August 13 for contracts to construct and equip the first phase of the Sultanate's 2244km national railway network.

 

According to a report in the Times of Oman on August 13, 18 international consortia have prequalified for the civil works contract, while five groups led by Alstom, Ansaldo STS, Bombardier, Siemens, and Thales are vying for the railway systems contracts.

 

ORC selected a shortlist from 34 prospective bidders including 95 local and international companies for the 171km line from Sohar to Buraimi.

 

Prequalified consortia will be invited to submit bids before the end of the month. Construction is expected to begin in the first quarter of next year with commissioning scheduled for 2018.

 

Italferr, Italy, is currently carrying out preliminary design of the entire network under a Rials 13.6m ($US 35m) contract awarded last year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHINA Northern Locomotive and Rolling Stock Corporation (CNR) has been awarded a contract to supply a fleet of 60 driverless trains for the first metro line in Beijing to be equipped for Unattended Train Operation (UTO).

 

The 10-station Yanfang Line will run for 15.2km from an interchange with the Fangshan Line at Cheliangduan station to Raolefu, where the line will divide into two branches serving Zhoukoudianzhen and Yanhua. Commercial services are expected to begin in December 2015.

 

This is the first UTO installation in China with all subsystems developed and supplied by a domestic manufacturer. The line will be equipped with communications-based train control (CBTC) supplied by Beijing Traffic Control Technology and CNR says automation systems on the line will meet IEC 62267 standards at Grade of Automation (GOA) Level 4.

 

The stainless-steel Type B trains will have a maximum speed of 80km/h. The first two trains will be delivered in May 2015.

 

 

 

  

 

KUWAIT's Ministry of Communications has finalised the network layout for the $US 20bn metro network in Kuwait City, according to a report in the Arabic daily newspaper Al Shahed.

 

The network will comprise three lines:

 

- Salwa – Kuwait University (23.7km, 19 stations)

 

- Hawally – Kuwait City (21km, 27 stations), and

 

- Kuwait International Airport – Abdullah Al Mubarak (24km, 15 stations).

 

The project will be implemented as a public-private partnership and construction is expected to begin in 2017.

 

 

 

 

INDIA's Rs 700bn ($US 11.6bn) rail market is now open to global manufacturers and investors, following cabinet approval for so-called Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

 

FDI permits foreign participation in a range of activities including high-speed, suburban corridor schemes, signalling, and infrastructure projects, as well as rolling stock manufacturing, but it excludes investment in rail operations and safety. Guidelines to foreign investors interested in FDI are being firmed up and will be announced shortly.

 

It is hoped that the infusion of foreign funds and technology will accelerate the implementation of big projects such as the long-awaited scheme to build electric and diesel locomotive factories at Madhepura and Marhoura respectively in the eastern state of Bihar. Requests for proposals (RFP) to build the two factories are likely to be floated shortly.

 

The new policy permits public sector railway undertakings, such as Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), to offload shares to foreign investors.

 

The policy has been a long time in the making, and is likely to accelerate plans to restructure Indian Railways by permitting the participation of private players and other stakeholders in the policy making decision. Such plans are expected to be rolled out soon.

 

 

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Nippon Sharyo USA has opened a third production hall at its plant in Rochelle, Illinois.

 

‘We will now be able to fabricate, weld, and assemble parts for our car bodyshells right here, making Nippon Sharyo a 100% Buy America compliant rail car builder’, said Nippon Sharyo Chairman Katsuyuki Ikushima at the inauguration on July 30. ‘From start to finish our rail cars will be made in the USA for use in the USA. I hope we will become the top passenger railcar builder in North America.’

 

The plant is currently building 88 double-deck coaches for Illinois and 42 for California under a 2012 contract supported by federal funding which requires 100% US production. ‘This is a state-of-the-art US railcar manufacturing facility that has been built from scratch – and now expanded – in just a few years, creating 400 jobs onsite and more throughout its domestic supply chain’, said Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph C Szabo. ‘Our Buy America program requires the railcars being built here to be 100% American-made, and Shop 3 allows Nippon Sharyo to fully meet these requirements and ramp up production through 2018.’

 

 

 

 

On August 8 the Ministry of Transport appointed a total of 20 sole or joint-venture bidders from the private sector to undertake technical feasibility studies for new railways totalling 4 676 km. For each of the six routes, the ministry has appointed up to 14 bidders to prepare studies, work not being allocated on an exclusive basis.

 

Including environmental assessments, project budget and construction timescale, studies are due to be completed within 180 days for the four routes where initial studies have already been completed. These are the 457 km from Açailândia in Maranhão state to Barcarena in Pará; Anápolis (Goiás) – Corinto (Minas Gerais), 775 km; Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais) – Guanambi (Bahía), 845 km; and Estrela D’Oeste (São Paulo) – Dourados (Matto Grosso do Sul), 659 km.

 

Where no initial work has been undertaken, studies are to be completed within 240 days. This applies to the 990 km Sinop (Mato Grosso) – Miritituba (Pará) and 950 km Sapezal (Mato Grosso) – Porto Velho (Rondônia) routes.

 

Once completed, the studies will be considered by a selection committee representing the Ministry of Transport, national transport agency ANTT, railway construction corporation Valec and planning agency EPL. Within 30 days, the committee is to decide which studies would form the basis of any future tendering, as well as the remuneration to be made for their preparation.

 

According to the ministry, properly conducting these studies should ensure the success of the bidding process, as it will provide interested parties with ‘a solid basis’ for developing their proposals, while attracting potential bidders for future concessions.

 

SOUTH AFRICAN state-owned rail and port operator Transnet has secured a Rand 6bn ($US 563m) funding guarantee from US export credit agency US-Exim to fund the acquisition of 233 diesel-electric locomotives from GE Transportation.

 

The guarantee will help Transnet to raise funds in the markets for GE's share of its massive Rand 50bn order for 599 electric and 465 diesel locomotives which was announced in March.

 

"This is a massive thumbs-up from the international investor community, affirming Transnet's creditworthiness and South Africa's attractiveness as an investment destination," Transnet group chief executive Mr Brian Molefe said last week.

 

The funds – to be raised through bank loans backed by the guarantee – will be drawn down over three years as the locomotives are built. The repayment period is 14 years.

 

The locomotive deal is a key component of Transnet's fleet renewal programme, which falls under the company's seven-year Rand 312bn Market Demand Strategy.

 

Most of the locomotives will be built at Transnet Rail Engineering facilities, in line with the company's long-term ambition to become an original equipment manufacturer.

 

The new GE locomotives will be based on the company's successful Evolution Series product platform.

 

 

 

 

 

 

IZMIR Metropolitan Municipality has awarded Hyundai-Rotem a $US 80m contract to supply 38 low-floor LRVs for two new light rail lines, which will serve the districts of Konak and Karsiyaka.

 

The Karsiyaka line will be 16.6km long with 19 stations, while the 9.7km Konak line will have 16 stations. Both lines are being built by Turkish construction company Gülermak and are due to be commissioned in 2017.

 

Hyundai-Rotem says the contract represents its first order for light rail vehicles from an overseas customer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

WEST MIDLANDS transport authority Centro announced on August 14 that its new £40m fleet of CAF Urbos LRVs will be introduced on the Midland Metro on September 5, when the first four vehicles will enter passenger service on the 20km line from Birmingham City Centre to Wolverhampton.

 

The 20 five-section low-floor vehicles will replace the fleet of 16 AnsaldoBreda T69 trams supplied for the opening of the line in 1999, allowing frequencies to be increased and providing additional capacity for the 1.4km extension from Birmingham Snow Hill to New Street station, which is due to open in 2015.

 

The vehicles are being assembled at CAF's Zaragoza plant in Spain and are being delivered to Midland Metro's Wednesbury depot at a rate of one unit per month.

 

Each Urbos vehicle accommodates 210 passengers, compared with 156 on the T69. Centro says that the introduction of the new LRVs and operation of 10 services per hour per direction will increase capacity by 40%, easing overcrowding during peak periods.

 

Centro also announced on August 14 that preliminary works have begun on a further 1.3km extension from Birmingham New Street to Centenary Square. The £90m project is being funded through the British government's Local Growth Fund and Local Enterprise Partnerships in the West Midlands and is the first phase of the extension to Five Ways and Edgbaston.

 

 

 

 

 

THE government of the Australian state of New South Wales has issued an international invitation for expressions of interest for a contract to supply 65 eight-car EMUs for inter-city routes.

 

The $A 2.8bn fleet will be employed on NSW TrainLink services from Sydney to the South Coast, Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Newcastle.

 

The trains will be delivered between 2019 and 2024, allowing the withdrawal of V-Set trains and redeployment of the more modern Oscar EMUs on the Sydney Trains suburban network, replacing other life-expired rolling stock.

 

The contract will also include fitting out maintenance depot and ongoing servicing of the fleet, including cleaning.

 

The closing date for expressions of interest is September 15 and a formal invitation to tender will be issued later this year.

 

"We met with prospective manufacturers in May at an industry briefing and it was clear there was a lot of enthusiasm among manufacturers from Australia and overseas to be involved in this significant project," says NSW transport minister Mrs Gladys Berejiklian. "Buying proven technology from an established manufacturer ensures customers will be enjoying a more comfortable ride sooner than if brand new trains were commissioned from scratch, as the Waratah trains were."

 

The NSW government has not specified whether the new trains will be single or double-deck, although the preference for an off-the-shelf design suggests a single-deck train is the more likely option.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A CEREMONY was held in Angola on August 13 to mark the completion of a project to rebuild the 1344km Benguela Railway from Luau on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo to Lobito on the Atlantic coast.

 

Services on the 1067mm-gauge line ceased during Angola's 26-year civil war, which ended in 2002, and the infrastructure was badly damaged during the conflict.

 

In 2007 work began on a $US 1.83bn reconstruction project, which was financed by the Chinese government and implemented by the 20th Bureau of China Railway Construction Corporation. Trains returned to the Huambo – Benguela section in 2011 and Huambo – Kuito reopened in 2012.

 

The project included the delivery of new locomotives and rolling stock supplied by Chinese manufacturers.

 

 

 

TRANSMASHHOLDING (TMH) presented the first four-unit 4ES5 electric locomotive for Russian Railways (RZD) to the governor of the Rostov region Mr Vasiliy Golubev, and RZD president Mr Vladimir Yakunin at Rostov-on-Don station earlier this month.

 

The 13.12MW unit, which TMH says is the world's most powerful dc electric freight locomotive, was built at the nearby Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Plant.

 

TMH says the locomotive will be capable of hauling 7100-tonne trains on steeply-graded routes in eastern Russia, such as the Baikal-Amur Main Line and the Trans-Siberian Railway, where the regenerative braking system is expected to reduce traction power consumption by 15-17%.

 

The 4ES5 is equipped with microprocessor control, a telediagnostics system for remote fault-finding and independent traction control on each axle to optimise haulage capability.

 

TMH says it expects certification to be completed by November.