Posted on 08 March 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
Many of the small towns in Tasmania have beautifully maintained old buildings dating back to when the British first settled the island. Hobart, apart from being the second oldest city in Australia, has something in common with Cape Town: it lies at the foot of an imposing mountain (Mount Wellington), apparently first also named Table [...] [...more]
Posted on 19 February 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
Faiveley Transport Australia has signed a lease for a new office and equipment repair and maintenance facility in Wellington, New Zealand. The new plant will be fully functional by the end of February in preparation for the delivery of the first Matangi emu trains for the Wellington train network, currently being produced by Hyundai Rotem [...] [...more]
Posted on 05 February 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
Plans have been drawn up for light rail lines to service Sydney suburbs and regional New South Wales in a bid to provide cost-effective public transport. The state government has made public its ’study brief” into proposed extensions of the light rail to Dulwich Hill and through the central business district. The 5.6km extension from [...] [...more]
Posted on 05 February 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
Emergency equipment is being flown in from England to combat a braking problem with Melbourne’s Siemens-built trains that authorities fear could cripple the network. Trains have been overshooting some of Melbourne’s stations by up to 90 metres, but Metro Trains CEO Andrew Lezala says passenger safety is not compromised. Eight of 36 Siemens sets have [...] [...more]
Posted on 05 February 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
Amateur and professional photographers from around the world are invited to enter Trainspotting: the Powerhouse Museum Photo Competition 2010 for a chance to win the top prize of A$5,000 (Australian dollars). A panel will judge the entries based on composition, technique, content and creativity. Category winners will receive A$2,000. Winning and highly commended entries will be [...] [...more]
Posted on 01 February 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
An A$400m concrete resleepering project on rail lines between Melbourne and Brisbane has been completed. An immediate benefit will be uninterrupted train services during extreme summer temperatures. The work involved replacing 2.2 million wooden sleepers with concrete on the north-south corridor, A$100m concrete re-sleepering between the New South Wales border and Acacia Ridge Queensland, as [...] [...more]
Posted on 22 January 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
The Economic Regulation Authority (ERA) has given an official go-ahead to Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) to share its Cloudbreak rail line in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. The government agency approved a rail access segregation agreement by FMG subsidiary Pilbara Infrastructure Pty Ltd (TPI), submitted in December. The arrangement would allow other mining concerns in the [...] [...more]
Posted on 12 December 2009 by Railways Africa Editor
According to the website of the Department of Transport in the state of Victoria (Australia), contracts worth A$9 billion have been signed with Melbourne’s new commuter rail operator Metro and Yarra Trams operator Keolis. Among train projects detailed is a plan to remove about 12 seats from each of the 29 six-coach Alstom sets bought [...] [...more]
Posted on 06 December 2009 by Railways Africa Editor
Auckland’s long-awaited NZ$1 billion rail electrification project is back on track, with government funding approval to buy a fleet of fast, low-polluting new trains. Transport minister Steven Joyce has announced cabinet agreement to spend NZ$500 million on new electric rolling stock, to be running by 2013. This is in addition to a previous commitment of [...] [...more]
Posted on 29 November 2009 by Railways Africa Editor
The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) spent some $20 million in the course of the longest single shutdown – 17 to 20 November – on the Hunter Valley rail corridor since it took up management of the network. Approximately 70 individual projects were carried out. The work comprised a mix of ARTC maintenance and upgrades [...] [...more]
