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Found 138 bulletins. The archive was last updated on 18 October 2005 and there are 2345 bulletins.
California Starts HST Public Hearings Evaluating the environmental consequences of building a $25 billion statewide high-speed rail system is anything but speedy. A public hearing in Escondido this week will kick off a two-year environmental analysis for the rail system's San Diego-to-Los Angeles section and launch a process that ultimately could culminate in laying 700 miles of track in California by 2020. The proposed high-speed train line eventually would whisk San Diego County residents to the state capital of Sacramento in three hours at speeds of 320km/h. (January 16th 2001)
Alstom Parteners with Siemens on AGV? Alstom's next-generation high speed train, the AGV or Automotrice à Grande Vitesse, could turn into a partnership with Siemens which makes the German 330 km/h ICE3. Alstom has budgeted between €30m and €50m (US$26m-$43m) to develop the prototype. The 350 km/h AGV will be tested early next year between Lille and Calais in France. (December 16th 2000, thanks Richard Mlynarik)
Oz: Speedrail Project Cancelled The Australian federal government has abandoned plans for a high speed rail link between Sydney and Canberra. The Speedrail consortium was to use TGVs to run between Sydney and Canberra in 81 minutes. Associated with the decision was the rejection of a second international airport for Sydney. Both projects would have lowered the price of Sydney's Kingsford Smith International airport, which is to be privatised in late 2001. However, the government will consider a larger 1300km high speed rail project linking Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, the Gold Coast and Brisbane. David Bromage's comment: The state governments and the business community are furious about this. The logic of a larger project defies belief. If they baulked at the cost of a 270km line to Canberra, why propose a 1300km line all in one hit? See also articles at Canberra Times, and ABC; 1, 2 (December 15th 2000, thanks David Bromage)
EC Eyes Bombardier-Adtranz Merger The European Commission is expected on Wednesday the sixth to open a full four-month antitrust investigation into Bombardier's plans to buy Adtranz for €725m ($644m). A four-month second stage probe usually ends with the Commission extracting additional remedies from the companies as the price of clearance. Adtranz' "fixed installations" (ie electrical) unit was sold to Balfour Beatty in September. (December 5th 2000, thanks Tobias Köhler)
CP Sells CPR? Canadian Pacific may sell its railway and hotell chains as part of a restructuring to focus on energy, but not untill a few years. CP, a sprawling conglomerate which started as just the railway, has in recent years disposed of CP Airlines, trucking company CP Express & Transport, Algoma Steel, Maple Leaf Mills, and waste disposal company Laidlaw. CP's stock has quietly levitated 51 per cent from its low of $20.82 in 1995, reflecting the soaring profitability and successful global expansion of its hotel, oil and gas and transportation divisions. See also more Globe stories: 1, 2 (December 1st 2000)
Contract Signed for 1410km Oz Rwy About 100 years after the idea was first proposed, three Australian governments have signed an agreement with a private consortium to build the 1410km standard gauge Alice Springs to Darwin railway. The contract between the Commonwealth, South Australian and Northern Territory governments, and the AustralAsia Railway Corporation was signed in Adelaide October 18th. The Commonwealth and NT governments are providing $165 million each and SA $150 million. The remainder of the $1.2 billion will be private capital. The project is still dependant on $700m to be approved by banks funding the Asia-Pacific Transport Consortium, which will build the line. Construction is to commence in December, with the line to be completed in early 2004. See also map, Northern Territory official site and PR , Ghan PR. (October 23rd 2000, thanks David Bromage)
British Connex says it will go it alone on a project to revamp south-east London commuter stations after Railtrack, its partner in the scheme, said it was unable to provide funding. Richard Talbot, Connex commercial manager for Chatham and Medway, told dismayed local council members that the Pounds 5m plan, announced last year, had been "indefinitely suspended" because Connex had failed to agree on financing with Railtrack. Work on the project should have begun by the autumn of 1999. (October 1st 2000)
Railtrack may be banned from making tens of millions of pounds through the sale of its land to supermarkets and other businesses anxious to buy prime sites near lines. The rail regulator, Tom Winsor, has revealed a plan to make sure the infrastructure company cannot dispose of assets that might be needed to improve the rail system. (October 1st 2000)
The British government is bailing out Railtrack with a massive pounds 4bn handout of taxpayers' money to renew the flagship London-to-Glasgow line. Soaring costs of the scheme to upgrade the west-coast route mean the company will receive an extra pounds 2.6bn from the Treasury - three times more than the original figure. (October 1st 2000)
Bombardier Buys Adtranz
Richard Mlynarik has found a great analysis of the deal written by Jan Ravensberger at the Montreal Gazette. Some of the highlights of the article are these:
- Bombardier appears to have paid a relatively low price, less than 23 per cent of Adtranz's 1999 revenue of $5 billion. News of the talks had leaked a few weeks ago, and auto-industry analysts had been expecting DaimlerChrysler to pocket a higher price, between 25 and 30 per cent of Adtranz annual revenue.
- French rail-gear manufacturer Alstom SA recently acquired 51 per cent of Fiat SpA's rail unit, the largest supplier of tilt-train systems, and is credited with 56 per cent of the European market. Adtranz had been pegged as No. 2, with 17 per cent, with Bombardier running third at 11 per cent. Bombardier cut 1,200 rail-car jobs in Europe last year, mainly in Germany, to boost profits.
- Some investors had become critical of Bombardier's dependence for profit growth on the notoriously cyclical aircraft business. Aviation activities now account for 80 per cent of Bombardier's operating profits. A 5% profit margin at Adtranz in three years will help balance Bombardier's activities. Adtranz is expected to break even this year, after losing money since 1996.
Bombardier, the Canadian aerospace and transportation group, has confirmed the acquisition of Adtranz, DaimlerChrysler's rail equipment division, for $725m (C$1.1bn). The deal marks the culmination of the German-US carmaker's drive to rationalise and turn around its chronically loss-making rail activities. ABB, the Swedish-Swiss engineering group, sold its half of Adtranz to Daimler last year. The proceeds from the planned disposal of some of Adtranzís businesses, namely Fixed installations and Signalling, currently in the process of being sold to other parties, would reduce the net purchase price for Bombardier. See also press release, and Globe & Mail story. (August 4th 2000)
Bombardier has confirmed that it is in talks with European passenger rail manufacturers, amid speculation that it is buying Adtranz, DaimlerChrysler AG's rail systems unit. Bombardier vice-president Michel Lord says that despite the company's efforts to be a player as Europe's passenger train industry consolidates, no deal has been struck with Adtranz. "We've been in talks with various parties and this could continue," Mr. Lord said. "But there's absolutely no development there." Adtranz reecently won a number of new orders. See also Manager-Magazin story in German. (July 21st 2000, thanks Tobias Köhler)