AUSTRALIA: 'The biggest shake up to the state's railways in a generation' was announced by New South Wales Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian on May 15. The 'Fixing the Trains' initiative will see RailCorp replaced by two new organisations over the next 12 to 18 months. Sydney Trains is to be created to take over suburban services, while NSW Trains would operate long-distance inter-city and regional trains. The government hopes the new organisations will be better placed to tailor services to meet different customer needs. 'RailCorp has tried to be everything to everyone and failed', said Berejiklian. A new Customer Service Division is to be created from July 1, while responsibility for construction and major projects will be transferred to Transport for NSW, which was created last year with responsibility for policy and planning. Around 750 RailCorp middle-management jobs are to go through voluntary redundancies. Train cleaning procedures will be revised to eliminate legacy working practices, with 870 staff transferring to a specialist unit and 'commercial' benchmarks introduced. The government is predicting that patronage on its rail services will grow by 50% over the next 25 years, and says meeting this demand would be 'unsustainable without reform'. It claims RailCorp's operating costs are 50% higher per passenger-km than comparable international systems, with rolling stock maintenance costs 30% higher per vehicle-km. 'RailCorp is currently financially unsustainable', said Berejiklian. 'It costs A$10m a day to run, with costs rising three times as fast as the number of passenger journeys.' Restructuring aims 'to give the people of NSW the world-class rail system they deserve', said Berejiklian. 'This is all about making customers the focus of the railways, not the bureaucracy. These changes will align rail services to customers' needs and make it easier for rail employees to do their job. Unless we take drastic action, things will continue to get worse'. Berejiklian said more changes are planned, but privatisation 'is not our policy.'

PAKISTAN: Private-sector logistics firm Premier Mercantile Services has been awarded a grant to study the feasibility of acquiring its own locomotive fleet. The US Trade & Development Agency signed the US$628 000 agreement on May 15. A US contractor is to be selected to undertake a feasibility study which would provide PMS with an assessment of future freight volumes, security and communications needs and financing requirements. Trains would initially operate between the port of Karachi and Lahore, one of Pakistan's most important freight corridors. According to USTDA, the project 'also contemplates the eventual expansion of the project northbound from Lahore into Afghanistan'. National operator Pakistan Railways is suffering from a critical shortage of operational locomotives, with plans to acquire up to 150 from US or Chinese suppliers mired in political debate for many years. As a result, PR has agreed to allow PMS to use its own locomotives to haul PR wagons. 'Assisting PMS with its planning for locomotive acquisitions will help improve trade flows and access to the international market for northern Pakistan and potentially Afghanistan', said USTDA Regional Director Henry Steingass. 'This project also represents significant opportunities for US companies in Pakistan's growing transportation sector.'

UK: Transport authority Merseytravel announced on May 14 that it had begun procurement of a new fleet of suburban electric multiple-units for the 750 V DC third rail Merseyrail network centred on Liverpool. Recruitment consultants have been asked to identify candidates for the post of Project Director. 'Getting the right person to oversee the project and creating the right project governance arrangements are the first priorities', according to Merseytravel Chair Councillor Mark Dowd. Expressions of interest in supplying 150to 250 vehicles have been invited 'from manufacturers worldwide'. Merseytravel plans to launch the tendering process later this summer, with delivery of the new trains expected by 2017. The current fleet of 58 three-car Class 507 and 508 EMUs dating from 1978-80 is owned by Angel Trains and leased to Merseyrail until March 2015, with an option for extension to March 2018 when they will be nearing the end of their expected lifespan. The cost of the new trains is estimated at €120m to €325m plus taxes. Some of the funding for the new fleet will be provided by the national Department for Transport, but it is expected that Merseytravel will also need to resort to borrowing. Subscribe to Rail Business Intelligence for full coverage of the UK rail market.

USA: A groundbreaking ceremony was held on May 11 to mark the start of work on a 2·4 km extension of Denver RTD’s I-225 light rail line from Nine Mile to Iliff. Participating in the event were representatives from RTD, Colorado Department of Transportation and SEMA Construction. The light rail extension is being combined with CDoT’s programme to widen the orbital highway from Parker Road (Nine Mile) to Mississippi Avenue, enabling the two schemes to share resources and minimise inconvenience to local residents and travellers. The existing I-225 branch to Nine Mile forms a spur off RTD’s Southeast Line, and a 16·9 km northwards extension to Peoria with eight stations forms part of RTD’s FasTracks expansion strategy. This would provide interchange at Peoria with the EastRail commuter rail line to Denver Airport which is now under construction. Although no timetable had been set for construction of the I-225 extension, RTD received an unsolicited proposal that the short section to the first station at Iliff should be built in conjunction with CDoT’s road widening. After ‘the proposal was found to have merit’, RTD issued a request for proposals in early May to launch a competitive bidding process, with the aim of awarding a formal construction contract in the summer. The light rail works will be funded by $90m out of the $305m of short-term funds which had been allocated in the 2011 FasTracks Financial Plan for work on projects not yet in construction or under contract. As well as building the tracks along the highway corridor and rebuilding two bridges, the work will include a new station and bus-rail interchange at Iliff, together with a 600-space car park. With LRVs running every 15 min, the extension is expected to attract around 1 400 additional riders per day.

SINGAPORE: Construction of the Tuas West Extension project was officially launched when Minister for Transport Lui Tuck Yew attended a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the future Tuas Link metro station on May 4. 'Over the next five years, there will be a new section of rail line opening every year, bringing about greater capacity and convenience to commuters', said the Minister. The 7·5 km extension of the 49·7 km East -West Line from Joo Koon is scheduled to be completed in 2016. The line will be elevated on a viaduct which will be integrated with a 4·8 km road viaduct along Pioneer Road, increasing road capacity to cope with anticipated growth in traffic. The metro extension is predicted to reduce travel times to the Tuas area by up to 35 min, with the four new stations at Gul Circle, Tuas Crescent, Tuas West Road and Tuas Link expected to serve more than 100 000 commuters a day. China Railway 11 Bureau Group Corp has two civil works contracts, while Thales is to provide signalling under a €24m contract. Parsons Brinckerhoff has designed a 26 ha depot which is to be built to accommodate the 35 trains being acquired for the extension, with a total capacity of 60 trainsets to allow for future expansion.

MALAYSIA: Addressing delegates at the second Modern Railways conference in Kuala Lumpur on May 14, Malaysian Transport Minister Kong Cho Ha confirmed that the government was evaluating the potential for a high speed line between the capital and Singapore. ‘We feel it is just a matter of time before the link is implemented’, he suggested, before warning that the project would require a huge amount of preparatory work to address issues such as alignment, land appropriation and the location of terminus stations. Kong reported that discussions were underway with ‘all stakeholders’, including the Singapore government. Insisting that any high speed rail programme must be integrated with the domestic transport agenda, Kong added that it could not be considered an ‘either/or’ investment. ‘As a forward-looking government we don't think that way. We have to look at all these things.’ In the short term, he said, the Ministry of Transport is focused on three priority projects to boost rail capacity across the Klang Valley. KTMB’s suburban operations are being strengthened with the delivery of 38 six-car EMUs from CSR Zhuzhou; the fleet expected to be in traffic by the end of September. This should enable the launch of 10 min headways on KTMB Komuter services at peak periods. This will complement the Putra Heights extensions of the city’s existing Kelana Jaya and Ampang metro lines, whilst additional rolling stock is also being delivered for the 9 km Titiwangsa – Sentral monorail. Kong also restated the government’s commitment to build a 51 km metro route from Sungai Buloh to Kajang under the MY Rapid Transit programme, of which the first stage is already getting underway. Meanwhile, local media reports suggest that construction and port operations group MMC Corp is undertaking due diligence to take up an operating contract covering the suburban services currently run by KTMB. Potentially worth up to 1bn ringgit, the concession could be let as part of the government’s efforts to stem annual losses of up to 200m ringgit at the state railway.

CZECH REPUBLIC: Polish rolling stock builder Pesa Bydgoszcz has rolled out the first of 31 LINK II diesel multiple-units ordered by Czech national passenger operator CD. The prototype moved from Poland to the Velim test circuit on May 10 to undergo acceptance trials. The two-car partially low-floor articulated Class 844 units are 43·73 m long. They offer 120 seats, air-conditioning, retention toilets, CCTV, a passenger information system and space for bulky luggage, prams and bicycles. The two 390 kW MTU engines are compliant with EU Stage IIIb emissions standards and give a top speed of 120 km/h. The first units are scheduled to enter traffic from September. Initial deployment will be on the Plzen - Domazlice route, with Mariánské Lázne - Cheb - Karlovy Vary, Karlovy Vary - Chomutov, Liberec - Ceská Lípa, Kojetín - Kromeríz - Hulín - Valašské Mezirící and routes north of Decín following. Deliveries will run until January 2014. The KC1·99bn contract for 31 DMUs was signed in March 2011, with 40% of the cost being met by the European Union.