PASSENGER
10 Jul 2008 | Madrid tunnel opens
SPAIN: Suburban services began using the 8·5 km Atocha - Chamartín tunnel under the centre of Madrid on July 9. Testing of the new route, which has cost €550m to build, had begun on May 23. The route has two intermediate stations, of which Nuevos Ministerios is due to open this month. The second at More...
09 Jul 2008 | First Gautrain EMU unveiled
SOUTH AFRICA: Premier of Gauteng province Mbhazima Shilowa visited Bombardier's Derby factory in the UK on July 8 to witness the unveiling of the first electric multiple-unit for the Gautrain commuter line. Dramatic sounds, lighting effects and dancing heralded the roll-out of the completed trainse More...
08 Jul 2008 | Northern Ireland upgrade
UK: An £86m upgrade of the Belfast - Londonderry line was announced last month by Translink, the holding company which runs Northern Ireland Railways. Tenders will be called in early 2011 and the work is to be completed in 2013, cutting 30 min off the 2 h 15 min journey time. The 150 km route accou More...
08 Jul 2008 | Gautrain from dream to reality
SOUTH AFRICA: The Gautrain rapid rail link between Johannesburg and Tshwane is taking shape, with the first section on course to enter revenue service before the two cities host the 2010 football World Cup. More...
08 Jul 2008 | Carrying commuters in comfort
SOUTH AFRICA: Bombardier's proven Electrostar EMU family is being customised for South Africa, giving a powerful demonstration of modern high-quality rail services. More...
06 Jul 2008 | London - Cornwall Night Riviera revamped
UK: First Great Western relaunched its London - Penzance Night Riviera service with modernised rolling stock on June 23. The 18 Mk III sleeper and seating cars have been refurbished by Wolverton-based Railcare at a cost of £2m, with Michael Rodber acting as design consultant. FirstGroup said it had More...
06 Jul 2008 | Over the top
SWITZERLAND: The first of 13 four-car EMUs being built jointly by Alstom and Bombardier for BLS local services on the original Lötschberg route was rolled out in May. The silver and grey livery is enhanced with images of the Bern - Brig line to highlight the appeal to tourists of the route over the More...
04 Jul 2008 | CAF wins Saudi passenger train order
SAUDI ARABIA: On July 4 Spanish rolling stock manufacturer CAF announced it had signed a €104·9m contract to supply Saudi Railways Organisation with eight 200 km/h passenger trainsets. Each set will be formed of a diesel-electric locomotive and five steel-bodied coaches, designed to operate in de More...
04 Jul 2008 | DB sacked over S-Bahn quality failings
GERMANY: A dispute erupted in the Ruhr area on June 12 when local transport agency Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr announced that it had decided to cancel its S-Bahn operating contract with DB Regio Nordrhein-Westfalen with immediate effect. An extraordinary resolution to do so had been approved during a More...
03 Jul 2008 | DSB issues IC4 ultimatum
DENMARK: Another chapter in the painful saga of DSB's 200 km/h IC4 inter-city DMUs opened in June, when the state-owned operator issued an ultimatum to AnsaldoBreda. With delivery now more than five years behind schedule, DSB has told its Italian supplier that if 14 functional trains have not been d More...
