All Railway Gazette International articles in April 2019 – Page 2
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Rail Business UKFirst look inside new Caledonian Sleeper trains
UK: London to Scotland overnight train operator Caledonian Sleeper has unveiled the interiors of its new coaches, which are being built by CAF in northern Spain. Entry into service had originally been scheduled for April 2018 but is now expected by the end of May. The Lowlander route between London ...
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Rail Business UKUK railway news round-up
The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee published a report into delays to the Crossrail project on April 3, saying a 'fixation' on a delivery deadline of December 2018 led to signs that the programme was in trouble being missed or ignored. 'It is clear that the delivery deadline of ...
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NewsNew Generation Rollingstock accessibility modification contract awarded
AUSTRALIA: The government of Queensland has awarded Bombardier Transportation a A$361m contract to undertake modifications to improve the accessibility of the 75 electric multiple-units which are being introduced to the southeast Queensland rail network under the New Generation Rollingstock programme. The modified trains are expected to re-enter service from 2020 ...
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NewsSweden to fund international night trains
SWEDEN: Overnight trains connecting Sweden with several international European destinations are to be introduced as part of government proposals to facilitate environmentally-friendly transport. Infrastructure Minister Tomas Eneroth announced on March 31 that the Social Democratic, Centre and Green parties had reached agreement to include a SKr50m framework grant in the ...
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NewsTMH Africa inaugurates South African plant
SOUTH AFRICA: Russian rolling stock group Transmashholding officially inaugurated its first African factory on April 2. The former DCD Rolling Stock plant at Boksburg in Gauteng province was acquired last October by the TMH Africa joint venture of TMH International (70%) and its black economic empowerment partner Mjisa Investments (30%). ...
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NewsTatra-Yug tram presented in Kyiv
UKRAINE: Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko and Deputy Mayor Dmytro Davtyan officially inaugurated a Tatra-Yug tram for the city on April 2. On December 18 operator Kyivpastrans signed a 428·9m hryvnia contract with Tatra-Yug for the supply of 10 trams to replace some of the current fleet operating ...
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NewsHamburg-Holstein becomes next eCitaro customer
GERMANY: Verkehrsbetriebe Hamburg-Holstein has ordered 16 Mercedes-Benz eCitaro electric buses. Deliveries under the contract announced on April 4 are due to take place at the end of 2019. The buses will have three sets of double doors, a multi-function area and USB charging ports. They will be equipped with ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
Alstom’s Le Creusot factory has unveiled what the manufacturer describes as the highest-capacity welding robot in the railway sector. The robot supplied by Galilé subsidiary Farman is due to be fully operational by the end of May. Thales has completed the acquisition of digital security and smart card manufacturer Gemalto. ...
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NewsCustoms buildings handed over as Eurotunnel prepares for Brexit
FRANCE: On April 4 Eurotunnel officially handed over to the French authorities buildings intended for customs, veterinary and phytosanitary inspection services. The Douane-SIVEP control centre will be open 24/7 for Ministry of Agriculture officials and customs officers. It provides nine unloading docks, a refrigerated storage area, 100 parking spaces ...
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NewsGas fuelled railcar pilot project planned
ITALY: A memorandum of understanding setting out plans to test the conversion of diesel railcars to run on natural gas has been signed by national railway FS Group, rolling stock manufacturer Hitachi Rail Italy and gas supply infrastructure company Snam. Trenitalia plans to provide one or two ALn668 or ALn663 ...
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NewsDB stops accepting ICE4 trains after welding issues discovered
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn has stopped accepting deliveries of new ICE4 trainsets, after it emerged that bodyshell welding had not been carried out as prescribed. Siemens Mobility is the general contractor for the ICE4 fleet under a framework contract awarded in May 2011, with subcontractor Bombardier Transportation responsible around 30% of ...
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NewsCRRC tests ‘variable configuration’ EMU
CHINA: CRRC Tangshan has completed pre-delivery testing of a variable configuration electric multiple-unit, which is designed to be formed of two power cars and up to 16 single or double-deck coaches. The train has been designed to enable operators to configure train lengths in response to changes in passenger demand, ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
CFL Multimodal, RTSB and Chengdu International Railway Service Co have launched a service between Bettembourg-Dudelange in Luxembourg and Chengdu Qingbaijiang International Railway Port in China. The inaugural service left the Grand Duchy on April 4, with the containers scheduled to arrive in Chengdu on April 19. A weekly service is ...
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NewsPresident inaugurates Tehran metro Line 6
IRAN: President Hassan Rouhani and Tehran Mayor Pirouz Hanachi inaugurated the first phase of metro Line 6 on April 7. The 9 km underground route runs south from Shohada Square, where interchange is provided with Line 4, to Dowlat Abad. One intermediate station has opened, and six ...
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NewsENR orders 160 km/h Talgo trainsets
EGYPT: Egyptian National Railways has selected Talgo to supply and maintain a fleet of six 160 km/h trainsets at a total cost of around €158m, the manufacturer announced on April 7. Intended to operate inter-city services on ENR’s principal routes linking Alexandria, Cairo and Aswan, the trains ...
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NewsTCDD awards soda plant link contract
TURKEY: Infrastructure manager TCDD announced on April 2 that it had awarded contracts for construction of an 18·5 km branch to a soda plant at Yenikent. The contract award to a consortium of HCA Insaat, Imaj Altyapi Ust Yapı and Efecemler Ins Nak Madencılık is valued at TL353·5m; TCDD received ...
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NewsThailand – Cambodia railway to open this month
ASIA: The 1·3 km cross-border rail link between Arayaprathet in Thailand and Poipot in Cambodia which was completed last year is to be opened on April 22, Thailand’s Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith told the ASEAN PPP Summit in Bangkok on April 4. Speaking to Railway Gazette International on the sidelines ...
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Metro Report InternationalCubic awarded Irish mobile ticketing contract
IRELAND: The National Transport Authority has awarded Cubic Transportation Systems a contract worth more than US$4m to supply and maintain a mobile ticketing system. This will included a mobile app enabling users to purchase and present tickets for multiple operators. It is to be piloted on a number of Bus ...
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NewsDB tests talking robot head
GERMANY: A robot head which smiles at passengers and greets them with ‘My name is FRAnny. How can I help you?’ is being tested by Deutsche Bahn’s information technology arm DB Systel and airport operator Fraport. The initial trial is at Frankfurt airport, with trials at Berlin Hbf planned for ...
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NewsTransmashholding sales up
RUSSIA: Rolling stock manufacturer Transmashholding has announced a 44% year-on-year increase in sales to 224·8bn roubles for 2018. Sales of single-deck coaches were up 62% to 696, while sales of double-deck coaches were up 59% to 65. The company launched a major project to update its range of coaches, and ...