All Railway Gazette International articles in August 2017 – Page 6
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NewsEast Japan Railway enters UK market with West Midlands franchise win
UK: The West Midlands Trains Ltd consortium led by the Abellio subsidiary of Dutch national operator NS (70·1%) and the JREM Train 50:50 joint venture of East Japan Railway and Mitsui & Co (29·9%) was named preferred bidder for the West Midlands franchise by the Department for Transport on August ...
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NewsMore Pesa trams ordered for Kraków
POLAND: Pesa has submitted the best offer to supply trams to Kraków, operator MPK Kraków announced on August 8. Pesa beat bids from Newag, Škoda and a consortium of Stadler and Solaris. Pesa put in a bid of 299·2m złoty for the base order of 35 trams. The contract ...
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NewsUK railway news round-up
Arriva Trains UK has invited expressions of interest in financing ‘self-propelled units’ and a fleet of trainsets for the proposed South Wales Metro should it win the next Wales & Borders franchise. HS2 Ltd has awarded WSP UK an £8·3m contract to provide railway systems technical support services for four ...
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Metro Report InternationalBasel tram network extended to French border
SWITZERLAND: Basel tram operator BVB opened the first phase of an extension into France on July 31. The 500 m extension of Route 3 from its previous northwestern terminus of Burgfelden Grenze to Burgfelderhof brings it to the border. Burgfelden Grenze stop closed on July 14, with buses replacing ...
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NewsFederal funding to revive border crossing
USA: Texas Department of Transportation has a received a US$7m grant from the US Department of Transportation towards a US$16∙2m ‘public and private partnership’ to replace the bridge connecting Presidio with Ojinaga in Mexico, and upgrade 115 km of the connecting South Orient Rail Line. The bridge has been closed ...
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NewsYubileyny metro trainset delivered to St Petersburg
RUSSIA: The first of 27 Yubileyny trainsets ordered last year for St Petersburg metro Line 3 was delivered to the Nevskoye depot on August 7. On September 8 2016 Transmashholding subsidiary Oktyabrsky Electric Railway Car Repair Plant announced on that it is to supply 27 six-car trainsets for 13·4bn ...
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NewsLEO Express recruiting for German launch
GERMANY: Czech open access operator LEO Express has started recruiting train crew to operate a long-distance passenger service between Berlin and Stuttgart, which it says it hopes to launch in mid-August. The company’s German subsidiary LEO Express GmbH is looking for qualified train managers to be based at Berlin-Lichtenberg and ...
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NewsThüringen to award 11-year Rennsteigshuttle contract
GERMANY: Thuringen’s Ministry of Infrastructure & Agriculture is to award local operator Süd-Thüringen-Bahn a contract to continue to provide passenger services on the 14 km Ilmenau – Rennsteig line south of Erfurt for 11 years from December 2017. Regular passenger services on the route were revived in December 2015 ...
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NewsDhaka metro ‘no more a dream’ as rolling stock contract signed
BANGLADESH: The metro Line 6 rolling stock and depot contract was signed by project promoter Dhaka Mass Transit Co and a consortium of Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Corp on August 6. ‘Metro rail is no more a dream, it is now a reality,’ said Minister of Road Transport & ...
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Metro Report InternationalBeijing maglev carries passengers
CHINA: Passenger-carrying tests on maglev line S1 in Beijing began on August 5. The first stage of Line S1, also known as the Mentougou Line, will offer a 20 min journey between Mentougou and Pingguoyuan, where interchange is provided with metro Line 1. The 10·2 km Line S1 ...
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NewsSouth Tirol direct award rail contract approved
ITALY: The direct award of a contract for SAD Nahverkehr to continue to operate local passenger rail services was approved by the South Tirol regional government on August 8. The contract with the rail, bus, funicular and cable car operator covers 2·52 million train-km/year. It runs from September 1 until ...
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NewsStadler rolls out first vehicles for St Petersburg fast tram route
RUSSIA: Stadler Minsk, Transportnaya Koncessionnaya Kompanya and LSR Group started acceptance testing of the first six Metelitsa trams for the fast tram route being developed in St Petersburg on August 1. The TKK consortium of Lider Group and LSR Group is developing the fast tram project in the Krasnogvardeisky ...
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NewsHector Rail awarded LKAB haulage contract
SWEDEN: Mining company LKAB has awarded Hector Rail a new haulage contract running for five years from December 2017. The contract covers the operation of trains carrying mining supplies between Luleå, Malmberget and Kiruna seven days per week, as well as shunting in Luleå and Malmberget. Hector Rail plans to ...
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Metro Report InternationalCRRC rolls out tram equipped with automatic train control
CHINA: CRRC Qingdao Sifang rolled out a tram equipped with automatic train control on July 28. It is expected to enter passenger service in Foshan next year. The 100% low-floor vehicle is 35·2 m long and 2 650 mm wide, with capacity for 380 passengers. Maximum speed is 70 ...
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NewsTermination of Rift Valley Railways concession agreed
KENYA: The termination of Rift Valley Railways’ concession to operate the Kenyan section of the metre gauge Kenya – Uganda railway network has been agreed ‘by joint consent’ after the high court in Nairobi backed Kenya Railways’ attempts to end the contract. KR had sought to end the concession in ...
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NewsDB Regio orders Siemens EMUs for Rhein-Neckar services
GERMANY: DB Regio has formally ordered 57 three-car Mireo electric multiple-units for use on S-Bahn Rhein-Neckar services, Siemens announced on August 8. This is the second order for the Mireo regional and commuter train family, which Siemens launched last year. The 160 km/h EMUs will be supplied from Siemens’ Krefeld ...
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NewsRussia completes railway to bypass Ukraine
RUSSIA: Construction of the Zhuravka – Millerovo bypass line which removes the need for trains from Moscow to Rostov-na-Donu, Krasnodar and Sochi to transit a short section of Ukrainian territory has been completed, Minister of Defence General Sergei Shoigu announced at a ceremony on August 7. The new 122·5 km ...
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NewsSwitch cabinet LED lamp
LAMP: Lütze Transportation has launched a space-saving LED lighting element for use in switch cabinets, which it says are often in difficult to reach locations. The 24 V DC LED lamp is 500 mm long and can be switched on or off by an integrated button or by the door ...
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NewsPacific concession could revert to state
COLOMBIA: During the course of a public hearing held on August 3, national infrastructure agency ANI declared the concession held by Ferrocarril del Pacífico SAS to have lapsed. The concession covers the upgrading, maintenance and operation of freight services on the Buenaventura — Cali, Cali — La Felisa and Zarzal ...
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NewsVan rebuilt as military escort coach
UKRAINE: A military escort coach which Refrigerator Wagon Co produced by rebuilding a refrigerated van is expected to enter service with Ukrainian Railways this month. The vehicle is intended to be better suited to the military role than the 102 conventional coaches which Ukrainian Railways currently deploys on such trains. ...