All Railway Gazette International articles in August 2018
All articles published this month.
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Rail Business UKVirgin Trains introduces RCS passenger communications
UK: Virgin Trains has worked with telecoms company Vodafone and mobile messaging specialist OpenMarket to roll out a Rich Communications Services-based chat service for passenger communications. Unlike text-based SMS messages, RCS allows Virgin Trains to send photos, videos, audio and message with easy-to-select buttons. It will initially be used ...
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Metro Report InternationalHitachi to supply Panamá City monorail trains
PANAMA: Metro de Panamá has signed a memorandum of understanding with Hitachi, Ansaldo STS and Mitsubishi Corp for the supply of vehicles and railway systems for Panamá City metro Line 3, the consortium announced on August 30. Hitachi will supply 28 six-car monorail trainsets, with Ansaldo STS to supply ...
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NewsNorthern Latitudinal Railway concession to be signed
RUSSIA: The concession agreement for the construction of the Northern Latitudinal Railway is scheduled to be signed by September 8, after Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree on August 15 giving government approval. The SShKh consortium will be responsible for financing, building and operating the 113bn rouble line, which ...
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NewsMoscow metro Line 8A extension inaugurated
RUSSIA: Mayor of Moscow Sergei Sobyanin inaugurated the latest expansion of the city’s metro on August 30. The 14·2 km southwestern extension of Line 8A from Ramenki to Rasskazovka serves seven stations and includes a new depot at Solntsevo, accessed using a 1·1 km branch. A further extension ...
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NewsConsultation starts on Singapore transport master plan
SINGAPORE: Land Transport Authority has started public consultation on the next Land Transport Master Plan. A poll was published on its website on August 31, and the operating industry will also be invited to participate in discussions. LTA has also announced the results of its latest Household Interview Travel ...
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NewsThree bidders prequalify for Perth EMU order
AUSTRALIA: The government of Western Australia has prequalified three bidders for a contract to supply up to 41 six-car electric multiple-units for the Transperth network serving Perth: Alstom Transport Australia;the Momentum West consortium of CAF and UGL;a consortium of EDI Rail and Bombardier Transportation. The government expects to select ...
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NewsKazan metro extended
RUSSIA: President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov attended an opening ceremony for a one-station extension of the Kazan metro on August 30. The 1 km extension runs southeast from Prospekt Pobedy to a new station at Dubravnaya, which becomes the 11th station on the single-line metro. Dubravnaya is 20 m ...
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NewsAbellio unveils first of 54 DMUs
GERMANY: The first of 54 Alstom Coradia Lint 41 diesel multiple-units ordered by Abellio for Diesel Netz Sachsen-Anhalt services was unveiled by Abellio on August 27. Guests including Land Minister for Regional Development & Transport Thomas Webel rode on the DMU on a circular route from Magdeburg. Abellio is to ...
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Metro Report InternationalCrossrail opening delayed
UK: The opening of the Crossrail tunnels under London has been delayed from December 2018 until ‘autumn 2019’, project promoter Crossrail Ltd announced on August 31. The Paddington – Abbey Wood section of the future Elizabeth Line will open later than scheduled because the contractors need more time to ...
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NewsOmneo Premium inter-city trainset on test
FRANCE: Bombardier Transportation has begun dynamic testing of the first Omneo Premium inter-city version of the Omneo double-deck regional train family. SNCF placed a €585m order for 40 Omneo Premium electric multiple-units in November 2016, acting on behalf of the Normandie region as part of an agreement to transfer responsibility ...
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NewsFurka Base Tunnel modernisation gets underway
SWITZERLAND: Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn has begun work on a major project to modernise the 15·4 km Furka Base Tunnel, which opened in 1982. The main contractor is the Arge Furka 1618 consortium of Pizzarotti and Luigi Notari. New cabling and electrification equipment are to be installed, and changes to ...
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NewsJapan to Moscow intermodal service tested
INTERNATIONAL: A 40 ft container equipped with temperature, moisture and vibration sensors has been transported by sea and rail from Kobe to Moscow in 14 days as part of a trial of enhanced freight services which is being undertaken by Russian Railways and Japan’s Ministry of Transport, ‘The use of ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
Knorr-Bremse has sold its Sydac driver training simulator business to the Oktal subsidiary of the Sogeclair group. This includes Sydac's activities in Australia, India and the UK, as well as the TDS unit of New York Air Brake. 'We are continuing to focus on our core competencies as a key ...
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NewsKnorr-Bremse shows innovations across four stands at InnoTrans
KNORR-BREMSE: The braking and services specialist will be using the motto ‘Systems, People, Connected’ to describe its presence at InnoTrans 2018, which will be located across four separate stands reflecting the various businesses within the group. Focusing on four core market drivers of ‘system connection, life-cycle efficiency, transportation capacity and ...
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NewsEU funding for Łódź tunnel
POLAND: The European Commission announced on August 28 that it is providing €411m in cohesion funding towards a project to build a tunnel between three stations in Łódź. The Y-shaped underground route linking Fabryczna, Kaliska and Żabieniec stations is due to be completed in January 2022. Two new stations ...
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NewsChangsha to Tilburg container service launched
INTERNATIONAL: A container service between Changsha in China and Tilburg in the Netherlands has been launched by RZD Logistics and Hunan Xiangou Express. They plan to operate two trains per month, with a 16-day transit time on the route via Mongolia, Russia, Belarus, Poland and Germany. The first service left ...
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Metro Report InternationalChangchun metro Line 2 opens
CHINA: Services on Changchun metro Line 2 began on August 30. The 22·8 km east-west route serves 18 stations between Dongfang Square and Changchun West high speed station. The underground line is electrified at 1·5 kV DC overhead. The fleet of 70 km/h six-car Type B trainsets is stabled at ...
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NewsUnited Wagon Co targets the 1 435 mm gauge market
EUROPE: Russian wagon manufacturer United Wagon Co is now targeting the 1 435 mm gauge market, where Deputy CEO for Business Development Maxim Kuzemchenko believes there are ‘as-yet-untapped growth opportunities’ for the company. ‘The European market is a key market for us in terms of both the 1 520 mm ...
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NewsCuban rail market opens to foreign companies
CUBA: Legislation published in the country’s official gazette on August 21 allows railways to be operated by foreign entities for the first time in 60 years. Cuba is currently implementing various projects to modernise its railways by 2030, with government funding supplemented from Russian and French sources. National railway Unión ...
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NewsDefence ministry disposes of stake in Wagon Pars
IRAN: The defence ministry has ended its involvement with rolling stock manufacturer Wagon Pars, Defence Minister Amir Hatami said on August 27. He explained that the ministry was divesting its shares in 130 companies including Wagon Pars, but did not state what stake the military holds in the company ...