All Railway Gazette International articles in December 2018 – Page 4
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NewsLVMH buys luxury train operator
INTERNATIONAL: High-end wine, fashion, cosmetics, hotel and retail group LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Belmond, which owns or manages 46 hotel, restaurant, train and cruise brands including the Venice-Simplon Orient Express, British Pullman, Royal Scotsman, Grand Hibernian, Andean Explorer, Hiram Bingham and ...
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NewsCNG buses delivered to Abidjan
CÔTE D’IVOIRE: Iveco Bus officially handed over 26 compressed natural gas buses to Abidjan transport operator SOTRA on December 13, at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly and Transport Minister Amadou Koné. In January the government signed a contract with Iveco for the supply of 450 ...
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NewsForchbahn rolling stock to be refurbished
SWITZERLAND: Metre-gauge interurban operator Forchbahn has awarded Stadler Rail a contract to modernise its 13 type Be 4/6 electric multiple-units, with Voith to supply new traction inverters. The custom-designed metre-gauge vehicles supplied by Stadler in 2004 operate using 600 V DC overhead on the Zürich tram network, and at ...
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NewsRussian Railways presents platskartny modernisation concept
RUSSIA: The future look of Russian Railways’ platskartny coaches which offer the cheapest and most basic accommodation on very long-distance services was unveiled at the Transport Week exhibition and conference in Moscow last month. On show was two-window mock-up of part of a coach for visitors to inspect and comment ...
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NewsNext phase of St Petersburg fast tram route opens
RUSSIA: The next phase of the Chizhik fast tram route in St Petersburg was inaugurated by Interim Governor Aleksander Beglov on December 11. Regular services began four days later. Fast tram services now run on an upgraded 1·6 km of Route 64 north from Khasanskaya Ulitsa to Irinovsky Prospekt, ...
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NewsPublic to vote on Grand Paris fleet design
FRANCE: Île-de-France Mobilités and Société du Grand Paris have invited future users of the Grand Paris Express metro to participate in the design of rolling stock for lines 15, 16 and 17. Residents in the greater Paris area have until December 31 to vote for one of three front-end styles ...
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NewsMÁV-Start signs EMU order
HUNGARY: A firm order for Stadler to supply a further eight Kiss double-deck electric multiple-units was signed by national passenger operator MÁV-Start on December 17. The six-car EMUs are to be used on the Budapest – Vác – Szob and Budapest – Cegléd – Szolnok routes from the first ...
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Metro Report InternationalSingapore North East Line upgrades to start next month
SINGAPORE: Land Transport Authority has awarded CRRC Nanjing Puzhen a S$116·7m contract for the midlife overhaul of the first-generation trains operating on the North East Line. Alstom supplied the 25 six-car trainsets for the opening of the North East Line in 2003. The overhaul will include new interiors, as ...
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NewsPresident launches Yucatan rail project
MEXICO: The Tren Maya project to develop two rail corridors serving the Yucatan Peninsula was formally launched on December 16 by recently-elected President Andrés Manuel López Obrador with a ceremony near the ancient Mayan ruins at Palenque. Expected to take four years to build, the project envisages the development of ...
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NewsMore LRVs ordered for Karlsruhe tram-train services
GERMANY: Karlsruhe tram-train operator AVG has ordered a further 20 dual-system Flexity light rail vehicles from Bombardier Transportation, the supplier announced on December 17. Vehicles from the €87m order are due to be delivered between May 2020 and March 2021. The 37 m long LRVs have capacity for 244 ...
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NewsAstra sole bidder in Galaţi tram tender
ROMANIA: Astra Vagoane Călători has emerged as the sole bidder for a contract to supply eight low-floor trams to Galaţi with options for 10 more. Astra put in a bid of 119·7m lei for all 18 trams, and the option would be exercised if the municipality receives sufficient EU ...
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NewsNice Airport tram link inaugurated
FRANCE: Trams began serving Nice Côte d’Azur Airport on December 15 with the inauguration of an extension of Line 2. The 1·7 km branch running south from Pôle Intermodal has two stops, serving both airport terminals. The initial 7 km section of Line 2 between Magnan and Cadam ...
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NewsCzech long-distance operating contracts announced
CZECH REPUBLIC: Liberalisation of the Czech long-distance passenger market took a major step forward on November 30 when the Ministry of Transport selected operators to run subsidised services on three routes from December 2019, when the current 10-year contract with state incumbent ČD expires. RegioJet has won an eight-year contract ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Ukrainian Railways put the first of 30 TE33A Evolution Series diesel locos being supplied by GE Transportation into service on December 13. ‘Today’s launch of GE locomotives onto the network is a great demonstration of the successful start of our long-term co-operation with our American partners’, said UZ’s acting CEO ...
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NewsDresden to house national rail research centre
GERMANY: Federal funding of €5m has been allocated in the 2019 budget to establish a national railway research centre in Dresden. The centre’s work will focus on researching and developing new types of traction drive technology and other areas of railway engineering. Economics Minister for the Land of Sachsen Martin ...
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NewsLeo Express wins regional contract
CZECH REPUBLIC: The Pardubice region has selected Leo Express to run subsidised services on the 024 Ústí nad Orlicí–Mlýnický Dvůr and 025 Dolní Lipka – Hanušovice routes currently operated by ČD. Leo Express’s first subsidised public service contract is to run for 10 years from December 2019. It plans ...
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NewsRail Freight Forward alliance to fight climate change
EUROPE: During the UN climate conference in Katowice, the Rail Freight Forward alliance of 14 European rail freight operators and four associations announced on December 14 a target of boosting rail’s market share from 18% to 30% by 2030. It suggests that this could save up to 290 million tonnes ...
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Metro Report InternationalOklahoma City Streetcar inaugurated
USA: The Oklahoma City Streetcar was inaugurated on December 14 at a ceremony in Leadership Square attended by officials including Mayor David Holt. Travel is free until January 5. ‘Our streetcar will be an important economic development tool for our entire city, accommodating visitors and residents alike’, said Holt. ...
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NewsSod-turning launches construction of 1 700 km Inland Rail corridor
AUSTRALIA: Construction of the 1 700 km Melbourne – Brisbane Inland Rail freight corridor was officially launched on December 13 when Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack turned a ceremonial first sod in Parkes, NSW. Scheduled to be completed in 2025, the Inland Rail project includes the construction of 600 km ...
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NewsPKP Cargo gains access from the Baltic to the Adriatic
SLOVENIA: The Advanced World Transport subsidiary of privatised Polish freight operator PKP Cargo purchased an 80% stake in Slovenian freight company Primol-Rail on December 6. Primol-Rail was founded in 2016, although it has not yet begun train operations. ‘This purchase creates the opportunity to enter the Slovenian market’, said PKP ...