Europe – Page 211
-
NewsSerbia to invest €3·5bn in rail infrastructure
SERBIA: The government has announced planned railway infrastructure spending of €3·5bn as part of the €14bn Serbia 2025 national investment programme. The rail elements include modernisation of the 208 km Valjevo – Vrbnica section of the Beograd – Bar line, and construction of an integrated traffic control ...
-
NewsEU co-financing for Galician high speed line
SPAIN: The European Commission is to provide a €226m grant to support the €2·1bn cost for constructing 48·5 km of the 83·3 km Lubián – Taboadela section of the high speed line running north west from Olmedo to Zamora and Ourense. The route traverses a remote mountainous ...
-
Metro Report InternationalPraha metro car maintenance contract signed
CZECH REPUBLIC: Praha city transport operator DPHMP has awarded Škoda Transportation a KC14·6bn contract to continue to service and maintain its Type 81-71M five-car metro trainsets for a further 15 years from the end of the current 10-year contract on December 31 2020. DPHMP operates a total ...
-
NewsStagecoach Group joins new market entrants’ association ALLRAIL
EUROPE: Public transport operating group Stagecoach has joined the ALLRAIL association of new entrants to the European rail market. ‘As a major operator of rail services in the UK for over two decades and with significant experience of operating public transport services across Europe, we are pleased ...
-
NewsStandard gauge locos to handle traffic through Kaliningrad
RUSSIA: Five 1 435 mm gauge shunting locomotives have been delivered to Russian Railways’ Kaliningrad division, which is upgrading its fleet to handle an increase in traffic through the exclave. This includes China – Europe transit freight which is being routed through Kaliningrad to avoid congestion at ...
-
NewsDB confirms order for hybrid locomotives
GERMANY: Following the positive outcome of a feasibility study, DB Cargo has confirmed it is to buy 50 Toshiba diesel-battery hybrid 100 km/h locomotives for shunting and short-distance freight operations, and will lease a further 50 locos. The HDB800 locos will be equipped with Toshiba’s SCiB lithium-ion ...
-
NewsBorder link reopens as South International Corridor progresses
PORTUGAL: The 11 km link between Elvas and Caia on the border with Spain near Badajoz was reopened in late January, following an investment of €20·4m. Much of the rehabilitation work was done by Teixeira Duarte under a €15m contract. Elvas station has been remodelled so that ...
-
News‘Father Christmas’ helps fund Bordeaux – Toulouse high speed line
SNCF Réseau has estimated that TGVs could link Toulouse with Paris in just over 3 h using the Tours - Bordeaux high speed line which opened in July 2017. FRANCE: Construction of the 222 km high speed line from Bordeaux to Toulouse may start in two years’ ...
-
NewsWork starts on Roskilde – Holbæk electrification
Source: Banedanmark DENMARK: Preparatory works are to get underway this month on the 25 kV 50 Hz electrification of the Roskilde – Kalundborg line in western Sjælland, infrastructure manager Banedanmark announced on January 22. This includes the removal of lineside vegetation on the first section of the ...
-
Metro Report InternationalBus Open Data Service to be launched
UK: The government has announced plans to launch a Bus Open Data Service with the aim of making it easier for passengers to access information on bus routes, timetables, location and fares in England. The project will standardise and publish information which bus operators will be legally ...
-
NewsNew CEO aims to get Pesa back on track
POLAND: Rolling stock manufacturer Pesa is to announce a new strategy in the first quarter of this year, following the supervisory board’s decision to appoint the management board’s Vice-President of Operations Krzysztof Zdziarski as Chief Executive on January 8. Robert Tafiłowski was appointed as Chief Financial Officer. ...
-
NewsMatthä to head CER as Fritzson steps down
EUROPE: Austrian Federal Railways’ CEO Andreas Matthä was elected as Acting Chair of the Community of European Railway & Infrastructure Companies at its meeting on January 20.
-
NewsKattegat road-rail fixed link to be studied
DENMARK: There are good prospects for a road and rail fixed link across the Kattegat between Sjælland and Jylland, the government has announced. Further studies are to be undertaken, building on preliminary studies initiated by the previous government. The proposed east–west link would shorten the travel time ...
-
Metro Report InternationalIstanbul airport metro tracklaying begins
TURKEY: The start of tracklaying on metro line M11 to Istanbul’s main airport was officially marked when President Erdoğan attended the welding of a ceremonial first rail at the future Gayrettepe terminus on January 18. The 37·5 km line is being built by a consortium of Kolin ...
-
Metro Report InternationalLine 10 work resumes in Valencia
SPAIN: Municipal operator FGV has resumed work to complete light rail Line 10 in Valencia. Originally known as tram line T2, work started in 2006 and was halted in 2011 on financial grounds, with around €200m having already been spent. Line 10 will eventually run from Tossal ...
-
NewsLying not flying, as Nightjet sleeper train reaches Brussels
EUROPE: Under the slogan ‘lying not flying’, Austrian Federal Railways launched its twice-weekly Wien – Brussels Nightjet overnight train on January 19. The ceremony at Wien Hbf was attended by Austria’s Minister of Climate Protection, Environment, Mobility, Innovation & Technology Leonore Gewessler as well as members of ...
-
Metro Report InternationalTram driving National Occupational Standards to be reviewed
UK: Industry group UKTram is leading a project to review the existing Tram Driver National Occupational Standards. The tram driver standards were last updated in 2005, and the review is scheduled to be completed by June. NOS set out the skills, knowledge and understanding required to undertake ...
-
NewsFarandou reshapes SNCF leadership team
FRANCE: A new management structure for the ‘unified’ SNCF group was unveiled by President & CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou on January 16, following the first board meeting of the national railway group since the 2018 reforms came into effect on January 1.
-
NewsMalmö – Köln suggested as first route for a network of night trains
EUROPE: Swedish transport agency Trafikverket has suggested that Malmö – Köln could be the first route to be launched as part of a proposed network of overnight trains connecting Sweden with other European countries, and that a start data as early as 2022-23 could be possible. ...
-
NewsBarcelona – Valencia trains accelerated as Vandellòs cut-off opens
SPAIN: Commercial services began using a 46·5 km cut-off between Camp de Tarragona and Vandellòs on January 13, when ADIF completed a further section of upgrading on the Barcelona – Valencia Mediterranean Corridor.