Europe – Page 212
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NewsCzech region orders its own EMU fleet
CZECH REPUBLIC: Jihomoravský has become the first regional authority to order its own rolling stock, placing a contract for Škoda Transportation to supply 37 RegioPanter low-floor 160 km/h electric multiple-units between spring 2021 and the end of 2022. Škoda Transportation was the only bidder to remain in ...
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NewsERTMS roll-out timetable extended
SWEDEN: The timetable for installation of ETCS Level 2 in southern Sweden has been extended by two years, Trafikverket announced on January 13.
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News‘The wow effect is coming’ as German government signs €86bn rail programme
GERMANY: The €86bn LuFV III railway operating and financing agreement running to 2030 was signed by Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer, Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz and Board Member for Infrastructure Ronald Pofalla on January 14, at a ceremony attended by Federal Minister of Finance Olaf Scholz.
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NewsCzech branch line reopened
CZECH REPUBLIC: The reopening of the 2·7 km Hrušovany u Brna – Židlochovice branch more than 40 years after scheduled passenger services ended in June 1979 was marked by the operation of a steam-hauled inaugural train on December 8, ahead of the start of regular services from ...
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Metro Report InternationalEBRD urban transport programme finances Poltava trolleybus order
UKRAINE: Poltava transport operator Poltavaelectroavtotrans has awarded Bogdan Motors an €8m contract to supply 40 trolleybuses by the end of 2020, financed using the first loan to be finalised under the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development’s €250m Ukraine Public Transport Framework II programme. The EBRD programme ...
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NewsSarajevo resignalling contract
BOSNIA: Railways of the Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina has awarded AŽD Praha a €1·2m contract to modernise signalling equipment in the Miljacka junction area west of Sarajevo and the Stup freight facility. The Czech company is to design, deliver and install a Type ESA 44-BH electronic ...
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NewsRail infrastructure manager adopts shorter name
CZECH REPUBLIC: Infrastructure manager Správa Železniční Dopravní Cesty was renamed Správa Železnic with effect from January 1. The change which had been approved by the government in December is intended to shorten the complicated name and enhance the organisation’s image with the general public. SŽDC was founded ...
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Metro Report InternationalElizabeth Line through central London now expected to open in summer 2021
UK: The London Paddington to Abbey Wood central section of the Elizabeth Line is now expected to open in ‘summer 2021’. The full service from Reading and Heathrow Airport in the west to Abbey Wood and Shenfield in the east is now expected to commence by mid-2022, ...
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NewsNarrow gauge operator orders EMUs
SWITZERLAND: Chemin de Fer Nyon-Saint-Cergue-Morez has awarded Stadler a contract to supply six two-car electric multiple-units. Deliveries are scheduled between late 2021 and early 2022. The 1·5 kV DC EMUs will be similar to four Abe4/8 units which Stadler supplied to the 27 km long metre-gauge line ...
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NewsVilnius – Klaipedia electrification and upgrading contracts awarded
LITHUANIA: Contracts have been awarded to increase capacity and complete electrification on the Lithuanian section of Pan-European Corridor IX between the Belarusian border and the Baltic Sea port of Klaipeda. The east–west corridor carries three-quarters of the national operator’s freight and two-thirds of all passenger journeys. ...
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Metro Report InternationalSupercapacitor hybrid buses to reduce emissions at stops
POLAND: Solaris has won an order to supply Ząbkowice Śląskie with seven Urbino 12 buses equipped with supercapacitor energy storage and an engine control system designed to reduce emissions at bus stops. The vehicles will have hybrid drives comprising a 120 kW electric motor powered by a ...
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NewsEU grant for Hrvatski Leskovac – Karlovac modernisation
CROATIA: An agreement for the EU to provide a 2·7bn kuna grant towards a 3·45bn kuna project to modernise and double-track the 44 km Hrvatski Leskovac – Karlovac section of the Zagreb – Rijeka corridor was signed on December 27. Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport & Infrastructure ...
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NewsInfrabel CEO nominated to head SNCF Réseau
FRANCE: The current head of Belgian infrastructure manager Infrabel, Luc Lallemand, has been nominated as the next head of French infrastructure manager SNCF Réseau, subject to approval by regulatory authority ART (formerly Arafer). At its meeting on January 7, the SNCF Réseau board reportedly endorsed the ...
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NewsShift2Rail invites 2020 research proposals
EUROPE: Within the framework of its Annual Work Plan, the Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking issued its 2020 call for proposals on January 7, covering research and innovation projects with a total value of €146·6m. Applications are due by April 21. The call covers 19 topics, of which eight ...
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NewsHigh speed rail wins market share
ITALY: Evidence that high speed rail competes effectively against air was presented to Terrapinn’s World Rail Festival in Amsterdam by Serafino Lo Piano, Head of Sales, Long-Distance Rail, at Trenitalia. Since the launch of the Frecciarossa brand 10 years ago, he said, rail’s share of the market ...
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NewsAuditors warn of Rail Baltica cost and timescale risks
EUROPE: Procedures for managing the Rail Baltica project are mostly in place but inefficiencies and a lack of change and risk management systems mean the project could exceed its agreed budget and timeline, according to a report issued jointly by the national audit bodies of Estonia, ...
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NewsADIF orders three more infrastructure monitoring trains
SPAIN: National infrastructure manager ADIF has selected Stadler and MerMec for a €74·5m contract to supply and commission three infrastructure monitoring trains and to undertake their maintenance for a period of five years.
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Metro Report InternationalPlzeň expands tram network
CZECH REPUBLIC: Plzeň transport authority PMDP has opened the first tramway extension in the city for almost 30 years, with the inauguration on December 16 of a 1·4 km extension of Line 4 to the Borská Pole industrial zone. Line 4 is the city’s busiest, linking Lochotín, ...
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NewsTriesteRailPort project allocated European funding
ITALY: The TriesteRailPort project to enhance rail facilities at the Port of Trieste is to be financed with a €39m loan signed by the European Investment Bank on December 20 as well as €6·5m from the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility. Trieste handles more than 10% of Italy’s ...
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Metro Report InternationalPhoenix included in Novokuznetsk tram order
RUSSIA: UKVZ was the sole bidder for a 378m-rouble contract to supply the city of Novokuznetsk with seven single-section partially low-floor trams and two two-sectional fully low-floor vehicles. The shorter cars are likely be Type 71-623, while the two-section cars are expected to be the new Type ...