Europe – Page 5
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NewsBasque region to take over RENFE suburban routes
SPAIN: On March 11 the Spanish government announced that management of all suburban services in the Basque region would be transferred from national operator RENFE to the Euzkadi autonomous community. The national government will set up a €400m fund to launch the project, some of which ...
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NewsSNCF Réseau awards major track renewal contracts
FRANCE: Infrastructure manager SNCF Réseau has awarded four major track renewal contracts designed to provide suppliers with increased visibility of future work. Eiffage Rail and Captrain will renew 49 turnouts on the Atlantique, Nord-Europe and Sud-Est high speed lines in a contract which runs for four ...
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NewsRegioJet to launch night train to Ukraine
EUROPE: RegioJet has opened ticket sales for a night train service between Praha and the rail hub at Chop in western Ukraine’s Zakarpattia Oblast. The operator says this will be the first 100% commercially operated service between the European Union and Ukraine. The daily service is ...
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NewsLightweight loco customised to DB Cargo’s carbon-reduction needs
GERMANY: DB Cargo and Siemens Mobility have unveiled the Vectron Dual Mode Light, an electro-diesel locomotive optimised for flexible deployment on partly-electrified routes and to reduce the need for shunting. It is several tonnes lighter than a conventional Vectron Dual Mode loco. The changes are intended ...
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NewsJoint venture to manage upgraded Baku – Tbilisi – Kars railway
ASIA: An equally-owned binational joint venture is to be set up to manage the Azeri and Georgian sections of the Baku – Tbilisi – Kars railway once current upgrading works are completed. Azerbaijan’s and Georgia’s state railways currently hold sole responsibility for the sections of line ...
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Metro Report InternationalLuxembourg: Luxtram eyes an expanding network
As Luxembourg City’s first modern light rail line nears completion, work is getting underway on two branches to form a second route. Two more routes are being planned, along with an interurban link to the country’s second city.
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NewsHigh speed rail bypass contract awarded
SPAIN: High speed rail infrastructure manager ADIF Alta Velocidad has awarded Sacyr Construcción a €49m contract to build the first section of a 19 km bypass around the town of Loja on the Antequera – Granada high speed line. Trains currently use a single track, dual ...
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NewsStadler to open Berlin train commissioning centre
GERMANY: Stadler is to establish a facility at Hennigsdorf near Berlin where it will commission rolling stock produced at its Berlin Pankow plant. Opening is planned by 2027, with Stadler’s current commissioning centre in Velten to be converted into a servicing centre which will undertake modernisation, ...
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NewsFurther concerns raised about Dutch train operating contract
Source: NS NETHERLANDS: The European Commission has sent a further letter of formal notice to the Netherlands, expressing concerns about the direct award of a contract for state-owned incumbent Nederlandse Spoorwegen to operate services on the designated core passenger network between January 1 2025 and December ...
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In depthNetherlands: TINA on course to reshape HTM tram fleet
Dutch operator HTM has unveiled a mock-up of its next-generation trams from Stadler’s expanding modular TINA range. Dr Harry Hondius reports from Den Haag.
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Metro Report InternationalPorto Pink Line signalling contract awarded
PORTUGAL: Metro do Porto has awarded Alstom a contract to supply signalling, safety and control systems for the Pink Line project. The first section of the Pink Line will run underground for 3 km from São Bento to Boavista-Casa da Música, serving four stations and improving ...
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NewsRail freight service launched following Houthi attacks on shipping
EUROPE: Rail freight operator Lineas has collaborated with container handler CSP Zeebrugge to launch a service between the Belgian port and Graz in Austria for COSCO Shipping Lines, which has had to divert vessels away from the Red Sea because of attacks by Houthi rebels. The ...
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NewsMallorca EMU delivered
SPAIN: Serveis Ferroviaris de Mallorca has taken delivery of the first of five electric multiple-units being supplied by CAF. Testing is now underway with entry into services on SFM’s metre-gauge routes from Palma de Mallorca planned for June, by which time the remaining four EMUs are ...
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NewsMalmbanan iron ore railway reopens after derailments
SWEDEN: Iron ore trains on the single-track railway between Kiruna and Narvik resumed on March 6 following two recent derailments. Toma Bačić reports.
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Metro Report InternationalLe Mans trams to be lengthened to boost capacity
FRANCE: Le Mans Métropole has awarded Alstom a €57m contract to extend the city’s 34 Citadis trams from 32 m to 44 m. This will increase capacity by 85 passengers to 296. The project also includes updates to the CCTV and tachometric control units and the ...
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Metro Report InternationalMoskva-2024 metro train enters service
RUSSIA: Moskva Metro put the first Moskva-2024 series trainset into service on March 11 as part of a three-year renewal of the Line 2 fleet. The trains are being produced by Transmashholding subsidiary Metrowagonmash. Features include wider aisles and through gangways to ...
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In depthDecarbonisation: Schleswig-Holstein pioneers a battery traction network
An ambitious programme to operate a network of local rail services in north Germany using battery-powered trains is expected to save 10 million litres of diesel fuel a year, as Toma Bačić explains.
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NewsPKP Intercity awards major contract for 200 km/h coaches
POLAND: PKP Intercity has awarded FPS H Cegielski a 4·23bn złoty contract to supply 300 coaches, with options for 150 more. ‘We have just concluded the largest tender in the company’s history in terms of the number of vehicles’, said PKP Intercity management board member Jarosław ...
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Metro Report InternationalBochum light rail vehicle modernised as B80-Neo
GERMANY: Stadler has completed work on the first of 25 Bochum light rail vehicles which it is to extensively modernise over the next four years. The B80D LRVs dating from the 1980s are being redesignated B80-Neo following the work which Stadler is undertaking in Berlin. ...
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NewsDomestic content boost for Ukrainian rolling stock
UKRAINE: National railway Ukrzaliznytsia has ordered 66 coaches from KVSZ which will include facilities for passengers with reduced mobility and will have an increased proportion of domestic content. The government has provided 260 million hryvnias to support the localisation of production by 160 Ukrainian suppliers. Announcing ...