All Railway Gazette International articles in February 2020 – Page 7
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NewsAkiem acquires Macquarie European Rail fleet
EUROPE: Leasing company Akiem Group has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Macquarie European Rail’s rolling stock leasing business, subject to regulatory approval. The transaction includes 137 locomotives used by 21 freight and passenger operators, including EMD Class 66, Bombardier Traxx, Alstom Prima and GE Transportation 311D ...
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NewsIllegally-closed cross-border railway reopened
EUROPE: The reinstated 19 km railway between Mažeikiai in Lithuania and Rengė in Latvia was officially reopened February 15, when ministers and officials from both countries attended a ceremony to mark the departure of a train carrying oil to Latvia from Orlen’s Lithuanian refinery. ...
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NewsAlstom agrees to buy Bombardier Transportation
INTERNATIONAL: The signing of a memorandum of understanding for Alstom to acquire 100% of Bombardier Transportation from Bombardier Inc and Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec was announced by the companies on February 17. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2021, ...
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Rail Business UKUnite seeks reassurance about future of Bombardier’s Derby factory
UK: Trade union Unite said it was seeking reassurances about the long-term future of the Bombardier Transportation factory in Derby following Alstom’s announcement on February 17 that it had signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire Bombardier Inc’s activities in the rail sector. ‘The Bombardier factory in ...
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Metro Report InternationalFast-charge battery development funded
AUSTRALIA: The development of fast-charge lithium-ion batteries to power catenary-free trams is among the projects which have been awarded A$11m of government funding under a programme to develop the national minerals sector. The A$5m tram battery project brings together the Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation, University ...
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NewsKintetsu prepares to launch luxury Hinotori EMUs
JAPAN: Kinki Nippon Railway has started driver training with the first of 11 Series 80000 EMUs that it has ordered from sister company Kinki Sharyo to operate limited express services between Nagoya and Osaka-Namba.
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Rail Business UKWigan multiple-unit depot inaugurated
Source: Tony Miles UK: Northern and Network Rail have inaugurated a £46m rolling stock stabling and light maintenance facility at Wigan Springs Branch, alongside the former diesel locomotive depot now used by Network Rail. The four-road depot provides Northern with an additional base for its expanding fleet, ...
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Metro Report InternationalFirst of 12 Panorama trams arrive in Olsztyn
POLAND: The first of 12 Durmazlar Panorama trams was delivered to Olsztyn on February 14. The low-floor vehicles were ordered from the Turkish manufacturer in August 2018 at the cost of 107·9m złoty, and will operate on the 6 km extension of the city’s tram network from ...
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Rail Business UKOn-train connectivity ‘stuck in the digital dark ages’
UK: The National Infrastructure Commission has published its Connected Future: Getting Back on Track report, saying that progress with providing mobile connectivity on trains has stalled since the government accepted the findings of its 2016 Connected Future report. NIC found there are few technical barriers to delivering ...
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Metro Report InternationalKeolis joins Greentown Labs startup incubator
USA: Keolis has joined the Greentown Labs Global Center for Cleantech Innovation as ‘terawatt-level’ partner, the highest level of engagement. The Greentown campus in Somerville, Massachusetts, offers startup companies resources including prototyping and wet lab space, shared offices, a machine shop and an electronics lab. It is ...
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NewsGateway Basel Nord secures next phase funding but faces another legal setback
SWITZERLAND: The Grand Council of Basel-Stadt voted on February 12 to approve funding for a loan worth SFr115∙53m to enable construction of a new basin forming part of the Gateway Basel Nord trimodal terminal to go ahead. Known as Dock 3, the 330 m long basin would ...
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NewsSmartRail Europe attracts global rail professionals
EVENTS: A cross-section of Europe’s most senior rail professionals will come together in Roma in May at SmartRail Europe, a bespoke conference organised by Railway Gazette Events and supported by Italian national infrastructure manager RFI and the European Union research body Shift2Rail. SmartRail Europe features a comprehensive ...
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Rail Business UKUnited call for a rolling programme of electrification
UK: Business, passenger, freight and community groups have published an open letter calling on Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps to end the stop-start nature of railway electrification projects and instead kick-start an ‘ambitious’ rolling programme. The letter says electric railways: have carbon emissions ...
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NewsDelhi – Meerut Regional Rapid Transit railway works in full swing
INDIA: The government of Uttar Pradesh has allocated Rs9bn for construction of the Delhi – Ghaziabad – Meerut regional express route in the state budget presented on February 18. This follows an allocation of Rs24·9bn in the national budget.
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NewsNormandie’s inter-city EMUs enter service
FRANCE: The first of 40 Bombardier-built Omneo Premium electric multiple-units procured by SNCF on behalf of the Normandie region entered revenue service on the Paris – Caen – Cherbourg route on February 17.
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Rail Business UKWherry lines resignalling goes live
UK: The Norwich – Great Yarmouth line reopened on February 17, services having been suspended since February 1 during a major project to replace the mechanical signalling with digital equipment controlled from Colchester. Final works are underway for the Norwich – Lowestoft line to ...
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Metro Report InternationalMadrid Line 4 modernisation reaches halfway point
SPAIN: Metro de Madrid’s €47m modernisation of Line 4 is more than 50% complete and the small-profile line is expected to reopen by the middle of next month. The upgrading work will see legacy signalling renewed in the tunnels and the installation of rigid catenary, allowing more ...
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NewsCroatian connecting line feasibility study
CROATIA: HŽ Infrastruktura has commissioned a feasibility study for the proposed 19 km Lepoglava connecting line which would run from Lepoglava on the Varaždin – Golubovec branch to Krapina or Sveti Križ Začretje on the Zabok – Đurmanec line. This would provide a more direct route between ...
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Rail Business UKUK railway news round-up
Andrew Stephenson MP was appointed Minister of State at the Department for Transport on February 13, with responsibility for HS2, Northern Powerhouse Rail and the Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade. He was first elected as Conservative MP for Pendle in May 2010, and had been Minister of State at ...
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Metro Report InternationalFirst Stadler M110 metro trainset enters service in Minsk
Stadler M110 Minsk BELARUS: Minsk Metro’s first Stadler M110 trainset has entered revenue service on the Awtazavodskaya Line on February 5. The four-car aluminium-bodied transit vehicle can carry 756 passengers, 168 seated, and is one of six 78·4 m four-car and four 97·7 m five-car trainsets ...