German railway news – Page 25
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Metro Report InternationalPotsdam orders low-floor trams to ‘strengthen sustainable mobility’
GERMANY: Potsdam transport operator ViP has awarded Stadler a contract to supply 10 Tramlink trams along with spare parts and 10 years of maintenance services. Deliveries are planned for 2024, taking the city’s fleet of Stadler vehicles to 28 trams. There is an option for a ...
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NewsMore ICE Sprinters offer alternative to flying
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn introduced more limited-stop Sprinter ICE services on long-distance inter-city routes with the timetable change on December 12. Sprinter-branded ICE services now operate on eight domestic routes, while a daily Frankfurt am Main – Paris service calling at Mannheim and Karlsruhe also carries the ...
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Metro Report International‘Tram of the future’ selected by Sachsen operators
GERMANY: The LEIWAG consortium of HeiterBlick and Kiepe Electric has been awarded a framework contract to supply up to 155 trams to city transport operators in Leipzig, Zwickau and Görlitz under the ‘Sachsen Tram of the Future’ programme. The contract was signed on December 15, following ...
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Metro Report InternationalWork to start on Pasing U-Bahn extension
GERMANY: Construction of the western extension of München metro line U5 to Pasing is expected to begin in January, following approval of the formal planning application by the city government on December 15.
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NewsGreen hydrogen plant to support fuel cell train trial
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn and ‘green hydrogen’ production company Lhyfe have signed an agreement to build and operate an electrolyser in Tübingen to support the trial operation of a fuel cell-powered regional train. DB is working with Siemens Mobility on the H2goesRail research project to develop a ...
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NewsBerlin – Hamburg relaying completed
GERMANY: Work to relay tracks on the busy Hamburg – Berlin main line via Wittenberge was completed on schedule on December 12, allowing reintroduction of 230 km/h running for inter-city services with timings of around 1 h 45 min between the Hauptbahnhof in each city. The ...
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NewsDirect awards agreed to replace Abellio’s Nordrhein-Westfalen contracts
GERMANY: Three local transport authorities in Nordrhein-Westfalen have agreed emergency contracts for DB Regio, National Express and Vias Rail to take over regional passenger services currently operated by Abellio Rail NRW GmbH.
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Metro Report InternationalSiemens Mobility wins Digital Train Control Frankfurt CBTC contract
GERMANY: Frankfurt transport operator VGF has selected Siemens Mobility for the Digital Train Control Frankfurt contract to replace the conventional train control systems on its U-Bahn and tram networks with communications-based train control. Wireless digital communications between the control system and the vehicles will enable services ...
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Metro Report InternationalKarlsruhe Kombilösung tram tunnels inaugurated
GERMANY: The cross-city tram tunnels in Karlsruhe were opened for revenue service on December 11, with Verkehrsbetriebe Karlsruhe operating its first trams through the link from 14:30 and its regional partner Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft starting the following day. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, there was ...
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NewsDB and ÖBB selected for Bayern operating contracts
GERMANY: Bayern railway agency BEG has selected DB Regio and a subsidiary of Austrian Federal Railways for two transitional contracts to operate restructured Expressverkehr Ostbayern passenger services. Following an international tender, BEG announced on December 1 that DB Regio has been selected for Lot 1, which ...
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NewsBattery train supply and operation contract awards completed
GERMANY: All the contracts are now in place for the financing, supply, maintenance and operation of a large fleet of battery multiple-units for non-electrified routes in Schleswig-Holstein, with the award of the final operating contract following a tendering process which led to a legal challenge. Having ...
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Metro Report InternationalNoise and energy consumption cut during SiC tram testing
GERMANY: A ‘sharp’ reduction in motor noise and a 10% drop in energy consumption were observed during a year-long test of Infineon Technologies silicon carbide power semiconductors in one of the two traction converters fitted to a Siemens Mobility Avenio tram in München.
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NewsQuantum algorithms to optimise train scheduling
GERMANY: DB Netz and Cambridge Quantum are co-operating to explore the use of quantum computing to optimise train rescheduling at times of disruption. The partnership will combine CQ’s Filtering Variational Quantum Eigensolver with DB’s operations research expertise. ‘We are very excited to be working with Deutsche ...
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NewsGermany – Poland cross-border upgrade begins
EUROPE: Work has begin on the first phase of a project to reduce the journey time between Berlin and the Polish city of Szczecin by 20 min to 90 min. A ceremony on November 30 marked the start of work by Deutsche Bahn to upgrade the ...
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NewsGroundbreaking launches work on German side of Fehmarn Belt tunnel
GERMANY: Construction of the German side of the 18 km Fehmarn Belt immersed tube road and rail tunnel between Germany and Denmark was officially launched with a sod-turning ceremony on Puttgarden on November 29. Attendees included Enak Ferlemann, Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of ...
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NewsBattery EMUs ordered to replace diesel on partially electrified network
GERMANY: DB Regio has been awarded two regional passenger train operating contracts in Rheinland-Pfalz, and has placed an order for 44 Stadler Flirt Akku battery-electric multiple-units to meet a requirement for services on the 240 km partially electrified Pfalznetz Lot 1 network to be converted from ...
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News‘New era’ as German coalition prioritises rail spending over road
GERMANY: The so-called ‘traffic light coalition’ formed by the Social Democratic, Green and Free Democratic parties as the next federal government has committed to launching a ‘Rapid Capacity Expansion’ to enhance railway infrastructure as part of its wider transport strategy.
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NewsCAF to acquire Alstom multiple-unit ranges and Reichshoffen plant
EUROPE: Alstom has agreed to divest its Coradia Polyvalent and Talent 3 multiple-unit families to CAF, along with the production facilities at Reichshoffen in northern France.
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NewsFaster regional EMUs ordered
GERMANY: DB Regio Bayern has confirmed an order for Siemens Mobility to supply 26 Desiro HC double-deck electric multiple-units for use on Franken-Südthüringen services, including a 190 km/h variant for operation on a section of the Berlin – München high speed corridor. The order includes 18 ...
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NewsElz valley electrification completed
GERMANY: Electric services on the 19·3 km Elz valley line from Denzlingen to Elzach in Baden-Württemberg were launched on November 14, following the completion of work by DB to modernise and electrify the branch as the fifth and final phase of the Breisgau S-Bahn project. There ...