German railway news – Page 49
-
NewsMetrans orders more Traxx locomotives
GERMANY: Metrans has ordered 10 more Bombardier Transportation Traxx F140MS locomotives for delivery in the first quarter of 2018 The intermodal subsidiary of Hamburger Hafen & Logistik AG currently has a fleet of 50 mainline and 17 shunting locomotives. ‘With more of our own locomotives at our disposal, we ...
-
NewsBombardier hands over HSL Traxx locos
GERMANY: In a double ceremony taking place at the manufacturer’s Kassel plant on November 29, Bombardier Transportation handed over three Traxx AC electric freight locomotives to leasing company Akiem, which in turn passed them directly to its customer HSL Logistik. A further three locos are due to be handed over ...
-
NewsDelays and escalating costs hit Stuttgart 21
GERMANY: The Stuttgart 21 project to replace the city’s terminus by an underground through station is likely to cost €1bn more than planned, and completion may be delayed from 2023 to December 2024. According to reports in the German media citing sources in the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bahn, ...
-
NewsFuel cell Mireo multiple-unit to be developed
GERMANY: Siemens and Canadian fuel cell technology company Ballard Power Systems have signed an agreement to develop a 200 kW fuel cell suitable for powering Mireo electric multiple-units. The initial deployment of a fuel cell powered trainset is planned for 2021. ‘Our co-operation with Ballard is a decisive step towards ...
-
NewsHydrogen could replace diesel in 15 years says LNVG, as fuel cell train contract signed
GERMANY: ‘Fuel cell technology has a good chance to prevail in Germany in the next 10 to 15 years, with diesel vehicles being more and more forced out of the market’, said Niedersachsen transport authority LNVG when it signed a 30-year contract with Alstom and gas supplier Linde Group for ...
-
NewsHKX to resume with support from FlixBus
GERMANY: Hamburg-Köln-Express services are to temporarily resume in December and January, long-distance coach company FlixBus announced on November 2. In August HKX announced its intention to suspend its open access passenger service from October 4 until December. The arrangement with FlixBus will see services running between Hamburg and Köln ...
-
NewsDB awards electrification contracts
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn has awarded SPL Powerlines Germany contracts with a total value of €13m for electrification of the VE03 Mindelheim – Stetten and VE04 Memmingen – Leutkirch sections of the München – Zürich route. Powerlines is to install a total of 465 masts, 481 cantilevers, 38 km of high-strength ...
-
NewsHydrogen fuel cell multiple-units ordered
GERMANY: Niedersachsen transport authority LNVG has announced an order for Alstom to supply 14 hydrogen fuel cell multiple-units, with options for 33 more. The initial batch of units is to be deployed on Weser-Elbe services between Cuxhaven, Bremerhaven, Bremervörde and Buxtehude. The contract has been awarded to a consortium ...
-
NewsDB Regio selected for Dieselnetz Ulm contract
GERMANY: Following a European tender, Bayern railway authority BEG has selected incumbent DB Regio to operate Dieselnetz Ulm passenger services from December 2020 until December 2032. The contract covers regional services on the Ulm – Memmingen (– Buxheim) and Ulm – Weißenhorn routes which are to be operated using new ...
-
NewsLonger freight trains to go ahead
GERMANY: Planning for the introduction of 740 m long freight trains across the core national network is to be stepped up, following a favourable evaluation by the Federal Transport Ministry. Secretary of State for Transport Enak Ferlemann said on September 22 that efficient railway infrastructure was needed across the country, ...
-
NewsDB Netz reopens main line through Rastatt
GERMANY: Following a hiatus of around seven weeks, trains began running through the town of Rastatt on the Rhein Valley main line between Karlsruhe and Basel at 01.00 on October 2.The busy freight and passenger artery had been blocked since August 12, when a tunnel beneath the alignment collapsed. The ...
-
NewsDresden – Praha new line planning to start
EUROPE: An agreement is to be signed ‘this year’ promising that German federal funding will be available to cover the planning costs of the northern part of the proposed Dresden – Praha high speed route, Federal Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said in a September 22 letter to Stanislaw Tillich, Minister ...
-
NewsAgreement reached for restructuring at Bombardier Transportation in Germany
GERMANY: Bombardier Transportation GmbH's management and general works council announced on September 25 that they had signed a general company agreement covering a planned restructuring. The agreement is valid until the end of 2020 and formalises principles which had been agreed by management and employee representatives at a supervisory board ...
-
NewsTiger Rail offers Europe – China freight options
INTERNATIONAL: Hong Kong-based supply chain company Tigers has launched Tiger Rail, offering a 16-day transit time eastbound or westbound between Duisburg in Germany and 15 destinations in China including Hefei, Chongqing and Chengdu. Tiger Rail customers can charter a train, or book full-container-load or less-than-container-load shipments onto weekly scheduled services. ...
-
NewsLogistics bodies urge action after Rastatt ‘disaster’
EUROPE: ‘The European system of rail logistics is about to collapse’, warned more than 20 trade bodies on September 4 in an open letter to European Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc and German Federal Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt. The letter was copied to seven other transport ministers and Josef Doppelbauer, Executive ...
-
NewsHitachi and DB test ScotRail EMUs in Germany
UK: Two Hitachi Rail Europe Class 385 EMUs have been moved from Britain to a base at Minden in Germany for a series of unpowered dynamic tests on the DB Netz network.Hitachi is supplying 70 Class 385 EMUs in three- and four-car formations for ScotRail from its production facility at ...
-
NewsEurovia buys German contractor THG
GERMANY: Vinci subsidiary Eurovia announced on August 31 that it had become the majority shareholder in rail infrastructure contractor THG Baugesellschaft. Based in Nordrhein-Westfalen, THG has around 60 staff and generated revenue of €17m in 2016. It provides services including track and turnout renewals, subgrade construction and other civil engineering ...
-
NewsEvraz NTMK supplies colour-changing wheels to DB
GERMANY: Russian steelmaker Evraz NTMK has delivered a batch of 240 BA220 coach wheels to Deutsche Bahn for the first time, with a further 1 440 to follow this year. The 920 mm diameter BA220 is a new product, manufactured with ER7 steel with a rim hardness of >235 HB. ...
-
NewsRastatt blocked until October 7, says DB
GERMANY: The Karlsruhe – Basel section of European Rail Freight Corridor 1 will remain closed until October 7, following the tunnel collapse at Rastatt on August 12, infrastructure manager DB Netze confirmed on August 22. Explaining that a sudden inrush of water had destabilised the boring of a new tunnel ...
-
NewsHKX to suspend services from October to December
GERMANY: Hamburg-Köln-Express is to suspend its open access passenger service from October 4 until the December 10 timetable change. Announcing the decision on August 21, the company said the two-month break in the off-peak season would be used ‘to better adapt HKX to customer needs’ and develop an attractive product ...