German railway news – Page 49
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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. ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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. ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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NewsDB Netz orders RailRoadRunner ultrasonic rail inspection systems
GERMANY: Infrastructure manager DB Netz has awarded Vossloh Rail Services subsidiary Gleistechnik Süd a framework contract for the supply of RailRoadRunner manually-guided ultrasonic rail inspection systems. The inspection components and a weatherproof tablet computer are integrated into a lightweight but sturdy trolley suitable for inspecting rail over short distances, such ...
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NewsFreight operators reschedule to avoid Rastatt tunnel collapse
EUROPE: Rail freight operators are working to implement diversionary routes for north-south intermodal traffic, after German infrastructure manager DB Netze confirmed that the key Karlsruhe – Basel section of Rhine-Alpine Rail Freight Corridor 1 would remain closed for an estimated six weeks following a tunnel collapse at Rastatt on August ...
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NewsLEO Express to relaunch Locomore service
GERMANY: Czech operator LEO Express is to relaunch the Berlin – Stuttgart open access service which was suspended when Locomore began insolvency proceedings, the companies confirmed on August 16. The intention is to offer a Thursday to Sunday service from August 24. LEO Express told Railway Gazette it ...
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NewsLEO Express recruiting for German launch
GERMANY: Czech open access operator LEO Express has started recruiting train crew to operate a long-distance passenger service between Berlin and Stuttgart, which it says it hopes to launch in mid-August. The company’s German subsidiary LEO Express GmbH is looking for qualified train managers to be based at Berlin-Lichtenberg and ...
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NewsThüringen to award 11-year Rennsteigshuttle contract
GERMANY: Thuringen’s Ministry of Infrastructure & Agriculture is to award local operator Süd-Thüringen-Bahn a contract to continue to provide passenger services on the 14 km Ilmenau – Rennsteig line south of Erfurt for 11 years from December 2017. Regular passenger services on the route were revived in December 2015 ...
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NewsDB Regio orders Siemens EMUs for Rhein-Neckar services
GERMANY: DB Regio has formally ordered 57 three-car Mireo electric multiple-units for use on S-Bahn Rhein-Neckar services, Siemens announced on August 8. This is the second order for the Mireo regional and commuter train family, which Siemens launched last year. The 160 km/h EMUs will be supplied from Siemens’ Krefeld ...
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NewsLocomore insolvency proceedings begin
GERMANY: Partly crowd-funded open access operator Locomore announced on August 2 that insolvency proceedings had opened the previous day. The company said it was still trying to find a positive solution to its problems, but train services would remain suspended ‘until further notice’. Locomore launched a daily return service between ...
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NewsDB signs 100-locomotive framework for Rhein-Alpine freight corridor
EUROPE: The signing of a framework agreement for the supply of up to 100 Vectron multi-system electric freight locomotives with a €250m firm order for an initial 60 was announced by Deutsche Bahn and Siemens on August 4. The first five of the ETCS-equipped 6·4 MW locomotives with a maximum ...
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NewsRegions lobby for direct Berlin – Wrocław train
EUROPE: A special train service ran from Berlin to Wrocław on July 15 to highlight the desire of city and regional authorities on both sides of the German-Polish border to see the reintroduction of regular through services. The EuroCity service between the cities was withdrawn in December 2014. Jürgen Murach, ...
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NewsDB has the wind in its sails but its feet on the ground
GERMANY: ‘We can feel the wind in our sails, but we still have our feet firmly planted on the ground’, said Deutsche Bahn Chief Executive Dr Richard Lutz when presenting the group’s results for the first six months of 2017 on July 26. Lutz said the figures from the first ...
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NewsMerger of Hohenzollerische Landesbahn and SWEG approved
GERMANY: Plans to merge local transport operators Hohenzollerische Landesbahn and Südwestdeutsche Verkehrs with effect from January 1 2018 were approved on July 24 by the Sigmaringen and Zollernalbkreis district authorities which hold 14% stakes in HzL. Approval had already been granted by the Land of Baden-Württemberg which owns 100% of ...