German railway news – Page 56
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NewsRail Cargo Group buys German operator
EUROPE: Austrian Federal Railways’ Rail Cargo Group announced its acquisition of German freight haulage, shunting and locomotive hire services business EBM Cargo GmbH on September 23. Founded in February 2010 and based in Gummersbach east of Köln, privately-owned EBM Cargo has an annual turnover of €5m and ‘extensive knowledge ...
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NewsCourt orders review of Nürnberg S-Bahn contract award
GERMANY: On September 17 the Higher Regional Court in München instructed Bayern railway authority BEG to undertake a review of the planned award of two Nürnberg S-Bahn operating contracts to National Express Rail. On February 2 BEG had named the German subsidiary of UK-based National Express Group as its preferred ...
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NewsQuality improvements in new Rurtalbahn contract
GERMANY: Following the first competitive tender for the route, on September 9 transport authority Nahverkehr Rheinland selected incumbent Rurtalbahn GmbH for a contract to operate hourly local passenger service RB21 on the 26 km Düren – Linnich northern branch of the Rurtalbahn network for four years from 2016. The ...
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NewsDIANA to monitor DB Netz turnouts
GERMANY: Strukton Systems has won a contract to supply more than 90 data loggers for the DIANA remote monitoring and analysis platform which has been developed by infrastructure manager DB Netz to provide supplier-independent asset condition data. Strukton will supply a customised version of its microPOSS data loggers, with ...
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NewsDB Regio retains Euregiobahn contract
GERMANY: Transport authority Nahverkehr Rheinland announced on August 27 that incumbent DB Regio had submitted the most economically advantageous bid for the next contract to operate RB20 Euregiobahn services. Radiating out from Aachen to Stolberg, Düren, Herzogenrath and Alsdorf in Germany and Heerlen in the Netherlands, the service carries around ...
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NewsGermany studies feasibility of a national clockface timetable
GERMANY: A detailed study of the feasibility of introducing of a national clock-face timetable based a 30 min and 60 min cycle of long distance trains with optimised connections has been published. The study was commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Transport from the IGES Institut and TU Braunschweig, with ...
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NewsFreight line passenger revival
GERMANY: Local freight railway Bentheimer Eisenbahn has called tenders for a contract to provide planning and engineering services for the reintroduction of passenger services on the 30 km Bad Bentheim – Neuenhaus line in Niedersachsen. Passenger trains on the route were replaced by railway-operated bus services in 1974. The ...
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NewsDB Netz buys SBB’s Rail Control System
GERMANY: Infrastructure manager DB Netz has licensed the Rail Control System train control and dispatching package developed by Swiss Federal Railways, and plans to deploy it across the German network from 2019. Introduced by SBB in 2009, RCS is also used by BLS and SOB. Belgium’s Infrabel was the first ...
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NewsAppeals block award of Hamburg – Sylt contract
GERMANY: Losing bidders Abellio and incumbent Transdev subsidiary Nord-Ostsee-Bahn have formally objected to the Land of Schleswig-Holstein’s selection of DB Regio for the contract to operate Bahnnetz-West passenger services from December 2016. Their appeal is expected to be heard in September. The contract covers the 238 km service RE6 from ...
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NewsMonopolies Commission calls for DB unbundling and privatisation
GERMANY: The Monopolies Commission calls for the unbundling of Deutsche Bahn’s infrastructure and operating activities and the sale of its train operating business units to private owners in its fifth biennial report on the railway market. In Railway 2015: Competition policy off track?, the Commission argues that DB’s integrated ...
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NewsDB and SNCF extend Alleo cross-border co-operation
EUROPE: The ceremonial launch of Deutsche Bahn Class 407 trainsets on the Frankfurt to Paris Est route on July 23 was followed by the signing of an agreement to extend DB and SNCF’s Alleo cross-border operating partnership for a further five years to 2020. Around 12 million passengers have travelled ...
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NewsVossloh launches construction of locomotive plant
GERMANY: Construction of Vossloh Locomotives’ new plant on a business park in the Suchsdorf area of Kiel was officially launched with a groundbreaking ceremony on July 17. Vossloh and property developer Stargime are investing €41m in the plant, which is scheduled to open in mid-2016. It will have a production ...
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NewsDB awards GSM-R upgrade contracts
GERMANY: Infrastructure manager DB Netz awarded two contracts totalling €110m for the modernisation of its national GSM-R communications network on July 14. The scope of the work includes the modernisation of around 3 300 base stations and 38 control centres by 2024, along with maintenance until 2033. ...
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NewsKeolis wins battle of Teutoburger Wald
GERMANY: Keolis Deutschland announced on July 9 that it had finally been awarded the Teutoburger Wald passenger operating contract, which was tendered by Westfalen-Lippe transport authority NWL in co-operation with Niedersachsen's LNVG and the Netherlands' Regio Twente and Overijssel province. Keolis was named preferred on November 6 2014, but incumbent ...
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NewsKnorr-Bremse to transfer production from München
GERMANY: On June 29 Knorr-Bremse announced plans to move 184 permanent and 118 fixed-term production and assembly jobs at its Rail Vehicle Systems division from München to sites in Berlin, Budapest, Suzhou and Nankou by mid-2017. The München site will in future focus on development, project management and sales, ...
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NewsNetinera orders Lint DMUs
GERMANY: Netinera Deutschland’s Länderbahn subsidiary has formally awarded Alstom a contract to supply 12 Coradia Lint 41 diesel multiple-units by June 2016, for use on Regentalbahn’s Oberpfalzbahn services in Bayern and the Czech Republic. The order announced on June 16 replaces a contract awarded in December 2011 but subsequently cancelled ...
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NewsNational Express and Abellio win Rhein-Ruhr-Express contracts
GERMANY: National Express and Abellio were named as preferred bidders for three contracts to operate Rhein-Ruhr Express passenger services on June 16. Totalling 14·6 million train-km/year, the operating contracts start in 2018-20 and run until December 2033, with options for termination up to two years early. They are being ...
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NewsHybrid drive demonstrates 15% fuel saving
ENGINE: A 15% reduction in fuel consumption compared to a conventional diesel multiple-unit was achieved by Deutsche Bahn’s VT642 test DMU when MTU undertook trials with a hybrid version of its PowerPack. MTU’s PowerPacks combine a DMU engine with electric, mechanical or hydraulic transmission, after-treatment, auxiliaries and cooling systems into ...
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NewsProcurement office halts S-Bahn Nürnberg contract award
GERMANY: On April 28 the Südbayern procurement office of the Oberbayern regional authority cancelled the award of an operating contract for the S-Bahn Nürnberg suburban network to National Express Group. Incumbent DB Regio lodged an appeal following the decision on February 2 by Bayern railway authority BEG to name National ...
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NewsConstruction Act brings Fehmarn tunnel civil works closer
DENMARK: Construction of the Fehmarn Belt fixed link road and railway tunnel moved a step closer on April 28 when the Danish parliament adopted the proposed Construction Act for the project. The fixed link will comprise an 18 km immersed tube tunnel between Rødbyhavn on Lolland and Puttgarden on the ...