German railway news – Page 57
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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 ...
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NewsRDC seeks more paths in Sylt Shuttle auction
GERMANY: Open access operator RDC Deutschland has applied to operate up to 59 additional car-carrying shuttle services a day between Niebüll and Westerland on the island of Sylt from December 2015. Applications for additional paths over the 39 km route closed on April 13 after RDC Deutschland secured a ...
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NewsVIAS awarded Erft-Schwalm-Netz operating contract
GERMANY: Following an international tender, the Rhein-Ruhr and Rheinland transport authorities VRR and NVR have jointly selected VIAS GmbH to operate Erft-Schwalm-Netz passenger services for 12 years from December 2017. The decision was announced on March 26, with a contract to be signed following the 10-day standstill period. ...
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NewsTransdev wins Leipzig - Chemnitz operating contract
GERMANY: The Mittelsachsen and Leipzig transport authorities have selected Transdev subsidiary Mitteldeutsche Regiobahn to operate Leipzig – Geithain – Chemnitz passenger service E7 (currently RE6) from December 13 2015. The contract covers the operation of hourly services totalling around 1 million train-km/year. It runs until at least December 2023, ...
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News€1·7bn Rhein-Ruhr-Express EMU order awarded
GERMANY: A ‘record-breaking’ order for Siemens to supply and maintain a fleet of 82 electric multiple-units for the Rhein-Ruhr-Express network was officially awarded on March 26 by a group of local transport authorities in the Rhein-Ruhr region. The company had been selected in February as preferred bidder ...
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NewsTrain leasing agency approved
GERMANY: In an effort to encourage competition for passenger operating contracts, on March 12 Baden-Württemberg’s parliament passed a law creating an agency which will procure rolling stock for lease to train operators. Land Transport Minister Winfried Hermann said that independent operators bidding to run local services are offered less favourable ...
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NewsEmission-free trains to support railway reopening
GERMANY: A letter of intent was signed on March 19 between Alstom Transport and the municipality of Calw in the Land of Baden-Württemberg paving the way for emission-free fuel cell trainsets to operate on the so-called Hermann-Hesse line from 2018. Closed to revenue-earning traffic in 1988, the Calw – Weil ...
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NewsDB to reconquer the long-distance market
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn revealed details of an ambitious programme to regain lost business in the long-distance passenger market through expansion of its ICE and IC networks on March 18. The move follows an unprecedented surge in long-distance coach travel since market deregulation in 2013. Faster and more frequent trains serving ...
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NewsDB signs first station development framework
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn’s station management business unit DB Station&Service has signed the first of a planned series of framework agreements with the Länder for the development of new stations. Intended to boost ridership on the rail network, these stations would be located in residential and commercial areas and near traffic ...
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News‘Connectivity and vision’ key to future of high speed
RAILWAY GAZETTE TV: More than 370 viewers in 20 countries registered to watch Railway Gazette’s interactive live debate on high speed rail on February 25. Sponsored by Bombardier Transportation, the latest in RG TV’s debate series assessed the future of high speed rail over the next five decades saw Chris ...