German railway news – Page 62
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NewsRail Industry Training & Recruitment in Brief
A delegation from Indian Railways and the Ministry of Urban Development has visited UK infrastructure manager Network Rail’s Anglia route offices at Stratford to look at the technical and operational challenges of suburban services and at integration of rail with other modes. The visit was organised by Network Rail Consulting. ...
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NewsGroundbreaking launches Rastatt tunnel project
GERMANY: A groundbreaking ceremony was held in Niederbühl on July 30 to launch a €693m project to build a new double-track alignment through Rastatt. This forms part of a programme to provide four tracks in place of two to increase capacity on the Rhine Valley corridor between Karlsruhe and Basel. ...
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NewsHohenzollerische Landesbahn retains operating contract
GERMANY: Following a competitive tender, on August 1 the Land of Baden-Württemberg announced it had selected incumbent Hohenzollerische Landesbahn for a contract to operate Zollernbahn local services between Tübingen and Sigmaringen. The recently-modernised Regio-Shuttle RS1 diesel railcars are to be retained to operate the route, but the new contract requires ...
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NewsDB launches mentoring programme
GERMANY: Following a trial underway since 2011, Deutsche Bahn has launched a mentoring programme for younger female staff in technical roles across the infrastructure and technical divisions of the business. The programme is intended to demonstrate to young women in engineering roles that a future at leadership level is open ...
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NewsDB signs contract for Škoda Transportation push-pull trains
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn signed a €110m contract for Škoda Transportation to supply six double-deck push-pull trainsets on August 5. The trainsets are to be used on regional services linking Nürnberg, Ingolstadt and München which DB Regio is to operate on behalf of the Land of Bayern for 12 years from ...
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NewsZhengzhou to Hamburg freight train arrives
INTERNATIONAL: An inaugural freight from Zhengzhou in China arrived at Hamburg-Billwerder yard in Germany on August 2. The train was operated on behalf of Zhengzhou International Land Port Development & Construction Co, with DB Schenker responsible for the logistics services outside China. The 10 214 km route through China, Kazakhstan, ...
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NewsLease deal funds hybrid shunting locomotive trial
GERMANY: A project to demonstrate the performance and long-term operating costs of diesel-battery hybrid shunting locomotives in daily service was launched by Deutsche Bahn, Alstom, DAL Deutsche Anlagen-Leasing and the Land of Bayern on August 1. Alstom's Stendal plant is to build five H3 three-axle shunting locomotives for DAL, which ...
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NewsVariable Train Wash Control software installed
GERMANY: Factory control system specialist AIS Automation Dresden has won a contract to supply its Variable Train Wash Control software to upgrade a train washing plant in Leipzig. VarTWC operates both the washing and waste water system. It can be retrofitted to different types of washing plant, and the latest ...
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NewsRhein-Ruhr-Express funding agreement
GERMANY: The federal government has committed to including the first phase of the Rhein-Ruhr-Express project in its 2014 budget. This would include funding for modernisation of the Köln-Mülheim -Langenfeld-Berghausen line as well as upgrading works in Dortmund. 'The marathon negotiations are finally crowned with success' said Nordrhein-Westfalen Transport Minister Michael ...
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NewsFunding for €1·5bn Emmerich - Oberhausen upgrade signed
GERMANY: A funding agreement for a €1·5bn upgrade of the 73 km Emmerich - Oberhausen line which links the Betuwe Route and North Sea ports with the Ruhr area and Rhine Valley freight corridor was signed on July 24. A third track is to be laid from ...
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NewsRefurbishment aims to extend DMU life by 15 years
GERMANY: Niedersachsen transport authority LNVG has awarded Alstom a €27m contract to modernise 27 Coradia Lint 41 diesel multiple-units used on Weser-Ems services. The work is to be undertaken at Alstom's Braunschweig site for completion in December 2015. The contract announced on June 26 is designed to ensure the trains ...
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NewsSiemens acquires planning and retarder businesses
SIEMENS: Two acquisitions in Germany were announced by Siemens on June 25. The company has bought Sky Eye Transportation Systems, which has 20 staff in Braunschweig specialising in planning, dispatch, crew and fleet management technology. The business is to be integrated into the Rail IT Segment of the Rail ...
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NewsDB Regio orders Škoda trainsets for fast regional services
GERMANY: Incumbent operator DB Regio has been selected by the Land of Bayern to run regional services between München, Ingolstadt, Augsburg, Treuchtlingen and Nürnberg for 12 years from December 2016. Included in the operating contract are 200 km/h fast regional services which use the Neubaustrecke between Nürnberg and Ingolstadt. The ...
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NewsIGC grants Deutsche Bahn access to Channel Tunnel
EUROPE: The Intergovernmental Commission which oversees access to the Channel Tunnel has granted a ‘Certificate B’ operating licence to Deutsche Bahn, the tunnel’s owner Groupe Eurotunnel announced on June 14. The announcement paves the way for more work to be undertaken to enable the introduction of DB’s long-planned high speed ...
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NewsHannover light rail vehicle assembly underway
GERMANY: Assembly of the first TW3000 high-floor light rail vehicles ordered by Hannover transport operator Üstra has begun at the HeiterBlick factory in Leipzig. The first vehicles will be delivered to Hannover later this year for testing, with revenue services likely to commence in early 2014. In ...
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NewsMTU builds engine R&D facility
GERMANY: Tognum's MTU Friedrichshafen subsidiary held a groundbreaking ceremony for a €60m engine research and development facility on May 6. The facility will have seven test stands for the study of combustion processes, control systems, exhaust after-treatment and gas engines for rail and maritime applications. 'These test stands ...
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NewsPrivate funding planned for Bayern passenger project
GERMANY: Bayern railway authority BEG is negotiating a private funding model that could facilitate the reintroduction of passenger services on the 24 km Dombühl – Feuchtwangen – Dinkelsbühl line. The route is leased from DB by BayernBahn and has only carried freight and heritage trains since regular passenger services ceased ...
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NewsDeutsche Bahn presses on with Stuttgart 21
GERMANY: The controversial Stuttgart 21 project will be carried through to completion and not abandoned because of rising costs, Deutsche Bahn announced on March 5. ‘The time of uncertainty is over — the project will continue’, asserted DB Chairman Dr Rüdiger Grube at a hastily called press conference following ...
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NewsDB approves longer ICx trainsets
GERMANY: On March 5 Deutsche Bahn's supervisory board approved plans for its future ICx inter-city trainsets to be up to 12 rather than up to 10 cars long, increasing the number of seats from 724 to 830. DB said this reflects an 'encouraging increase' in the number of long-distance passengers, ...
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NewsEuropean Court of Justice rules on vertical separation
EUROPE: On February 28 the European Court of Justice ruled on four infringement cases brought by the European Commission regarding the extent to which Directive 91/440 and the First Railway Package require infrastructure managers to be independent of train operators. The court found that Hungary (case C 473/10) and Spain ...