High speed rail industry news
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NewsBST to supply 250 km/h CR300AF trainsets
CHINA: China Railway has awarded the Bombardier Sifang (Qingdao) Transportation joint venture a 1·6bn yuan contract to supply 14 eight-car CR300AF trainsets by January 2021. The BST 50:50 joint venture of Bombardier Transportation and CRRC Sifang Rolling Stock BST was first chosen to supply China Standard ...
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News
Porto – Lisboa high speed link revived under €10∙5bn rail spending programme
PORTUGAL: The government has confirmed its intention to press ahead with rail investment totalling more than €10bn as part of a wider national stimulus programme. The highlight of the package is the revival of a proposal for a high speed rail link between Lisboa and Porto, which was the subject of extensive studies in the mid-2000s.
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News
JR East to trial driverless Shinkansen operation next year
JAPAN: JR East announced on November 10 that it plans to use a 12-car Series E7 high speed trainset to undertake a series of driverless test runs in October and November 2021 as part of its Change 2027 programme.
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News
Public funds to save Italo-NTV
ITALY: From November 10, high speed open access operator Italo-NTV will cut back its services to a bare minimum because a second national lockdown needed to combat Covid-19 has caused demand to collapse.
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In depth
Rolling stock: Olympic deadline governs TGV M rollout
The first of 100 next-generation TGV sets is due to enter service with French national operator SNCF in time to carry passengers during the 2024 Olympic Games. Murray Hughes investigates.
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News
Shorter N700S to serve Nagasaki
JAPAN: JR Kyushu is to introduce a six-car derivative of the N700S high speed train family for use on the isolated Kyushu Shinkansen branch from Takeo Onsen to Nagasaki, which is scheduled to open in 2022.
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News
Spanish high speed network extended towards Galicia
SPAIN: A 110∙8 km section of the Madrid to Galicia high speed line between Zamora, Puebla de Sanabria and Pedralba de la Pradería was inaugurated by ADIF on October 26.
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News
CRRC unveils gauge-changing high speed train
CHINA: State-owned rolling stock manufacturer CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles has unveiled a prototype gauge-changing high speed train intended for international operation.
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Rail Business UK
HS1 Ltd sets green targets
UK: High speed infrastructure business HS1 Ltd has pledged to become fully carbon-neutral ‘at the very latest’ by 2030. Forming the keystone of a sustainability strategy launched on October 21, the target covers both traction energy and all other energy use, for example in stations and ...
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News
L&T low-bidder to build Mumbai – Ahmedabad high speed line
INDIA: Larsen & Toubro has been confirmed as low-bidder for the largest civil works contract on the planned Mumbai – Ahmedabad high speed line, the National High-Speed Rail Corp announced on October 19.
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News
Ouigo adds digital infotainment portal
FRANCE: Passengers travelling on Ouigo low-cost high speed services between Paris and Lyon are now able to access a wide range of information and entertainment options thanks to a partnership between the operator and digital services company Moment.
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News
JR East to speed up Tohoku Shinkansen
JAPAN: East Japan Railway is to raise the line speed limits on key sections of the Tohoku Shinkansen in order to make its train services between Tokyo and northeast Honshu more competitive with airlines.
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Rail Business UK
Liverpool link proposed under latest HS2 consultation
UK: A further round of public consultation on the planned route of High Speed 2 opened on October 7, covering the Phase 2b Western Leg from Crewe to Manchester.
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Rail Business UK
HS2 slab track contract awarded
UK: Project promoter High Speed 2 Ltd has awarded a consortium of Porr UK and Aggregate Industries UK the contract to design and manufacture modular slab track for HS2. The £260m contract announced on October 5 covers all track for the London – West Midlands Phase ...
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News
FRA approvals pave way for Texas high speed line construction
USA: Construction of the Texas Central high speed line linking Houston with Dallas is expected to start in the coming months following completion of the regulatory approval process. This concluded on September 21 when the Federal Railroad Administration released a pre-publication version of its final ...
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News
Ouigo España sets date to launch Falbalá
SPAIN: High speed open access services between Madrid and Barcelona under the Falbalá brand are now expected to be launched on March 15 2021. The launch had originally been planned for December this year, but was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Announcing the new date ...
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News
Staff invited to design TGV M livery
FRANCE: With the first SNCF’s next-generation TGV M power cars and trailers taking shape at Alstom’s factories in Belfort and La Rochelle respectively, the operator and its supplier have invited their staff to come up with a design for the livery of the two test trains.
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News
Environmental approval marks milestone in California’s truncated high speed programme
USA: The board of the California High-Speed Rail Authority on September 10 approved the Final Environmental Impact Statement for an 80 km section of the planned high speed railway between Merced and Fresno, known as the ‘Central Valley Wye’. The formal approval means that environmental clearance ...
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News
SNCF veteran Damas to lead Eurostar as restructuring looms
EUROPE: On September 4 the management board of Voyages SNCF announced the selection of Jacques Damas to succeed Mike Cooper as Chief Executive of Eurostar, in which the French national operator holds a 55% majority stake. Damas is an SNCF veteran whose career with the state ...
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Rail Business UK
High Speed 2 main works construction officially begins
UK: High Speed 2 project promoter HS2 Ltd marked the symbolic start of the main works for the 225 km Phase 1 of the project on September 4, noting that its contractors were moving from enabling, design and preparatory works to full construction. The announcement followed ...
