High speed rail industry news – Page 12
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NewsFavourable opinion on Firenze high speed tunnel
The tunnel will significantly reduce travel times by avoiding the need for trains to reverse at the existing Santa Maria Novella terminus. ITALY: A cost:benefit analysis has come out in favour of continuing with the project to build 7 km twin-bore high speed rail tunnel and Belfiore ...
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News
Siemens rolls out new Turkish Velaro
TURKEY: Siemens has unveiled the first of 12 Velaro high speed trainsets ordered by Turkish national operator TCDD Taşımacılık at the supplier’s Düsseldorf plant on November 13. Due to arrive in Ankara by the end of November, the train is expected to enter passenger service in February ...
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News
Africa’s first high speed line covers its costs
MOROCCO: Speaking at a press conference on November 20, Moroccan National Railways Director General Mohamed Rabie Khlie told media representatives that the high speed Al Boraq service launched by King Mohamed VI and French President Emmanuel Macron on November 15 2018 had carried 2·5 million passengers in ...
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News
First Amtrak Avelia emerges
USA: The first of 28 Avelia Liberty trainsets being assembled by Alstom to operate Amtrak’s Acela Express services has been outshopped at the manufacturer’s Hornell plant, ahead of the start of test running. Ordered in 2016 as part of a $2·45bn package of ...
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News
Chinese high speed train operator’s IPO approved
CHINA: Beijing–Shanghai High Speed Railway Co’s planned IPO was formally approved by the China Securities Regulatory Commission on November 14. The state railway’s investment arm currently owns a 50% stake in the operator of the 1 318 km line, which opened in June 2011 with trains running ...
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News
Italo signs ‘largest ever’ green loan for transport
ITALY: Open access high speed train operator Italo has signed a €1·1bn syndicated loan, which CEO Gianbattista La Rocca said was the world’s largest green loan in the transport sector. The proceeds will be used to refinance €900m of existing green investments on better terms, and to ...
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News
China poised to open 350 km/h automated railway
Source: Wikimedia Commons/N509FZ A fleet of CR400BF high speed trains from the Fuxing family will be used in automated opeartion on the Beijing - Zhangjiakou line. CHINA: Automated operations are due to start before the end of this year on the 174 km high speed line linking ...
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News
Korail takes delivery of first Hyundai Rotem EMU-250 trainset
SOUTH KOREA: Hyundai Rotem delivered the first EMU-250 electric trainset with distributed traction to Korail on November 4. The national operator ordered 19 six-car EMU-250 trainsets in two batches in 2016, with five scheduled to be delivered from the manufacturer’s Changwon works by August 2020 and the ...
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News
Four bidders seek Spanish train paths
SPAIN: Infrastructure manager ADIF has received four requests for capacity to operate passenger services on the ‘general interest’ national network including the main high speed corridors. Applications for train paths from December 14 2020 were submitted by national incumbent RENFE, the Rielsfera subsidiary of France’s SNCF, Motion ...
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News
‘Earthquake mode’ battery packs to be fitted to N700S Shinkansen fleet
Nick Kingsley reports from WCRR 2019
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Rail Business UK
HS2 streamlines civils subcontracting process
UK: The four High Speed 2 main works civils contractors have collaborated to introduce a standardised pre-qualification system for subcontractors which is designed to streamline the process, reduce costs and boost productivity. Under the Common Assessment Standard, bidders for work with Align, BBV, EK and SCS Railways ...
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News
Minister backs Taiwan high speed line extension
TAIWAN: The government has backed proposals to extend THSRC’s 1 435 mm gauge high speed railway to Yilan County, Minister of Transport & Communications Lin Chia-lung confirmed on October 24. Speaking to local media ahead of a Legislative Yuan Transport Committee meeting to review the Taiwan Railway ...
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News
London St Pancras twins with Bordeaux Saint-Jean to promote direct service
Twinning EUROPE: Channel Tunnel rail link concessionaire HS1 Ltd announced a twinning agreement between its London St Pancras International station and SNCF’s Bordeaux Saint-Jean station on October 18, saying this would help to progress the development of proposals for a through passenger service between the cities. ...
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News
Typhoon breaches Hokuriku Shinkansen and Chuo Main Line
JAPAN: Services on the Hokuriku Shinkansen and various other lines are expected to be disrupted for several weeks as a result of typhoon damage, East Japan Railway confirmed on October 15. Rail and road links in the Kanto Koshinetsu and Tohoku regions were badly affected by flooding ...
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News
Travel industry confirms rail ‘renaissance’ in Europe
INTERNATIONAL: Assertions that long-distance rail services in Europe are rapidly becoming more popular as passengers eschew flying for environmental reasons were amply confirmed at the Rail Innovation Forum organised by Amadeus at its head office near Nice on October 9-10. Speakers from across the travel industry highlighted ...
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News
Meizhou – Chaoshan Passenger-Dedicated Line opens
CHINA: The Meizhou – Chaoshan Passenger-Dedicated Line in Guangdong province opened for revenue service on October 11. The 122 km line has seven stations at Meizhou Xi, Shejiang Bei, Jianqiao, Fengshun Dong, Jieyang, Jieyang Jichang and Chaoshan, where it joins the Shenzhen – Hangzhou PDL with trains ...
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News
Talgo to supply 330 km/h ‘Dr Avril’ inspection train
SPAIN: Infrastructure manager ADIF has selected Talgo to supply a gauge-convertible inspection train able to operate at up to 330 km/h on the high speed rail network as well as at lower speeds on conventional lines. The train has been informally named ‘Dr Avril’ by the manufacturer, ...
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News
Ouigo to link centres of Paris and Lyon from June 2020
FRANCE: SNCF will launch Ouigo low-cost high speed services between the city centres of Paris and Lyon in June 2020. Until now Ouigo passengers between the two cities have been obliged to use trains that either start or finish outside the city centre of Paris or Lyon. ...
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News
Thalys-Eurostar merger planned under Green Speed initiative
EUROPE: SNCF, SNCB and the Patina Rail investment vehicle announced on September 27 their intention to combine the Eurostar and Thalys high speed rail operations, reporting that outline proposals were being presented to their respective boards. The proposed merger is being taken forward under a project ...
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Metro Report International
Beijing Daxing airport opens with high speed rail and metro links
CHINA: Two rail links to Beijing’s second international airport were opened for revenue services on September 26, the same day that commercial passenger flights began using Beijing Daxing Airport. This followed official inauguration of the airport by President Xi Jinping the previous day. ...
