High speed rail industry news – Page 26
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News
Five new lines open in two days
CHINA: Revenue services began on two more high speed lines on December 25, with another inaugurated the following day, along with two new mixed-traffic railways. First to open on December 25 was the 293 km Harbin – Mudanjiang Intercity Railway, running southeast from the capital of Heilongjiang province to a ...
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Rail Business UK
RENFE joins MTR’s West Coast Partnership bid team
UK: MTR Corp announced on December 20 that Spanish national operator RENFE had joined its bid for the West Coast Partnership franchise. The Department for Transport invited three shortlisted bidders to tender for WCP in March this year. The contract will cover operation of inter-city services on the West Coast ...
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News
Acciona backs open access high speed project
SPAIN: Prospects for on-rail competition in the high speed market have increased, with Madrid-based international construction group Acciona expected to take a majority stake in open-access promoter Intermodalidad de Levante SA. Founded by Valencia-based regional airline Air Nostrum, ILSA has applied to launch a twice-daily Madrid – Montpellier service, calling ...
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News
BST awarded second CR400AF high speed train order
CHINA: China Railway Corp has awarded the Bombardier Sifang (Qingdao) Transportation joint venture a 3·1bn yuan contract to supply a further 15 eight-car and three 16-car CR400AF high speed trainsets designed for operation at up to 350 km/h. The contract announced by the 50:50 joint venture of Bombardier Transportation and ...
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News
JR East unveils first ALFA-X driving car
JAPAN: The first driving car bodyshell for East Japan Railway’s Series 956 high speed test train was unveiled in Kobe on December 12. Being manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, the 10-car trainset is expected to begin test running in May. Designated ALFA-X for Advanced Labs for Frontline Activity in rail ...
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News
Connection concerns raised as Ouigo expands
FRANCE: The European timetable change on December 9 marks a further expansion of SNCF’s low-cost high speed operation Ouigo. Routes to be added to the network include three daily return services between Paris-Lyon and Marseille, and three between Lille-Flandres and Marseille. When Ouigo was launched in April 2013, it operated ...
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News
Korail-Supreme Railways merger plan back on
SOUTH KOREA: The government has revived plans to combine national passenger operator Korail with new entrant Supreme Railways, Korail’s Vice-President for Passenger Transport Hyungik Cho has told Railway Gazette. The Ministry of Land & Infrastructure has commissioned a feasibility study into the effects of the possible merger, and its conclusions ...
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News
NSW to study regional high speed rail options
AUSTRALIA: The New South Wales state government has commissioned a study of four preferred corridors for high speed rail services, which it believes could transform travel patterns on regional routes radiating up to 300 km from Sydney. Announcing the study on December 3, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said ‘we know ...
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News
Marmaray corridor to open in Q1 2019, minister says
TURKEY: Transport Minister Cahit Turhan provided a progress update on November 16 on three new line projects as they near completion under the railway investment Master Plan. The government’s priority is completion of the surface works along the Marmaray corridor which runs across Istanbul from Gebze on the Asian side ...
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News
US high speed train safety standards issued
USA: The Federal Railroad Administration has amended its safety standards for passenger trains to create a new category covering trains operating at speeds up to 220 miles/h (355 km/h), in what it said was ‘one of the most significant enhancements to the nation’s passenger rail design standards in a century’. ...
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News
‘Broad coalition’ needed to deliver HS2
UK: ‘It will take a broad coalition involving us, the supply chain and local and national government to deliver this project’, Mark Thurston, Chief Executive of government high speed rail project delivery company HS2 Ltd told the All-Party Parliamentary Rail Group on November 20. He was updating parliamentarians on progress ...
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News
‘Serious challenges’ facing California high speed programme
USA: The programme to build a high speed rail network through California linking Los Angeles with the San Francisco Bay Area is facing ‘serious challenges’, according to a report issued by the state auditor on November 15. Many of the risks relate to California High Speed Rail Authority’s decision to ...
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News
Africa’s first high speed line inaugurated
MOROCCO: The first high speed railway in Africa was inaugurated by King Mohammed VI and French President Emmanuel Macron with a ceremony in Tanger on November 15. Revenue services are expected to begin before the end of the year. During the event the king officially named the high speed line ...
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News
Mercitalia launches high speed freight service
ITALY: FS Group freight subsidiary Mercitalia is to launch its first high speed freight service on November 7. FS says the Mercitalia Fast service is designed to meet the needs of express courier companies, logistics operators, producers and distributors. Operated by a converted ETR500 trainset, the Mercitalia Fast overnight service ...
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Rail Business UK
Eurostar deploys interactive robot at St Pancras station
EUROPE: Eurostar passengers in the departure area of London St Pancras station can now interact with a humanoid robot to find more information about their journey. Eurostar expects this to be particularly popular with families. The Pepper robot from SoftBank Robotics was supplied by Robots of London. It uses a ...
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Rail Business UK
Eurostar to expand Amsterdam service next year
EUROPE: Cross-Channel high speed operator Eurostar expects to launch a third daily train between London and Amsterdam in June 2019, reflecting the initial success of the route which was launched with two trains per day in April this year. Eurostar reports that it has already carried more than 130 000 ...
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News
RENFE and ADIF to support Texas Central high speed service
USA: On October 10 high speed project promoter Texas Central announced that it had selected Spanish national operator RENFE and infrastructure manager ADIF as ‘strategic partners’ for the 386 km high speed line between Houston and Dallas. The Spanish partners were one of five bidders, Texas Central said. ‘RENFE is ...
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Rail Business UK
HS2 unveils Birmingham station concepts
UK: Proposals for two new high speed stations in the West Midlands were unveiled by HS2 Ltd on October 9 as part of a public engagement programme. HS2 is seeking feedback on the designs before formal submissions for planning approval are lodged with Birmingham City Council and Solihull Metropolitan ...
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News
Texas Central names contractor and starts engineering design
USA: High speed rail promoter Texas Central announced on October 4 that it had appointed Italian civil engineering group Salini Impregilo to lead the civil construction consortium that would build its proposed Houston – Dallas route using Japanese Shinkansen technology. It has also issued a Limited Notice to Proceed, allowing ...
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News
400 km/h ALFA-X experimental train to roll in 2019
JAPAN: East Japan Railway's ALFA-X experimental Shinkansen trainset is on course to start test running in May 2019, the railway announced on October 3. Designated Series 956, the ALFA-X is intended to pave the way for a new fleet of high speed trains as part of the railway’s Transform 2027 ...