High speed rail industry news – Page 27
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NewsRENFE 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 UKHS2 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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NewsTexas 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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News400 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 ...
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NewsDB plans high speed line renewals programme
GERMANY: Infrastructure manager DB Netz has announced plans for a major refurbishment of its two oldest high speed lines in a five-year programme costed at €825m. Work on the 327 km Hannover – Würzburg Neubaustrecke is to start in 2019, with the 99 km Mannheim – Stuttgart route following in ...
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NewsHigh speed trainsets to be delivered within three months
CHINA: China Railway Corp has awarded Bombardier Sifang (Qingdao) Transportation a 2·2bn yuan contract to supply 10 CR400AF high speed trainsets within three months. The contract for five eight-car and five 16-car 350 km/h trainsets was awarded to the 50:50 joint venture of Bombardier Transportation and CRRC Sifang at ...
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NewsAllianz acquires stake in NTV-Italo
ITALY: German insurance company Allianz has acquired an 11·5% stake in high speed open access operator NTV-Italo from Global Infrastructure Partners. Allianz is now the second largest stakeholder after GIP, ahead of co-founders Luca Cordero di Montezemolo and Gianni Punzo, Isabella Seragnoli, Flavio Cattaneo, Alberto Bombassei and Fund Peninsula.
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NewsMore ICE4s ordered as DB spends €1bn on inter-city fleet
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn ratified a decision to order more ICE4 inter-city trainsets for €700m at its supervisory board meeting in Berlin on September 26. DB Fernverkehr expects to order a further 18 seven-car trainsets from a Siemens-led consortium as an option on the 119 trains already planned for delivery by ...
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NewsRZD to expand high speed fleet
RUSSIA: An agreement to expand Russian Railways’ high speed train fleet was signed by the operator, Sinara Group and Siemens Mobility at InnoTrans 2018 on September 18. By March 31 RZD and the Ural Locomotives joint venture of Siemens and Sinara are to prepare an agreement for the supply ...
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NewsKing inaugurates Haramain High Speed Rail
SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Arabia became the latest country to launch high speed services on September 25, when the Haramain High Speed Rail line linking Makkah, Jeddah and Madinah was formally inaugurated by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. The ceremony in Jeddah was also attended by the three regional governors ...
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NewsHong Kong high speed line opens
CHINA: Revenue services on the 26 km Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou – Shenzhen – Hong Kong high speed line began on September 23, when MTR Corp’s first Vibrant Express departed at 07.00 carrying around 500 passengers to Shenzhen Bei. Connecting Hong Kong to the extensive Chinese national high ...
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NewsPepy promises to make SNCF ‘fit for the future’
INNOTRANS: The trade union strike action which has disrupted France’s rail network for much of this year has cost national railway group SNCF €780m, President Guillaume Pepy said at the InnoTrans trade show in Berlin on September 19. Speaking alongside SNCF Réseau President Patrick Jeantet, Pepy nevertheless painted a picture ...
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NewsKorail to receive distributed power E320 EMUs in 2019
SOUTH KOREA: Testing and commissioning of the first of a fleet of high speed EMUs for Korail is expected to start by the end of the year. Hyundai Rotem will deliver 21 distributed power trainsets to a design known as E320 to Korail in 2019-21. Two of the sets will ...
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NewsBrightline to develop Las Vegas – Los Angeles corridor
USA: Private passenger operator Brightline announced on September 18 its intention to develop a second inter-city corridor linking Las Vegas with southern California. The Fortress Investment Group subsidiary has agreed to acquire the XpressWest project which holds the rights to develop a federally-approved rail corridor paralleling Interstate 15. The group ...
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NewsMadrid - Montpellier open access service approved
SPAIN: National competition authority CNMC announced on September 17 that it had approved Intermodalidad de Levante SA's plans to launch an open-access passenger service between Madrid and Montpellier. The Air Nostrum subsidiary has applied to run two trains each way per day, calling at Zaragoza, Barcelona, Perpignan and Narbonne. EU ...
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NewsHaramain High Speed Rail fares announced
SAUDI ARABIA: Further confirmation that the Haramain high speed line is about to open for commercial services comes with the publication of ticket prices by local media. The Saudi Gazette reports that services will start on September 24. There are likely to be four return trips a day with more ...
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NewsKuala Lumpur – Singapore high speed rail project officially postponed
ASIA: An agreement to delay construction of the planned 350 km Kuala Lumpur – Singapore high speed rail line by up to five years was signed by representatives of the governments of Malaysia and Singapore on September 5. The project is one of several approved by the previous Malaysian government ...
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NewsHong Kong high speed line opening date confirmed
CHINA: Passenger services on the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou – Shenzhen – Hong Kong high speed line will begin on September 23, the Special Administrative Region government confirmed following the signing of two operating agreements on August 23. ‘High speed rail will open a new page in rail ...
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NewsItalo-NTV orders more high speed trainsets
ITALY: A €330m firm order for Alstom to supply a further five Pendolino Evo high speed trainsets and maintain them for 30 years was signed by Italo-NTV on July 31. The open access operator has previously ordered a total of 17 Pendolino Evo trainsets under a framework agreement reached in ...
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NewsVancouver – Seattle – Portland high speed rail study
NORTH AMERICA: Washington State Department of Transportation has appointed WSP to prepare a business case analysis for an ‘ultra-high speed ground transportation system’ connecting Vancouver, Seattle and Portland. WSP will be assisted by Steer, EnviroIssues, Paladin Partners and Transportation Solutions. The proposed high speed railway would be between 435 and ...