SWITZERLAND: The abbot of Engelberg Abbey opened the 4043 m long Grafenort – Engelberg tunnel on Switzerland’s metre-gauge Zentralbahn on December 11, with regular services starting the next day.
The 10·5% gradient in the tunnel replaces the exceptionally steep 24·6% on the previous route, reducing uphill journey times by 14 min and increasing capacity. Construction took 10 years at a cost of SFr1745m, hindered by serious flooding in 2005 (RG 4.10 p42).
SWITZERLAND: Metre-gauge operator Zentralbahn has awarded Stadler a SFr141m contract to supply 10 inter-regional electric multiple-units as part of a double-tracking and modernisation programme which will see the timetable recast in December 2013. Six three-car trains will be used on Brünig services. These will be 54 m long with ...
TRACK MACHINES: Unipart Rail has launched a range of rail construction, maintenance and renewal machines, developed in partnership with Thomson Engineering Design Ltd. The range includes: Sleeper Layer, providing delivery rates of up to 1 000 sleepers/h, with options including automatic steering, remote condition monitoring ...
SWITZERLAND: Trials with a collision warning system as the first stage in a project to switch to GoA4 driverless operation have begun on the 1 200 mm gauge Rheineck – Walzenhausen line in the canton of St Gallen. Part of the Appenzeller Bahnen group, the 1∙96 ...
