All Railway Gazette International articles in July 2020 – Page 7
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NewsAutonomous shunting to be tested
NETHERLANDS: Alstom, Lineas and ProRail have announced their intention to trial unattended autonomous shunting from early next year. The partners believe that this will be the first trial in Europe to use Grade of Automation 4 for shunting in freight yards. GoA4 is the highest level ...
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NewsTalgo VI trainsets withdrawn from Amtrak Cascades service
USA: Washington State Department of Transportation has withdrawn its 1998-built Talgo VI trainsets used to operate the Amtrak Cascades services between Eugene, Portland, Seattle and Vancouver, ahead of the procurement of replacement rolling stock. Withdrawal of the Talgo VIs was recommended by the National Transportation Safety ...
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Rail Business UKRail Needs Assessment to prioritise major projects in Midlands and north
Photo: Tony Miles UK: The National Infrastructure Commission published an interim report on July 15 setting out how it will undertake a Rail Needs Assessment to inform the government’s Integrated Rail Plan for the Midlands and northern England. Announced by the government in February, the IRP will ...
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Metro Report InternationalTram driver safety wristband under development
UK: Edinburgh Trams is leading development of a wristband which would monitor and analyse tram driver fatigue and well-being, with trials are planned for later this year. Data from the wearable technology would be analysed in real time, triggering alerts at the operations control centre if the ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
Sinara Transport Machines has acquired a 49% stake in the Vagonmash joint venture of Kirov Works and Škoda Transportation, which manufactures NeVa trainsets for the St Petersburg metro. Alstom booked €1·7bn of orders in its Q1 from April 1 to June 30, compared ...
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Rail Business UKOption enables SWR to expand Class 701 fleet
UK: A contract amendment has been agreed which gives South Western Railway an option to acquire up to five more Class 701 Aventra electric multiple-units from Bombardier Transportation through leasing company Rock Rail. The original £895m agreement between First MTR South Western Trains Ltd and Rock Rail ...
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NewsNRE Chief Executive Steven Beal dies
USA: National Railway Equipment Corp announced on July 16 that its CEO Steven L Beal had died suddenly at his home in Ladue, Missouri, on July 11, adding that the employee-owned business was ‘devastated by this tremendous loss’.
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NewsSNCB double-deckers delayed
BELGIUM: Delivery of SNCB’s double-deck Type M7 push-pull trainsets has been further delayed by the coronavirus, and will not be completed until March 2023, CEO Sophie Dutordoir has confirmed.
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Rail Business UKRail industry responds to transport reopening in England
UK: ‘In England, from today we are making clear that anybody may use public transport, while of course encouraging people to consider alternative means of transport where they are available’, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on July 17. Johnson went on to say that ‘from August 1, ...
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NewsSan Diego BiLevel order to ‘make the decision to try transit an easy one’
USA: San Diego’s North County Transit District has awarded Bombardier Transportation a $43m contract to supply a further 11 BiLevel double-deck coaches for entry into service in winter 2022-23. This will enable the Coaster commuter service to be increased to run every 30 min, and facilitate the ...
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News‘Very strong emphasis’ on rail as EU allocates €2·2bn for 140 transport projects
Rail Baltica. EUROPE: The European Commission said there was a ‘very strong emphasis’ on rail in the list of 140 transport projects which are to receive almost €2·2bn of Connecting Europe Facility grants announced on July 16. A total of 55 rail infrastructure projects on the TEN-T ...
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Metro Report InternationalSiemens to resignal Buenos Aires Line D
ARGENTINA: Buenos Aires metro authority SBASE has selected Siemens Mobility to install Communications-Based Train Control and a new passenger information system on the capital’s Line D.
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NewsFreight by passenger train pilot project funded
SWEDEN: Innovation agency Vinnova is to fund a project which aims to use spare capacity on passenger trains to carry high value light goods such as pharmaceuticals and e-commerce deliveries. The SKr1m grant has been awarded under a programme which aims to facilitate ‘rapid and sustainable change’ ...
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NewsCompressed air dryers designed to quadruple maintenance intervals
AIR DRYER: Emerson has introduced two compressed air dryers which are designed to extend maintenance intervals, minimise downtime and reduce energy costs in rail applications such as brakes and door controls. The company said typical air dryers have an average servicing interval of less than two years, ...
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Rail Business UKRail Supply Group’s Coronavirus Taskforce sets out path to recovery
UK: The Rail Supply Group’s Coronavirus Taskforce has published its report setting out actions needed to support the recovery of the supply chain from the effects of the pandemic. Having been tasked by the government with drawing up a recovery plan for the rail sector, RSG commissioned an independent survey ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Source: Pablo Solana Portugal’s Medway Transport & Logistics has acquired a Class 269 semi-permanently coupled twin-unit locomotive for use between Madrid and València in Spain where it current operates Euro 4000 diesel locos. Loco 269.355 dates from 1984, and after being withdrawn by RENFE in 2018 ...
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NewsPraha – Wien – Budapest train aims to undercut ‘nonsense prices’ of state operators
EUROPE: Open access operator RegioJet is to launch a twice daily Praha – Brno – Wien – Budapest service on July 31, by extending some of its existing Praha – Wien services. ‘We are coming to another route with our vision to significantly reduce the cost ...
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Metro Report InternationalMauritius light rail road-rail fleet delivered
MAURITIUS: Road-rail vehicle specialist Zagro has supplied four Unimog U423 road-rail vehicles for the Mauritius Metro Express light rail line. Two are equipped for use by the line’s maintenance staff, and two for rescuing the line’s CAF Urbos light rail vehicles. The cabs ...
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NewsSpanish operators to collaborate on international rail projects
SPAIN: National train operator RENFE and Barcelona urban transport undertaking TMB have signed an agreement to co-operate to provide consultancy and management services worldwide. This would include feasibility study, design and evaluation, staff training and operating services. The companies said they each have considerable international experience. Co-operation ...
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NewsEstonia’s ‘ambitious’ rail investment plan gets underway
ESTONIA: ‘We have set in motion a very ambitious investment plan running to 2030 that will take our railway infrastructure to a new level of quality and safety’, reported Erik Laidvee, CEO of infrastructure manager Eesti Raudtee, on July 16. A contract has been awarded for ...