All Railway Gazette International articles in June 2017
All articles published this month.
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NewsStadler-Solaris joint venture to supply updated Tramino trams to Braunschweig
GERMANY: Braunschweiger Verkehrs-GmbH has ordered seven Tramino II trams from a joint venture of Stadler Pankow and Solaris. Deliveries are due to begin in 2019, with half of the €18·9m cost to be met through the Niedersachsen Land transport agency LNVG. The unidirectional Tramino Braunschweig II is an updated ...
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NewsT11 Express opens in Paris
FRANCE: The first section of the T11 Express tram-train route in Paris opened on June 30. Services on the 10⋅6 km line between Epinay-sur-Seine and Le Bourget serve seven stations. Services are operated with a fleet of 15 Alstom Citadis Dualis tram-trains procured by national rail operator SNCF on ...
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Metro Report InternationalFirst heavy metro line opens in Changchun
CHINA: The first heavy metro line in Changchun began trial operation at 08.00 on June 30. Line 1 runs from Beihuan in the north to Hongzuizi in the south, serving 15 stations. Services currently operate between 05.15 and 21.30. Construction started in April 2011. The 18·1 km route runs underground ...
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Metro Report InternationalKansas City Streetcar fleet to increase by 50%
USA: Kansas City council approved the purchase of two additional CAF Urbos trams on June 29 to meet increasing demand on the KC Streetcar. Deliveries are due in 24 months. The vehicles will cost $11·9m, which includes including $2·1m for spare parts and inspection support. The purchase will be ...
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NewsSwiss signalling commissioned on French metre-gauge line
FRANCE: A project to install automatic signalling on the French section of the metre-gauge line linking St Gervais and Vallorcine in France with Martigny in Switzerland has been completed, with a full passenger service restarting on June 24. The 37 km between St Gervais and Vallorcine has been equipped ...
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NewsTest running on next Ethiopian line to start in August
ETHIOPIA: Test running on the first phase of the Awash – Woldiya/Hara Gebeya Railway is on course to begin by the end of August, Ethiopian Railways Corp has announced. In June 2012 ERC signed a US$1·7bn turnkey contract for Turkish firm Yapı Merkezi to build the 389 route-km electrified ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
Emepa of Argentina has closed its rolling stock maintenance and overhaul workshop at Pérez in Santa Fe province with the loss of 70 jobs. Aiming to concentrate production at its Laguna Paiva facility, Emepa says that it will retain Pérez pending conversion for other industrial use in the medium term. ...
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NewsBombardier Transportation announces ‘reorientation’ of German plants
GERMANY: The outline of Bombardier Transportation’s planned ‘reorientation and safeguarding’ of its German sites was agreed by management and employee representatives at a supervisory board meeting on June 29. No plants are to close, but up to 2 200 jobs are expected to go across Germany by 2020, including ...
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Metro Report InternationalCRRC unveils suburban EMU
CHINA: CRRC Qingdao Sifang unveiled a new version of its suburban electric multiple-unit family at the UrTran 2017 exhibition in Beijing in late June. Designed for journeys of 50 to 100 km, which are longer than those typically made by metro, the EMU has more powerful traction equipment than ...
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NewsBremen orders Siemens Avenio trams
GERMANY: Bremer Straßenbahn signed a contract with Siemens on June 29 for the supply of 67 Avenio trams, with an option for up to 17 more. Deliveries are due to begin in early 2019. Designated GT8N-2, the Avenios are to replace Bremen’s GT8N trams. The four-section steel-bodied trams ...
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NewsAlstom opens UK train refurbishment plant
UK: What Alstom describes as ‘the largest and most sophisticated’ rolling stock refurbishment facility in the UK was officially opened in Widnes on June 29 by Lord Prior of Brampton, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. At its new 13 000 m2 ...
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NewsRussian Railways orders updated platskartny coaches
RUSSIA: Russian Railways has decided to order a new batch of platskartny coaches, its most basic style of long-distance rolling stock. RZD had been concerned that the open-plan dormitory-style accommodation in the third class cars was no longer attractive to passengers, and had been considering only ordering sleeping cars with ...
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NewsSecond Bergen tram line approved
NORWAY: Bergen city council has approved plans for a second tram line. Construction of the 10·8 km route with nine stops is due to begin in 2018 and is expected to cost NKr6·2bn. Once complete in 2022, it would offer a 19 min end-to-end journey time. Starting at from ...
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NewsIstanbul metro Line M9 to receive EBRD loan
TURKEY: The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development has announced that it is providing a loan to Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality towards the construction of metro Line M9. EBRD is providing an €88·3m loan, with a further €250m coming from the European Investment Bank. The total project cost is €338·3m. ...
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NewsPassenger assistance to be stepped up as NGR EMUs enter service
AUSTRALIA: Queensland Rail is to recruit additional station staff to assist mobility-impaired passengers using the six-car EMUs being supplied to Queensland Rail under the New Generation Rollingstock PPP concession. The first of 75 sets are now expected to enter service later this year, CEO Nick Easy confirmed on June 27. ...
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NewsAurizon restructuring
Joining from Alinta Energy, Michael Riches takes over as Group Executive, Network, at Australian freight operator Aurizon with effect from July 1. He succeeds Alex Kummant who is stepping down after five years with the company. The change comes with the implementation of a new management structure announced by Managing ...
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NewsUK railway news round-up
RSSB has published two pieces of research into future traffic management systems. Developing & Evaluating Dynamic Optimisation for Train Control Systems is the result of collaboration between University College London and the University of Birmingham, and looks at increasing capacity using dynamic algorithms to control train paths. SafeCap+ led by ...
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NewsVirgin Trains East Coast making a loss, Stagecoach confirms
UK: New commercial terms for the InterCity East Coast franchise are being discussed with the Department for Transport, Virgin Trains East Coast’s majority owner Stagecoach Group confirmed on June 28. Announcing its preliminary results for the year to April 29 2017, Stagecoach said it expected to finalise new commercial terms ...
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NewsUnited Wagon Co opens Estonian wagon servicing centre
ESTONIA: Russian rolling stock manufacturer United Wagon Co has opened service centre at Skinest Rail’s Valga depot to provide warranty and post-warranty support for modern wagons operating in the Baltic States. UWC says its service centre ‘is unique in the Baltic States’, having specially trained staff and holding the documentation ...
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NewsFuxing China standard high speed trainsets enter service
CHINA: Two designs of China Standard Electric Multiple-Unit officially entered service on the Beijing – Shanghai high speed line on June 26, following an extensive programme of test running. Services were launched when a CRRC Sifang CR400AF Blue Dolphin trainset departed from Beijing South station at 11.05 while a CRRC ...