Latest news – Page 752
-
NewsMacron joins Abidjan metro groundbreaking
CÔTE D’IVOIRE: Construction work on the Abidjan metro project was formally inaugurated on November 30 by President Alassane Ouattara and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron with a ceremony at the site of the future Treichville station. Visiting the region for an Africa-Europe summit, Macron said the urban rail service ...
-
NewsSNCF relaunches web distribution portal as oui.sncf
FRANCE: Described as ‘a new shop window’, the voyages-sncf.com website was rebranded as ‘oui.sncf’ on December 6. The rebranding marks the third and final pillar in SNCF’s revamp of its passenger operations, which has also seen its TGV business marketed under the premium Inoui brand and the low-cost offering Ouigo. ...
-
NewsHyundai Rotem wins train orders for two Istanbul metro projects
TURKEY: Hyundai Rotem announced on December 5 that it had signed a 156·5bn won contract to supply rolling stock for two Istanbul metro lines. Hyundai Rotem is to supply 10 four-car driverless trainsets for Line M8, which is being built between Bostancı and Dudullu on the Asian side of ...
-
NewsRussia adopts piggyback wagon standards
RUSSIA: The Ministry of Transport has approved technical standards for the piggyback transport of lorries, trailers and cars by rail, including the adoption of a standard floor height of 1 100 mm above the rail head. The regulations follow trials which Federal Freight Co undertook on the Moscow – Novosibirsk ...
-
NewsKraków cut-off line opens
POLAND: Passenger services began using a recently-completed elevated chord linking Kraków’s Zabłocie and Krzemionki stations with the December 10 timetable change. The chord removes the need for trains from Kraków Główny to Zakopane, Skawina and Oświęcim to reverse at Płaszów station, reducing journey times by up to 20 min while ...
-
NewsNorfolk Southern opens replacement Portageville Bridge
USA: Norfolk Southern has opened the new Portageville Bridge, a 294 m long steel arch span across the 72 m deep Genesee River gorge in Letchworth State Park on its Southern Tier Line in New York state. The structure replaces an iron truss bridge built by the Erie Railroad in ...
-
NewsGE to install Trip Optimizer on KTZ Evolution locomotive fleet
KAZAKHSTAN: National railway KTZ’s freight business has signed an agreement to deploy GE’s Trip Optimizer efficiency system on its fleet of TE33A Evolution Series diesel locomotives. The agreement announced on December 11 builds on a memorandum of understanding signed in June under which KTZ and GE Transportation agreed to explore ...
-
NewsInnsbruck tramway extended
AUSTRIA: Passenger services on a 3 km Y-shaped western extension of Innsbruck’s metre-gauge tram network were launched on December 10, following inauguration celebrations five days earlier. The extension runs from the former terminus at Höttinger Au to Peerhofsiedlung, with a branch to Technik West which has been built as the ...
-
NewsVivarail to open production facility in County Durham
UK: Next month Vivarail is to open a plant on the Spectrum Business Park at Seaham in County Durham where it will assemble powerpacks and wiring looms for the D Train multiple-units which it plans to produce using bodyshells and bogies from withdrawn London Underground D78 trainsets. Vivarail is investing ...
-
Metro Report InternationalRevenue operations begin on first section of Luxembourg tramway
LUXEMBOURG: The first section of the city of Luxembourg’s 16 km tramway opened for public service on December 10, with free travel offered until the end of January. The starter section covers 8 km between Luxexpo and Pafendall-Rout Bréck in the Kirchberg district, serving six intermediate stops. The full route ...
-
NewsICE4 enters regular service
GERMANY: After nearly 12 months of trials in commercial service on the Hamburg – München route, Deutsche Bahn has put the first of its fleet of ICE4 trainsets into regular operation. From the timetable change on December 10 five Class 412 trainsets were introduced on services from Hamburg to München ...
-
NewsDublin’s Cross City tram extension opens
IRELAND: Guests including Taoiseach Leo Varadkar attended celebrations on December 9 marking the opening of the Luas Cross City extension of Dublin’s light rail Green Line. The €368m project to build the 5·9 km extension north from St Stephen’s Green to Broombridge with 13 stops was given the go-ahead in ...
-
Metro Report InternationalQingdao metro Line 2 opens
CHINA: The first phase of Qingdao metro Line 2 opened on December 10. The initial 20·4 km section runs underground from Zhiquan Lu to Licun Gongyuan, with 18 stations including two interchanges. The end-to-end journey time is 38 min. Construction of Line 2 was approved in August 2012. Work began ...
-
Metro Report InternationalACTN consortium to complete Cuenca tramway works
ECUADOR: A consortium of Alstom, Compagnie International de Maintenance and the NGE Group joint venture of NGE Contracting and TSO has been selected to complete the civil works on the starter light rail line in Cuenca. Planning for a modern tramway in the mountainous southern city began in 2011 with ...
-
NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
China Railway Express Co has launched a parcels delivery service using space on Fuxing high speed trainsets operating on the Beijing – Shanghai Passenger-Dedicated Line. Alstom's Belfort site has completed work on the first of 30 Akiem BB36000 locomotives which are to receive mid-life overhauls under two contracts. 'This first ...
-
Metro Report InternationalNanjing opens suburban metro Line S3
CHINA: Nanjing’s 36·3 km suburban metro Line S3 opened on December 6. Previously known as metro Line 12 or the Ninghe Intercity line, S3 is designed for a maximum operating speed of 100 km/h. Construction of the 16·3bn yuan project began in December 2012, and trial running began in August ...
-
NewsHupac orders Chinese wagons
SWITZERLAND: Hupac and CRRC International have signed a two-year contract for CRRC Shandong to manufacture flat wagons for the intermodal freight operator and obtain Swiss wagon registration and EU certification for the designs. After the signing ceremony last month, the companies held talks on co-operation in the intermodal sector as ...
-
NewsBeograd depot upgrade loan signed
SERBIA: The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development is providing national passenger operator JSC Srbija Voz with loans totalling €47m to finance the upgrading and expansion of Zemun depot on the outskirts of Beograd. The site is to become the operator’s main maintenance facility, and the only one equipped to ...
-
NewsMerkel inaugurates München - Berlin Unity Project 8
GERMANY: Special trains from München and Nürnberg, celebrations in multiple cities and a spectacular arrival in Berlin Hauptbahnhof marked the inauguration on December 8 of the railway known as German Unity Project VDE8. Commemorative events had been staged in Nürnberg, Erfurt, Leipzig and Wittenberg to mark the formal opening of ...
-
NewsUS-built Estonian GE locomotive rebuilt
ESTONIA: Freight operator EVR Cargo has begun testing the first of its GE-built C30-7Ai Co-Co diesel-electric locomotives to be extensively rebuilt at its Tapa workshops. The modernisation of the 19 locomotives is being undertaken in collaboration with Czech supplier CZ Loko. Designated as Type C30-M, the modernised locomotive is ...