Latest news – Page 1018
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NewsStandard gauge line reaches Hekou
CHINA: Test running on the 142 km standard gauge line between Mengzi and Hekou in southern Yunnan province began at the start of December. When commercial passenger services start in early 2015, a journey between the provincial capital Kunming and the Vietnamese border should take around 6 h 30 min. ...
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NewsNS plans Stadler Flirt order
NETHERLANDS: National passenger operator NS has revealed plans to order ‘around 60’ Stadler Flirt electric multiple-units to meet its short term capacity requirements. NS announced the planned order on December 5, when it confirmed that following the regulatory standstill period it had signed a firm contract worth more than €500m ...
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NewsMoscow Metro extends Line 1
RUSSIA: A 1·4 km southern extension of Moscow metro’s Line 1 opened on December 8, taking the line from Yugo-Zapadnaya to Troparyevo. Troparyevo is the network’s 196th station. It lies at a depth of 12 m and has an island platform. The station was designed by Inzhproekt. The main ...
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NewsBucureşti metro train order delayed
ROMANIA: Bucureşti metro operator Metrorex announced on December 3 that it has postponed selecting a bidder to supply 51 metro trainsets, owing to the ‘complexity of the offers’. The winner was due to be announced on December 1, but will now be announced by March 10. On September 22, ...
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NewsToilet upgrading contract
UK: TRB Lightweight Structures has been awarded a contract to supply PRM-TSI compliant Universal Access Toilet Modules for the refurbishment and upgrading of the sleeping cars used on First Great Western’s London – Penzance Night Riviera. Combining innovative design with lightweight composite engineering, TRB’s customisable toilet module has been designed ...
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NewsSeat innovation on test
UK: The H series seating for Hitachi Rail Europe's AT200 regional EMU family has been developed by the Quantum Seating joint venture of Automotive Trim Developments and GRM Consulting. The seats have been derived from Quantum's M100 design, which harnesses automotive technology including lightweight aluminium construction to keep the weight ...
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NewsSwiss border link inaugurated
SWITZERLAND: The first section of the FMV cross-border rail link will open for revenue service on December 15, following a formal dedication on November 27 attended by representatives from canton Ticino, the federal government, SBB and TILO, the cross-border transport operator for Ticino and Lombardia. Partially funded by the federal ...
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NewsAlstom increases stake in Kazakh joint venture
KAZAKHSTAN: Alstom has acquired a further 25% stake in the EKZ locomotive production joint venture from national railway KTZ. The restructuring now leaves Alstom as the lead shareholder in EKZ, which is based in Astana where it also has a loco production factory. KTZ and Russian supplier Transmash Holding ...
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NewsKorail EMU order announced
SOUTH KOREA: National railway operator Korail has ordered a batch of 22 regional EMUs from Hyundai Rotem at a cost of 154·4bn won, the company announced on December 1. Due for delivery from April 2016 onwards, the trains are intended to operate on two lines which are currently under construction. ...
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NewsTransnet seals MoU with CSR Zhuzhou
SOUTH AFRICA: Parastatal transport holding group Transnet announced on December 4 that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive, paving the way for the Chinese manufacturer to set up facilities to build and maintain electric locomotives in South Africa, and develop other railway equipment for ...
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NewsChinese-backed standard gauge project edges forward
THAILAND: The National Legislative Assembly voted on December 4 by a majority of 187 in favour of approving a memorandum of understanding between the Thai and Chinese governments over the construction of a north-south standard gauge main line corridor. According to the 2015-22 Thai infrastructure development plan, the corridor would ...
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NewsIran – Turkmenistan – Kazakhstan rail link inaugurated
ASIA: The final link in the north-south railway corridor connecting Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan was officially inaugurated on December 3, in a ceremony attended by Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov and his counterparts Hassan Rohani of Iran and Nursultan Nazarbaev of Kazakhstan. The celebrations at Incheh Borun on the border between ...
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NewsFRA waives Buy America rules on high speed train prototypes
USA: The Federal Railroad Administration has approved a waiver on Buy America procurement rules covering the supply of up to four high speed trainsets for the US market. The letter dated November 24 is a response to requests from both Amtrak and the California High Speed Rail Authority, who are ...
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NewsBoston to get Green Line extension funding
USA: The Federal Transit Administration is to provide $996m towards the northern extension of Boston’s Green light rail line from Lechmere to Somerville and Medford. Congress is to review the funding agreement for 30 days before it is officially confirmed. The FTA released a commitment letter on December 2, ...
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NewsTrimble acquires condition monitoring specialist Nexala
USA: California-based engineering software supplier Trimble announced on December 1 that it had acquired vehicle diagnostics specialist Nexala, which will become part of Trimble’s Engineering & Construction segment. Trimble supplies GPS, optical, imaging and scanning technologies for the construction and maintenance of railway infrastructure, including building information modelling software ...
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NewsBordeaux selects Thales ticketing
FRANCE: Communauté Urbaine de Bordeaux has selected Thales to supply a contactless ticketing system for the city’s public transport network under a 10-year contract. This would provide integrated ticketing for trams, buses and riverboats, as well as park-and-ride sites. Thales is to supply hardware and software that will be ...
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NewsPrivately-funded US commuter service planned
USA: Plans for the USA’s ‘first privately-funded passenger rail service in almost 100 years’ have been announced by Boston Surface Commuter Railroad Co. This would operate over the Providence & Worcester Railroad between the eponymous cities in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, offering a reliable alternative to unpredictable road journey ...
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NewsVossloh to sell rolling stock division
VOSSLOH: Following ‘a detailed assessment’ of the company’s product range, the Supervisory Board of German track components and rolling stock supplier Vossloh AG announced on December 2 that its Transportation division ‘is no longer defined as core business’. The intention is therefore to sell Transportation ‘in whole or in parts ...
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NewsOsijek extends its tramway
CROATIA: A 1·6 km western extension of Osijek’s metre-gauge tram Route 1 opened on November 30. The extension runs along ul Bana Jelačića from the previous Route 1 terminus at the western bypass road into the centre of the suburb of Višnjevac. There are five stops. The construction ...
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NewsUtrecht selects Uithof Line tram contractors
NETHERLANDS: The Executive Board of Greater Utrecht Authority selected contractors on December 1 to supply the infrastructure and rolling stock for the Uithof tram line. Once approved by the full board, the contracts would be signed on December 23 after the usual standstill period. Royal BAM Group has been ...