Latest news – Page 1388
-
News
HighJet to compete with Pendolinos
CZECH REPUBLIC: Travel agent and bus operator Student Agency has announced plans to launch a Praha - Ostrava inter-city service by 2011. Chairman Radim Jancura said SA intends to purchase six electric trainsets from Siemens or Stadler for KC2bn. Branded HighJet, they will run in direct competition with Czech Railways' ...
-
News
Industry News in Brief
Spanish rolling stock builder CAF has reported a pre-tax profit of €98m for 2007, a 130% increase on 2006. Turnover was up 9% to €874m, and the order book stood at €3·4bn on December 31 2007, 3% higher than the same date in 2006. American Railcar Industries announced on February ...
-
NewsTangshan rolls out its first 350 km/h train
CHINA: On April 11 Tangshan Locomotive & Rolling Stock Works rolled out the first CRH3 high speed train to be produced in China. The manufacturer said at the launch that the CRH3 is the first Chinese-built train to be designed for a top speed of 350 km/h, and marks the ...
-
News
Purchase of Pars Nova cleared
SKODA: The Czech competition authority has approved Skoda Transportation's planned purchase of Sumperk-based rolling stock firm Pars Nova, which specialises in the modernisation of DMUs (RG 12.07 p789), trams and other vehicles. Pars Nova has 840 staff, and recorded a profit of KC29m on turnover of KC1·3bn in 2006. Skoda ...
-
News
Free travel aims to move more passengers
AUSTRALIA: Melbourne commuter services scheduled to arrive before 07.00 can be used free of charge from March 31, under a plan to reduce crowding on the busiest services. 'Early Bird' tickets providing free morning travel are to be offered across all 15 Connex-operated lines, state Premier John Brumby announced on ...
-
News
Airport link SPV
INDIA: Karnataka state government has created Bangalore Airport Rail Link Ltd as special purpose vehicle to develop a fast connection to the new international airport which is due to open on May 11. The partially-elevated line would start at a city centre terminal at BRV Grounds on Mahatma Gandhi Road ...
-
News
Serco signs £500m Dubai metro contract
UAE: International services group Serco announced on April 10 that it had signed a contract with Dubai's Roads & Transport Authority covering the operation and maintenance of the emirate's first two metro lines (RG 4.08 p255). Serco had been named as preferred bidder in June 2007. The five-year operations contract ...
-
NewsCounting the cost of competition
SBB plans widespread cost-cutting and job losses in a bid to counter the growing deficits at its freight business.
-
News
PPP consortium builds Seoul's first automated metro line
SOUTH KOREA: Due to open in 2010, the 18·5 km first stage of the fully-automated Sin Bundang line will connect the rapidly-growing residential areas around Bundang with the capital's metro and suburban rail networks Construction work is well advanced in ...
-
NewsThameslink EMU procurement begins
UK: The Department for Transport announced on April 9 that it has begun the procurement of between 900 and 1 300 dual-voltage EMU cars as part of the £5·5bn Thameslink Programme to upgrade north-south commuter routes through London (RG 3.08 p172). Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly said approximately 1 100 cars ...
-
News
Tehran places €360m Chinese train order
IRAN: Tehran Urban & Suburban Railway Co signed a €360m contract with China Northern Locomotive & Rolling Stock Industry Group for 455 metro cars and 160 double-deck coaches on March 26. CNR said the contract is its largest-ever export order. CNR has delivered 1?408 coaches and 432 metro cars to ...
-
News
Veolia pulls out of Stuttgart S-Bahn bidding race
GERMANY: Veolia has withdrawn from the bidding process to run the Stuttgart S-Bahn. Announcing the decision on February 13, Andreas Winter, Head of Market Development & Communication for Veolia-Verkehr-Gruppe in Germany, said that his company was convinced that competitive bidding was possible for 'complex S-Bahnen and large urban public transport ...
-
NewsTibet cruise train financed
CHINA: HSH Nordbank has completed a deal with RailPartners to finance the Tangula luxury trains which will run from Beijing to Yunnan and Lhasa from September (RG 8.07 p492). The bank is providing US$30m of the US$95m project financing, with RailPartners shareholders including TZG Holdings of Shanghai and Hong Kong ...
-
News
Twin Cities project gets local backing
USA: A coalition of local elected officials has agreed to support the Central Corridor light rail project connecting the centres of Minneapolis and St Paul, although the $909m plan will still require federal funding. The 17·7 km line would serve 20 stations from a MultiModal Terminal in Minneapolis, running via ...
-
News
Regulation tops the freight agenda
Delegates attending the freight day at EuroRail 2008 focused on the regulatory and capacity issues facing the sector as it works to realise the EU's vision of an open, liberalised and inter-operable market.
-
NewsThrough ticketing is the missing element
Jean-Marc Charoud, Director for Network Development at French infrastructure company RFF, told EuroRail 2008 delegates on February 26 that trains 'will completely kill air traffic between Paris and Bordeaux' once the LGV Sud-Atlantique project is completed. This prediction is undoubtedly correct, but it is worth recalling that timings of around ...
-
NewsHigh speed operators spread their wings
Europe's well-established high speed sector is broadening its horizons to improve access to its services. Speakers at Terrapinn's EuroRail 2008 conference in Milano explained how high speed rail can benefit from improved integration both on the ground and in the air
-
News
Mthatha line re-opens
SOUTH AFRICA: Speaking at the departure on March 1 of the first passenger train in 20 years to use the line, Transport Minister Jeff Radebe said about R133m had been spent on reinstating the 281 km branch to Mthatha from Amabele on the East London - Johannesburg main line. The ...
-
NewsFreight operator announces London IPO
RUSSIA: Private freight operator Globaltrans Investment announced on April 4 that it is planning to launch an initial public offering and listing on the London Stock Exchange. The offering represents around 30% of its outstanding shares and will take place by the end of the first half of this year. ...