Main line rail industry news – Page 1274
-
News
Domodedovo linked
AUGUST 1 saw the start of hourly trains from Moscow Paveletsky station to the city’s Domodedovo airport, in a joint project developed by Moscow Railway and the airport operator East Lines Group. The dedicated service uses the first refurbished EMUs from Moscow Locomotive Plant (RG 7.02 p346). Airline passengers, who ...
-
News
Chile car orders
ALSTOM is to build 180 stainless steel cars for Santiago metro Line 4, on which construction started in July (RG 8.02 p401). The €250m contract covers supply of 60 three-car Metropolis trains, Urbalis automatic train control equipment and long-term maintenance services. Deliveries from works in Europe and Brazil will be ...
-
News
rail4chem grows
GERMAN freight shipper Hoyer GmbH has decided to merge its open access rail freight subsidiary Hoyer Railserv GmbH into the rail4chem consortium with effect from October 1. Hoyer is already a partner in rail4chem, together with BASF, Bertschi AG of Switzerland and VTG Lehkering AG. Hoyer Railserve is owned 95% ...
-
News
ETCS may be in trouble
THIS MAY be heresy, but there are disturbing indications that all is not well with the project to fit Europe’s railways with an internationally-compatible signalling and train control system. The European Train Control System and the related European Rail Traffic Management System are ingenious answers to many of the compatibility ...
-
News
Uzbek electrification study
UZBEKISTAN: Three segments of Uzbek Railways' network totalling 539 route-km are to be rehabilitated and electrified over the next six years, thanks to an agreement with the US Trade & Development Agency signed in Toshkent on July 12. Providing US funding for studies into major infrastructure projects, the deal was ...
-
News
Sevilla metro out to tender
THE ANDALUCíA regional government has invited bids for a 35-year concession to build and operate Line 1 of the projected Sevilla light metro network, an 18·9 km route with 23 stations running from Mairena del Aljarafe to Los Quintos. Bids are to be submitted by November 22 and will be ...
-
News
Projects to go through audit
ON AUGUST 7 French Transport Minister Gilles de Robien announced that major transport projects initiated by the previous government will be scrutinised by the Conseil Général des Ponts et Chaussées and the Inspection Générale des Finances. The brief requires the auditors ’to establish the precise status of the projects, their ...
-
News
Rostock looks at through running light rail
CONNEX Regiobahn and Rostocker Strassenbahn planned to set up a joint company on September 1 to develop through running of trams on to main line routes. Modelled on the Karlsruhe network, the plan would see Ostseebahn GmbH run services between Rostock city centre and surrounding towns.Mayor of Rostock Arno P
-
News
High speed branches to go ahead
THE SPANISH cabinet has given its approval for bids to be invited for civil engineering and track work on the 27 km between Villafranca del Campo and Cella, the first package of works for the conversion of the Zaragoza - Teruel route to 1435mm gauge for high speed operation. Within ...
-
News
Yakutsk in sight again
CONSTRUCTION of the 850 km line from Tynda on the Baikal Amur Magistral to Yakutsk has resumed after the Russian government halted work because of financial difficulties. The government had announced plans to restart the work in January (RG 3.02 p122), but the details were not agreed until a meeting ...
-
News
NEPAD may help revive African projects
INTEGRATION of Africa’s diverse railways was a strong theme running through the Africa Rail Conference held on August 12-15 in Johannesburg. Around 150 delegates from over 50 countries heard ambitious proposals for cross-border rail links intended to encourage trade under the New Partnership for African Development programme. Rail features in ...
-
News
Market
Australia: Wabtec has signed a US$12m contract with Queensland Rail to supply integrated electronic control and braking for 68 locomotives used on heavy haul coal trains.Denmark: Banestyrelsen has placed a €7·4m order with Bombardier for three interlockings on København’s Circle line, with a €1·3m maintenance option. Completion is due by ...
-
News
Safety failure
KUALA Lumpur’s monorail line suffered a setback on August 16, when a 60 kg safety wheel fell off a test train, badly injuring a pedestrian walking underneath the elevated guideway. He is now recovering from head injuries.Monorail spokesman Soh Yeh Bee said the accident was under investigation. ’We have not ...
-
News
NET Incentro unveiled
BOMBARDIER rolled out the first of 15 trams for Nottingham Express Transit Line 1 on August 13. The five-section Incentro all-low-floor articulated trams are similar to those already in service in Nantes. The stainless steel car bodies with GRP cladding and aluminium roofs were assembled in Derby from components produced ...
-
News
Dutch examine a national metro
NETHERLANDS Railways and the Ministry of Transport are studying a plan to operate the 2808 km national network as if it were a metro. The network would be divided into 12 regions, and up to six fast and six slow trains an hour would run in each direction between cities ...
-
News
Turning points
GE Transportation Systems Global Signaling has acquired part of Railway Technology Inc’s point machine range. The deal covers RTI’s model 3000, model 3000LP, and model 3000ES Hydra-Switch products. The points machines can be worked remotely from a control centre or locomotive cab, and can be powered either from a local ...
-
News
Bahn 2000 under budget
LEST THERE be any doubt that the cost of infrastructure projects in Britain is seriously out of control, here is another comparison. Take Switzerland’s Bahn 2000 programme.When authorised by the Swiss Parliament in 1994, the expected out-turn cost was SFr7·4bn. Reviewing progress on July 4, Swiss Federal Railways confirmed that ...
-
News
On-board information upgrade
VOSSLOH System-Technik is equipping 1200 DB inter-city carriages and 145 locomotives with communication networks to improve passenger information.There will be route indicators on carriage exteriors, interior displays providing up-to-date information on arrival times and connections, and seat reservation displays. All screens will be modernised, with a uniform design. The on-train ...
-
News
Passenger News in Brief
Hertz has signed a deal to provide rental cars at 24 DB stations.X2000 trainsets began operating Oslo - Stockholm services on June 16, reducing the journey time to 4h 50min. In the autumn Linx high speed trainsets will be introduced, reducing journey times by a further 20min.A £150m redevelopment of ...