Main line rail industry news – Page 165
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NewsAustralian National Rail Manufacturing Plan funded
AUSTRALIA: The 2022-23 federal budget includes A$14·2m over four years to establish a National Rail Manufacturing Plan ‘to ensure more trains are built in Australia, support skilled manufacturing and expand the local rail industry’. An Office of National Rail Industry Co-ordination will be formed within the ...
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NewsVR selects preferred bidder for EMU order
FINLAND: National operator VR has selected Stadler Bussnang as preferred bidder to supply 20 electric multiple-units. The contract worth around €250m would include the supply of spare parts, tools, training and documentation, along with options to purchase up to 50 additional EMUs and maintenance services. Stadler ...
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NewsMoscow suburban train order
RUSSIA: Moscow’s Central Suburban Passenger Co has awarded Transhmashholding’s Tver-based TMH-PTR subsidiary a contract to supply 23 11-car DC electric multiple-units between Q4 2022 and Q1 2023. The contract awarded to the sole bidder is worth 20·5bn roubles including VAT. The EMUs will have a design ...
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News€353m Rail Baltica grant agreement signed
EUROPE: A grant agreement which will see the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility provide €353·9m for the Rail Baltica project has been signed by the European Climate, Infrastructure & Environment Executive Agency, ministries from the three countries and tri-national implementation agency RB Rail. This will fund the ...
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NewsCalifornia high speed rail station design contract awarded
USA: The California High-Speed Rail Authority has awarded Foster+Partners and Arup a $35m contract to provide design services for Merced, Fresno, Kings/Tulare and Bakersfield stations on the initial 275 route-km segment of the line. The 30-month contract includes identifying right-of-way and utility relocation requirements. A separately ...
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NewsPop-up workshops to retrofit digital automatic couplers
EUROPE: With around 500 000 European wagons needing to be equipped with digital automatic couplers by 2030, Deutsche Bahn is to deploy ‘pop-up’ mobile workshop tents where the work can be undertaken quickly and near where wagons are used, for example at industrial customers’ sites. From ...
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NewsArrow commuter service launched in California
USA: San Bernardino County Transportation Authority’s Arrow passenger service has launched, providing an hourly link between San Bernardino-Downtown station on the Los Angeles region’s Metrolink commuter network and the University of Redlands. Revenue services on the 14·5 km line began on October 24 following a ribbon ...
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NewsFrench open access passenger service postponed
FRANCE: Three factors have led Le Train to postpone the launch of its planned open access high speed services in southwest France from mid-2023 until early 2024.
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NewsEuropean Sleeper now targets 2023 launch
EUROPE: Night train start-up European Sleeper now expects to launch its first service on the Brussels – Amsterdam – Berlin – Praha route in 2023. The Dutch company announced a year ago that infrastructure managers Infrabel, ProRail, DB Netz and Správa Železnic had allocated capacity for ...
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NewsLong-term strategy to address rail sector skills shortages
EUROPE: Rail, education and policy stakeholders met in Brussels to discuss a long-term action plan to address the sector’s growing skills shortage, including the need for reskilling and upskilling to support the green and digital transition. The event on October 13 marked the half way point ...
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NewsElectric train sale-and-leaseback deal finalised
GERMANY: Northrail has structured a sale-and-lease-back transaction for 29 Alstom Coradia Stream High-Capacity electric multiple-units which DB Regio ordered in April. The EMUs are to be used from December 2025 on Kinzigtal services on the Frankfurt – Wächtersbach – Fulda – Bebra route. The investment is ...
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NewsJoint vision for international rail capacity management
EUROPE: A common vision for capacity management, process harmonisation and IT support to create a ‘European, digital, flexible and secure’ system enabling train operators to book capacity in line with their business models and customer needs has been set out by three industry associations. Forum Train ...
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NewsWeight saving and connectivity are key
INNOTRANS: ‘We are seeing a greater focus on energy efficiency and digitalisation’, reported Ralf Klein, Managing Director of Harting Technology Group, talking to Railway Gazette International in Berlin. Outlining the company’s latest connector developments for the rail sector, he emphasised that ‘weight ...
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NewsPKP reborn as a holding company
POLAND: Polish State Railways has been formally restructured as a holding company under a programme to make the railway more competitive as the European rail market continues to open up. PKP Group is formed of 18 companies led by PKP SA, which is 100% owned by ...
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NewsEast-West Gate intermodal terminal opens at Hungary – Ukraine border
HUNGARY: The arrival of a train loaded with Ukrainian agricultural produce inaugurated the East-West Gate terminal at Fényeslitke, which developer East-West Intermodal Logistics says is Europe’s largest inland intermodal facility. The 85 ha facility is within a 140 ha development site around 15 km from the ...
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NewsPajares Base Tunnel freight locomotive unveiled
SPAIN: Stadler and national freight operator RENFE Mercancías have unveiled the first four of 12 Class 256 Euro 6000 electric locomotives designed to be able to haul 1 800 tonne trains through the Pajares Base Tunnel.
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NewsIndian-made aluminium wagons enter service
INDIA: What the Ministry of Railways says is India’s first rake of aluminium bodied wagons has been put into service, with the aim of improving rail freight efficiency and supporting domestic industry. The 61 bottom-discharge wagons have been produced by Besco Ltd’s wagon division in partnership ...
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NewsEMU-320 high speed train unveiled
SOUTH KOREA: The first of two pre-series EMU-320 high speed trains being built for Korail by Hyundai Rotem has been unveiled at the manufacturer’s Changwon factory.