Main line rail industry news – Page 188
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NewsChemical train emergency simulated
GERMANY: A large-scale chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives emergency response training exercise has used disco fog and public volunteers to simulate a chemical leak from a freight train near a station. The exercise hosted by the Dortmund fire brigade enabled 130 ...
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NewsNational Railway Equipment Co’s CEO gets ready to make some noise
USA: Merritt Becker has been appointed as CEO of new and remanufactured locomotive, marine and power equipment supplier National Railway Equipment Co with effect from June 1. Becker succeeds Steven L Beal who died suddenly in 2020 at the age of 46, 10 years after having ...
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NewsWinner of 510-train framework contract confirmed
SWITZERLAND: The Federal Administrative Court has rejected Alstom’s challenge to the decision by Swiss Federal Railways, Thurbo and RegionAlps to award Stadler a framework contract for the supply of up to 510 electric multiple-units. The tendering process began in May 2020, with SBB and its two ...
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NewsTranshipment capacity doubles at Kazakh border rail terminal
KAZAKHSTAN: The second stage of the Dostyk TransTerminal container terminal at the break-of-gauge on Kazakhstan’s border with China has opened, doubling capacity.
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NewsTibet railway electrification announced
CHINA: Plans to electrify the 1 136 km Golmud – Lhasa section of the Qinghai – Tibet railway have been announced by the autonomous region’s Development & Reform Commission. Work is scheduled to start in June 2022 and take three years. The cost is estimated at ...
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NewsAustralian government’s plans are positive for the rail industry, says ARA
AUSTRALIA: The Australasian Railway Association says the newly-elected federal government ‘is likely to be positive for the Australian rail industry’, given commitments which were announced in the lead-up to the election. The incoming Labor government’s National Rail Manufacturing Plan and National Reconstruction Fund would support ...
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NewsVIA Rail President & CEO steps down
CANADA: Cynthia Garneau resigned as President & CEO of VIA Rail with effect from May 20. Chief Commercial Affairs Officer Martin Landry has been appointed to ‘ensure business continuity’ at the national passenger train operator. ‘After three wonderful years of diverse achievements, exciting challenges, and enriching ...
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NewsMérida – Sevilla route to get signalling and telecoms enhancements
SPAIN: ADIF has awarded Siemens Rail Automation and FCC Industrial e Infraestructuras Energéticas a contract to eliminate telephone block signalling on the only remaining section of the Mérida – Sevilla route which has not yet been upgraded.
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NewsComposite floors ordered for Danish EMUs
DENMARK: In its largest project to date, Portuguese company MCG Transportation is to manufacture the floors for the 100 five-car Coradia Stream electric multiple-units which Danish national operator DSB has ordered from Alstom. The composite floor units are being designed and produced to meet Alstom’s specific ...
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NewsStreet-running railway goes underground
SWITZERLAND: Chemin de fer Lausanne-Echallens-Bercher’s 1 km tunnel from the underground Lausanne-Flon terminus to Lausanne-Chauderon has been extended by 1·7 km to Union-Prilly, replacing a street-running section of single track line along Avenue d’Echallens. The double-track tunnel has been built to increase ...
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NewsMoldovan railway modernisation gets underway
MOLDOVA: National railway Calea Ferată din Moldova officially launched work to modernise the 233 km Bender (Tighina) – Basarabeasca – Giurgiulești line on May 18. This will remove weight and speed restrictions, increasing the line speed to 120 km/h for passenger trains and 90 km/h for ...
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NewsNairobi Central station designs completed
KENYA: Final designs for a new Nairobi Central station have been completed by Atkins UK for Kenya Railways and the Ministry of Transport. In January 2020 President Uhuru Kenyatta asked for British support for the Nairobi Railway City & Central Station programme to expand and decongest ...
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NewsProgramme seeks to identify US inter-city passenger expansion opportunities
USA: The Federal Railroad Administration has launched a Corridor Identification & Development programme to identify routes where inter-city passenger rail services could be introduced or expanded.
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NewsGovernment sets out ambitions to make rail South Africa’s ‘transport backbone’
SOUTH AFRICA: A White Paper on National Rail Policy has set out the Department of Transport’s ambitions to make rail the backbone of the transport network by 2050.
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NewsIzy low-cost train services to end
EUROPE: The Izy-branded low cost train service between Paris Nord and Brussels Midi is to end on July 10, Thalys has announced. Launched by Thalys in 2016, Izy services use the conventional line from Paris to Arras and then LGV Nord and Belgium’s LGV1 from Arras ...
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NewsŁódz orders multiple-units
POLAND: Łódzka Kolej Aglomeracyjna has awarded Newag a contract for the supply and maintaince of three electro-diesel multiple units for stage four of the Łódź Agglomeration Railway programme, with an option for a further two. The order for the intital three trainsets is valued at 75·6m ...
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NewsSustainable development priority in FS Group’s €190bn 10-year business plan
ITALY: New organisational and governance structures and a focus on sustainability are the centrepieces of a €190bn business plan for 2022-31 unveiled by national railway FS Group.
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NewsFour companies launch Spanish passenger operators’ association
SPAIN: Independent high speed operator Iryo, regional railways FGC and Euskotren, and national incumbent RENFE have joined forces to launch a national association of passenger train operators.