Main line rail industry news – Page 226
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NewsFirst ILSA ETR1000 high speed train starts trials
SPAIN: Open access operator ILSA announced on September 6 that the first of its 23 ETR1000 high speed trainsets had arrived in Spain from Italy and would commence running trials this week on the 44∙4 km Figueres – Perpignan cross-border route through the Pyrenees. Testing will ...
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NewsFive-train platoons to operate with virtual coupling
RUSSIA: Russian Railways is planning to use platooning technology to operate flights of up to five freight trains next year using radio data exchange between locomotives to create a virtual coupling. The aims to reduce headways from 12 to 6 to 8 min, increasing capacity on ...
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NewsFour policies to boost German rail freight
GERMANY: Four policies to increase rail’s share of the freight market are set out in a position paper which rail advocacy group Allianz pro Schiene has produced ahead of the federal election on September 26. These are: infrastructure investment, including increasing electrification from 61% of ...
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NewsKCS reopens talks with CP after CN merger setback
USA: Kansas City Southern has agreed to reopen discussions with Canadian Pacific, after its Board of Directors determined that CP’s latest offer could potentially lead to a superior proposal when compared to its current merger agreement with Canadian National. Having originally agreed a merger with KCS in ...
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NewsRailway to Hell to be electrified
NORWAY: Infrastructure manager Bane NOR has awarded NRC Norge a NKr760m contract for installation of overhead electrification equipment on the lines around Trondheim The contract covers the 34·7 km Trondheim – Hell – Stjørdal and 74·4 km Hell – Storlien lines, as well as the 5·8 ...
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NewsPrivate sector executive to head Turkish rail infrastructure manager
TURKEY: The head of a major rail contractor and equipment supplier which is also the country’s first private passenger service operator has been appointed as the head of infrastructure manager TCDD. Abdülkerim Murat Atik was appointed as Chairman & CEO of TCDD on September 3, by ...
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NewsAmur bridge between Russia and China completed
ASIA: Work has been completed on a 2·2 km bridge across the River Amur connecting Tongjiang in China’s Heilongjiang province with Nizhneleninskoe station in Russia’s Jewish Autonomous Oblast. The two governments signed an agreement to build the bridge in October 2008, and a groundbreaking ceremony was ...
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NewsSignal gantries installed at Toronto Union
CANADA: PNR RailWorks has installed two large signal gantries spanning nine tracks as part of the Union Station Rail Corridor signalling enhancement programme on the Metrolinx network in Toronto. Concrete foundations were installed and the structures pre-assembled over two weeks, and then the gantries were put ...
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NewsOpportunities for suppliers as Inland Rail contractor appointed
AUSTRALIA: Australian Rail Track Corporation has selected the BHQ joint venture of Bielby Holdings, JF Hull Holdings and QH&M Birt as design and construction partner for the Northern Civil Works Programme, covering a 162 km section of the Inland Rail freight corridor in Queensland. This will ...
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NewsLeisure travellers return to rail as bank holiday traffic exceeds pre-pandemic level
UK: Provisional statistics released by the Department for Transport show rail journeys reached a high of 66% of pre-pandemic levels this summer, driven by increased leisure travel. Meanwhile, industry data shows that leisure journeys to seaside destinations over the August bank holiday weekend surpassed pre-pandemic levels. ...
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NewsCentral European high speed rail co-operation proposed
EUROPE: Central European state operators and infrastructure managers are planning to co-operate to develop a network of ‘high speed’ passenger services connecting Warszawa, Praha, Bratislava, Ljubljana, Wien and Budapest, but independent operators have raised concerns that they could be shut out. A declaration of intent is ...
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NewsChannel Tunnel optic fibre network contract signed
EUROPE: Colt Technology Services has signed a 25-year contract for the installation of optic fibres through the Channel Tunnel as part of its IQ Network data network. This will provide a transfer capacity of several terabits per second per fibre pair. Channel Tunnel operator Getlink’s existing ...
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NewsConnecting Europe Express sets off on 26-country tour
EUROPE: The Connecting Europe Express organised to celebrate the European Year of Rail set off from Lisboa Oriente station on September 2, marking the start of a five-week journey through 26 countries which will include more than 100 stops before reaching Paris on October 7.
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NewsProject management contract awarded for first phase of Mindanao railway
PHILIPPINES: The Department of Transportation has selected a consortium of China Railways Design Corp and Guangzhou Wanan Construction Supervision Co for a 3·1bn pesos contract to provide project management consultancy services for development of the proposed railway on the southern island of Mindanao. An initial 102 ...
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NewsFlat wagons for longer containers certified
INTERNATIONAL: United Wagon Co has obtained Eurasian Customs Union certification for the Type 13-6724 high capacity container wagon design that it has developed for Laude Smart Intermodal, which ordered 1 000 last year for use on Russia – Poland services. The Type 13-6724 wagon was designed ...
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NewsCanadian National bid for Kansas City Southern in doubt after STB blocks voting trust
USA: Canadian National’s US$33·6bn bid to acquire Kansas City Southern received a major setback on August 31, when the federal Surface Transportation Board rejected an application to use a voting trust as part of the process. Announcing the unanimous decision of the five-strong board, STB said ...
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NewsEgypt signs contract for ‘Suez Canal on tracks’
EGYPT: A US$4·5bn contract has been signed for the construction of 660 km of ‘modern, safe, and integrated’ mixed traffic electrified railway connecting Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea with Alexandria and Marsa Matrouh on the Mediterranean.
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NewsKiwiRail announces freight service ‘to keep New Zealand moving’
NEW ZEALAND: National railway KiwiRail is to launch a weekday freight service between Auckland and Christchurch from October, boosting capacity between the North and South islands in time for the peak season and while the impact of the coronavirus pandemic is disrupting other modes. There will ...