Main line rail industry news – Page 314
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NewsHigh speed rail wins market share
ITALY: Evidence that high speed rail competes effectively against air was presented to Terrapinn’s World Rail Festival in Amsterdam by Serafino Lo Piano, Head of Sales, Long-Distance Rail, at Trenitalia. Since the launch of the Frecciarossa brand 10 years ago, he said, rail’s share of the market ...
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NewsAuditors warn of Rail Baltica cost and timescale risks
EUROPE: Procedures for managing the Rail Baltica project are mostly in place but inefficiencies and a lack of change and risk management systems mean the project could exceed its agreed budget and timeline, according to a report issued jointly by the national audit bodies of Estonia, ...
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NewsADIF orders three more infrastructure monitoring trains
SPAIN: National infrastructure manager ADIF has selected Stadler and MerMec for a €74·5m contract to supply and commission three infrastructure monitoring trains and to undertake their maintenance for a period of five years.
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NewsTriesteRailPort project allocated European funding
ITALY: The TriesteRailPort project to enhance rail facilities at the Port of Trieste is to be financed with a €39m loan signed by the European Investment Bank on December 20 as well as €6·5m from the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility. Trieste handles more than 10% of Italy’s ...
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NewsMÁV-Start places final order under Kiss EMU framework agreement
HUNGARY: National passenger operator MÁV-Start has formally signed a contract for Stadler to supply a further 21 six-car Kiss double-deck electric multiple-units for delivery by the end of 2022, the manufacturer confirmed on January 7. The €313m firm order which has been finalised following the confirmation ...
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NewsFirst of 30 Prima M4 locomotives delivered to ONCF
MOROCCO: National railway ONCF has taken delivery of the first of 30 Alstom Prima M4 locomotives which are being supplied under a €130m contract announced in February 2018. The 3 kV DC electric locomotives have a nominal power of 5·5 MW, operating speed of 160 km/h and ...
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NewsPension investor takes stake in Alpha Trains
EUROPE: Arcus European Infrastructure Fund 1 has sold its 41·1% stake in rolling stock leasing company Alpha Trains to Dutch investment group APG. Alpha Trains has a portfolio of 363 locomotives and 432 trainsets leased to operators in 17 countries including Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the ...
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NewsGenesee & Wyoming acquisition completed
INTERNATIONAL: The US$8·4bn acquisition of freight railway group Genesee & Wyoming by affiliates of New York and Toronto listed global investor Brookfield Infrastructure and Singapore’s foreign reserves investor GIC has been completed. The US$112 per share deal had been announced in July. ‘This transaction is an excellent ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Trial operation of a double-stack container train on the 306 km Rewari – Madar section of Indian’s Western Dedicated Freight Corridor was undertaken on December 27. Trials are being undertaken with prototype BLCS-A and BLCS-B double-stack container wagons with 25 tonne axleloads which have been developed ...
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NewsChuanshan port freight line opens
CHINA: The Chuanshan port freight line near Ningbo in Zhejiang province opened on December 26, running 29·3 km from Daqi station to Zhongzhai via Chuanshangang. The 31·5 km line to Beilun has also been electrified as part of the 4·1bn yuan project. Freight traffic on the Chuanshangang ...
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NewsAlstom to maintain Siemens multiple-units
BULGARIA: National operator BDZ’s passenger division has awarded Alstom a €70m five-year contract to provide full maintenance services for its fleet of Siemens Desiro multiple-units. The deal covers a total of 126 cars which entered service from 2006. These comprise 22 diesel multiple-units operating on the Sofia ...
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NewsProgress Rail sells maintenance equipment leasing business
USA: Dallas-based private equity firm Paceline Equity Partners has acquired the Progress Rail Equipment Leasing Corp business from Catterpillar subsidiary Progress Rail. Terms of the transaction announced on January 2 were not disclosed. Based near Detroit and with an office in the St Louis area, PRELC provides ...
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NewsPolish-Chinese consortium to upgrade Białystok line
POLAND: Infrastructure manager PKP PLK has selected a Polish-Chinese consortium comprising Intercor, Stecol Corp and Sinohydro Corp for a 4·14bn złoty contract to modernise the 71 km line between Czyżew and Białystok. This forms part of the corridor from Warszawa to the Lithuanian border, which is ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
India’s Chittaranjan Locomotive Works produced 446 locomotives during 2019, significantly ahead of its design capacity of 200 locomotives per year and representing a near-doubling of its output over the past five years. An agreement has been signed for a consortium formed by AXA ...
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NewsMade in Ukraine DMU enters service on Kyiv airport route
UKRAINE: The first DPKr-3 diesel multiple-unit built by KVSZ has entered passenger service on the route linking Kyiv’s main station with Boryspil International Airport. This follows testing undertaken between Ternopil, Kyiv and Kremenchug to obtain type approval for the domestically-developed trainset. The ...
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NewsJoint venture awarded Chinese high speed train contract
CHINA: The Bombardier Sifang (Qingdao) Transportation joint venture has been awarded a 2·97bn yuan contract to supply China State Railway Group with a further 10 16-car CR400AF 350 km/h trainsets by mid-2020. The contract announced on January 1 is the third order for the CR400AF to be ...
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NewsCross-sea rail and road bridge to open in 2020
CHINA: The 16·3 km Pingtan Bridge carrying a railway and road across the Haitan Strait is expected to open during 2020, significantly reducing journey times between Fuzhou and Pingtan Island off the east coast of Fujian province. The fixed link which includes three cable-stayed bridges is being ...
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NewsBeijing – Zhangjiakou PDL inaugurated with national timetable change
CHINA: The 174 km Passenger-Dedicated Line running northwest from Beijing to Zhangjiakou was opened for revenue service on December 30, along with the 53 km branch from Xiahuayuan Bei to Taizicheng which has been built to serve the Chongli Olympic Village and venues for the 2022 Winter Olympics.