Main line rail industry news – Page 384
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NewsOperator selected for CDG Express airport rail link
FRANCE: The government has selected the Hello Paris consortium of Keolis and RATP Dev as preferred bidder for the concession to operate the future CDG Express airport rail link, the Ministry of Sustainable Development announced on November 19. Keolis said the consortium expected to sign the contract before the end ...
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NewsCzech Republic’s longest railway tunnel opens
CZECH REPUBLIC: Passenger services began using the country’s longest railway tunnel on November 16, the day after the first revenue freight train. With a 4 174 m long northern bore and 4 150 m southern bore, the tunnel under the Chlum and Homolka hills near Ejpovice to the east of ...
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NewsSiemens signs £1·5bn London Underground train contract
UK: London Underground Ltd has formally signed the contract for Siemens Mobility to supply 94 Inspiro London trainsets for the Piccadilly Line, Transport for London announced on November 20. Siemens had been named preferred bidder on June 15, but signing was delayed after losing bidders Alstom and a joint venture ...
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NewsDelhi metro Violet Line extension inaugurated
INDIA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a 3·2 km southern extension of the Delhi metro Violet Line on November 19. The extension adds two stations at Sant Surdas (Sihi) and Raja Nahar Singh in the Ballabhgarh district of Faridabad, serving the part of the National Capital Region that lies the ...
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NewsYekaterinburg selects tram supplier
RUSSIA: Yekaterinburg municipality announced on November 16 that it had selected Fobos-TS as preferred bidder for a 77m rouble contract to supply four partly low-floor single-section trams. Fobos-TS acts as the trading company of Uraltransmash, and it is likely that the trams supplied will be UTM’s 36% low-floor Type ...
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NewsHauts-de-France EMU order
FRANCE: Acting on behalf of the Hauts-de-France region, SNCF has awarded Bombardier Transportation a firm order to supply 19 Omneo Premium double-deck inter-city electric multiple-units. The order announced on November 19 has been placed within a 2010 framework covering up to 860 Omneo/Regio 2N units and is valued at €256m, ...
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News‘Serious challenges’ facing California high speed programme
USA: The programme to build a high speed rail network through California linking Los Angeles with the San Francisco Bay Area is facing ‘serious challenges’, according to a report issued by the state auditor on November 15. Many of the risks relate to California High Speed Rail Authority’s decision to ...
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NewsTeardrop-shaped cement wagons ordered
INTERNATIONAL: RM Rail has won orders to supply Russia’s Gazprombank Leasing and VEB-Leasing and Kazakhstan’s largest cement manufacturer with a total of more than 1 000 Type 19-1217 cement hopper wagons by September 2019. The wagon manufacturer said the Type 19-1217 has an ‘innovative’ teardrop shaped body giving a capacity ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
EP Cargo has ordered a further three Siemens Vectron MS locomotives equipped for use in the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, with an option for seven more. They are to be delivered in spring 2019 and initially used in Poland. Under a 3·7bn rouble contract, Transmashholding’s ...
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NewsHeavy haul tests to improve capacity to the ports
RUSSIA: A Type 2ES10 Granite twin-section electric freight locomotive manufactured by the Ural Locomotives joint venture of Sinara (51%) and Siemens (49%) has been undergoing haulage and energy efficiency testing on Russian Railways’ Oktyabrskaya Railway as part of a government programme to increase capacity on routes to ports in northwest ...
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NewsVirgin Trains USA formed by Virgin Group and Brightline
USA: A strategic partnership and trademark licensing agreement for the launch of Virgin Trains USA was announced by Virgin Group and private-sector inter-city train operator Brightline on November 16. Subject to certain closing conditions, Virgin Group is to make a minority investment in Brightline, which will be managed and operated ...
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NewsThree shortlisted for DSB coach contract
DENMARK: Bombardier, Siemens and Talgo have prequalified for a contract to supply locomotive-hauled coaches primarily intended for use on international services to Hamburg, national passenger operator DSB announced on November 16. The contract would cover an initial eight rakes of coaches with a capacity of least 440 passengers per rake, ...
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NewsBattery bus in service in Hamburg
GERMANY: The first of 60 battery electric bus ordered by Hamburger Hochbahn has entered service in Hamburg. The operator ordered a total of 60 eCitaro buses from Mercedes-Benz, which are to be delivered by the end of 2020. The next three are due to arrive in December. The ...
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NewsDedicated Freight Corridors to open in stages
INDIA: Several sections of the first two Dedicated Freight Corridors are on course to open over the next few months, the Ministry of Railways confirmed on November 5. The ministry’s original intention had been to open the corridors in their entirety once completed, but with work on some sections reportedly ...
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NewsAfrica’s first high speed line inaugurated
MOROCCO: The first high speed railway in Africa was inaugurated by King Mohammed VI and French President Emmanuel Macron with a ceremony in Tanger on November 15. Revenue services are expected to begin before the end of the year. During the event the king officially named the high speed line ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
Representatives of Kamkor Locomotive, GE Transportation and Škoda Transportationmet last month to discuss co-operation to maintain Kazakhstan Railways TEP33A passenger locomotive wheelsets at the Shar locomotive depot. Germany’s Federal Railway Authority has certified Deutsche Bahn’s inspection and infrastructure engineering contractor DB Systemtechnik as an independent assessment body for ...
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NewsMEPs vote to increase rail passengers’ rights
EUROPE: Members of the European Parliament voted in favour of proposed changes to increase rail passengers’ rights at a plenary session on November 15. MEPs voted 533 in favour of the proposed changes and 37 against with 47 abstentions. Once the European Council has adopted its position, trilogue negotiations will ...
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NewsEU funds Plovdiv – Burgas modernisation
BULGARIA: The European Union is providing more than €293m from the Cohesion Fund to support modernisation of the 293 km line from Plovdiv to the Black Sea port of Burgas. The route forms part of the Orient/East Med TEN-T corridor connecting central and southeastern Europe. The scope includes raising lines ...
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NewsPrivate funding needed under C$6bn VIA Rail investment plan
CANADA: National passenger operator VIA Rail says that private-sector backing will be needed to support an investment programme worth more than C$6bn over the next decade. Chief Executive Yves Desjardins-Siciliano told the Terrapinn World Rail Festival conference in Amsterdam on November 13 that VIA Rail’s most pressing priority is to ...
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NewsAfghan railway terminal expansion MoU signed
AFGHANISTAN: A memorandum of understanding for the development of the freight terminal at Aqina on the Afghan-Turkmenistan border, including the construction of 10 track-km of main line and sidings, was signed by the Afghanistan Railway Authority and Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Railways in Ashgabat on November 2. The MoU has six ...