Main line rail industry news – Page 431
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NewsLuton DART airport peoplemover construction begins
UK: A groundbreaking ceremony on April 17 offically launched construction of the £225m Luton DART peoplemover which will link Luton Airport Parkway station with the airport terminal. Civil works for the 2·1 km line are being undertaken by a joint venture of VolkerFitzpatrick and Kier. The double-shuttle, fully-automated cable-driven ...
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NewsTrenitalia’s first Rock rolls
Hitachi Rail Italy has rolled-out the first Rock double-deck regional electric multiple-unit for Trenitalia. Toma Bačić reports from Pistoia
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NewsKeltbray eyes Canada as UK electrification ‘looks less certain’
CANADA: Construction company Aecon and British engineering and construction firm Keltbray Group have signed a memorandum of understanding with a view to developing a joint venture to bid for rail electrification contracts in Canada. This is Keltbray’s first venture into the international market, having entered the UK electrification sector in ...
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NewsUK railway news round-up
GB Railfreight has awarded Alstom a 12-year contract worth £15m to maintain 12 Class 92 locomotives used on Caledonian Sleeper services. The work will be undertaken at Alstom's Wembley depot, securing employment for a production team of five people plus a number of support roles. 'Our new contract with GBRf ...
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NewsMasabi and Chalo target Indian transport ticketing market
INDIA: A partnership to offer mobile fare collection and journey planning technology in the Indian market was announced by Masabi and Chalo on April 18. Indian journey planning and ticketing company Chalo (previously called Zophop) is to integrate UK-based mobile ticketing and software-as-a-service supplier Masabi’s Justride Mobile Ticketing SDK into ...
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NewsSENER to design Porto light rail extension
PORTUGAL: Engineering consultancy SENER has been appointed to undertake detailed design for the planned Metro do Porto light rail Line G. The 2·8 km route would run underground from Boavista/Casa da Música to Praça da Liberdade, with a total of four stations. SENER said the station at Praça da Liberdade ...
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NewsStadler signs Slovenian multiple-unit contract
SLOVENIA: Stadler formally signed its first contract in Slovenia on April 17, a €170m deal to supply 26 multiple-units to national railway Slovenske Železnice. Stadler had been the sole bidder for the contract, which covers 11 Flirt multi-system electric multiple-units, five Flirt diesel-electric multiple-units and 10 Kiss double-deck EMUs. Deliveries ...
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NewsHydrogen locomotive on the Liliputbahn
AUSTRIA: To support its development of a hydrogen fuel cell for use on locomotives, Railway Competence Certification is undertaking a proof-of-concept demonstration on the 381 mm gauge Liliputbahn miniature railway in Wien’s Prater park. Hydrogenics has supplied the fuel cell, which is connected to the battery of a TEMO ...
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NewsHaramain High Speed Rail market study commissioned
SAUDI ARABIA: Haramain High Speed Rail project concessionaire Al-Shoula Consortium has appointed Royal HaskoningDHV to carry out a detailed market study for the line. This is intended to help Saudi Railways Organization predict passenger numbers and needs, and support the development of targeted operations strategies to offer the most ...
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NewsUzbekistan backs Afghan rail proposal
AFGHANISTAN: Uzbekistan has pledged to provide US$500m to part-fund the construction of a 657 km railway from Mazar-i-Sharif to Herat, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Finance said following an international conference on Afghanistan held in Toshkent on March 26-27. The proposed line would be an extension of the existing 75 km route ...
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NewsKeolis restructures to meet ‘strategic challenges’
KEOLIS: French transport group Keolis announced a ‘significant’ changes to its corporate structure and board on April 17, including the creation of a New Mobilities business unit. ‘Keolis needs to be able to improve its overall operational, environmental and financial performance, in order to offer its public transport authorities the ...
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NewsNürnberg metro trainsets under construction
GERMANY: The first painted car body for a batch of 21 four-car Type G1 metro trainsets ordered by Nürnberg transport operator VAG has been completed at Siemens’ plant in Wien. The trainsets were ordered in December 2015 at cost of €164m and are scheduled to be delivered at the end ...
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NewsFreight restructuring as SNCF reforms push ahead
FRANCE: Visiting the port of Bonneuil-sur-Marne on April 16, Prime Minister Eduard Phillippe, Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot and Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne announced a series of measures to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of SNCF’s rail freight business. The package includes increased support for intermodal transport and a ‘remission’ of ...
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NewsBudapest – Esztergom electric services begin
HUNGARY: Regular electric services on the Budapest – Esztergom route began on April 9, building on a single daily electric train between Piliscsaba and Budapest Nyugati which had been operating on a trial basis since the December 2017 timetable change. Some services are still operated using diesel multiple-units, with ...
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NewsVIA Rail begins procurement of new Québec – Windsor fleet
CANADA: National passenger operator VIA Rail formally launched the process to procure a new fleet of trainsets for the Québec City – Windsor corridor when it issued a request for qualifications on April 16. Following the government’s allocation of funding in the 2018 federal budget announced in March, VIA Rail ...
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NewsAlger metro extensions open
ALGERIA: The single metro line in Alger has been extended at each end, with the official opening by President Abdelaziz Boutefli on April 9 of a 1·7 km extension from Tafourah-Grande Poste to Place des Martyrs and a 3·7 km branch from Haï El Badr to Ain Naadja. Revenue services ...
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NewsVirtual reality rail safety videos
UK: EON Reality has developed a set of 360 VR safety films for infrastructure manager Network Rail. These deliver information through a combination of story-driven scenes based on real scenarios and interviews with family members and experts. The videos are designed to be much more immersive than a PowerPoint presentation ...
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NewsFirst Greater Anglia Aventra EMU nears completion
UK: The first of 111 Class 720 Aventra electric multiple-units ordered by leasing company Angel Trains for use by Abellio’s Greater Anglia franchise is now nearing completion at Bombardier Transportation’s factory in Derby. Two production lines have been set up at the plant, where the pre-glazed aluminium bodysides, roofs, floor ...
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NewsRegioJet Traxx locomotives on test
CZECH REPUBLIC: Trials of the first two of eight Bombardier Transportation Traxx MS electric locomotives ordered by open access operator RegioJet in April 2017 got underway at the Velim test circuit on April 16. Approval has now been obtained for operation at up to 160 km/h on the Czech, Slovak ...
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NewsGatwick Airport station upgrade planned
UK: Infrastructure manager Network Rail has submitted a planning application for the modernisation of Gatwick Airport station, which is to be undertaken in partnership with airport operator Gatwick Airport Ltd, the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership and the Department for Transport. The aim is to reduce congestion and ...