Main line rail industry news – Page 432
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NewsFirst Newag Impuls II EMU nears completion
POLAND: The first next-generation Impuls electric multiple-unit is nearing completion at Newag’s factory in Nowy Sącz. It is expected to be completed next month and begin tests at the Żmigród test circuit in June. Newag is supplying 14 Impuls II EMUs to Łódź suburban operator Łódzka Kolej Aglomeracyjna under ...
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NewsFirst Newag Impuls II EMU nears completion
POLAND: The first next-generation Impuls electric multiple-unit is nearing completion at Newag’s factory in Nowy Sącz. It is expected to be completed next month and begin tests at the Żmigród test circuit in June. Newag is supplying 14 Impuls II EMUs to Łódź suburban operator Łódzka Kolej Aglomeracyjna under ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
The first direct freight service between China and Wien left the Chengdu Qingbaijiang freight terminal on April 12, carrying 44 containers of electronic components, lighting equipment and homewares on a 9 800 km route via Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine and Slovakia. It was organised by Chengdu International Rail Port Group and ...
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NewsInnoTrans 2018 welcomes 23 trade associations
INNOTRANS: A total of 23 national and international trade associations from countries including Australia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Japan, Romania, Sweden, the UK and USA will be presenting their members’ capabilities at InnoTrans 2018. Many of these bodies are currently handling the organisational arrangements for stands and travel to the ...
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NewsDonchak electric locomotives delivered to Transoil
RUSSIA: Transmashholding’s Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Plant has supplied petrochemical transport company Transoil Transport & Logistics with a further eight 2ES4K Donchak 3 kV DC twin-section 6·4 MW electric locomotives. Russian Railways is the major operator of the 2ES4K and the related three-section variant of the design, with more than 550 ...
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NewsMEN Mikro Elektronik and Duagon to merge
GERMANY: HQ Equita is to sell its stake in safety critical computing technology supplier MEN Mikro Elektronik to Deutsche Beteiligungs, whch will merge the business with Duagon Holding AG. MEN founder Manfred Schmitz will retain his shares and be a member of the board of the new group. ‘We are ...
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NewsAnkara suburban line reopens following upgrade
TURKEY: President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım attended a ceremony on April 12 to mark the reopening of the Başkentray suburban line in Ankara following its upgrade. The 37 km route between Kayaş in the east and Sincan in the west, operated with a fleet of ...
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NewsTCDD signs high speed train contract
TURKEY: National operator TCDD Taşımacılık has formally signed a contract for preferred bidder Siemens to supply a further 10 Velaro high-speed trainsets. The contract announced on April 13 is worth around €340m, including three years of maintenance, repair and cleaning. The latest order will take TCDD’s Velaro fleet to 17 ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
The Indian cabinet has approved the closure of the Ministry of Railways’ Burn Standard Company Ltd wagon manufacturing and repair business. It said the decision had been taken ‘in view of the continuous poor physical and financial performance of the company for more than 10 years despite financial assistance ...
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NewsLocomotive maintenance business sold
GERMANY: Paribus Group has sold its Northrail Technical Service locomotive maintenance and repair business to Railpool Group, which is to operate it under the Railpool Lok-Service brand. Paribus Group partner Dr Volker Simmering said NTS had made a valuable contribution to maintaining locomotives owned by its Northrail leasing business, but ...
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NewsLondon to Duisburg and China freight service launched
UK: The inaugural scheduled freight service from DP World’s London Gateway terminal east of London to the Duisburg freight hub in Germany set off on April 10, with the load including containers bound for China. This follows demonstration China to London and London to China services which ran last year. ...
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NewsDB Regio to operate Trier service RB83
EUROPE: Following a European tender, Rheinland Pfalz transport authority SPNV-Nord has selected DB Regio to operate the German section of a new hourly Wittlich – Trier – Luxembourg service RB83 which is scheduled to be launched in December 2019. The contract covers the operation of 470 000 train-km/year within Germany. ...
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NewsFirstGroup rejects Apollo takeover proposal
FIRSTGROUP: The board of UK-based rail and bus operator FirstGroup plc confirmed on April 11 that it had received a ‘preliminary and highly conditional’ indicative cash takeover proposal from US private equity firm Apollo Management IX LP. In a statement, the FirstGroup board said it had ‘considered the proposal in ...
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NewsUK railway news round-up
Direct Rail Services has called tenders for the supply of 10 mixed traffic diesel-electric locomotives and the provision of spare parts. DRS currently operates a fleet of more than 100 locomotives, and said it was ‘seeking solutions to create benefits and efficiencies’ under a strategy of ‘moving to a more ...
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NewsCSX agrees short line spin-offs
USA: CSX Transportation has reached agreement to sell almost 300 km of railway in Alabama and Georgia to Denver-based HGS Railway Holdings, following its announcement earlier this year that up to one-third of its total network was being reviewed for possible closure or sale. HGS has established two wholly-owned subsidiaries ...
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NewsRail.One opens Aschaffenburg concrete sleeper plant
GERMANY: Rail.One officially began series production of concrete sleepers at a new plant in Aschaffenburg with an inauguration ceremony on April 11. The site will produce the B70 sleeper design which is widely-used in Germany, as well as other types of sleeper for German and European main line and urban ...
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NewsThe Canadian coaches to be refurbished
CANADA: VIA Rail has awarded Cad Railway Industries a C$46m contract to upgrade 25 coaches used on The Canadian service between Toronto and Vancouver. Announcing the contract on April 10, VIA Rail said the stainless steel coaches dating from the 1950s would be ‘completely refurbished and transformed to better meet ...
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NewsAlstom opens Canadian light rail vehicle factory
CANADA: Alstom opened an assembly plant for light rail vehicles in Brampton, Ontario on April 10. The factory will be used to produce 61 light rail vehicles that Greater Toronto & Hamilton Area transport authority Metrolinx ordered in May 2017. The C$528m contract includes an option for ...
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NewsMercitalia and UTLC sign China – Europe rail freight MoU
INTERNATIONAL: Italian national freight operator Mercitalia Rail and the United Transport & Logistics joint venture of the national railways of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop integrated container services between China and Europe. UTLC would provide logistics services between China and Europe on the ...
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NewsNewag to rebuild 60 locos
POLAND: PKP Cargo has awarded Newag a 477m złoty contract to modernise its ageing shunting fleet by rebuilding 60 Class SM48 locomotives as Type 15D/A locos, designated Class ST48. The work is to be undertaken between October 2018 and May 2021, and follows a previous contract covering 30 locomotives. Only ...