Main line rail industry news – Page 441
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NewsMoscow Central Diameter rolling stock supplier selected
RUSSIA: Central Suburban Passenger Co selected sole bidder Tver Carriage Works for a contract to supply rolling stock to operate on Moscow Central Diameter routes on March 5. Central PPK was previously selected to operate services on the RER-style network which is being developed to link existing radial rail ...
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NewsMoscow Central Diameter rolling stock supplier selected
RUSSIA: Central Suburban Passenger Co selected sole bidder Tver Carriage Works for the contract to supply rolling stock to operate on Moscow Central Diameters on March 5. Central PPK was previously selected to operate service on the RER-style network being developed to link the existing radial rail routes into ...
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NewsNapier – Wairoa reopening to handle ‘Wall of Wood’
NEW ZEALAND: Timber trains are expected to resume running by the end of this year on part of KiwiRail’s mothballed Napier – Gisborne line in the east of North Island, the operator announced on February 26. The line has been out of use for the past six years, but KiwiRail ...
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NewsCN Chief Executive leaves
CANADA: The board of Canadian National Railway announced on March 5 that President & CEO Luc Jobin would be leaving the company with immediate effect. He had succeeded Claude Mongeau as President & CEO on July 1 2016, having previously been Chief Financial Officer. Jean-Jacques Ruest has been appointed Interim ...
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NewsÖBB presents first Vectron under 200-loco framework
AUSTRIA: The first of 30 Class 1293 Siemens Vectron locomotives ordered by Austrian Federal Railways was formally unveiled at Wien Praterstern station on March 5. In January 2017 ÖBB awarded Siemens a framework contract to supply its Rail Cargo Group freight business with up to 100 AC locomotives, 50 AC ...
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NewsLEO Express plans major expansion
EUROPE: Czech open access operator LEO Express has announced a significant expansion of its services this year, as part of its ambitions to become a major player in the Central European market. On April 1 a thrice-weekly service is scheduled to start between Praha and Kraków, a route which LEO ...
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NewsSydney to get second airport rail link
AUSTRALIA: The federal and New South Wales state governments have agreed to build a rail link to serve the planned Western Sydney Airport at Badgerys Creek, which is expected to open in 2026. Launching the Western Sydney City Deal on March 4, Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull and NSW Premier Gladys ...
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NewsAtlantia buys Goldman Sachs stake in Channel Tunnel concessionaire
EUROPE: Italian infrastructure investor Atlantia announced on March 2 that it had agreed to acquire the 15·49% of the share capital and 26·66% of the voting rights in Channel Tunnel concessionaire Getlink held by Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners investment vehicle Aero 1 Global & International. Atlantia would pay €12·40 per ...
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NewsPesa finds outside investor
PESA: Rolling stock manufacturer Pesa confirmed on March 2 that it would enter into exclusive negotiations for the Polish development fund PFR to take a stake in the company. In recent months Pesa has been hit by cash flow problems arising from the early termination of ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Canadian Pacific Railway has launched its CP TempPro service for transporting products requiring strict temperature control. Port of Tilbury London Ltd is seeking expressions of interest in the design and construction of facilities including new and relocated rail lines on the site of a former power station. Novotrans is ...
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NewsChannel Tunnel interconnector installation train completed
EUROPE: Clayton Equipment Ltd has designed, built and commissioned for Balfour Beatty a 500 m long construction train that will be used to install high-voltage cabling in the Channel Tunnel, under the ElecLink project to provide an electrical connector between the national grids of France and the UK. Existing main ...
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NewsKaliningrad – Moscow piggyback trial
RUSSIA: A lorry trailer has been transported from Kaliningrad to Moscow on a domestically-produced wagon as a part of a trial to assess the viability of cross-border piggyback operation. The trial aimed to verify that a regular piggyback service would be practical on the route, where loads must undergo customs ...
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First Coradia trainset in Africa enters service
ALGERIA: Minister of Public Works & Transport Abdelghani Zalene attended a ceremony on March 2 to open buildings at Alger’s Agha station and mark the entry into service of national railway SNTF’s first Alstom Coradia Polyvalent electro-diesel multiple-unit. Public services between Alger and Oran were scheduled to start the following ...
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NewsSmartron freight locomotive launched
GERMANY: Siemens has launched the Smartron electric locomotive, a version of its successful Vectron modular locomotive family which is intended to provide German freight operators with faster delivery times and a lower price through the use of a standard configuration. Smartron offers ‘one standard version, one standard contract, one standard ...
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NewsETC to prepare Rail Baltica operational plans
EUROPE: Rail Baltica project promoter RB Rail has awarded ETC Transport Consultants a contract to prepare short, medium and long-term operational plans for the future standard gauge line linking the Baltic States. The plans are intended to take into account physical, technical, human and organisational factors, with the aim of ...
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NewsSiemens announces plans for UK rolling stock factory
UK: Plans to invest up to £200m to create a ‘state-of-the-art factory to manufacture and commission trains’ at Goole in the East Riding of Yorkshire were announced by Siemens on March 2. Siemens has signed a long-term agreement to lease a 27 ha site on the Goole 36 development adjacent ...
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NewsElectrification envisaged in Ireland's 10-year transport plan
IRELAND: Suburban electrification, main line upgrading and new rolling stock are among the transport improvements envisaged in the government’s 2018-27 National Development Plan published on February 16. The €2bn DART Expansion Programme proposes a series of enhancements to the Dublin suburban network, ahead of the construction of the long-planned cross-city ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
Rolls-Royce’s MTU business has announced an agreement for it to be the exclusive supplier of diesel engines to Knoxville Locomotive Works. MTU Series 4000 and 2000 engines produced in Aiken, South Carolina, will be used on KLW’s SE Series four- and six-axle locomotive designs which were awarded EPA Tier 4 ...
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NewsDG Move highlights Brexit concerns for rail sector
EUROPE: ‘In view of the considerable uncertainties’ surrounding the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Mobility & Transport issued a ‘Notice to Stakeholders’ on February 27. This is intended to inform operators, suppliers and other bodies of the ‘legal repercussions which need to ...
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NewsKöln and Wuppertal order hydrogen fuel cell buses
GERMANY: Van Hool has won a contract to supply 30 hydrogen-electric buses to Köln and 10 to Wuppertal, the manufacturer announced on February 28. To be built at Van Hool’s Koningshooikt factory in Belgium, the A330 buses are due to be delivered to RVK Köln and WSW Wuppertal from ...