Main line rail industry news – Page 457
-
NewsTest running begins on Delhi metro’s Bahadurgarh extension
INDIA: Delhi Metro Rail Corp Managing Director Mangu Singh rode on a test train between Tikri Kalan and Bahadurgarh City Park on the western extension of Line 5 on December 13. Test running on the extension began on December 9. The 12 km extension from Mundka to Bahadurgarh City ...
-
NewsChinese company to upgrade Republika Srpska railway
BOSNIA: The Republika Srpska entity’s railway company ŽRS has awarded China Shandong International Economic & Technical Co-operation Group a contract for the modernisation of the 104 km route from Banja Luka to Novi Grad and the border with Croatia at Dobrljin. The agreement was signed on the fringe of ...
-
NewsRussian firms to invest in Iranian rolling stock
IRAN: A memorandum of co-operation for the joint production of rolling stock was signed by national railway RAI and the Russian Export Centre on December 18. The memorandum provides for Russian companies to invest €3bn in rolling stock financing and the formation of joint ventures which would support the localisation ...
-
NewsPenn Station Partners selected for Baltimore station modernisation
USA: Amtrak has selected Penn Station Partners to undertake the redevelopment of Baltimore Penn station and neighbouring properties which it owns. Penn Station Partners comprises Beatty Development Group, Armada Hoffler Properties, Cross Street Partners, Gensler, WSP USA, Network Rail Consulting, Mace Group, JLL, HR&A Advisors, Charles Belfoure, Cho Benn Holback, ...
-
NewsAarhus opens Denmark’s first modern light rail line
DENMARK: The first modern light rail line in Denmark opened on December 21, with the start of services on the initial section of the Aarhus Letbane network. Final approval for the opening had been received the previous evening, following a series of delays, and the ceremony at Hack Kampmanns Plads ...
-
NewsUK railway news round-up
The Urban Transport Group of transport authorities has written to the Office of Rail & Road expressing concern that changes to infrastructure charging regimes could shift industry costs onto regional services ‘that don’t create the majority of that burden in the first place and which are least able to bear ...
-
NewsOverspeed focus in Amtrak derailment
USA: Excessive speed has been identified as a key factor in the derailment of Amtrak Cascades’ Seattle – Portland train 501 near Tacoma on December 18, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The 12-car Talgo 6 trainset, hauled by a new Siemens Charger diesel locomotive with a GE P42 ...
-
NewsBombardier to supply more VLocity DMUs
AUSTRALIA: Bombardier Transportation has been awarded a A$146m contract to supply a further nine three-car VLocity diesel multiple-units to Transport for Victoria. Deliveries are scheduled for 2019, and will take the state’s VLocity fleet to 88 units. The 160 km/h DMUs will continue to be manufactured in Dandenong, and will ...
-
NewsEMU overhaul includes heritage livery
UK: Knorr-Bremse RailServices in Wolverton is undertaking the C6 overhaul of 19 Class 313 EMUs which Beacon Rail leases to Govia Thameslink Railway for use on Southern’s Coastway services, The C6 programme includes work on the door mechanisms, air systems and bodywork, as well as accessibility improvements and fitting LED ...
-
NewsKuala Lumpur – Singapore high speed rail AssetsCo tender called
ASIA: A joint tender for the appointment of the Kuala Lumpur – Singapore high speed rail Assets Company was jointly called by Malaysia and Singapore’s government-owned Infrastructure Companies MyHSR Corp and SG HSR on December 20. The AssetsCo would be responsible for designing, building, financing, operating and maintaining rolling stock ...
-
NewsMUL Railcars opens US wagon leasing office
USA: Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance Co Ltd has opened an office in Portland, Oregon, as a base for its MUL Railcars wagon leasing activities. This follows the company’s expansion through a strategic wagon supply and maintenance alliance with The Greenbrier Companies which was finalised in June. James T Sharp ...
-
NewsNetwork Rail awards ETCS freight fitment contract
UK: Network Rail announced on December 19 that it had awarded Siemens Rail Automation a contract to design, test and obtain approval for installing Trainguard 200 onboard ETCS equipment on freight traction. This would be the initial phase of what Network Rail describes as ‘one of the world’s biggest ETCS ...
-
NewsAlgerian Coradia multiple-unit on test
ALGERIA: The first of 17 six-car Coradia Polyvalent electro-diesel multiple-units which national railway SNTF ordered from Alstom in July 2015 is now undergoing dynamic trials at the Velim test centre in the Czech Republic. Once the trials at Velim are complete, the 160 km/h trainset will go to the French ...
-
NewsTransPennine Express trainsets under construction in Japan
UK: Hitachi has begun production of the 19 five-car AT300 electro-diesel multiple-units ordered by leasing company Angel Trains in March 2016 for use by FirstGroup’s TransPennine Express franchise. The fleet is scheduled to begin entering service in December 2019, operating on routes connecting cities in northern England and Scotland. Hitachi ...
-
NewsAlstom awarded Romanian upgrading contract
ROMANIA: As part of the Asocierea RailWorks consortium with Aktor and Arcada, Alstom has been awarded a €40m contract to undertake electrification and resignalling for the modernisation of the 22 km Ilteu – Gurasada section of the Rhine – Danube Corridor in western Romania. ‘Alstom teams are going to implement ...
-
NewsOntario high speed rail study terms of reference tendered
CANADA: Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation has issued a request for bids for a contract to develop terms of reference for the environmental assessment process for the Kitchener-Waterloo – London section of the proposed Toronto – Windsor high speed line. The terms of reference would provide a framework for the planning ...
-
NewsPPP concession to lead København S-bane automation
DENMARK: Operations and infrastructure management on the København S-bane network are to be tendered as an integrated package, the government announced on December 13. Keeping track and trains together would facilitate conversion to fully automated operation, it explained. Transport, Building & Housing Minister Ole Birk Olesen said it was the ...
-
NewsCross-Øresund services to be split
EUROPE: Transport authorities in Denmark and Sweden have reached agreement to split up the current cross-Øresund rail services from December 2021, Denmark’s Minister of Transport, Building & Housing Ole Birk Olesen announced on December 13. As part of a political agreement paving the way for more tendering of domestic rail ...
-
NewsHunter Harrison dead at 73
USA: ‘With great sadness’, CSX announced on December 16 that its President & Chief Executive Officer E Hunter Harrison had died at the age of 73, ‘of unexpectedly severe complications following a short illness’. Other reports suggested that he had been unwell for some time. James M Foote, who joined ...
-
NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
On December 14 TX Logistik signed a firm order for Bombardier Transportation to supply 40 Traxx MS3 multi-system locomotives for use on Italy – Switzerland – Germany services from mid-2019. Bombardier is to maintain them for 15 years, and there is an option for up to 25 more locos. The ...