Main line rail industry news – Page 499
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NewsÖBB starts Pyhrnstrecke station upgrading
AUSTRIA: ÖBB-Infrastruktur launched a €26·9m programme to modernise three stations on the Pyhrnstrecke in Oberösterreich with a groundbreaking ceremony at Neuhofen an der Krems on June 7. Expected to take around 18 months at a cost of €9·3m, the work at Neuhofen will see the realignment of both main lines ...
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NewsTier 4 genset locomotive enters service
USA: Railserve’s first Tier 4 compliant Dual Leaf Gen-Set Locomotive has entered service in Freeport, Texas. The latest addition to Railserve’s family of locomotives has two Cummins QSX15 engines, and can use only one when hauling lighter loads. The Dual Leaf is intended for shippers, industrial users and short line ...
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NewsGo-Ahead selected for Stuttgart – Nürnberg operating contract
GERMANY: The Länder of Baden-Württemberg and Bayern have selected Go-Ahead as preferred bidder for the Netz 3A Murrbahn contract to operate Stuttgart – Schwäbisch Hall – Hessental – Crailsheim – Nürnberg services totalling 1∙3 million train-km/year for 13 years from December 2019. Go-Ahead will procure a fleet of Stadler Flirt3XL ...
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NewsHelsinki Artic XL tram design unveiled
FINLAND: Helsinki transport operator HKL has unveiled the design of the Artic XL trams that would run on the future Raide-Jokeri orbital route between Helsinki and Espoo. Styling has been provided by Idis Design. The trams will have a blue and green livery to distinguish them from the green ...
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NewsWork starts on San Martín viaduct
ARGENTINA: Transport Minister Guillermo Dietrich joined head of the city government Horacio Rodríguez Larreta on June 8 to mark the start of work on a new 5 km elevated alignment for the San Martín commuter route in Buenos Aires. Replacing a surface alignment between Palermo and La Paternal stations which ...
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NewsThalys aims for full trains and happy customers
EUROPE: High speed operator Thalys is to introduce a new fares structure and onboard service proposition on September 12. The current Comfort 1 and Comfort 2 classes of travel are to be replaced with Standard, Comfort and Premium, improving flexibility and increasing the proportion of discounted fares on offer from ...
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NewsLong-distance Lastochka agreed
RUSSIA: An agreement to develop a long-distance variant of the successful Lastochka electric multiple-unit family has been reached between Russian Railways and the Urals Locomotive joint venture of Sinara and Siemens. The accord to draft revised technical specifications was signed during the St Petersburg International Economic Forum by the head ...
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NewsNew metro line in Izmir approved
TURKEY: The Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs & Communications has approved a new metro line in Izmir following the completion of an environmental impact assessment. The 4·5 km route would run east from Halkapınar metro and Izban suburban railway station, which would also be the terminus of the future ...
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NewsGabon takes delivery of refurbished DB Regio coaches
GABON: Coaches formerly used by DB Regio in Germany are being refurbished by Electroputere VFU Pașcani in Romania for use on Libreville – Franceville overnight services operated by Sociéte d'Exploitation du Transgabonais. The first batch of nine vehicles was shipped at the end of May and is expected to arrive ...
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NewsFrançoise Bertrand
Canadian Minister of Transport Marc Garneau has appointed Françoise Bertrand as Chair of the Board of Directors at VIA Rail Canada for a five-year term.
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
On June 1 The Greenbrier Companies and Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance Co finalised agreements for the expansion of their commercial relationship which had been announced in April. MUL is to obtain its new wagons exclusively from Greenbrier until 2023, with a commitment to buy an initial 6 000 over ...
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NewsRotterdam railway rerouting approved
NETHERLANDS: State Secretary at the Ministry of Infrastructure & Environment Sharon Dijksma has approved plans by the Port of Rotterdam Authority and ProRail to reroute 4·5 km of the harbour railway serving Europoort to avoid the Caland Bridge. This would avoid delays to freight trains when the vertical lift ...
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NewsStadler locomotives to support Medway’s expansion
PORTUGAL: Leasing company Alpha Trains has taken delivery of six Euro 4000 diesel locomotives from Stadler’s Valencia plant. Two of the locos are for Iberocargo, while four are to be used by Medway on cross-border freight services between Spain and Portugal under the Portuguese operator’s first leasing agreement with Alpha ...
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NewsSMBC Rail acquires American Railcar Leasing
USA: Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp’s wagon leasing and fleet management business SMBC Rail Services completed the $2·78bn acquisition of American Railcar Leasing from investment group Icahn Enterprises on June 1. Chicago-based SMBC Rail said the transaction would produce a ‘premier’ full service lessor of ‘long-lived’ rolling stock for the North ...
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NewsUK railway news round-up
A mock-up of the Stadler Flirt multiple-units which are to enter service with Greater Anglia from 2019 has been set up at the operator’s Norwich Crown Point depot to enable staff, customers and stakeholders to provide feedback on the design. It includes first and standard class seating, the café bar, ...
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NewsPakistan Railways orders GE locomotives for the north
PAKISTAN: GE Transportation announced an agreement to supply 20 FDL C20EMP diesel locomotives to Pakistan Railways on June 7. The 1 676 mm gauge C20EMP locomotives are to be supplied from Erie in the USA by the end of 2018. They will be a lightweight 2 000 hp mixed ...
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NewsChizhik tram for St Petersburg nears completion
RUSSIA: The first trams for the privately operated fast tram route being developed in St Petersburg are nearing completion at Stadler’s factory in Minsk. The first tram is due to begin dynamic testing on the Minsk network shortly. Future operator Transportnaya Koncessionnaya Kompanya has branded the tram Chizhik, the ...
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NewsStadler receives ‘record-breaking’ orders in a successful year
SWITZERLAND: Stadler says its expansion into new geographical markets and industry sectors paid off in 2016, when it received a ‘record-breaking’ number of orders with a total value of SFr4·9bn, more than double the 2015 figure. Turnover and profit were ‘in line with the long-term average’, the company said on ...
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NewsMongolian coal railway co-operation agreement
MONGOLIA: China Gezhouba Group Co Ltd has entered into a non-binding agreement to co-operate with Aspire Mining subsidiary Northern Railways to plan and source financing for the proposed 549 km Erdenet – Ovoot line. The proposed multi-user railway would enable Aspire to exploit the second largest coking coal reserves in ...
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NewsBrunswick Rail replaces leaseback facility
RUSSIA: Wagon leasing company Brunswick Rail has agreed a rouble sale and leaseback arrangement with SpetsTransServis to replace a previous leaseback facility with Alfa-Leasing. Announcing the change on June 2, Brunswick Rail said the arrangement offered more attractive terms which would reduce its interest payments and increase its unencumbered fleet. ...