Main line rail industry news – Page 508
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NewsMontecargo privatisation cancelled
MONTENEGRO: The Council for Privatisation & Capital Projects has cancelled plans to sell stakes in national rail freight operator Montecargo and port operator Luka Bar to Poland’s OT Logistics Group. The tender commission believed that while sole bidder OT Logistics was a credible investor and the process ...
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NewsAbellio orders Talent EMUs
GERMANY: Abellio has placed a firm order for Bombardier Transportation to supply a further five Talent 2 electric multiple-units for use on the Neckartal services from Stuttgart which it is to operate from June 2019 under a contract awarded by the Land of Baden-Württemberg. The order for two three-car and ...
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NewsSiemens to buy planning software company HaCon
GERMANY: Siemens announced an agreement to acquire Hannover-based planning, scheduling and information systems software provider HaCon on April 28. The parties have agreed not to disclose financial details of the deal, which subject to regulatory approval is expected to be completed in the first half of 2017. HaCon is to ...
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NewsMTR Corp to assist MRT Jakarta
INDONESIA: Project promoter MRT Jakarta signed a memorandum of understanding with the MTR Academy on April 27 to support the development of the city’s first metro line. The MTR Academy will share operational, maintenance and human resource experiences from its home market in Hong Kong, and will help MRT ...
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NewsHitachi trainset for Devon and Cornwall sets sail from Japan
UK: The first of the Hitachi AT300 electro-diesel trainsets for Great Western Railway services from London to Devon and Cornwall left the Japanese port of Kobe on April 26, and is expected to arrive in Southampton during June. GWR and leasing company Eversholt Rail ordered 22 five-car and ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
Gabon has become the first African country to ratify the Luxembourg Rail Protocol to the Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment. ABB and IBM have announced a strategic collaboration to bring together ABB Ability data capture and IBM Watson artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities for ...
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NewsB Logistics renamed Lineas as it aims for modal shift
BELGIUM: The part-privatised former SNCB freight business has been rebranded from B Logistics to Lineas, reflecting what the company sees as a change in focus from survival and business transformation to growth. The new name was chosen to be 'completely different', international and to reflect an ambition to create 'lines' ...
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NewsKonya metro route confirmed
TURKEY: Konya Metropolitan Municipality has finalised plans for a two-line metro network in the city. To be built in three stages, the network would connect the city’s main universities and hospitals. Plans for a metro were originally published in 2015, and a feasibility study started in November 2016. Geological ...
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NewsMRCE sells diesel locomotives
EUROPE: Irish-registered RIVE Rail Leasing Ltd has acquired 32 Vossloh diesel shunting locomotives from Mitsui Rail Capital Europe, in a transaction co-arranged by Paribus Capital and Paris-based RIVE Private Investment. Senior debt was structured and provided by KfW IPEX-Bank. RIVE Rail Leasing is a joint venture between investors advised by ...
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NewsPolRegio receives first Pesa Link DMU
POLAND: Pesa officially handed over the first of a batch of Link diesel multiple-units to national local passenger operator PolRegio in Warszawa on April 27. PolRegio placed an order in February for three two-car DMUs for 37·6m zloty, with options for two more at 25·1m złoty. Pesa was the ...
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NewsRegioJet partners with GKB to enter the Austrian market
AUSTRIA: Czech open access operator RegioJet is to enter the Austrian passenger market with the launch of four daily Wien – Břeclav – Brno – Praha return services from the December 2017 timetable change. The inter-city services would have ‘the best prices on the market’, RegioJet said, with its onboard ...
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NewsUK railway news round-up
RSSB has published its Standardisation of Coupling Arrangements report which recommends that trains travelling at speeds under 250 km/h should use couplers compatible with the Scharfenberg Type 12 and Voith 136 design. RSSB said there is currently only a 50% chance that the nearest locomotive to a broken-down train has ...
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NewsDB Cargo UK confirms job cuts and reform
UK: Freight operator DB Cargo UK has confirmed that it is to launch its ‘future business model’ on July 2, having reached an agreement on the changes with the unions which represent the majority of its workforce. Discussions with ASLEF, RMT, TSSA and Unite began in October 2016 when DB ...
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NewsADB loan for Ferghana Valley electrification
UZBEKISTAN: The Asian Development Bank has approved a US$80m loan towards a US$177m project to electrify 145·1 km of single track line linking Pap, Namangan and Andijon in the Ferghana Valley. Completion is planned for the second quarter of 2020. The ADB loan will finance supervision services and the procurement ...
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NewsRoslagsbanan narrow gauge EMU contract signed
SWEDEN: A SFr232m contract for Stadler to supply Stockholm transport authority SL with 22 custom-designed three-car electric multiple-units for the 891 mm gauge Roslagbanan suburban line has been signed. Deliveries are scheduled for 2020, with entry into service in 2022. There is an option for a further 45 units. Stadler ...
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NewsAubin Grove station opens
AUSTRALIA: Aubin Grove station on Perth’s suburban Mandurah Line opened on April 23. The station was built at a cost of A$72m as part of the A$125m Aubin Grove road and rail project. It has 2 000 parking bays, along with bicycle facilities, six bus feeder services, a kiosk, toilets, ...
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NewsLeeds transport funding package confirmed
UK: A £173·5m four-year funding package for public transport improvements in Leeds was confirmed by Transport Minister Andrew Jones on April 21. In addition, FirstGroup has agreed in principle to commit £71m to providing 284 new low-emission buses by 2020. West Yorkshire Combined Authority is to use the funding to ...
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NewsBombardier places ‘breakthrough’ order for ABB transformers
AUSTRIA: Bombardier Transportation has placed the first contract for ABB’s Effilight roof-mounted traction transformer design, ordering 42 transformers for installation on 21 Talent 3 electric multiple-units which it is to supply to Austrian Federal Railways for use in the Vorarlberg region. The Effilight has a patented cell design which ABB ...
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NewsCRC orders more CRH1A-A high speed trainsets
CHINA: China Railway Corp’s Nanning Railway Bureau has placed an order for 40 CRH1A-A high speed train cars with Bombardier Sifang (Qingdao) Transportation Ltd.Bombardier says that the order is intended to support the ongoing integration of Guangxi's regional high speed routes into the national network of Passenger-Dedicated Lines. The contract ...
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NewsWork starts on Boyolali airport rail link
INDONESIA: Construction has started on a 13·5 km rail link to serve Adi Soemarmo International Airport in the central Java state of Boyolali, following a groundbreaking ceremony on April 8 attended by President Joko Widodo. Due to be completed within two years, the line will connect the airport with Solo ...