Main line rail industry news – Page 529
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NewsMetafrax takes delivery of chemical wagons
RUSSIA: United Wagon Co’s TikhvinChemMash has delivered 20 chemical tank wagons to Metafrax, and is to establish a servicing centre at the chemical company’s production site. Designed to be suitable for a wide range of chemicals, the Type 15-6900-01 wagons which Metafrax plans to use for transporting formalin ...
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NewsSiemens to supply Indian Railways with traction equipment
INDIA: Siemens has announced a series of contracts to supply traction equipment to Indian Railways’ Diesel Locomotive Works in Varanasi. A contract worth Rs980m covers the design, supply and installation of 48 sets of AC traction equipment for twin-cab high horsepower diesel locomotives. To be produced at Siemens’ Nashik factory, ...
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NewsTrenitalia joins FirstGroup to bid for UK franchises
UK: Two weeks after the Italian state railway group entered the UK rail market by agreeing to acquire the Essex Thameside franchise from National Express, FS Italiane subsidiary Trenitalia UK announced on January 24 that it was joining FirstGroup to bid for the East Midlands franchise and the forthcoming West ...
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NewsWeaker demand in China and North America hits Knorr-Bremse sales
KNORR-BREMSE: Weaker demand for high speed trains in China and a cyclic slowdown in the North American locomotive and wagon business contributed to a 5·8% year-on-year fall in Knorr-Bremse AG’s sales to a €5·49bn in 2016, the company announced on January 23. Incoming orders of €5·68bn were slightly higher than ...
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NewsGE diesels arrive in Karachi
PAKISTAN: More than 200 VIPs and guests gathered in the port of Karachi on January 23 to mark the arrival of the first seven of 55 Evolution Series ES43ACi diesel locomotives being built for Pakistan Railways by GE Transportation. Being supplied under a 10-year agreement valued at US$400m, locomotives built ...
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NewsVirtual reality railway station used for staff training
UK: Arriva Trains Wales is training staff to spot potential platform-train interface hazards by using a £100 000 interactive virtual reality ‘cave' which replicates a station platform, complete with computer-generated passengers. The three-walled room at ATW’s driver training centre in Cardiff uses projectors and screens to create an immersive ...
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NewsBNSF announces 2017 capital investment plan
USA: BNSF Railway announced a 2017 capital expenditure plan worth $3·4bn on January 19. As with 2016’s $3·9bn capital plan, the largest element of the programme is the replacement and maintenance of infrastructure on the 52 000 route-km network in 28 US states and three Canadian provinces. This has been ...
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NewsSBB launches multi-modal trip planning apps
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has launched SBB Reiseplaner apps for iOS and Android, providing a door-to-door trip planner based on HaCon’s Hafas platform which includes multi-modal public transport connections, car sharing provider Mobility, private cars and private or hired bikes along as well as car and cycle parking. The user ...
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NewsHitachi shows how Trenitalia’s Rock will roll
ITALY: A mock-up of one of the driving cars from the double-deck regional electric multiple-units which Hitachi Rail Italy is to supply to Trenitalia was unveiled at the manufacturer’s Pistoia plant on January 20. In August 2016 Trenitalia awarded Hitachi a €333m firm order for 39 five-car Caravaggio high-capacity double-deck ...
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NewsMárton Feldmann
Márton Feldmann has become CEO of BHÉV, a subsidiary of Hungarian national operator MÁV Group which took over the HÉV suburban lines from Budapest transport operator BKV on November 24.
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NewsAlstom to supply trams to Kaohsiung
TAIWAN: China Steel Corp has awarded Alstom a contract to supply 15 Citadis X05 trams for the second phase of the Kaohsiung tram project. To be assembled in La Rochelle, with components coming from Alstom sites in France and Italy, the trams will be equipped with permanent magnet traction ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
PKP Cargo has expanded its drone fleet with Dron House‘s Bielik 3·5 kg carbon fibre design. Last year PKP Cargo began using DJI Phantom 3 and Eagle drones to monitor its trains, and has reported a 50% reduction in cargo theft. The operator says it also has gained the ability ...
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NewsCZ Loko supplies Italian operators
ITALY: CZ Loko has delivered three more Class 741.7 shunting locomotives to Italy. Locomotives 741.737 and 738 have been leased for two years to FS subsidiary Terminali Italia for shunting duties at the Verona Quadrante Europa yard and Bari Ferruccio, while 741.710 is to be hired by Trenitalia subsidiary Serfer ...
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NewsSNCF Réseau forms drones business
FRANCE: SNCF Réseau has established a subsidiary to offer its expertise in the use of drones to other infrastructure managers. Altametris has a team of 20 engineers, pilots and developers as well as a fleet of 12 drones. Services offered include data collection and the preparation of 3D plans and ...
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NewsCaptrain Deutschland orders cross-border locomotives
EUROPE: Captrain Deutschland Group has awarded Bombardier Transportation a contract to supply six Traxx multi-system electric locomotives in early 2018. They will be used to haul freight on routes between Germany and the ports of ports of Antwerpen and Rotterdam. ‘The Bombardier Traxx multi-system locomotives' proven technology and reliability were ...
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NewsProcurement of High Speed 2 trains begins
UK: The process to procure rolling stock for High Speed 2 was initiated on January 20, when the Department for Transport issued a periodic indicative notice regarding the acquisition of up to 60 trainsets. The formal call for tenders is planned for 2018, with the contract worth an estimated £2·75bn ...
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NewsTrenitalia awarded 10-year inter-city contract
ITALY: A 10-year ‘universal service contract’ for Trenitalia to operate socially-desirable day and night inter-city services was signed on January 19. Awarded jointly by the Ministry of Infrastructure & Transport and the Ministry of Economy & Finance, the contract is backdated to January 1 and runs to December 31 2026. ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
Alstom booked €1·0bn of orders in its third quarter from October 1 to December 31 2016, with sales up 3% year-on-year to €1·7bn. As of December 31 the backlog had reached a record high of €33·8bn. Kazakhstan Railways and Etihad Rail discussed the possible implementation of joint infrastructure projects in ...
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NewsAssam approves Guwahati metro
INDIA: The Assam state government approved the Guwahati metro project on January 18. To be implemented by the Guwahati Metro Rail Corp special purpose vehicle, the metro network for Assam’s largest city is planned to have four lines totalling 203 route-km. The first of four phases would connect ...