Main line rail industry news – Page 603
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NewsEast West Rail preferred corridor selected
UK: Network Rail announced on March 29 that it had selected a Bedford – Sandy – Cambridge corridor as its preferred option for the Central Section of the East West Rail project to reinstate a rail link between Oxford, Cambridge and East Anglia. NR had studied 20 possible corridors before ...
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NewsAlstom awarded Trentino multiple-unit contract
ITALY: Trenitalia has awarded Alstom a contract to supply a further six Coradia Meridian electric multiple-units for use on regional services in Trentino. The firm order announced on March 25 has been placed under a 2012 framework agreement, and deliveries are scheduled to start at the end of 2016. ...
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NewsFirst Honolulu metro cars arrive
USA: The first two metro cars for the driverless light metro arrived in Honolulu on March 24 from Hitachi Rail Italy’s factory in Pittsburg, California. The bodies were assembled in Reggio Calabria in Italy, before the cars were fitted out in Pittsburg. Shipping was co-ordinated by Baggio, with Pasha ...
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NewsModernised trams enter service in St Petersburg
RUSSIA: St Petersburg tram operator Gorelektrotrans put two modernised LM-68M3 trams into service on March 26. The single-section trams run permanently coupled on Route 6. The trams were modernised by Transmashholding’s Oktyabrsky Electric Railway Car Repair Plant under a 162m rouble agreement signed with Gorelektrotrans in 2015 covering nine ...
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NewsHokkaido Shinkansen inaugurated
JAPAN: High speed services reached Japan’s third main island on March 26, with the inauguration of the first phase of the Hokkaido Shinkansen. Connecting Shin-Aomori in Honshu with Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto in the south of Hokkaido, the 149 km line uses mixed-gauge tracks in the 54 km Seikan Tunnel under the Tsugaru ...
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NewsWorld rail market March 2016
Argentina: Sofse has awarded Indra a €35m contract to supply ticketing equipment for more than 200 stations on the Buenos Aires commuter network. This includes 1400 ticket gates, 170 entrances suitable for wheelchairs, 200 smart card top-up machines, 150 on-board validators, 230 platform validators, 160 station ‘transaction hubs’ and 300 ...
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NewsVirtual ticket office on test in Essen
GERMANY: A ‘virtual walk-up ticket office’ which combines a self-service ticket machine with a video link to a call centre is being tested at Essen Hauptbahnhof by city transport operator EVAG and Cubic Transportation Systems. NextAgent offers the functionality of a staffed ticket office, according to Cubic. The video ...
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NewsLondon Underground concrete mixing plant delivered
UK: London Underground has taken delivery of a concrete mixing and distribution unit ordered from Italian company Blend Plants for use on a project to convert 6·4 km of the Baker Street to Finchley Road section of the Metropolitan Line from ballasted to slab track. The dismountable mixer is carried ...
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NewsWorld rolling stock market March 2016
Algeria: Alstom is to supply kits for 26 Citadis trams which the Cital joint venture is to assemble in Annaba for use in Sétif. The €85m order forms part of a framework signed in 2012 by Cital and Entreprise du Métro d’Alger for the supply of Citadis trams to several ...
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NewsWorld rail infrastructure market March 2016
Australia: Public Transport Authority of Western Australia has selected a joint venture of Salini Impregilo and NRW as preferred bidder for the main works contract to build the A$2bn Forrestfield-Airport Link in Perth. Signing is planned by May. Austria: ÖBB Infrastruktur has awarded SPL Powerlines a contract for the ...
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NewsWhale way to keep drains clear
UK: Infrastructure manager Network Rail has taken delivery of eight bespoke road-vehicles designed for drainage cleaning by specialist tank lorry supplier Whale Tankers and Hilton Rail Consulting. The vehicles will be deployed to clear leaves and other materials from trackside catch pits which are used to ensure large volumes of ...
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NewsTaipei ticketing upgrade
TAIWAN: Taipei Rapid Transit Corp has selected Thales to upgrade the metro fare collection system. Thales is to roll out its Transcity platform throughout 2016. This which will include the upgrade of more than 1 500 fare gates at 120 stations, replacing contactless smart card readers and providing a ...
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NewsMore tram-trains ordered for Karlsruhe
GERMANY: Karlsruhe tram-train operator AVG announced it had awarded a consortium of Stadler Rail Valencia and electrical equipment supplier Vossloh Kiepe a firm order for a further 25 Citylink NET 2012 low-floor vehicles on March 24. This is the second option on a contract signed in October 2011. The 25 ...
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NewsDB retains Hessen operating contract
GERMANY: Following a European tender, Nordhessen transport authority NVV in partnership with its Rhein-Main and Westfalen-Lippe counterparts has selected incumbent DB RegioNetz's Kurhessenbahn for the next contract to operate Nordwesthessennetz passenger services. The new contract runs for 15 years from December 10 2017 and covers the operation of 2·5 million ...
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NewsGenova metro trainset unveiled
ITALY: The first of seven new generation trainsets for the Genova metro was unveiled at Brignole station on March 24. Comune di Genova placed a €31m order in 2012 with a consortium of AnsaldoBreda (now Hitachi Rail Italy) and Ansaldo STS. The 39 m long four-car sets have three ...
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NewsSuccessful year for Arriva
ARRIVA: Deutsche Bahn’s non-German regional passenger transport business Arriva has reported a 7·8% increase in revenue to €4 843m for the year to December 31 2015, with EBITDA up 5·4% to €525m. More than 2·2 billion passenger-journeys were carried by the company. ‘Arriva’s proven strategy continues to be successful, as ...
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NewsLondon Underground track renewals contract extended
UK: London Underground has extended its Track Partnership alliance with Balfour Beatty for further two years to March 2018 in a deal worth £170m. Track Partnership undertakes turnout and ballasted track installation and renewals across the London Underground network, as well as associated drainage, signalling, traction power and conductor rail ...
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NewsDoha metro tunnel breakthrough
QATAR: Qatar Rail celebrated the completion of tunnelling on the Red Line North section of the metro when a TBM broke through between Legtaifiya and Qatar University stations on March 21. Boring of the 11·3 km tunnel started on July 19 2014 and used four earth pressure balance TBMs. ...
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News£800m London Waterloo capacity programme launched
UK: A £800m package of works intended to provide a 30% increase in peak capacity on the routes into London Waterloo station by 2019 was officially launched on March 23. This encompasses a number of previously-announced projects, including: Rebuilding the former Waterloo International terminal to provide an extra five ...
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NewsBrookville takes Oklahoma City Streetcar contract
USA: The Oklahoma City council approved a $24·9m contract on March 22 under which Brookville Equipment Corp is to supply five low-floor streetcars. The city council had previously approved a $22m contract with Inekon last September, but this was not finalised, as the supplier could not provide the required ...