Main line rail industry news – Page 663
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NewsDVV Media acquires Rail Business Awards
UK: As part of the Railway Gazette Group’s continued commitment to the UK railway sector, DVV Media UK Ltd has acquired Rail Business Awards Ltd with effect from July 1. Developed and managed for the past 18 years by Woodhouse Communications, the Rail Business Awards recognise the very best of ...
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NewsMedellín metro orders more CAF cars
COLOMBIA: Spanish rolling stock manufacturer CAF announced on July 2 that it had signed an €89m contract with Empresa de Transporte Masivo Valle de Aburrá to supply 20 three-car trainsets for the Medellín metro. CAF said that the order has been placed in response to growing passenger numbers, and ...
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NewsStrukton Rail takes over Dutch industrial sidings
NETHERLANDS: With effect from July 1 Strukton Rail has acquired Netherlands Railways’ NS Spooraansluitingen business, which manages and maintains 130 km of track and 391 turnouts at industrial sites belonging to around 100 companies. As part of the takeover NSS has been rebranded as Strukton Rail Short Line. NS had ...
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NewsReykjavík light rail proposal
ICELAND: Outline proposals for a light rail network in Reykjavík are included in a long-term development strategy for the area around the capital which has been produced by the Samtök Sveitarfélaga á Höfuðborgarsvæðinu group of municipalities. The City Line would be intended to keep car traffic at current levels despite ...
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NewsBrookfield submits proposal for Asciano acquisition
AUSTRALIA: Port and logistics company Asciano, owner of rail freight operator Pacific National, confirmed on July 1 that Canadian utility, transport and energy asset investor Brookfield Infrastructure Group had made an indicative non-binding proposal to acquire 100% of its shares. Brookfield manages a 5 100 km freight network in ...
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NewsSan Diego receives transport funding
USA: San Diego Metropolitan Transit System announced on July 1 that it is to purchase eight more Siemens S70US light rail vehicles and build a new stop to serve the San Diego Central Courthouse being built on C Street between State and Union streets. The announcement follows the award ...
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NewsPKP Cargo and Greenbrier agree to produce wagons in Szczecin
POLAND: A letter of intent for the joint production of wagons in Szczecin was signed by freight operator PKP Cargo and rolling stock manufacturer Greenbrier Europe Wagony Świdnica on July 1. PKP Cargo is to invest 11·5m złoty to start production at the Szczecin wagon repair workshops which are ...
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NewsRhenus Group to take 50% stake in LTE
EUROPE: International logistics group Rhenus announced on July 2 that it had signed an agreement to acquire a 50% stake in LTE Logistik- und Transport from Graz-Köflacher Bahn & Busbetrieb, subject to European regulatory approval. GKB’s sale of the 50% stake in the rail freight operator will meet a ...
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NewsMorris Cheung
Morris Cheung has taken up the new role of European Business Director at MTR Corp, where he will be responsible for managing the growth of the business in Europe and the Middle East. Daniel Shim succeeds him on an interim basis as Human Resources Director while a permanent replacement is ...
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NewsConstruction of Gauteng rolling stock factory to begin this year
SOUTH AFRICA: Construction of a rolling stock manufacturing plant at Dunnottar is to begin in the third quarter of this year, the Gibela joint venture of Alstom (61%) New Africa Rail (9%) and Ubumbano Rail (30%) has confirmed. The plant to the southeast of Johannesburg will produce 580 of ...
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NewsWorld Bank agrees third Eastern DFC loan
INDIA: The World Bank board approved a US$650m loan to support the construction of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor on June 30. The loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction & Development has a seven-year grace period and a maturity of 22 years. The Eastern DFC will run for 1 ...
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NewsWorld Speed Survey 2015: China remains the pacesetter
INTERNATIONAL: China remains the pacesetter in the world rail speed race, according to the latest World Speed Survey published in Railway Gazette International on July 1. Authored by Jeremy Hartill of the UK’s Railway Performance Society, the biennial survey compiles in tabular form the fastest timetabled start-to-stop journeys between different ...
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NewsFeature articles in the July 2015 issue of Railway Gazette International
Feature articles in the latest issue of Railway Gazette International, the leading business journal for railway operators and suppliers, read in 140 countries. The July 2015 issue includes our biennial survey of the world’s fastest timetabled trains. Subscribe today. Comment Netherlands Railways crisis News Main Line ...
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NewsAfrica’s first high speed train delivered
MOROCCO: The first of 12 Alstom Duplex high speed trainsets for national railway ONCF was unloaded at the Port of Tanger on June 29. It had been shipped from the Port of La Pallice near La Rochelle in France onboard Ville de Bordeaux, a roll-on roll-off vessel custom-built to carry ...
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NewsIssuing tickets from Samsung smartphones
UK: Arriva has awarded Fujitsu a seven-year contract to supply staff at its subsidiaries with what it says will be the UK rail industry’s ‘first smartphone-based ticket-issuing system’. Deployment is planned by March 2016. Fujitsu’s STARmobile will run on Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphones issued to staff at Arriva Trains Wales, ...
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NewsDanish local train operator orders Alstom DMUs
DENMARK: North Jylland local train operator Nordjyske Jernbane has awarded Alstom a €45m contract to supply 13 Coradia Lint regional diesel multiple-units to support an expansion of services from autumn 2017. The 140 km/h two-car DMUs will have 125 seats and space for up to 135 standing passengers. ‘With this ...
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NewsTransport projects selected for €13·1bn of European co-funding
EUROPE: ‘Flagship initiatives’ including the Rail Baltica standard gauge line, the Brenner base tunnel and the Fehmarn Belt fixed link are amongst the 276 transport projects which the European Commission has selected to receive €13·1bn of Connecting Europe Facility funding under the September 2014 call for proposals. Other projects selected ...
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NewsVictoria begins High Capacity Metro Train procurement
AUSTRALIA: The government of Victoria has invited expressions of interested by August 14 in the High Capacity Metro Train PPP contract to finance, design, supply and maintain a fleet of 37 suburban electric multiple-units for Melbourne’s Cranbourne and Pakenham lines. At 160 m, HCMT would be longer than existing trainsets, ...
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NewsPoland’s longest tram delivered to Kraków
POLAND: Pesa delivered the first of 36 Krakowiak trams to Podgórze depot in Kraków on June 28. The tram is to undergo testing on the city’s network before entering service on routes 4 and 50, the busiest in the city. ‘The Krakowiak is a completely new vehicle, designed with ...
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NewsHefei – Fuzhou high speed line opens
CHINA: The 813 km Hefei – Fuzhou Passenger-Dedicated Line opened on June 28, with journey times between the capitals of Anhui and Fujian provinces cut from 8 h to under 4 h. The new line also serves popular tourist destinations. Construction of the line began in 2010, with the ...