Main line rail industry news – Page 666
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NewsMore concessions to boost Brazilian investment
BRAZIL: President Dilma Rousseff announced on June 9 that R$198∙4bn is to be invested in transport infrastructure under a new concessions programme, with the aim of stimulating the economy and boosting the export sector. Total investment is expected to reach R$69∙2bn between 2015 and 2018. This would be followed by ...
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NewsMetalocaucho acquired by Wabtec
SPAIN: Wabtec Corp has acquired Metalocaucho, which manufacturers rubber-metal components for rolling stock suspension and vibration control systems. Metalocaucho has around 100 employees at locations in Spain, China and India. It has annual sales of US$25m, with its main markets being Europe, China and India. ‘Metalocaucho expands our geographic footprint ...
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NewsTechnical pillar of the Fourth Railway Package agreed
EUROPE: The final wording for the three legislative measures in the technical pillar of the European Commission’s Fourth Railway Package was agreed on June 17 at a meeting between the Latvian Presidency of the European Council and the European Parliament’s Transport & Tourism Committee. Coming a few days before the ...
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NewsTenders called for Indian inter-city EMUs
INDIA: The Ministry of Railways has invited requests for qualification for a contract to supply and maintain about 15 inter-city electric multiple-units. These would be used to pilot the use of fixed-formation trainsets instead of locomotive-hauled stock on long-distance services. The 15 EMUs would total 315 cars, of which ...
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NewsTurkish locomotive developed with domestic technology
TURKEY: Tülomsaş has rolled out a prototype electric locomotive designed and manufactured using Turkish technology. Intended for shunting and short-distance light freight duties, the E1000 is a single-cab Bo-Bo rated at 1 MW. It has been produced in partnership with research agency Tubitak and national railway TCDD under a ...
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NewsTüvasaş and Voith open workshop
TURKEY: Tüvasaş and Voith have opened a joint maintenance, repair, and assembly workshop at the Turkish rolling stock manufacturer’s bogie plant in Adapazarı. The workshop undertakes the maintenance and repair of Voith Turbo transmissions used on DMUs operated by national railway TCDD, as well as local assembly activities and ...
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NewsSan Francisco orders more LRVs
USA: San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has ordered an additional 40 Siemens light rail vehicles from for its Muni network. The order is an option on a $648m contract signed in September 2014 for 175 LRVs with options for up to 85 more. The LRVs are based on ...
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NewsSyntus wins Zwolle operating contract
NETHERLANDS: The province of Overijssel announced on June 16 that Syntus had been selected for a €17·5m/year contract to operate regional services from Zwolle to Enschede and Kampen for 15 years from December 2017. The services are currently operated by NS Reizigers. VolkerRail was recently awarded a contract to electrify ...
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NewsUkraine plans railway sector reform
UKRAINE: Minister of Infrastructure Andrii Pyvovarsky has presented a draft bill for the reform of the rail sector and a plan to restructure the management of national railway UZ. The bill is to be submitted to parliament by October, with approval expected by the end of the year. Pyvovarsky said ...
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NewsNetinera orders Lint DMUs
GERMANY: Netinera Deutschland’s Länderbahn subsidiary has formally awarded Alstom a contract to supply 12 Coradia Lint 41 diesel multiple-units by June 2016, for use on Regentalbahn’s Oberpfalzbahn services in Bayern and the Czech Republic. The order announced on June 16 replaces a contract awarded in December 2011 but subsequently cancelled ...
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NewsNational Express and Abellio win Rhein-Ruhr-Express contracts
GERMANY: National Express and Abellio were named as preferred bidders for three contracts to operate Rhein-Ruhr Express passenger services on June 16. Totalling 14·6 million train-km/year, the operating contracts start in 2018-20 and run until December 2033, with options for termination up to two years early. They are being ...
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NewsEastern Dedicated Freight Corridor civils contract signed
INDIA: Dedicated Freight Corridor Corp of India Ltd has awarded a design and build contract covering the civil works for the 402 km New Bhaupur (Kanpur) – Mughalsarai section of the Eastern DFC, which will eventually run for 1 839 km from Ludhiana to Dankuni near Kolkata. The Rs50·8bn contract ...
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NewsGas-fuelled locomotive passes acceptance trials
RUSSIA: Bryansk Engineering Plant’s prototype gas-fuelled TEM19 shunting locomotive has passed acceptance trials, and a pilot batch of up to 50 locomotives is now planned. The TEM19 was developed by Transmashholding subsidiary BMZ, with partners including Uralcryomash Volzhsky Diesel and the VNIKTI rolling stock research institute in Kolomna. The ...
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NewsŠkoda Transportation announces record results
ŠKODA TRANSPORTATION: Last year was as a record in terms of both production and sales, Škoda Transportation reports. Sales in 2014 were up more than 12% on the previous year to KC16·4bn, with net profit rising from KC1·75bn to KC2·27bn. The company produced 103 low-floor trams, as well as ...
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NewsRegional Rail Link inaugurated
AUSTRALIA: The A$3·65bn Regional Rail Link project in Melbourne was formally inaugurated on June 14, when Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure & Regional Development Warren Truss joined the Premier of Victoria Daniel Andrews and the state’s Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan on a special train to mark ...
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NewsUnited Wagon signs grain hopper contract
RUSSIA: Tehnotrans has signed an agreement for United Wagon Co’s Tikhvin plant to supply 500 grain hopper wagons under a long-term lease by the end of 2016. The wagons will be to a new design with 25 tonne axleload bogies, enabling the capacity to be increased to 120 m3 or ...
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NewsProRail opens ‘ultra-modern’ Utrecht control centre
NETHERLANDS: Infrastructure manager ProRail officially opened a ‘robust, ultra-modern and striking’ control centre in Utrecht on June 4. The 4 500 m2 structure was designed by de Jong Gortemaker Algra architects and built by Visser & Smit Bouw, with Arcadis as project manager and HOMIJ responsible for mechanical and electrical ...
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NewsVoith replaces Irish DMU fairings
IRELAND: Voith is delivering 70 sets of aluminium fairings it has custom designed to replace glass fibre reinforced plastic components on the front ends of Iarnród Éireann’s Hyundai Rotem Class 22000 inter-city diesel multiple-units. The GFRP fairings were designed to protect the train from bottles, stones or other foreign ...
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NewsDelhi metro Line 6 opens extension
INDIA: The latest extension of the Delhi metro opened on June 8, when the first train from ITO station on Line 6 was flagged off by Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at 16.00. Revenue services started 2 h later. The 1 km section ...
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NewsMixed fleet for cross-border RER
EUROPE: The Rhône-Alpes region of France has announced that it is to order a fleet of 17 Régiolis EMUs for the RER Franco-Valdo-Genevois network that will connect Evian, Saint-Gervais, Annecy and Bellegarde with Genève and Lausanne in Switzerland. Worth €220m, the order is to be placed under the framework agreement ...