Main line rail industry news – Page 671
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NewsFree pre-peak metro travel to continue
SINGAPORE: Land Transport Authority has announced the extension of its scheme offering free ‘pre-peak’ travel on the metro network by another year, to June 30 2016. Passengers who end their journey at 18 designated stations in the city area before 07.45 on weekdays travel free of charge, while those ...
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NewsUlm orders first metre-gauge Avenios
GERMANY: Stadwerke Ulm Verkehr and Siemens signed a contract for the supply of 12 Avenio M trams on May 22. The order is worth €32m and includes an option for six additional vehicles. The metre-gauge trams will be manufactured at the Siemens plant in Wien, with bogies from Graz ...
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NewsBucureşti plans metro investment
ROMANIA: Bucureşti metro operator Metrorex has announced that it is to spend 1·74bn lei on infrastructure investment in 2015, as part of preparations for the Euro 2020 football championships. Bucureşti will host up to four matches during the tournament. UEFA made the city’s participation conditional on infrastructure investment and ...
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NewsHouston opens two light rail lines
USA: Houston celebrated the opening of two light rail lines on May 23 with music, fireworks and free travel. The Green and Purple lines add 13·4 route-km to the network, connecting with the 20·5 km north-south Red Line. The Green Line, also known as the East End Line, ...
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NewsFirst X’Trapolis Mega cars completed at Lapa
SOUTH AFRICA: The first two completed cars for the 600 X’Trapolis Mega commuter electric multiple-units ordered by Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa have been rolled out at Alstom’s Lapa factory in Brazil. Planned to be a mix of six-car and four-car formations totalling 3 600 vehicles, the trainsets are ...
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NewsFirst Shinkansen train through the Seikan Tunnel
JAPAN: The mayor of Aomori and other city officials participated in a ceremony at Shin-Aomori in the early hours of May 24 to mark the arrival of the first Series H5 trainset from Hokkaido through the Seikan Tunnel. Following the delivery of the first unit to JR Hokkaido in October ...
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NewsPavlodar tram financing signed
KAZAKHSTAN: The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development has signed a loan agreement worth €10m with Pavlodar Tramways to support infrastructure modernisation and the procurement of 25 new trams. The national government is proving a grant worth €3·71m, and further support is coming from the regional government. The 86 ...
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NewsChinese company signs Tyva railway agreement
RUSSIA: Coal mining concession holder Tuva Energy Industrial Corp and the China Civil Engineering Construction Corp subsidiary of China Railway Construction Corp have signed a memorandum of understanding for the implementation of privately financed railway and port projects. The three agreements signed on May 8 cover a proposed 410 ...
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NewsNew Zealand increases rail funding
NEW ZEALAND: Additional funding for KiwiRail was announced in the budget presented by Finance Minister Bill English on May 21, although he also called for savings to be identified. The national railway is to get NZ$210m from the Future Investment Fund in 2015-16, and a further NZ$190m was announced as ...
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NewsAvoid blockages
TOILET: TBM Rail has developed a gravity-fed toilet designed to minimise blockages. Managing Director Andrew Hawker says that while gravity-fed designs are ‘often the simplest and smallest-footprint option’, they ‘have become infamous for blockages and resulting servicing problems’. ‘A number of companies shared with us data on service levels, ...
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NewsJR East calls international tenders for DEMU fleet
JAPAN: East Japan Railway announced on May 19 that it is calling international tenders for a fleet of diesel-electric multiple-units to operate services on non-electrified lines, with between 150 and 200 trainsets to be ordered in the coming years. Bids are due by July 24 for an initial build of ...
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NewsRumo outlines ALL investment plans
BRAZIL: Following its merger with América Latina Logística, Rumo Logística has briefed analysts on investment plans for the ALL freight network up to 2019, when it is planning to spend a total of R$7∙4bn on new projects. Under the first phase running until the end of 2016 when total expenditure ...
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NewsChina to fund more electrification in Belarus
BELARUS: A further tranche of main line electrification is to be funded by China’s EximBank under a package of loan agreements signed in Minsk on May 10 at an event attended by presidents Alexander Lukashenko and Xi Jinping. The agreement between national railway BC and EximBank will fund the ...
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NewsZSSK Cargo wagon sale approved
SLOVAKIA: Competition authority PÚSR gave a final approval for the wagon sale and leaseback deal between national rail freight operator ZSSK Cargo and leasing company VTG on May 12. The entry of a strategic partner to Cargo Wagon is part of a plan to consolidate the freight business which the ...
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NewsElectrification contracts
PORTUGAL: Refer announced on May 18 that it had awarded Isolux Corsán a €6·17m contract to electrify the 14∙4 km Caíde – Marco de Canaveses section of the Porto – Régua route. This will enable suburban services to be extended to Marco de Canaveses. Due for completion within 450 days, ...
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NewsCompetition on the Bratislava – Košice corridor
SLOVAKIA: National passenger operator ZSSK reduced the number of premium IC trains on the Bratislava – Košice main line from three to two daily train pairs from April 15. ZSSK hopes this will reduce losses on the 445 km route between the two largest cities to €1·2m this year, compared ...
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NewsMyanmar signalling contract signed
MYANMAR: Myanma Railways has awarded Mitsubishi Corp and Hitachi a contract to modernise the signalling on the 140 km Yangon – Pyuntasa route by June 2017. The ¥2·4bn contract signed on May 15 is being funded by a grant from Japan International Cooperation Agency. The companies will supply electronic ...
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NewsSpain announces €1∙26bn suburban rail spend
SPAIN: Development Minister Ana Pastor has announced what she described as the largest investment in suburban services on the national network for over 20 years, with a total of €1∙26bn to be spent in 2015-18. Of this, ADIF is to provide €1bn and Renfe the remainder. Pastor said that the ...
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NewsElectrification co-operation agreement
EUROPE: Austrian railway electrification and transmission line specialist Powerlines Group and Italian railway substation, switchgear and control systems manufacturer Mont-Ele announced a strategic co-operation agreement on May 19. ‘This synergetic partnership will be of benefit to both parties’, said Powerlines Group CEO Gerhard Ehringer. ‘Powerlines has found a reliable supplier ...
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NewsMore Melbourne crossings to go
AUSTRALIA: The Victoria state government announced on May 19 that it had awarded a A$524m contract for the elimination of four level crossings in southeast Melbourne, as part of a commitment to remove 50 of the city’s busiest and most dangerous level crossings over eight years. A consortium of John ...