Main line rail industry news – Page 696
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NewsDB Regio awarded S-Bahn Rhein-Neckar contract
GERMANY: Following an international tender, on January 15 the Baden-Württemberg, Rheinland-Pfalz Süd, Bergstraße and Saarland transport authorities jointly awarded incumbent DB Regio Südwest a contract to operate S-Bahn Rhein-Neckar Lot 1 services for 17 years from December 2016. The contract covers the operation of passenger services totalling 8 million ...
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NewsAlstom wins €100m Egyptian signalling contract
EGYPT: Egyptian National Railways has awarded Alstom a €100m contract to supply and maintain for five years signalling equipment for the line running 240 km south along the Nile from Beni Suef to Asyut. Deliveries will start in 2016 and the new signalling is due to be operational by January ...
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NewsNanjing metro Line 5 MoU signed
CHINA: Nanjing city authorities signed a memorandum of understanding with property developer Greenland Group on January 14 for the financing of metro Line 5. The developer is to invest 31·3bn yuan in the metro project, in return for the rights to construction and associated property development along ...
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NewsVeolia awarded Halle - Goslar contract
GERMANY: The Sachsen-Anhalt and Braunschweig transport authorities have awarded Veolia Verkehr a contract to operate Halle (Saale) – Aschersleben – Halberstadt – Wernigerode – Goslar passenger services for three years from December 2015. The service is to be branded as Harz-Elbe-Express Line 4, replacing the current Deutsche Bahn RE4. ...
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NewsNew competition for Mexico City – Querétaro high speed line
MEXICO: Tendering for the project to build a 210 km high speed line between Mexico City and Querétaro began again on January 14 when the Secretariat of Communications & Transport published ‘pre-bidding documentation’ for a contract including civil works, railway systems and rolling stock. SCT is aiming to award the ...
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NewsFreiburg breaks ground on tram extension
GERMANY: A groundbreaking ceremony took place on January 15 for the Rotteckring tram extension in Freiburg. The 1·9 km extension is to branch off the existing Route 2 at Siegesdenkmal and run south to Kronenstraße, with five stops. The first phase, to Stadttheater, is due to open in 2017, ...
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NewsPatient globalisation bears fruit
KNORR-BREMSE: Knorr-Bremse Group has announced ‘best ever’ sales of €5·2bn for 2014, a year-on-year increase of 21%. Expanding markets saw orders up 18% to a record €5·5bn. The Rail Vehicle Systems division achieved ‘substantial growth’, with sales of €2·98bn compared to €2·25bn the previous year. This was primarily due to ...
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NewsVoestalpine acquires Sydney Trains' track component business
AUSTRALIA: Following a competitive tender, Sydney Trains has selected Voestalpine VAE Railway Systems to buy its Bathurst Rail Fabrication Centre track component and rail welding plant. ‘A 2012 review of the BRFC found it to be a solid business that would benefit from the innovation and technology of private ...
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NewsSilverRail acquires SJ ticketing technology company Linkon
SWEDEN: US-based passenger rail search and booking technology company SilverRail Technologies has acquired a 75% stake in Swedish national operator SJ’s ticketing IT business Linkon. Linkon provides ticketing IT systems including mobile and e-ticketing, inventory management and settlement. SilverRail is to retain Linkon’s full team and offices in Stockholm and ...
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NewsOn-track plant delivered to Bulgarian contractor
BULGARIA: Rail infrastructure contractor ZHP Stroy has taken delivery of five machines ordered from Plasser & Theurer in 2013 as the basis for a track construction and maintenance fleet it plans to use across Bulgaria and the Balkans. The PA 1-20 ES twin-unit sleeper layer has electronic controls enabling ...
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NewsBattery train enters passenger service
UK: The prototype Independently Powered Electric Multiple-Unit has entered trial passenger service on the Manningtree –Harwich branch, where it is scheduled to operate on weekdays between January 12 and February 13. The IPEMU comprises a Bombardier Electrostar Class 379 four-car 25 kV 50 Hz EMU which has been retrofitted with ...
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NewsEurotunnel orders extra Freight Shuttles
EUROPE: Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel has awarded WBN Waggonbau Niesky a €40m contract to supply three more Freight Shuttle trainsets to support its target of carrying 2 million lorries/year in 2020. The 800 m long rakes will comprise 32 lorry-carrying wagons, three loading wagons and a coach for the lorry ...
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NewsWorld rail infrastructure market January 2015
Algeria: Anesrif has awarded the Estel joint venture of Siemens and SNTF a contract to supply signalling for the 90 km Beni Mansour – Bejaia double-tracking. Siemens’ €95m share includes Trainguard 100 ETCS Level 1, Vicos operations control, Simis W interlockings, GSM-R and RailCom Manager communications management. Australia: Laing ...
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NewsRDC takes 25% stake in Eurorail
EUROPE: US railway investment and management company Railroad Development Corp announced on January 12 that it had taken a 25% stake in Belgium-based rail logistics company Eurorail. In 2012 RDC and Eurorail established the equally-owned RégioRail venture, which now operates four feeder services in France. ‘Through RégioRail we have ...
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NewsJoint venture to maintain Moroccan TGV fleet
MOROCCO: A joint venture is to be established during the first half of the year for the maintenance of high speed trainsets in Morocco as part of preparations to introduce Africa’s first high speed passenger service over the 320 km corridor between Tanger and Casablanca. Outlined at a ceremony in ...
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NewsNew ticket hall opens at Tottenham Court Road
UK: London Underground marked the completion of the first stage of its £500m rebuilding of Tottenham Court Road station with the opening of the new ticket hall on January 12. Providing interchange between the Central and Northern lines, the station is normally used by 150 000 passengers per day. This ...
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NewsArup to draw-up PRASA station master plans
SOUTH AFRICA: Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa has appointed Arup SA to develop master plans for the potential redevelopment of land around its major stations in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town. The ambition is to support regeneration by creating transport hubs with retail, office, social, health and leisure facilities. ...
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NewsThree bids for southern Bohemia passenger contract
CZECH REPUBLIC: State-owned ČD, DB subsidiary Arriva and ČSAD Jihotrans company GW Train Regio have submitted bids for a contract to operate regional services in the Šumava region of southern Bohemia. The contract runs from for 15 years from December 2016 and is potentially worth KC2·25bn. It covers the ...
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NewsRail industry news in brief - January 2015
Following an unsuccessful attempt to enter the Polish rail market in 2013, Czech open access passenger operator Leo Express has launched a daily Bohumín – Kraków bus connecting with its Praha – Bohumín trains and offering a similar level of comfort including wi-fi, drinks and newspapers. Work is ...
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NewsCSR Qishuyan locomotives delivered to Thailand
THAILAND: State Railway of Thailand has taken delivery of the first two of 20 SDA3 locomotives being supplied by CSR Qishuyan The six-axle metre-gauge diesel locomotives were ordered in June 2013 as part of a strategy to develop a 'hub and spoke' intermodal freight network. Each locomotive has a ...