Main line rail industry news – Page 700
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NewsS-Bahn expansion schemes launched
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has started work on a major capacity improvement programme between Genève and Lausanne. Announcing the launch of the SFr3bn ‘Léman 2030’ project at a ceremony in Renens station on November 22, SBB said that traffic on the route along the shore of Lac Léman is expected ...
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NewsWisconsin buys Union Pacific line
USA: The state of Wisconsin has completed the purchase of 110 km of Union Pacific route linking Madison with Reedsburg and Cottage Grove, Governor Scott Walker announced on December 11. The $30m purchase was made jointly by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and Wisconsin River Rail Transit Commission. The ...
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NewsSamskip to launch dedicated Rotterdam – Italy intermodal service
EUROPE: Samskip Multimodal is to launch a dedicated intermodal rail freight service between Rotterdam and the Melzo terminal near Milano during January. The initial focus is on pallet-wide high cube 45 ft containers, curtain-siders, flatracks and reefers. The Rotterdam – Melzo transit time will be under 30 h, with ...
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NewsVoivodship-owned operator Koleje Małopolskie launched
POLAND: Koleje Małopolskie operated its first passenger service at 05.10 on December 14, with a day of free travel marking the launch of regular services by the latest voivodship-owned local train operating company. KMŁ has a fleet of 10 two and three-car EMUs from Pesa’s Acatus Plus family, developed as ...
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NewsKlaus Deller
Klaus Deller is returning to Knorr-Bremse AG to replace Dr Michael Buscher as Chairman of the executive board on January 1. Deller first joined the board in 2009 as head of the Commercial Vehicle Systems business unit, before stepping down earlier this year.
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NewsMaisa Romanainen
Finnish national operator VR Group has named Maisa Romanainen as Senior Vice-President, Passenger Services.
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NewsJesús Silva Fernández
The Spanish Development Ministry appointed Jesús Silva Fernández as President of state-owned engineering consultancy Ineco at a ceremony in Madrid on November 17. He was previously Spanish ambassador to Panama.
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NewsParis opens tram Route T8
FRANCE: Paris tram Route T8 entered service on December 16, following four weeks of trial running without passengers. The 8·5 km route runs north from Saint-Denis Porte de Paris to Delaunay-Belleville, where it splits into two branches, terminating at Villetaneuse-Université and Epinay-Orgemont. There are 17 stops, and interchange is ...
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NewsMetrolink tram wi-fi rollout confirmed
UK: Following positive passenger feedback from trials on a single Metrolink tram, on December 16 Transport for Greater Manchester confirmed a £1·7m deal for the roll-out of free wi-fi on all 94 trams, 20 city centre shuttle buses and all new trams entering service within the next two years. The ...
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NewsCSR announces Belgrano order
ARGENTINA: Chinese rolling stock supplier CSR announced on December 15 that it had been awarded an order worth 1∙7bn yuan to supply 80 diesel locomotives and over 2 000 wagons. As well as new traction and rolling stock for the 1 000 mm gauge Belgrano network, CSR says it ...
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NewsHannover opens light rail extension
GERMANY: Hannover opened an extension of light rail Route 7 from Schierholzstraße to Misburg on December 14. The opening was marked with a day of free travel between Kröpcke in the city centre and the new terminus. The 1·5 km extension adds three stops to the network. The journey ...
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NewsSeoul metro operators to merge
SOUTH KOREA: The Seoul metropolitan government announced on December 10 that it plans to merge the two city-owned metro operators by 2016. The original operator, Seoul Metropolitan Subway Corp, operates metro lines 1, 2, 3 and 4. In 1994 Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corp was established with the aim ...
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NewsNaberezhnye Chelny opens tram link
RUSSIA: The city of Naberezhnye Chelny in Tatarstan inaugurated a 6·1 km extension of its 1 524 mm gauge tram network on December 12. The new section runs along Naberezhnochelninskiy Prospekt, Prospekt Mira and Prospekt Syuyumbike with 11 stops. It provides a new link between Pedinstitut in the southwest ...
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NewsPATH airport extension study funded
USA: New York-New Jersey Port Authority has awarded a $6·4m contract to HNTB to study the proposed PATH metro extension to Newark Liberty International Airport. The three-year contract aims to determine a more precise cost estimate for the project, currently put at $1·5bn. A Port Authority study first recommended ...
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NewsBasel opens cross-border tram route
SWITZERLAND: A cross-border extension of Route 8 of the Basel tram network into Germany was officially inaugurated on December 12. Passenger services started on December 14 with a day of celebrations and free travel, including on heritage trams. The 2·5 km extension of BVB’s Route 8 runs north from ...
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NewsFrankfurt inaugurates tram link
GERMANY: A 1·1 km tram link along Stresemannallee in Frankfurt am Main opened on December 13 with celebrations and a weekend of free trips on heritage trams. The connection from Gartenstraße to Mörfelder Landstraße enables services on Route 17 to run from Hauptbahnhof to the suburb of Neu-Isenberg at ...
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NewsBerlin Hauptbahnhof tram extension opens
GERMANY: The first tram route serving Berlin Hauptbahnhof opened on December 14. The 1·8 km of new alignment has six stops, including an interim stop at Hauptbahnhof which is to be replaced by a larger facility in mid-2015. Beyond the Hauptbahnhof there is a one-way loop with stops at Lesser-Ury-Weg, ...
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NewsPolish Pendolino launches 200 km/h operation
POLAND: PKP Intercity launched its Express Intercity Premium services on four routes radiating from Warszawa with the timetable change on December 14. The trains are operated with a fleet of 20 non-tilting Pendolino trainsets certified to operate at up to 250 km/h. The seven-car Class ED250 trainsets have been supplied ...
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NewsEastcomtrans and EBRD sign wagon financing deal
KAZAKHSTAN: The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development has signed an agreement to provide Eastcomtrans with a financing package worth US$30m. This will be used to purchase up to 500 open or other wagons for general freight, and for balance sheet restructuring. Eastcomtrans is one of the largest private freight ...
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NewsTransmash tests twin-engined shunter
RUSSIA: Transmashholding’s Bryansk Engineering Plant has completed 300 h of test running with its prototype TEM33 twin-engined shunting locomotive. This is based on the manufacturer’s TEM18DM design, but has two 571 kW Caterpillar C18 engines with MSV Elektronika control systems. The engines can operate individually or together, to reduce fuel ...