Main line rail industry news – Page 729
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NewsNew fleet boosts Sarmiento capacity
ARGENTINA: On July 21 the first seven nine-car EMUs supplied by CSR of China entered service between Once and Moreno on the Sarmiento commuter route in Buenos Aires. Introduction of the new trainsets has enabled capacity to be increased from 241 536 to 399 233 passengers/day, with the number of ...
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NewsHitachi unveils modular EMU designs
UK: Hitachi Rail Europe unveiled full-size mock-ups of its AT100 and AT200 EMU designs in London on July 21. Aimed primarily at the UK market, the two designs are intended to augment the existing AT300 (Class 395/Class 800) design to create a family of trains. These can be configured using ...
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NewsLuxembourg tram funding approved
LUXEMBOURG: Luxembourg city council has approved funding for a tram line and the creation of operating company LuxTram. The cost of the project is expected to be €345·78m, of which two-thirds will come from the central government and one-third from the city council. This is to cover studies, infrastructure ...
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NewsDutch smart ticket roll-out completed
NETHERLANDS: The much-delayed national roll-out of the OV-chipkaart smart card across the rail network was completed on July 9. All passengers are now required to check in and out at station readers using a ticket with either a smart chip or a printed barcode. Testing of the multimodal smart ...
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NewsAir-conditioning compressors
HITACHI APPLIANCES: A wide range of scroll compressors for transport air conditioning systems will be presented by Hitachi Appliances, including the R407C and R134a models. The compressors are in service in more than 24 countries, with applications including high speed rail, commuter, metro, tram and monorail rolling stock. They offer ...
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NewsG:Link trams inaugurated
AUSTRALIA: Revenue services began running on the G:Link light rail line on July 21, making Queensland's Gold Coast the first new entrant to the country's tram club for more than a century. The line had been officially inaugurated the previous day by state Transport Minister Scott Emerson and local MP ...
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NewsJeddah metro design contract awarded
SAUDI ARABIA: The government signed a contract with Systra on July 17 for preliminary engineering designs for the Jeddah metro. The value of the 20-month contract is 276m riyals. Last year the Council of Ministers approved a 45bn riyal transport plan for the city, which includes a three-line light ...
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NewsSchleswig-Holstein signs Netz Mitte contracts
GERMANY: The Land of Schleswig-Holstein signed operating contracts for Netz Mitte passenger services with DB Regio and Nordbahn on July 16. The two contracts run for 13 years from the December 2014 timetable change. DB Regio has been awarded Contract A, covering regional express services carrying 22 000 passengers/day ...
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NewsWorld rail market July 2014
Netherlands: On behalf of all operators, NS has awarded Eneco a contract to supply traction electricity in 2015-25. From 2018 the annual requirement of 1·4TWh/year will be entirely supplied from wind power, 50% generated in the Netherlands. North America: DataTraks is to manage Transportation Technology Center Inc’s Trackside Acoustic ...
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NewsWorld rail infrastructure market July 2014
Australia: Transport for New South Wales has appointed Network Rail Consulting to provide systems integration services for its advanced train control programme. Austria: Wiener Linien has awarded Siemens a €40m contract to modernise signalling on metro Line U4, including installation of automatic train control, replacement of five interlockings and ...
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NewsChinese co-operation agreement signed
BRAZIL: A five-year memorandum of understanding for Brazil and China to co-operate on railway projects was one of 32 bilateral agreements signed in Brasília on July 17 during an official visit by President Xi Jinping of China. ‘Our relations are developing with an unparalleled speed in many areas of co-operation’, ...
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NewsFirst Braunschweig Tramino delivered
GERMANY: The first low-floor Tramino tram for Braunschweig arrived in the early hours of July 18 from the Solaris Bus & Coach factory in Poznań. The second and third vehicles are to arrive in the following two weeks, with the remaining 15 trams due by the end of the year. ...
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NewsMTR selected to operate Crossrail services
UK: Transport for London named MTR Corp (Crossrail) Ltd as preferred bidder for the Crossrail operating concession on July 18. The £1·4bn contract will run for eight years from May 2015, with an option for a further two years. TfL will make payments to the concessionaire with a nominal value ...
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NewsProducts & Technology in Brief
Birley Manufacturing, APA Design and Datum Composites have developed a prototype accessible toilet module designed to meet TSI PRM requirements. It has a seals one-piece floor moulding to prevent the leakage of liquids and so reduce the risk of underfloor corrosion. TÜV Rheinland has certified that Huawei’s GSM-R ...
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NewsStadler forms joint venture in Azerbaijan
AZERBAIJAN: Stadler Rail and local partner International Railway Distribution LLC announced the formation of a 51:49 joint venture on July 17. Stadler said it foresees a demand for its products as CIS countries modernise their rail networks and encourage the transfer of traffic from road to rail. Stadler ...
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News€53m loan for Rail Baltica and transit corridors
LITHUANIA: Nordic Investment Bank has signed an 18-year €53m loan agreement with national railway Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai to finance works for the Rail Baltica project and modernisation of the east–west corridors. The loan announced on July 15 will facilitate the construction of a 115 km standard gauge line parallel to the ...
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NewsQueen opens rebuilt Reading station
UK: The rebuilt station at Reading on Network Rail’s Great Western Main Line was officially inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth II on July 17, marking the completion of a four-year project. The station reconstruction forms a key element in the £897m Reading Station Area Redevelopment programme, which is now expected to ...
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NewsChinese high speed line construction one-third cheaper, study suggests
CHINA: Economies of scale accrued through standardisation of construction processes are among the key factors in China’s ability to build high speed railways more cheaply than other countries, a World Bank study has suggested. The World Bank’s paper, entitled High Speed Railways in China: A Look at Construction Costs, suggests ...
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NewsAlpine locomotive bogie
PROSE: A powered bogie developed by Prose for the Gmf 4/4 metre-gauge diesel-electric class locomotives which Schalker Eisenhütte has supplied to Rhätische Bahn will be on show as part of Prose’s presence on the Swissrail Industry Association stand. The bogie is designed for year-round operation in demanding Alpine conditions. ...
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NewsFirst Roca electrification contracts awarded
ARGENTINA: The Ministry of the Interior & Transport has selected Supercemento SAIC as preferred bidder for the first two contracts to be awarded under the project to upgrade and electrify at 25 kV 50 Hz AC the 52⋅6 km between Plaza Constitución and La Plata on the Roca commuter network ...