Main line rail industry news – Page 227
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NewsCargounit signs 30-loco framework agreement
POLAND: Leasing company Cargounit and Siemens Mobility signed a framework contract for the supply and maintenance of up to 30 Vectron MS locomotives at the Trako trade fair on September 22. There is a firm order for 10 to be delivered between this year and the ...
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NewsHydrogen trains planned for Apennine route
ITALY: The replacement of diesel trains with hydrogen on a line in central Italy is being studied by AECOM, Spanish renewables group Iberdrola, green hydrogen firm Cinque International and sustainable development specialist Ancitel Energia & Ambiente.
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NewsTest train carries first passengers over Pajares cut-off
SPAIN: Under construction since 2004, the 50 km Pajares high speed cut-off through the Cordillera Cantábrica mountain range in the north of the country moved a step closer to opening on September 20 when ADIF Alta Velocidad ran the first passenger-carrying test train between La Robla and Campomanes.
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NewsShorter high speed trains to fit Sicilian train ferries
ITALY: Trenitalia is assessing the possibility of ordering a shorter variant of its Frecciarossa ETR1000 high speed train which could use the train ferries between the mainland and the island of Sicily. The Ministry of Infrastructure & Transport envisages ordering a fleet of 12 four-car mini ...
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NewsIstanbul’s historic European terminus to be reopened
TURKEY: The Ministry for Transport is to call tenders for the reopening of the 8 km section of railway into Istanbul’s historic European terminus at Sirkeci. The double-track main line was cut back in 2013 to allow construction of the cross-Bosporus Marmaray commuter link, which diverges ...
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NewsDAC programme selects Scharfenberg digital coupler
EUROPE: Following extensive testing with various prototypes, a Scharfenberg latch design has been selected as the basis for the future European Digital Automatic Coupler. Meeting on September 21, the supervisory board of the European DAC Delivery Programme adopted a recommendation from the ...
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NewsMacron puts high speed projects back on track in ‘decade of the TGV’
FRANCE: In a speech at Paris Gare de Lyon during an event held on September 17 to mark 40 years since the launch of TGV services, President Emmanuel Macron announced the revival of plans to expand the high speed network, describing the 2020s as ‘the decade of the TGV’.
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NewsMore emu EMUs ordered
AUSTRALIA: Transport for NSW has awarded the RailConnect joint venture a contract to supply a further 56 Mariyung double-deck electric multiple-unit cars, increasing the New Intercity Fleet to a total of 610 vehicles. The RailConnect consortium of Hyundai Rotem, Mitsubishi Electric Australia and UGL Rail was ...
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NewsCargoBeamer network extended to the UK
EUROPE: CargoBeamer has formed a partnership with Eurotunnel enabling unaccompanied lorry semi-trailers arriving at its rail-road transfer terminal in Calais to be transported on Shuttle trains through the Channel Tunnel and then onwards to Ashford in southeast England. The companies said this would partially resolve the ...
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NewsConnecting Europe Express puts spotlight on Western Balkan rail vision
EUROPE: Welcoming the EU’s Connecting Europe Express to Beograd Centar on September 13, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić announced that her country’s rail investment programme would be worth up to €6bn and focus on ‘reconnecting’ the Western Balkan countries’ fragmented networks.
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NewsX’trapolis 2·0 suburban trains ordered
AUSTRALIA: Victoria’s Department of Transport has formally awarded Alstom a €300m contract to supply 25 six-car X’trapolis 2·0 electric multiple-units to increase capacity on the Melbourne suburban network. The contract signing on September 20 follows two years of work by Alstom and DoT to design rolling ...
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NewsCargoNet leases electro-diesel locos
NORWAY: National freight operator CargoNet has signed a long-term full-service lease agreement for European Loc Pool to supply it with two Stadler EuroDual six-axle electro-diesel locomotives at the end of October 2022. The locomotives will have an output of 2·8 MW in diesel mode and 6 ...
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NewsRailway unions discuss international merger
INTERNATIONAL: The Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association in the UK and Ireland and the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers in the USA have announced talks with a view to merging by July 1 2022. TSSA has more than 18 000 members at rail, ferry, bus and associated companies ...
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NewsBrno – Blansko upgrading starts
CZECH REPUBLIC: Infrastructure manager SŽ has launched a long-planned modernisation of a section of Corridor 1 from Brno northwards along the River Svitava to Blansko. The work will require a complete closure of the double-track electrified main line for one year from December 12. Local trains ...
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NewsDB begins work to electrify to the Austrian border
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn has begun work to install 15 kV 16·7 Hz electrification on a 1·5 km section of line between Pfronten-Steinach and the Austrian border at Schönbichl. This will allow electric operation of trains to Garmisch-Partenkirchen and München via Austria’s Ausserfernbahn, which is not connected ...
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NewsChildren’s railway under construction in Mongolia
MONGOLIA: National operator Ulaanbaatar Railway has begun developing its first children’s railway, where school pupils will be able to gain experience of railway operations. The 2·1 km circular line is being built in the northern city in Darkhan under a project being ...
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NewsCockerill to build locos in Brazil
BRAZIL: Belgian locomotive manufacturer John Cockerill is to set up an assembly plant in the Novo Cavaleiros district in the city of Macaé in Rio de Janeiro state.
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NewsKCS cements CP merger as CN agrees early termination
NORTH AMERICA: Canadian Pacific Railway and Kansas City Southern confirmed on September 15 that they had entered into a definitive merger agreement, valuing the smaller railroad at approximately US$31bn.