Main line rail industry news – Page 254
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NewsAAR proposes transport decarbonisation initiatives
USA: The Association of American Railroads has outlined a series of policy proposals aimed at leveraging the improved environmental performance of rail freight to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector, ‘safely and effectively combatting climate change’.
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NewsHitachi Rail to support ETR500 fleet
ITALY: National operator Trenitalia has selected Hitachi Rail to provide integrated logistics support for the maintenance of its Frecciarossa fleet of ETR500 high speed trains.
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NewsHydrogen-electric hybrid trains ordered
FRANCE: The first commercial passenger trains in France to be powered by hydrogen fuel cells are expected to enter service in 2024 on routes from Auxerre to Avallon and Corbigny in the Yonne département of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. This follows signing on March 5 of a ...
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NewsFuel cells ordered for Canadian Pacific hydrogen locomotive
CANADA: Ballard Power Systems is to supply the fuel cells for Canadian Pacific’s hydrogen locomotive programme, which aims to develop North America’s first hydrogen-powered main line freight locomotive by retrofitting fuel cells and a battery storage system to an existing diesel loco.
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NewsDelivering coaches from Hungary to Egypt
EGYPT: DHL Global’s complex logistics subsidiary DHL Industrial Projects is managing the delivery of 676 coaches which are being built in Hungary for use by Egyptian National Railways. The 24·5 m long and 4·5 m high coaches weighing 43·5 tonnes are being ...
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NewsRENFE to take stake in Leo Express in support of internationalisation strategy
EUROPE: Spanish national operator RENFE has announced its intention to acquire a 50% stake in central European open access operator Leo Express. RENFE said it sees a strategic opportunity to develop international business activities as Spain’s domestic market opens to competition. The proposed acquisition announced on ...
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NewsAlstom and Stadler to renew RENFE commuter train fleets
SPAIN: National operator RENFE has confirmed Alstom and Stadler as the winners of two contracts to supply and maintain 1 668 mm gauge high capacity electric multiple-units to replace existing stock on the Madrid and Barcelona commuter networks. The new trains will have a 20% greater ...
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NewsAlstom acquires Dutch maintenance services company Shunter
NETHERLANDS: Alstom has signed an agreement to acquire Rotterdam-based rolling stock maintenance company Shunter. Founded in 2003, Shunter offers locomotive and rolling stock and on-board signalling equipment maintenance, repair and modification services. It now has around 110 employees at three maintenance workshops and three servicing sites, ...
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NewsHydrogen rejected as alternative to commuter railway electrification
CANADA: The use of hydrogen traction is not being included in the reference concept design for the enhancement of Toronto’s commuter rail network, after transport agency Metrolinx concluded that the technology would not achieve the desired objectives. Metrolinx is planning to spend C$75bn on metro, light ...
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NewsRiga airport rail link construction contract signed
LATVIA: Construction of a rail link from Imanta to Riga’s international airport as part of the Rail Baltica project is set to begin in May for completion in December 2025. This follows the signing this month of a €237m construction contract with the BSL Infra consortium ...
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NewsSwissrail to discuss Ceneri Base Tunnel project in next InnoTrans podcast
Source: AlpTransit Gotthard INNOTRANS: Michaela Stöckli, director of Swiss railway industry association Swissrail, will be the guest on the next edition of the InnoTrans Mobility podcast. She will be discussing the 15 km Ceneri Base Tunnel, which opened last year as part of the NEAT trans-Alpine ...
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NewsDB to launch Lufthansa SuperSprinters
GERMANY: Non-stop inter-city trains linking Köln with München and Berlin in less than 4 h are to be introduced from the December 2021 timetable change, as part of an expansion of air-rail links announced by DB Fernverkehr and Lufthansa on March 8.
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News‘Relieve, refresh, reload’ concept for station toilets
SPAIN: One Hundred Restrooms has won a tender to lease and operate public toilets at ADIF Alta Velocidad’s most important stations, and says its ‘relieve, refresh, reload’ concept for high quality facilities will ’turn a toilet visit from a necessary evil into a reviving micro break’. ...
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NewsVilnius Connect to create an ‘iconic and globally recognisable’ station for the future
LITHUANIA: The city of Vilnius and national railway LTG have launched an international architectural competition seeking ‘radical’ proposals to create an ‘iconic and globally recognisable’ multi-modal transport terminal and public realm for the capital. ‘Our goal is that any person who arrives in Vilnius by train ...
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NewsUnited Wagon Co wins Estonian export order
ESTONIA: Skinest Rail has awarded Russia’s United Wagon Co a contract to supply 23 LPG tank cars for use in the Baltic States from June. The Type 15-6855 wagons will have 25 tonne axleload Type 18-9855 bogies, a capacity of 86·7 m³, maintenance intervals of 1 ...
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NewsLithuanian passenger operator to digitalise its paperwork
LITHUANIA: Passenger operator LTG Link has awarded IVU Traffic Technologies a €2·6m renewable five-year contract to supply and support an integrated resource planning and real-time management system under what CEO Linas Baužys said is one of the operator’s most important digitalisation initiatives. ‘We will use it ...
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NewsRailcoop reaches initial funding target
FRANCE: Not-for-profit co-operative Railcoop confirmed on March 4 that it had achieved its target of raising initial capital of €1∙5m to fund the establishment of an open access freight and passenger operator.
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NewsJapan addresses level crossing safety
JAPAN: The Japan Transport Safety Board has published a series of recommendations to reduce the risk of level crossing accidents, with particular focus on the remaining crossings without barriers.