Main line rail industry news – Page 296
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NewsSMART to acquire freight operations
USA: The board of California’s North Bay area commuter rail operator Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit has approved plans to acquire 33 km of railway between Healdsburg and the Mendocino-Sonoma County line from the North Coast Rail Authority, which the state is to dissolve, and the purchase of ...
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NewsFerrogrão railway concession to be tendered in 2021
BRAZIL: A concessionaire to build and operate the Ferrogrão railway will be sought during the first quarter of 2021, Brazil’s Ministry of Infrastructure has confirmed. Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas, who holds the ministry’s transport portfolio, suggested in April that bids for a concession to build the line ...
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NewsRail and road service to avoid border delays in Southeast Asia
ASIA: CEVA Logistics has launched a ‘truck-rail-truck’ service to keep freight moving between China and Southeast Asia, where the Covid-19 crisis has led to fewer flights, capacity limits, operational restrictions and waits of up to four days for road traffic crossing the border between China and Vietnam. ...
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NewsFreight innovation funding applications invited
GERMANY: The Federal Ministry for Transport & Digital Infrastructure has invited applications for funding of projects designed to improve the economics and efficiency of rail freight. Proposals should relate to digitalisation, automation and vehicle technology, and applications should be made via the Federal Railway Office in Bonn. ...
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NewsBamboo sleepers aimed at Middle Eastern railways
ASIA: A start-up branded TieBam is targeting Asian rail enhancement projects with a novel sleeper design produced from bamboo. Following more than five years of research and development activity, US-registered TieBam plans to open a manufacturing facility in Taiwan through a wholly-owned subsidiary later this year. According ...
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NewsAutomatic operation of regional passenger trains to be tested
GERMANY: The automatic operation of regional trains in passenger service is to be tested in a ‘regulatory sandbox’ in Niedersachsen, the project partners announced on May 27. Due to launch in 2021, the project brings together Alstom, aerospace research centre DLR, the Technical University of Berlin, train ...
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NewsCoronavirus app as part of Turkey’s transport restart
TURKEY: To support the restart of inter-city public transport, a mobile phone app is being used to track passengers in case anyone should subsequently test positive for the coronavirus. Intending passengers must install the app and input their date of birth, national identity number, ticket number, telephone ...
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NewsShort Line safety culture resources published
USA: The Short Line Safety Institute has released Strong Safety Culture Best Practices, a resource which draws on more than five years of safety culture assessments and the 10 core elements of a strong safety culture as defined by the Department of Transportation’s Safety Council. Best practices ...
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NewsSydney capacity enhancement contracts awarded
AUSTRALIA: The New South Wales government has awarded two infrastructure enhancement contracts totalling around A$600m for works on the southern section of the Sydney Trains suburban network as part of its A$4·3bn ‘More Trains, More Services’ investment programme.
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NewsAI tools help Infrabel to maintain social distancing
BELGIUM: Infrastructure manager Infrabel is to deploy a raft of artificial intelligence tools to support its efforts in maintaining social distancing across its business as the country’s coronavirus lockdown is gradually eased. The company says that its ongoing research into the use of AI means it ...
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NewsSmartron locomotives ordered for passenger services
BULGARIA: National operator BDZ has signed a contract for Siemens Mobility to supply 10 Smartron electric locomotives between February and May 2021 for use on passenger services. Siemens’ local subsidiary Siemens Tron was sole bidder for the contract, although Bombardier Transportation, Stadler Rail and the Excelor-EL consortium ...
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NewsUzbekistan Railways orders electric locomotives
UZBEKISTAN: National railway UTY has awarded Transmashholding’s Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Plant a contract to supply five of the latest version of its 3ES5K Yermak 25 kV 50 Hz electric freight locomotives. Deliveries are scheduled to be completed this year. The NEVZ factory has produced more than 1 ...
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NewsRobel establishes subsidiary to serve the Chinese rail maintenance market
CHINA: Robel Group has established Robel Railway Engineering Technology (Shanghai) Co Ltd to serve the Chinese market. ‘For many years, China has seen a huge expansion of its railway infrastructure’, said Robel Managing Director Wolfgang R Fally. ‘This infrastructure will have to be maintained. We regard it ...
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NewsSouth Coast Rail commuter project infrastructure contract awarded
USA: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Fiscal & Management Control Board has approved the first major construction contract for Phase 1 of the South Coast Rail project to provide commuter services into Boston from the southeast. The long-planned $1·047bn project would extend Boston’s Middleborough ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Estonia’s Operail has taken delivery of 75 open-topped bulk containers as part of a plan to double multimodal freight volumes to more than 200 000 tonnes this year. ‘Multimodal transport increased from 20 000 tonnes to 32 000 tonnes in the first four months’, said Urmas Peterson, ...
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NewsRZD Logistics tests northern route for transit of sanctioned goods
INTERNATIONAL: RZD Logistics has operated a trial service carrying EU goods subject to Russian sanctions in transit from Germany and Estonia to China via the northern route through the Zabaikalsk border crossing. This follows a trial during March on the southern route via Kazakhstan, which carried frozen ...
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NewsTeleste to equip Luxembourg Coradias with passenger information systems
LUXEMBOURG: Teleste is to supply onboard public address, passenger information and CCTV equipment for 34 high-capacity double-deck electric multiple-units which national railway CFL has ordered from Alstom. Teleste said its technology would support the easy delivery and management of real-time travel data on moving trains, with ‘seamlessly ...
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NewsMedical PPE supplies from China to Italy by train
INTERNATIONAL: DB Schenker is organising the delivery of a total of 186 containers with more than 1 300 tonnes of medical protective equipment from China to hospitals in the Lombardia region of Italy. The products are collected from the factories and taken by road to the container ...
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NewsWellington regional train study funded
NEW ZEALAND: Greater Wellington and Horizons regional councils have been awarded funding from the NZ Transport Agency to develop the final business case for a fleet of hybrid multiple-units to replace ageing loco-hauled stock used on two regional commuter routes. Citing the regions’ growing population, the councils ...
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NewsStadler CEO steps down over strategic differences
STADLER: Stadler Group CEO Dr Thomas Ahlburg has left by mutual agreement with the board, owing to ‘different views’ regarding strategic and organisational development, the company announced on May 21. Executive Chairman Peter Spuhler has returned to his previous role of Group CEO on an interim basis ...