Main line rail industry news – Page 311
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NewsSBB announces ICN tilting train modernisation plan
Source: SBB SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has announced plans to undertake the SFr400m mid-life refurbishment of its 44 ICN tilting inter-city trainsets in 2021-29. The work to ensure a further 20 years of operation of the RABDe 500 fleet will incorporate elements from the IC2000 modernisation programme. ...
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NewsZambia Railways to benefit from telecoms firm’s digitalisation expertise
ZAMBIA: National telecoms company Zamtel has signed a memorandum of understanding to provide Zambia Railways Ltd with voice and data communications as well as digitalisation technology. As part of the agreement, Zambia Railways’ telecoms network on the corridor from Chililabombwe to Livingstone will be integrated with the ...
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NewsKeolis moves UK headquarters from London to Cardiff
UK: Keolis Group CEO Patrick Jeantet, UK CEO Alistair Gordon and the Welsh Government’s Minister for International Relations Eluned Morgan officially opened the international transport group’s UK headquarters at Callaghan Square in Cardiff on February 21. All UK headquarters functions are being transferred ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Transmashholding’s Bryansk works has delivered two 2TE25KM main line diesel locomotives which Uzbek uranium producer Navoi Mining & Metallurgy Co ordered late last year. Three similar locos were delivered to Mongolia’s Ulaanbaatar Railway in January and February. Genesee & Wyoming Australia has ...
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NewsEffiShunter 300 locomotives to be delivered to Serbia
SERBIA: Following an international tender, national passenger operator Srbija Voz has selected CZ Loko to supply two locomotives for shunting at stations and depots. The EffiShunter 300 locomotives, to be delivered in the first quarter of 2021, will be similar to a pair which infrastructure manager Infrastruktura ...
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NewsGIRO software to plan TER operations
FRANCE: SNCF Voyageurs has awarded GIRO a contract to supply its HASTUS software for managing the resources needed to operate its 8 200 TER regional passenger services per day, including 2 250 trainsets and 27 000 crew. ‘This project is fundamental to the business’, said SNCF’s TER ...
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NewsTrial passenger service to assess reopening prospects
Source: NEG GERMANY: Regional operator Norddeutsche Eisenbahngesellschaft Niebüll launched a six-day trial passenger service on the Tornesch – Uetersen freight line north of Hamburg on February 20. Source: NEG This is intended to help assess potential demand for a long-discussed revival of passenger ...
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NewsStadler Wink regional DMU revealed
NETHERLANDS: The first Stadler Wink multiple-unit has been revealed. Following testing it is expected to arrive in the Netherlands this spring, with entry into service on Arriva’s regional routes in Groningen and Friesland planned by the end of the year. Arriva is the launch customer for Stadler’s ...
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NewsFinland negotiates next contract for loss-making passenger services
FINLAND: The Ministry of Transport & Communications and national operator VR have begun negotiations for the next contract to provide socially-desirable passenger services under a public service obligation contract. While most VR services are operated on a market basis, the ministry spends €30m/year purchasing the operation of ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
Cargotec Corp subsidiary Navis has entered into an agreement to acquire Melbourne-based freight railway planning and scheduling optimisation software company Biarri Rail by the end of February. ‘Rail freight companies are investing in new digital initiatives in planning in order to increase efficiency and the return on ...
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NewsBrittany Ferries to launch Cherbourg – Spain rail motorway service
FRANCE: Brittany Ferries has announced plans to launch its first rail motorway service in 2021, a 980 km landbridge carrying unaccompanied lorry trailers between the Channel port of Cherbourg and Mouguerre close to the Spanish border near Bayonne. The rail service is intended to complement its ...
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NewsEffects of operating freight trains on high speed lines to be studied
SPAIN: ADIF has commissioned Sener Ingeniería y Sistemas to study the effects of passenger and freight trains passing on mixed-traffic sections of the 1 435 mm gauge high speed network. The 16-month project will include field tests to observe and analyse the aerodynamic forces exerted when 120 ...
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NewsAmtrak’s first Avelia Liberty heads to Pueblo for testing
USA: The first of Amtrak’s next generation of trainsets for Acela Express services on the Northeast Corridor has left Alstom’s Hornell plant in New York state for nine months of dynamic testing at the Transportation Technology Center near Pueblo, Colorado. Following testing, it ...
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NewsCroatian connecting line feasibility study
CROATIA: HŽ Infrastruktura has commissioned a feasibility study for the proposed 19 km Lepoglava connecting line which would run from Lepoglava on the Varaždin – Golubovec branch to Krapina or Sveti Križ Začretje on the Zabok – Đurmanec line. This would provide a more direct route between ...
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NewsNormandie’s inter-city EMUs enter service
FRANCE: The first of 40 Bombardier-built Omneo Premium electric multiple-units procured by SNCF on behalf of the Normandie region entered revenue service on the Paris – Caen – Cherbourg route on February 17.
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NewsDelhi – Meerut Regional Rapid Transit railway works in full swing
INDIA: The government of Uttar Pradesh has allocated Rs9bn for construction of the Delhi – Ghaziabad – Meerut regional express route in the state budget presented on February 18. This follows an allocation of Rs24·9bn in the national budget.
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NewsSmartRail Europe attracts global rail professionals
EVENTS: A cross-section of Europe’s most senior rail professionals will come together in Roma in May at SmartRail Europe, a bespoke conference organised by Railway Gazette Events and supported by Italian national infrastructure manager RFI and the European Union research body Shift2Rail. SmartRail Europe features a comprehensive ...
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NewsGateway Basel Nord secures next phase funding but faces another legal setback
SWITZERLAND: The Grand Council of Basel-Stadt voted on February 12 to approve funding for a loan worth SFr115∙53m to enable construction of a new basin forming part of the Gateway Basel Nord trimodal terminal to go ahead. Known as Dock 3, the 330 m long basin would ...
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NewsKintetsu prepares to launch luxury Hinotori EMUs
JAPAN: Kinki Nippon Railway has started driver training with the first of 11 Series 80000 EMUs that it has ordered from sister company Kinki Sharyo to operate limited express services between Nagoya and Osaka-Namba.
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NewsAlstom agrees to buy Bombardier Transportation
INTERNATIONAL: The signing of a memorandum of understanding for Alstom to acquire 100% of Bombardier Transportation from Bombardier Inc and Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec was announced by the companies on February 17. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2021, ...