Main line rail industry news – Page 333
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NewsFritzson re-elected as CER looks ahead
CER Chairman Crister Fritzson and Executive Director Libor Lochman EUROPE: SJ AB President & CEO Crister Fritzson has been re-elected as Chairman of the Community of European Railway & Infrastructure Companies, following the CER General Assembly in Gdańsk on September 23. Fritzson, who also chairs the Swedish ...
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NewsCircumvesuviana EMUs ordered
ITALY: Napoli regional transport operator EAV has selected Hitachi Rail to supply and maintain 40 1·5 kV DC electric multiple-units for the 950 mm gauge Circumvesuviana railway. President of the Campania region Vincenzo De Luca said the €314m order announced on September 24 would provide a significant ...
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NewsPartnership to develop North American rail portfolio
NORTH AMERICA: Middle-market investor Connor, Clark & Lunn Infrastructure has announced a partnership with Alpenglow Rail’s short line management team with the aim of developing a portfolio of rail businesses across North America. As part of this, CC&L has acquired VIP Rail from private equity firm and ...
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NewsSurface Transportation Board proposes rule changes
USA: The Surface Transportation Board has begun consultation on proposed rule changes intended to reduce the cost and complexity of its rate review procedures, particularly in small cases, and to provide a streamlined market dominance process. The proposals build on recommendations made by STB’s rate reform task ...
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NewsAlstom to supply ETCS for Paris – Lyon high speed line
FRANCE: SNCF Réseau has awarded a framework contract to Alstom for the development, installation and maintenance of ERTMS equipment on LGV Sud-Est between Paris and Lyon. Valued at €52·5m, the contract announced on September 25 was awarded following a negotiated procedure and a prior call for competition. ...
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NewsHigh speed trains’ electrical equipment to be replaced
TAIWAN: Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions Corp has been awarded a contract to supply replacement electrical equipment for Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp’s fleet of 30 Series 700T trainsets. TISS will manufacture the equipment at its Fuchu site in Japan for delivery from the first half of ...
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NewsAmber Rail Freight Corridor up and running
EUROPE: An event was held in the Slovenian port of Koper on September 18 to mark the launch this year of the Amber Rail Freight Corridor, the first RFC to be established since the original nine defined in 2010. The corridor is a ...
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NewsMBTA orders double-deck coaches
USA: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has awarded Hyundai Rotem a $278·5m sole-source contract to supply 80 double-deck coaches. These will replace single deck vehicles to increase capacity on the Boston commuter rail network by more than 14 000 seats/day. A $41m contract for engineering and programme management ...
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NewsAlstom to equip international ICE3 fleet with ETCS
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn has awarded Alstom a €30m contract to retrofit its Atlas ETCS onboard equipment to 17 Class 407 Velaro D ICE3 high speed trainsets used on international services. Approval will be progressively obtained for the ETCS Baseline 3 Release 2 equipment to be used in ...
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NewsKiwiRail selects polymer sleeper supplier
NEW ZEALAND: KiwiRail has selected Lankhorst Engineered Products as the winner of a contract to supply polymer sleepers over at least three years. The Dutch company said this was a significant breakthrough for its KLP hybrid polymer sleeper design, which it launched internationally in 2014 after it ...
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NewsKatowice airport rail link and GSM-R funded
POLAND: The allocation of €676m from the Cohesion Fund for rail and road projects in Poland was announced by the European Commission on September 13. The package includes €487m for the replacement of outdated communications with GSM-R on almost 14 000 km of railway by July 2023, ...
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NewsProRail awards rail milling contract
NETHERLANDS: Infrastructure manager ProRail has awarded Vossloh Rail Services a four-year framework contract for corrective rail maintenance, selecting for the first time milling rather than grinding to remove any rail defects. All corrective maintenance on the 7 000 track-km network will be undertaken by VRS subsidiary Alpha ...
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NewsFirst ETR1000 trainsets arrive in France for testing
Photo: Christophe Masse FRANCE: The first of two Trenitalia ETR1000 Frecciarossa trainsets arrived in France on September 19 for type approval tests in Bretagne. Trenitalia plans to launch a Paris – Milano high speed service in summer 2020 using a fleet of five ETR1000 trainsets modified for ...
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NewsSignalling upgraded to support diverted traffic
GERMANY: An electronic interlocking at Kreiensen in Niedersachsen has been upgraded by Bombardier Transportation to support an increase in traffic through the junction. First installed in 2011 by DB Netz and Bombardier, the EBI Lock 950 computer-based interlocking has seen its software modified to give greater reliability ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Swiss Federal Railways, SBB Cargo, commercial vehicle association ASTAG, public transport association VöV and shippers’ association VAP signed a joint position paper on September 20 setting out a vision for more a sustainable trans-Alpine transit freight industry. Operations on a 90 km freight line between Haicheng ...
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NewsBayerische Oberlandbahn increases DMU order
GERMANY: Bayerische Oberlandbahn has placed a €25m order for six Alstom Coradia Lint diesel multiple-units. The firm order announced on September 16 has been placed using an option on a 2018 contract for 25 DMUs. All 31 are scheduled to be delivered by 2020, and will be ...
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NewsVTG orders timber wagons
RUSSIA: Leasing company VTG Rail Russia has awarded United Wagon Co a contract to supply 150 flat wagons for carrying timber products. Deliveries are scheduled to be completed by the end of this year. The Type 13-6852-02 wagons produced at UWC’s Tikhvin plant have a 25 tonne ...
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NewsDB to order more high speed trains as government cuts VAT on fares
Photo: DB AG/Georg Wagner GERMANY: Rail spending is to be increased significantly as part of a €54bn package of measures to mitigate the effects of climate change, which was announced by Chancellor Angela Merkel on September 20. In order to reduce the environmental impact of transport and ...
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NewsWabtec to close MotivePower plant
USA: Wabtec is to end locomotive production at the MotivePower plant in Boise, Idaho, by early 2020, with manufacturing to be consolidated at the former GE Transportation site in Erie, Pennsylvania. ‘Decisions like this are never easy but will help simplify and optimise the company’s manufacturing footprint ...