Main line rail industry news – Page 336
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NewsRovana Plumb nominated as European Commissioner for Transport
EUROPE: Rovana Plumb was nominated as European Commissioner for Transport by Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen on September 10. Plumb is a Social Democratic Party (PSD) member of the Romanian and European parliaments. She has almost two decades of experience in politics, serving as Romania’s Minister ...
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NewsUkrainian railway reform legislation introduced
UKRAINE: Bills for the reform of the railway and inland waterway sectors were introduced to parliament on September 6. The proposed changes follow on from Ukraine’s 2017 Association Agreement with the European Union. ‘These bills present a European model for the rail and inland waterway market’, said ...
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NewsNiederbarnimer Eisenbahn leases additional DMUs
GERMANY: Regional passenger operator Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn has leased four more three-car Bombardier Talent diesel multiple-units from Alpha Trains to handle growing ridership on its Ostbrandenburg and Heidekrautbahn services. The DMUs are scheduled to enter service with NEB from 2020, after a general inspection and component overhaul which ...
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NewsPlasser appoints COO and CTO
PLASSER & THEURER: As part of an ongoing organisational restructuring which has already seen the appointment of new Finance and Sales executives, Plasser & Theurer Export von Bahnbaumaschinen, GmbH has appointed two executives to lead the design and production of its track maintenance machines. Daniel Siedl At ...
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NewsFirst Léman Express EMU enters service
FRANCE: The first of 17 three-system Régiolis EMUs being supplied by Alstom to operate SNCF’s share of the Léman Express RER network in Genève entered service on September 4, operating regional trains between Annemasse and Evian-les-Bains.
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NewsUS$5bn ‘Chile On Rails’ strategy unveiled
Chile on Rails CHILE: President Sebastian Piñera has announced an ambitious US$5bn ‘Chile On Rails’ strategy which includes 25 investment projects covering 1 000 km of railway. The aim is to triple ridership to 150 million passengers/year by 2027, double freight to more than 21 ...
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NewsAfghanistan – China rail freight service sets off
Afghanistan AFGHANISTAN: An inaugural service carrying freight for export to China by rail left Hairatan in northern Afghanistan on September 5, carrying 1 100 tonnes of talc in 41 containers. The train crossed the Soviet-built road-rail Friendship Bridge over the Amu Darya into Uzbekistan. The containers ...
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NewsAutomated freight loco poised to start trials
FRANCE: A four-axle Prima freight locomotive has been delivered to Alstom’s Belfort manufacturing site to be modified for testing as part of SNCF’s Train Autonome research programme.
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NewsNorthland line renovation funded
NEW ZEALAND: The government has approved the first NZ$94·8m tranche of an expected NZ$300m from the Provincial Growth Fund to fund renovation and upgrading works on KiwiRail’s 181 km North Auckland Line between Swanson and Whangarei. Speaking in Helensville on September 5, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane ...
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NewsBanedanmark awards lidar scanning contract
DENMARK: Infrastructure manager Banedanmark has awarded Fugro a four-year framework agreement for lidar scanning of its 3 100 track-km network. Fugro said its ‘unique’ RILA train-borne survey technology would be used to simultaneously acquire lidar data and imagery of the track and surrounding environment to create an ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
freight Rail Cargo Logistics has taken delivery of 11 Greenbrier Europe Zagns 53 m3 capacity chlorine wagons which it is leasing from Ermewa. COSCO Shipping has chosen CN as its exclusive rail provider from the Ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, Montréal, and Halifax to all ...
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NewsProduction of high-capacity container wagons begins
RUSSIA: RM Rail has begun mass production of Type 13-1284 high-capacity container flat wagons, following work to modernise its Ruzkhimmash factory in Saransk. The wagons have a 23·5 tonne axleload and capacity of 69·8 tonnes, with the automatically welded structure offering a design life of 32 years. ...
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NewsIcomera wins GO Transit wi-fi contract
CANADA: Transport authority Metrolinx has selected Icomera to roll-out wi-fi and an entertainment system across the GO Transit fleet of 943 rail vehicles and 532 buses in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton areas. Installation is scheduled to begin later this year, with the first wi-fi expected to ...
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NewsRTRI tests fuel cell multiple unit
JAPAN: Railway Technical Research Institute has started test running with a prototype multiple-unit which can work as a conventional or battery EMU or using a fuel cell powerpack. Converted from an older 1·5 kV DC EMU, the test train comprises a 34 tonne motor car and 29 ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
Vossloh Group and Anyang Railway Equipment Co have formed a 51:49 joint venture to produce rail fastening components in China. The VR Maintenance subsidiary of Finland’s national operator has been rebranded as VR FleetCare, as part of a strategy to develop it ...
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NewsGaspésie railway rehabilitation funding
CANADA: The Canadian government’s Disaster Mitigation & Adaptation Fund is to provide C$45·8m for the rehabilitation of a section of the provincially-owned railway to Gaspésie in Quebéc. The section has been out of use since 2015 because of the poor condition of the infrastructure and ...
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NewsETCS over Tetra certified
KAZAKHSTAN: National railway KTZ has certified the use of Bombardier Transportation ETCS over a Teltronic Tetra voice and data communications network on the 300 km route from Zhetigen to Altynkol on the Chinese border. Teltronic said this provided ‘irrefutable proof’ of the viability of ETCS over Tetra, ...
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NewsSwiss Combi buys stake in SBB Cargo
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Combi AG, a joint venture formed of four road transport and logistics companies in the private sector, has bought a 35% stake in SBB Cargo AG for an undisclosed sum.
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NewsVictoria expands VLocity fleet
AUSTRALIA: The Victoria state government has ordered a further batch of VLocity diesel multiple-units from Bombardier Transportation, in order to meet growing demand on regional routes radiating from Melbourne. Due to enter service in 2021, the six three-car units will follow on from the nine sets ordered ...
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NewsSBB Cargo plans in the cloud
SWITZERLAND: SBB Cargo has begun using a cloud-hosted version of IVU Traffic Technologies’ IVU.rail software to plan the deployment of around 320 locomotives and 2 200 employees each day. The supplier said its IVU.cloud package offered the operator scalability, with a secure connection enabling up to 150 people work ...