Main line rail industry news – Page 348
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NewsDavenne takes over at UIC
INTERNATIONAL: The appointment of François Davenne as Director General of the International Union of Railways was formally confirmed at the UIC General Assembly in Budapest on June 25. Taking over with effect from July 1, he succeeds Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, who has served as UIC Director General since ...
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NewsEtihad Rail awards Abu Dhabi – Dubai construction contracts
UAE: Etihad Rail has awarded the next two civil engineering and track works contracts for the construction of Stage Two of the national railway network. With a total value of 4·4bn dirhams, the 216 km Package B and 94 km Package C routes will form the backbone of the UAE’s ...
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NewsLeshan – Yibin high speed line opens
CHINA: The 141 km Leshan – Jianwei – Pingshan – Yibin section of the future Chengdu – Guiyang Passenger-Dedicated Line opened on June 15. The alignment is designed for 250 km/h operation, and 79% of the route is on bridges or in tunnel. The fastest services operated using CRH3A trainsets ...
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NewsVirgin Trains breaks ground on Orlando extension
USA: Virgin Trains USA held a ‘Red Spike’ groundbreaking ceremony at Orlando International Airport on June 24 to launch construction work on its 275 km Phase 2 extension from West Palm Beach. Contracts were awarded in May for construction of Phase 2, which represents a private-sector investment of $4bn. The ...
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NewsGranada joins the AVE network
SPAIN: The 122 km high speed line between Antequera and Granada was formally inaugurated on June 25 by acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who unveiled a plaque at Antequera Santa Ana station. He was accompanied by Minister of Development José Luis Ábalos, ADIF President Isabel Pardo de Vera and the ...
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NewsFSE takes delivery of Newag EMUs
ITALY: FS Group-owned Puglia regional railway Ferrovie del Sud-Est has unveiled the first of five three-car Newag Impuls II electric multiple-units ahead of entry into service on the modernised Bari – Casamassima – Putignano line from September. The €20·2m contract for five EMUs was signed in December 2015. It included ...
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NewsPerth’s final B-Series EMU delivered as C-Series procurement underway
AUSTRALIA: The EDI Rail Bombardier Transportation joint venture has delivered the last of 78 B-Series electric multiple-units ordered by Western Australia’s Public Transport Authority, 15 years after the first was unveiled. The final unit is expected to enter service on the Joondalup and Mandurah lines in early July. An initial ...
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NewsShift2Rail proposals increase
EUROPE: The Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking’s 2019 call for proposals to receive European Union co-funding for research and innovation received 50 bids covering projects worth a total of €193·9m. This is a 28% increase in the number of proposals from last year, with the €117·9m of co-funding sought ...
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NewsAlstom in Motion strategic plan for 2023 launched
ALSTOM: ‘Sustained growth, green and digital innovation, operational efficiency and an agile, inclusive and responsible corporate culture’ are the aims of the Alstom in Motion strategic plan for 2023 which was unveiled by Chairman & CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge in Paris on June 24. Poupart-Lafarge said the Alstom’s current 2020 strategy ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Following an agreement with Indian rail freight company Concor, exporters and importers can now book both rail and sea transport using Cogoport's booking platform. ‘For the first time shippers have a single factory-to-ship planning and booking platform’, said Cogoport founder and CEO Purnendu Shekhar. ‘It’s a significant advance for businesses ...
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NewsSnow blower ready for winter
AUSTRIA: Austrian Federal Railways has taken delivery of a Aebi Schmidt Beilhack HB1100S heavy duty snow blower, which can move up to 10 000 tonnes of snow per hour with a clearing width of up to 6 m. There are two MAN D2862 12-cylinder 793 kW diesel engines mounted at ...
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NewsWorld rail infrastructure market - June 2019
Australia: Arc Infrastructure has awarded Dixon Construction a A$2m contract for the development of a depot in Kalgoorlie, including offices, a maintenance shed and a washing plant. Rio Tinto Iron Ore has awarded Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corp subsidiary Yurra a A$20m five-year contract for infrastructure maintenance on its Pilbara network. ...
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NewsFRA awards $326m for rail infrastructure works
USA: More than $326m in Consolidated Rail Infrastructure & Safety Improvements and Special Transportation Circumstances grant funding for 45 rail infrastructure projects in 29 states has been announced by the Federal Railroad Administration. ‘These investments in inter-city passenger and freight rail will benefit surrounding communities, make grade crossings safer and ...
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NewsSNCF and Airbus to trial satellite geolocation technology
FRANCE: SNCF and Airbus Defence & Space signed a co-operation accord at the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget on June 19. The agreement last three years and covers the development and adaptation of satellite geolocation technology, based on the EU’s Galileo and European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Systems, for digital ...
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NewsFehmarn Belt link financing investigation opens
DENMARK: The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to determine whether the public financing model for the Fehmarn Belt fixed link is aligned with EU state aid rules. Under the intergovernmental agreement between Denmark and Germany, Denmark will be the sole owner and will bear the full risk for ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
Turkey’s Minister of Transport & Infrastructure Mehmet Cahit Turhan officially opened an aluminium bodyshell production facility at the Tüvasaş factory in Adapazarı on June 19. Technology company S&T has agreed to acquire Kapsch Group’s Kapsch CarrierCom and Kapsch PublicTransportCom businesses, subject to regulatory approval, for a price ‘in the low ...
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NewsTrenitalia prepares for Paris – Milano launch
EUROPE: The first of five ETR1000 high speed trainsets being modified to operate Trenitalia’s planned open access service between Milano and Paris is expected to begin test running in France next month, following the completion of retrofitting work. The trainsets are being fitted with TVM cab signalling and KVB automatic ...
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NewsFS Group forms US subsidiary
USA: Italian state railway group FS has established FS Italian Railways USA Inc with the aim of developing its activities in the North American market. FS said the mass transit, high speed and freight markets ‘offer interesting growth possibilities, especially in the large metropolitan areas’, thanks to an increase in ...
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NewsODEG orders Stage V compliant DMUs
GERMANY: Ostdeutsche Eisenbahn has awarded Alstom a €45m contract to supply eight Coradia Lint diesel multiple-units for use on Netzes Elbe-Spree regional passenger services from December 2022. Announcing the order on June 20, Alstom said the 140 km/h DMUs would be its first with a powerpack complying with EU ...
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NewsElectro-diesel train financing approved
SPAIN: The European Investment Bank approved a €100m loan on June 13 to part-finance the planned €201m procurement of 26 electric and five electro-diesel trainsets for use by RENFE on suburban and rural services on the former FEVE metre-gauge network in northern Spain. EIB said the replacement of life-expired rolling ...