Main line rail industry news – Page 350
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NewsFerrocarril Central modernisation project gets underway
URUGUAY: Passenger services in the Montevideo area and freight services from the capital to the north are to be suspended for at least two years from June 15, following the official launch in May of the Ferrocarril Central project to modernise the 273 km Montevideo – Paso ...
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NewsBrazilian line reopens after safety shutdown
BRAZIL: Mining giant Vale resumed regular operation of freight services on the Belo Horizonte branch of Estrado de Ferro Vitória a Minas on June 6, after confirmation that the railway would not be affected by the possible collapse of tailings at a nearby abandoned iron ore mine in Minas Gerais ...
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NewsBombardier presents fastest interlocking
INTERLOCKING: Bombardier Transportation presented what it says is the fastest computer-based interlocking at UITP Global Public Transport Summit 2019. Speaking exclusively to Railway Gazette at the company’s Liljeholmen office in Stockholm on June 11, Bombardier said that the improved EBI Lock 950 R4 will be officially presented at the ...
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NewsThales presents big data software at UITP
THALES: Thales has presented two tools for big data analytics at the UITP Global Public Transport Summit 2019. Thales’ NAIA software captures data on passenger flow, platform crowding, train occupancy and intervals between trains. It then analyses this to help operators to understand how passengers behave and respond appropriately. ...
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NewsDodoma commuter rail study commissioned
TANZANIA: Tanzania Railways Corp has awarded an international consortium a €2·5m nine-month contract to undertake feasibility and preliminary design studies for a commuter rail network in the capital Dodoma. The consortium is led by Spanish consultancy Ardanuy Ingenieria and includes Intercontinental Consultants & Technocrats from India and ...
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NewsGo-Ahead, Abellio and National Express take over German operating contracts
GERMANY: A number of passenger services transferred to new operators on June 9, including routes in Baden-Württemberg which are the first in Germany to be managed by UK-based rail and bus group Go-Ahead. Go-Ahead In 2015 the Land of Baden-Württemberg selected Go-Ahead for the Stuttgart Netz 1 Lot 2 (also ...
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NewsOperail concerned about infrastructure charges
ESTONIA: State owned logistics company Operail has reported a net profit of €2·6m for the first three months of 2019, double the figure for the same period last year. Chairman Raul Toomsalu said the main source of profit was the lease fleet of 2 100 wagons, with revenue up 65% ...
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NewsCRRC launches ETCS-compatible signalling
SIGNALLING: CRRC Zhuzhou presented its SigThemis signalling at the UITP World Public Transport Summit 2019 in Stockholm on June 10. SigThemis supports ETCS levels 0, 1 and 2, and is compatible with baselines 2 and 3. It is also interoperable with Chinese Train Communication, and supports various levels of ...
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NewsRussian rolling stock innovation centre planned
RUSSIA: An agreement to establish a rolling stock engineering innovation centre was signed by Russian Railways, Sinara Group and technology partner Siemens Mobility at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. The partners said the centre would consolidate existing experience and acquire new expertise to provide engineering consultancy, design, and documentation ...
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NewsStadler sees success on six axles
EUROPE: Stadler says that its family of six-axle diesel, electric and bi-mode Eurodual locomotives are ‘30 to 40% better in terms of track forces’ than ‘most of the four-axle locos in use around Europe today’. Antonio García Ricos, Engineering Vice-President of Stadler Valencia, told the Transport Logistic trade show in ...
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NewsTambo Springs terminal ‘will change the face of Gauteng’
SOUTH AFRICA: The Southern Palace Joint Venture Consortium has won a 20-year concession to design, finance, build and operate a major intermodal terminal serving Gauteng province. Announcing the ‘historic public and private sector partnership’ on June 5, Transnet said the R2∙5bn terminal forming part of the Gauteng Integrated Transport Master ...
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NewsPassengers prevail over freight in capacity allocation dispute
SWITZERLAND: The need to provide a minimum level of network capacity for freight operators should not be understood in absolute terms, but instead all relevant interests need to be weighed up, the Federal Administrative Court has ruled in a dispute about train paths. As a result, its says the needs ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Polish operator Industrial Division has ordered five Siemens Vectron locomotives for use by its Cargounit subsidiary. Three are to be used on north-south intermodal services and two on east-west services. Bombardier Transportation had also bid. Three EMD Class 66 locomotives currently used in Sweden are to be leased from Beacon ...
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NewsNew Mexico Rail Runner Express PTC deployment contract
USA: Wabtec has been awarded a $55m contract to implement Positive Train Control on the 160 km New Mexico Rail Runner Express route from Belen to Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Wabtec is to supply its Interoperable Electronic Train Management System overlay which has been adopted by the principal freight operators. ...
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NewsZSSK RegioPanter EMU rolled out
SLOVAKIA: Škoda Transportation has rolled out the first of the Class 660 electric multiple-units ordered by national passenger operator ZSSK for use on regional services around Žilina. The €160m contract for 25 dual-voltage 3 kV DC/25 kV AC EMUs with a maximum speed of 160 km/h was signed in March ...
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NewsRussian Railways orders high speed trains
RUSSIA: Russian Railways has signed a €1·1bn order for a further 13 Velaro RUS high speed trains for use on the 650 km Moscow – St Petersburg route, Siemens Mobility announced on June 7. The 10-car 3 kV DC trainsets will be supplied by Siemens Mobility and the Ural Locomotives ...
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NewsIllinois votes to fund rail expansion
USA: Dedicated funding for two new inter-city rail services and urban rail expansion is included in a $45bn package of infrastructure investment approved by the Illinois state legislature on May 31. The six-year programme put together by Governor J B Pritzker allocates $33·2bn for transport projects. The majority of this ...
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NewsTrenitalia's ETR700 ex-Fyra trains to enter service on Adriatic Corridor
ITALY: The first four of 17 ETR700 trainsets originally built for Fyra services in the Netherlands and Belgium are to enter commercial service with Trenitalia on June 9, FS Group announced on June 3. The trains are branded Frecciargento and will initially operate between Milano and Ancona, with two return ...
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NewsJR East to trial fuel cell multiple-unit
JAPAN: East Japan Railway has started work on a new generation of hydrogen fuel cell trainsets, a decade after early experiments with its prototype New Energy Train. The railway set an objective to ‘diversify energy’ as part of its ‘Move Up 2027’ 10-year vision adopted last year, and it hopes ...
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NewsPoland – Luxembourg rail motorway service to launch this year
EUROPE: Polish freight terminal operator CLIP and Luxembourg’s CFL Multimodal are to launch a ‘rail motorway’ service between Swarzędz near Poznań and Bettembourg-Dudelange by end of this year. There will initially be four round trips per week, each with a capacity of 37 intermodal units. The Lohr piggyback system will ...