Main line rail industry news – Page 425
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NewsAgreement in principle to revive Hudson Bay Railway
CANADA: Agreement in principle has been reached for the transfer of ownership of the Hudson Bay Railway and the reinstatement services to Churchill in northern Manitoba by winter 2018, the federal government announced on May 30. Short line group OmniTRAX purchased the 1 300 km HBR from Canadian National in ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Sinara Transport Machines’ Lyudinovo diesel locomotive plant has begun delivering TGM8KM diesel locomotives to the José Martí steel plant in Cuba. The steelworks currently uses TGM4 locos supplied from the same Russian plant more than 30 years ago. STM is also providing staff training. On May 31 the European Commission ...
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NewsRail freight information portal to be expanded
EUROPE: After a successful pilot phase, the European Commission has backed the further development of Railfreightlocations.eu, a web portal designed to provide shippers and operators with easy access to a single source of information about rail freight facilities. The partners in the project include HaCon, the International Rail Freight Business ...
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NewsThree bids for Ferrocarril Central project
URUGUAY: The Ministry of Transport & Public Works has received three bids for the Ferrocarril Central contract. The public-private partnership deal would cover the upgrading and subsequent maintenance of the 273 km line between Montevideo and Paso de los Toros. The three bids opened on May 29 were submitted ...
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NewsNewag signs inter-city locomotive contract
POLAND: PKP Intercity signed a contract with Newag on May 29 for the supply and maintenance of 20 Griffin electric locomotives. PKP IC selected Newag as preferred bidder in January. Deliveries of the 160 km/h locos are due within 30 months from contract signature. The base order is ...
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NewsLNG shunting locomotives ordered
RUSSIA: A agreement for Sinara Transport Machines to supply and maintain 24 liquefied natural gas-fuelled shunting locomotives was signed by the Gazpromtrans transport subsidiary of gas extraction company Gazprom during the St Petersburg International Economic Forum on May 25. The order covers 10 four-axle locomotives rated at 856 kW and ...
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NewsVolkswagen components switch to rail
GERMANY: The SmartRail Logistics joint venture of LIT Speditions and Captrain Deutschland began delivering automotive components to Volkswagen’s factory at Emden in Niedersachsen on June 1. The components come from suppliers in southern and central Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland. Shipments are consolidated at Dresden for delivery to ...
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NewsAmber Train agreement signed
EUROPE: An agreement for the regular operation of the Amber Train branded container service linking the Baltic States was signed by Lithuanian Railways, Latvia’s LDZ Logistika and Estonia’s EVR Cargo at a meeting in Tallinn on May 29. This follows the operation of a trial service on April 19, which ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
European ticket retailer Loco2 and insurer TicketPlan now offer a cancellation protection service which enables customers to apply for reimbursement of non-refundable multi-leg journeys in the event of strikes or other unforeseen cancellations. For example, if a customer has an order containing two non-refundable tickets and one leg is cancelled, ...
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NewsTransnet looks abroad
SOUTH AFRICA: State-owned transport group Transnet officially launched its international subsidiary Transnet International Holdings on May 30. Constituted as a separate legal entity, with its own Board of Directors, TIH is intended to leverage Transnet’s core skills in the operation of ports, railways and pipelines, as well as promoting intra-African ...
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News'Milestones' reached in Siemens Alstom merger process
INDUSTRY: At a meeting on May 30 the Alstom board approved the convening of shareholders’ meetings on May 17 where resolutions relating to the proposed merger with Siemens Mobility would be submitted for approval. On May 28 France’s Ministry for Economy & Finance had granted Siemens foreign investment authorisation for ...
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NewsBasel to test electric bus
SWITZERLAND: Basel bus operator BVB is to test a VDL Citea SLFA-181 Electric bus on all its bus routes later this year. The pilot project is intended to give BVB experience of electric bus operation. The low-floor articulated bus will be 18·1 m long. Its 248 kWh battery pack ...
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NewsBombardier presents Traxx DC3 locomotive
ITALY: ‘The new Traxx DC3 represents a generational leap in the market, a state-of-the-art locomotive, able to maximise energy efficiency, ensuring greater load, traction capacity and lower energy consumption’ said Luigi Corradi, CEO & Managing Director of Bombardier Transportation Italy, when the first of the new freight locos was officially ...
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NewsNovocherkassk signs new tram contract
RUSSIA: Trading company Fobos-TS has won a 78m rouble contract to supply four trams to Novocherkassk. Deliveries are due by the end of September. The vehicles are likely to be made by Uraltransmash. Earlier this month Fobos-TS signed a contract to supply 20 UTM trams to Kazan. Novocherkassk ...
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NewsMinisters urge that Rastatt lessons are learnt
EUROPE: Transport ministers have issued a Declaration calling for rapid implementation of measures to mitigate the effects of a major incident such as the seven-week closure last August of the Rhein Valley main line between Basel and Karlsruhe in Germany following a tunnel collapse beneath the alignment at Rastatt. The ...
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NewsVästlänken construction launched in Göteborg
SWEDEN: Construction of the Västlänken cross-city tunnel in Göteborg was officially launched on May 30, with a groundbreaking ceremony attended by Mattias Landgren, State Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Trafikverket Director General Lena Erixon, Johnny Magnusson, Chairman of Västra Götaland region and the leader of Göteborg City Council ...
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NewsDelhi – Kolkata line to get ETCS Level 2
INDIA: Plans for a pilot installation of the European Train Control System on one of the country’s busiest main lines have been approved by the Indian Railway Board, following government calls for a re-evaluation of its resignalling strategy. As part of a broader investment strategy and a drive to improve ...
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NewsDenmark – Sweden cross-border metro project moves forward
EUROPE: København Mayor Frank Jensen and Malmö Mayor Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh announced the formation of a partnership to promote the cross-border Øresundsmetro project at the Fehmarnbelt Days 2018 conference in Malmö on May 28. The Øresundsmetro Executive partnership will be chaired by former Danish Labour Minister Jørn Neergaard Larsen. ...
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NewsUtsunomiya light rail line breaks ground
JAPAN: A groundbreaking ceremony for the Utsunomiya light rail project took place on May 28. The ¥45·8bn project was approved in 2016 and opening is planned in March 2022. The 14·6 km line would link JR East’s Utsunomiya station with Shimotakanezawa in the neighbouring town of Haga to the ...
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NewsBoth Chennai metro lines extended
INDIA: Underground extensions of both lines of the Chennai metro were inaugurated on May 25, adding a total of 7·4 km to the network. The Blue Line was extended by 4·8 km northeast from Little Mount to AG-DMS, with four stations. The Green Line was extended east ...