Main line rail industry news – Page 438
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NewsPartners sought as SBB Cargo cuts back wagonload
SWITZERLAND: Discussions with investors and potential business partners are on the summer agenda for SBB Cargo Schweiz as it targets a return to break-even by 2020. Having achieved positive results in 2013, 2014 and 2016, SBB Cargo Schweiz ended 2017 with an operating loss of SFr37m as wagonload volumes fell ...
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NewsAlstom awarded two DMU contracts
GERMANY: Alstom announced two orders to supply a total of 25 Coradia Lint regional diesel multiple-units from its Salzgitter factory on March 29. DB Regio Bayern has placed a €93m order for eight Coradia Lint 41 DMUs with 125 seats and 12 of the longer Coradia Lint 54 units with ...
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NewsBEML delivers first train for Kolkata’s East-West Line
INDIA: Kolkata Metro Rail Corp took delivery of the first train for the East-West Line on March 31 from BEML’s factory in Bangalore. KMRC originally awarded CAF the rolling stock contract in 2009, but the Spanish manufacturer pulled out of the project in 2014. In September 2015 BEML emerged ...
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NewsRhätische Bahn replaces ticket machines
SWITZERLAND: Scheidt & Bachmann is supplying Rhätische Bahn with 97 replacement ticket vending machines offering similar functionality to those used by Swiss Federal Railways. Passengers can select German, French, Italian and English language options. The TVMs can provide bank notes as well as coins in change for cash payments, and ...
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NewsLebanon railway revival discussed
LEBANON: Long-standing proposals to rehabilitate the out-of-use railway which once ran 80 km along the coast from Beirut to Tripoli were discussed at a meeting of the EuroMed Transport Rail project in Beirut on March 22. An action plan is to be presented at a conference to be held in ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Mitsubishi Corp subsidiary MTF Logistics has leased 62 flat wagons from EVR Cargo subsidiary WagonPro. They are to be used on container services between the Port of Muuga and Koidula on the Russian border. EVR Cargo already cooperates with MTF Logistics on two intermodal routes. DB Cargo has begun operating ...
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NewsEurostar selects Sqills distribution and reservation software
EUROPE: Dutch ticketing software company Sqills is providing its S3 Passenger sales, distribution and reservation suite for international high speed train operator Eurostar. ‘As Eurostar grows beyond 10 million passengers per year and we expand our reach further into Europe, having a flexible reservation system is critical’, said the operator’s ...
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NewsWorld rolling stock market - March 2018
Azerbaijan: On February 16 Metrowagonmash signed a contract to supply two five-car trainsets to the Baku metro. Czech Republic: ČD Cargo is seeking to award a framework contract for the supply of up to 55 locomotives suitable for international operation, enabling it to replace many of its older locos. ...
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NewsBritish Airways takes delivery of tank wagons
UK: A batch of aviation fuel tank wagons which British Airways is to lease from VTG Rail UK has been delivered to London from The Greenbrier Companies’ Wagony Świdnica factory in Poland. Fully compliant with aviation regulations, the wagons will be bottom-loaded at the refinery and include a vapour recovery ...
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NewsBishkek receives trolleybuses
KYRGYZSTAN: Trolza delivered the first five of 37 trolleybuses that it is supplying to Bishkek on March 23. The 12 m long 5275.03 Optima vehicles have three sets of 1 230 mm wide double doors and capacity for 100 passengers, including 27 seated. In November Bishkek Trolleybus Co ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
Trainline has announced a partnership with Austrian Federal Railways, enabling it to sell all ÖBB products including discounted, Nightjet and Wien City Airport Train tickets. Scandinavian sales, distribution and settlement company Linkon AB has been rebranded as SilverRail Technologies AB and integrated into the SilverRail Technologies Group. ‘SilverRail has been ...
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NewsPresidents officially open Azerbaijan – Iran rail link
ASIA: The rail link between Astara in Azerbaijan and similarly-named town on the Iranian side of the border was officially opened with a ceremony on March 29. Presidents Hassan Rouhanid of Iran and Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan participated via a video link from the Azerbaijan – Iran Business Forum which ...
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NewsRail to benefit from reduction in wind energy surcharge
GERMANY: The European Commission has ruled that Germany’s plan to grant railways a reduction on a planned offshore energy surcharge is permitted under EU state aid rules, because it would contribute to the rail sector’s competitiveness without unduly distorting the single market. Under an amendment to the German Energy Act ...
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NewsCost drove cancellation of UK electrification projects
UK: The National Audit Office has published an investigation into why and how the government cancelled the planned 25 kV 50 Hz electrification of the Cardiff – Swansea route, the Oxenholme – Windermere branch and the Midland Main Line north from Kettering to Nottingham and Sheffield. The report released on ...
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NewsAppenzeller Bahnen takes deliveries of EMU and LRV
SWITZERLAND: Metre-gauge operator Appenzeller Bahnen recently took delivery of two vehicles ordered as part of the St Gallen Durchmesserlinie project. On March 27 Appenzeller Bahnen took delivery of the first of five ABe4/12 electric multiple-units ordered from Stadler for SFr40m in 2016. This is due to enter revenue service ...
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NewsDartford electric bus pilot begins
UK: An electric bus trial started in Dartford on March 22 and will continue until May 9. Being run by operator Arriva in partnership with Kent county council, the pilot uses a Volvo 7900 Electric bus running on Fastrack A route between Greenhithe and Bluewater shopping centre. The ...
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NewsUK railway news round-up
Easier-to-use ticket vending machines and clearer language have increased the number of passengers buy the right ticket for their journey, according to mystery shopper research by the Office of Rail & Road. This found that 91% of users would have bought the most appropriate ticket, up 11% from 2016. Of ...
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NewsGo-Ahead prepares for German launch
GERMANY: The first of 45 Flirt3 electric multiple units ordered by UK-based transport group Go-Ahead as part of its entry into the German passenger market has been completed at Stadler’s Pankow factory in Berlin. In November 2015 the Land of Baden-Württemberg selected Go-Ahead for the Stuttgart Netz Lot 1b (Rems–Fils) ...
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NewsBombardier Transportation completes negotiations for ‘reorientation’ in Germany
GERMANY: Bombardier Transportation has announced the completion of negotiations with employee representatives for the ‘reorientation’ of its German activities. The company said the programme scheduled for completion by 2020 would offer all of its German sites a ‘long-term and sustainable perspective’, although there would be a loss of up to ...
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NewsZwolle infrastructure upgrading contract signed
NETHERLANDS: Infrastructure manager ProRail has awarded VolkerRail and Van Hattum & Blankevoort a €170m contract to undertake extensive track works between Zwolle and Herfte, where the lines to Meppel and Emmen diverge. The contract signed on March 16 covers the construction of two extra tracks between Zwolle and Herfte, a ...