Main line rail industry news – Page 481
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NewsFS completes acquisition of Greek national operator Trainose
GREECE: Italian state railway group Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane completed its acquisition of Greek national train operator Trainose on September 14, when the €45m transaction was officially closed during an Italy-Greece bilateral summit. Privatisation agency Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund had named FS as preferred bidder on July 14 2016. ...
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NewsMRCE orders 30 Siemens Vectron locomotives
EUROPE: A contract to supply full-service leasing company Mitsui Rail Capital Europe with 30 Vectron electric locomotives was announced by Siemens on September 14. The order includes 10 multisystem locomotives rated at 6·4 MW for cross-border operation in Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and the Netherlands, and 20 DC locomotives rated ...
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NewsIndian high speed rail project launched by Prime Ministers
INDIA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe attended a groundbreaking ceremony at Sabarmarti in Ahmedabad on September 14 to officially launch India’s first high speed rail project. The planned 508 km Mumbai – Ahmedabad line is to use Japanese Shinkansen technology including 1 435 mm standard ...
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UK railway news round-up
On September 12 the House of Commons appointed the members of the Transport Select Committee chaired by Lilian Greenwood. The members are Ronnie Cowan (SNP, Inverclyde), Steve Double (Conservative, St Austell & Newquay), Paul Girvan (DUP, South Antrim), Huw Merriman (Conservative, Bexhill & Battle), Luke Pollard (Labour & Co-Op, Plymouth, ...
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NewsWien Line U6 cars refurbished
AUSTRIA: Kiepe Electric and IFE are refurbishing 78 Bombardier Type T low-floor vehicles in service on Wien line U6. The project is intended to ensure another 20 years of operational service for the cars, which date from 1993-99. The scope includes replacing the control system and tachograph, and installing air-cooled ...
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CRRC Changchun signs Tel Aviv fleet maintenance contract
ISRAEL: A 16-year contract for CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles to maintain the fleet of vehicles that it is supplying for the Tel Aviv light metro Red Line was signed on September 12, by NTA Chief Executive Officer Yehuda Bar-On and CRRC Changchun Vice President Zhou Chuanhe. The signing took place ...
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NewsProgress Rail and Seeing Machines sign driver monitoring partnership
SEEING MACHINES: Vision technology company Seeing Machines has signed an extended partnership agreement providing Progress Rail Services with an exclusive worldwide licence covering rail applications. Following an agreement announced at InnoTrans 2014, the two companies have co-operated to undertaken trials using a dashboard-mounted infra-red camera and artificial intelligence to monitor ...
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NewsTiger Rail offers Europe – China freight options
INTERNATIONAL: Hong Kong-based supply chain company Tigers has launched Tiger Rail, offering a 16-day transit time eastbound or westbound between Duisburg in Germany and 15 destinations in China including Hefei, Chongqing and Chengdu. Tiger Rail customers can charter a train, or book full-container-load or less-than-container-load shipments onto weekly scheduled services. ...
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NewsWestern Australia budget backs rail growth
AUSTRALIA: The Western Australian government has allocated A$1·4bn for rail investment as part of its 2017-18 budget announced on September 8. The bulk of the money is destined for the Metronet programme to expand and upgrade the Perth suburban rail network, over the next four years. This includes federal funding ...
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NewsGreater Anglia reveals interior of Aventra commuter train fleet
UK: Greater Anglia has unveiled a full-size mock-up of the interior of the Aventra electric multiple-units ordered from Bombardier Transportation for entry into service on the East Anglia franchise in 2019-20. Bombardier is to supply 89 five-car and 22 ten-car 25 kV 50 Hz EMUs for Greater Anglia commuter ...
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NewsWien selects Siemens for automated U-Bahn contract
AUSTRIA: Wien city transport operator Wiener Linien has selected Siemens as preferred bidder for a contract to supply and maintain trainsets for the future metro line U5, which would be the capital’s first fully automatic line. Bombardier had also tendered for the contract. A firm order is expected to be ...
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NewsAmtrak begins Amfleet I refurbishment programme
USA: Amtrak has announced the start of work to refurbish its Amfleet I hauled coaches, which are widely used on its Northeast Corridor and Midwest inter-city services. The $16m refurbishment and overhaul programme covers more than 450 vehicles, with completion planned for mid-2018. A phased approach is ...
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NewsSFM Torino regional services extended into France
EUROPE: Trenitalia-operated regional trains reached the French alpine town of Modane on September 10 for the first time in a decade in what the regional authorities in both France and Italy hope will mark the start of a renaissance in cross-border rail provision.Initially, regional trains on route SFM3 between Torino ...
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NewsMelbourne suburban rail operating contract awarded
AUSTRALIA: Metro Trains Melbourne is to continue to operate and maintain the city's suburban rail network, Victoria's Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan announced on September 12. MTM is a joint venture of MTR Corp (60%), John Holland Group (20%) and UGL Rail Services (20%). It has operated the 390 ...
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NewsArriva secures open access paths in Poland
POLAND: Regulator UTK has granted Arriva’s Polish subsidiary train paths for the operation of open access passenger services on several routes. Arriva RP has secured paths until December 11 2021 for the operation of its existing summer-only seasonal service from Bydgoszcz Główna to Hel and a shuttle service along the ...
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NewsTwo-car EMU for lightly-used lines
RUSSIA: A two-car version of the Class EP2D electric multiple-unit family which is intended for lightly-used lines electrified at 3 kV DC was exhibited by Transmashholding’s Demikhovsky Engineering Plant at the Expo 1520 trade fair in Shcherbinka. DMZ currently produces EP2D EMUs in four-car and 11-car configurations, with a ...
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NewsNew hall to meet record demand for space at InnoTrans 2018
INNOTRANS: With the registration deadline for InnoTrans 2018 approaching and a year to go before the event, organiser Messe Berlin reports that bookings are 25% higher than comparative figures for the last event, when 2 955 exhibitors from 60 countries displayed their products and services to 137 391 trade visitors ...
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NewsTikhvin begins delivering bogie castings to North America
NORTH AMERICA: United Wagon Co’s Tikhvin plant in Russia has begun shipping Barber S-2-HD bogie side frames and bolsters for the North American market, after obtaining Association of American Railroads approval for their use on wagons for unrestricted interchange in Canada, Mexico and the USA. UWC plans to supply ...
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NewsIzmir extension opens as Marmaray trainset tested
TURKEY: Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım opened a 17 km extension of Izmir’s Southern Line from Tepeköy to Selçuk on September 8. The extension cost TL300m, of which 70% was covered by the national budget, and makes use of a railway alignment originally opened in the 1860s. There is one ...
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NewsMoscow tramway extension opens
RUSSIA: A relatively short but important extension of the Moscow tram network from Lesnaya to the Belorusskaya railway and metro stations at Tverskaya Zastava square opened on September 9, as part of celebrations to mark the city’s 870th anniversary. This is the first tram extension in the central area of ...