Main line rail industry news – Page 488
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NewsFinland sets out plans for passenger rail tendering
FINLAND: The government’s plans to open the domestic passenger market to competition and bring the country into line with the EU’s Fourth Railway Package were set out by Transport & Communications Minister Anne Berner on August 9. The model which has been chosen is similar to that adopted by Norway, ...
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NewsTehran metro extended to Imam Khomeini International Airport
IRAN: The southwestern branch of Tehran Metro Line 1 from Shahed to Namayeshgah-e Shahr-e Aftab was rebranded as Line 8 when an extension to Imam Khomeini International Airport opened on August 7. This is the second metro link to the capital’s airports, with Line 4 already serving ...
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NewsTrenitalia drops South Eastern bid to focus on West Coast Partnership
UK: The Trenitalia UK subsidiary of Italian’s national railway group has dropped its bid for the South Eastern passenger franchise to focus on the West Coast Partnership competition, the company confirmed on August 10. The company said it had ‘regretfully’ taken the decision to pull of the South Eastern competion ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
Rostec and Russian Railways have agreed to form a working group to implement a long-term strategy for the development and supply of modern designs of wagons and associated maintenance facilities The Connect alliance of 10 equipment and staff providers led by A-Plant, L Lynch, P Flannery Plant Hire and Fortel ...
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NewsDSB to sell Uppland business to Transdev
SWEDEN: Denmark’s state passenger operator announced on August 10 that its DSB Sverige subsidiary has agreed to sell the DSB Uppland business to Transdev Sverige. DSB Uppland operates Upptåget local passenger services between Upplands Väsby, Arlanda, Uppsala and Gävleon behalf of Upplands Lokaltrafik under a 10½ year contract which began ...
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NewsAlameda Corridor East grade separation trench opens
USA: A 2·3 km long, 9 m deep and 20 m wide cutting built at cost of $313m as part of a grade separation project designed to ease traffic congestion in the San Gabriel Valley east of downtown Los Angeles was officially opened by the Alameda Corridor-East Construction Authority on ...
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NewsEast Japan Railway enters UK market with West Midlands franchise win
UK: The West Midlands Trains Ltd consortium led by the Abellio subsidiary of Dutch national operator NS (70·1%) and the JREM Train 50:50 joint venture of East Japan Railway and Mitsui & Co (29·9%) was named preferred bidder for the West Midlands franchise by the Department for Transport on August ...
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NewsMore Pesa trams ordered for Kraków
POLAND: Pesa has submitted the best offer to supply trams to Kraków, operator MPK Kraków announced on August 8. Pesa beat bids from Newag, Škoda and a consortium of Stadler and Solaris. Pesa put in a bid of 299·2m złoty for the base order of 35 trams. The contract ...
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NewsUK railway news round-up
Arriva Trains UK has invited expressions of interest in financing ‘self-propelled units’ and a fleet of trainsets for the proposed South Wales Metro should it win the next Wales & Borders franchise. HS2 Ltd has awarded WSP UK an £8·3m contract to provide railway systems technical support services for four ...
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NewsFederal funding to revive border crossing
USA: Texas Department of Transportation has a received a US$7m grant from the US Department of Transportation towards a US$16∙2m ‘public and private partnership’ to replace the bridge connecting Presidio with Ojinaga in Mexico, and upgrade 115 km of the connecting South Orient Rail Line. The bridge has been closed ...
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NewsYubileyny metro trainset delivered to St Petersburg
RUSSIA: The first of 27 Yubileyny trainsets ordered last year for St Petersburg metro Line 3 was delivered to the Nevskoye depot on August 7. On September 8 2016 Transmashholding subsidiary Oktyabrsky Electric Railway Car Repair Plant announced on that it is to supply 27 six-car trainsets for 13·4bn ...
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NewsLEO Express recruiting for German launch
GERMANY: Czech open access operator LEO Express has started recruiting train crew to operate a long-distance passenger service between Berlin and Stuttgart, which it says it hopes to launch in mid-August. The company’s German subsidiary LEO Express GmbH is looking for qualified train managers to be based at Berlin-Lichtenberg and ...
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NewsThüringen to award 11-year Rennsteigshuttle contract
GERMANY: Thuringen’s Ministry of Infrastructure & Agriculture is to award local operator Süd-Thüringen-Bahn a contract to continue to provide passenger services on the 14 km Ilmenau – Rennsteig line south of Erfurt for 11 years from December 2017. Regular passenger services on the route were revived in December 2015 ...
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NewsDhaka metro ‘no more a dream’ as rolling stock contract signed
BANGLADESH: The metro Line 6 rolling stock and depot contract was signed by project promoter Dhaka Mass Transit Co and a consortium of Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Corp on August 6. ‘Metro rail is no more a dream, it is now a reality,’ said Minister of Road Transport & ...
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NewsSouth Tirol direct award rail contract approved
ITALY: The direct award of a contract for SAD Nahverkehr to continue to operate local passenger rail services was approved by the South Tirol regional government on August 8. The contract with the rail, bus, funicular and cable car operator covers 2·52 million train-km/year. It runs from September 1 until ...
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NewsStadler rolls out first vehicles for St Petersburg fast tram route
RUSSIA: Stadler Minsk, Transportnaya Koncessionnaya Kompanya and LSR Group started acceptance testing of the first six Metelitsa trams for the fast tram route being developed in St Petersburg on August 1. The TKK consortium of Lider Group and LSR Group is developing the fast tram project in the Krasnogvardeisky ...
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NewsHector Rail awarded LKAB haulage contract
SWEDEN: Mining company LKAB has awarded Hector Rail a new haulage contract running for five years from December 2017. The contract covers the operation of trains carrying mining supplies between Luleå, Malmberget and Kiruna seven days per week, as well as shunting in Luleå and Malmberget. Hector Rail plans to ...
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NewsTermination of Rift Valley Railways concession agreed
KENYA: The termination of Rift Valley Railways’ concession to operate the Kenyan section of the metre gauge Kenya – Uganda railway network has been agreed ‘by joint consent’ after the high court in Nairobi backed Kenya Railways’ attempts to end the contract. KR had sought to end the concession in ...
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NewsDB Regio orders Siemens EMUs for Rhein-Neckar services
GERMANY: DB Regio has formally ordered 57 three-car Mireo electric multiple-units for use on S-Bahn Rhein-Neckar services, Siemens announced on August 8. This is the second order for the Mireo regional and commuter train family, which Siemens launched last year. The 160 km/h EMUs will be supplied from Siemens’ Krefeld ...
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NewsRussia completes railway to bypass Ukraine
RUSSIA: Construction of the Zhuravka – Millerovo bypass line which removes the need for trains from Moscow to Rostov-na-Donu, Krasnodar and Sochi to transit a short section of Ukrainian territory has been completed, Minister of Defence General Sergei Shoigu announced at a ceremony on August 7. The new 122·5 km ...