Main line rail industry news – Page 501
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NewsSNCB seeks to develop BeNeRail distribution partnership
EUROPE: Speaking on the sidelines of the Amadeus Rail Innovation Forum in Praha on June 13, SNCB’s Manager for International Sales Paul Geyssens indicated that the Belgian national operator is planning to expand its collaboration with travel software specialist Amadeus through the BeNeRail distribution joint venture of SNCB and Dutch ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
Bombardier is to cut 650 jobs at Villeneuve and Zürich in Switzerland, trade union Unia said on June 8. Local media report that Siemens is in talks with Iran’s Industrial Development & Renovation Organisation about the joint production of metro rolling stock components. Louis Berger and Egis have ...
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NewsElectro-diesel Flirt unveiled
ITALY: The first electro-diesel version of the Flirt multiple-unit family was unveiled at Stadler’s Bussnang plant in Switzerland on June 15, two years after the Valle d’Aosta region awarded a €43m contract for the supply of five units and the provision of five years of maintenance. The Flirt3 units are ...
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NewsManchester to trial cycle hire
UK: A six-month cycle-hire pilot in central Manchester and Salford will start on June 29. Mobike, which currently runs cycle-hire programmes in China and Singapore, is supplying 1 000 bikes. These will be equipped with smart locks that will allow them to be picked up and dropped off at ...
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NewsBrisbane to start work on Cross River Rail
AUSTRALIA: Enabling works to facilitate construction of the A$5·4bn Cross River Rail project in Brisbane are to start in September, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Minister for Infrastructure Jackie Trad announced on June 14. The Cross River Rail Delivery Authority has approved demolition work at the GoPrint site, a former ...
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NewsBYD ADL to supply more short electric buses to London
UK: RATP Dev London has selected a joint venture of Shenzhen-based BYD and Alexander Dennis as preferred bidder to supply 36 electric buses. The operator signed a memorandum of understanding with BYD on June 14 at the Guangdong Economic & Trade Co-operation Conference in London, and contract signature is due ...
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NewsSNCB does not expect DB to run to London
EUROPE: Deutsche Bahn has effectively deferred its high-profile plan to run direct high speed trains between Germany and London. Reports in the French press last week had quoted Birgit Bohle, Managing Director of DB Fernverkehr, suggesting that the German operator had no desire to compete directly with its French counterpart ...
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NewsShift2Rail project grants awarded
EUROPE: Another 17 research projects with a combined value of €110·9m have been selected for financing under the 2017 Call for Proposals, the Shift2Rail joint undertaking announced on June 14. These will share up to €60·1m of EU co-financing under the multi-year research programme. The call for proposals had been ...
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NewsUK railway news round-up
Conservative Member of Parliament for Epsom & Ewell Chris Grayling has retained his position as Secretary of State for Transport in the cabinet announced by Prime Minister Theresa May following the general election. Network Rail has begun a ‘soft’ market-testing exercise seeking external expertise to determine what would be the ...
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NewsIsrael Railways sets out ambitions to double the network by 2040
ISRAEL: An ambitious strategy to double the size of the national rail network by 2040 and develop links to neighbouring countries was set out by Israel Railways at a presentation in Tel Aviv in June 8. The proposals would see the network expand from the 1 232 km which ...
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NewsOscar Vazquez
Oscar Vazquez has been named Country Managing Director for Bombardier Transportation in Spain. Retaining his role as Project Portfolio Head for Continental Europe & Metro Applications, he replaces Álvaro Rengifo who will continue in an advisory role.
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NewsSNCF Logistics’ investment in BLS Cargo approved
SWITZERLAND: SNCF Logistics’ planned acquisition of a 45% stake in BLS Cargo will come into effect at the beginning of July, BLS AG said on June 14. This follows Swiss and German regulatory approval for the planned acquisition, which had been announced by the companies on February 16. From July ...
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NewsBeer train launched
BELGIUM: Rail freight operator Lineas ran a pilot service carrying Jupiler beer from AB InBev’s brewery at Jupille near Liège to Delhaize’s warehouse in Ninove on June 13. The train is to run three times per week, and is expected to remove 5 000 lorry trips per year from the ...
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NewsKyiv orders more Elektron trams
UKRAINE: Kyiv tram operator Kyivpastrans has announced that Elektrontrans has submitted the best offer to supply seven 100% low-floor trams to operate on the city’s 1 524 mm gauge network. The supplier’s offer of 301m hryvnia beat a higher bid from UKVZ. It will supply its T5B64 unidirectional five-section ...
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NewsSTIF to drop RER branding
FRANCE: From July 1 Ile-de-France transport authority STIF plans to cease using the term ‘RER’, which was originally an abbreviation for Réseau Express Régional. According to the staff publication La Lettre du Cheminot, STIF’s decision follows studies suggesting that the distinctions between the various brands used for public transport in ...
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NewsVolkerRail awarded five-year maintenance contract
NETHERLANDS: Infrastructure manager ProRail has awarded VolkerRail a contract to undertake day-to-day track maintenance on the complex rail network in the Amsterdam area for five years from October 1. Announcing the signing of the deal on June 13, VolkerRail said the performance-based contract would provide the contractor with the freedom ...
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NewsSão Paulo suburban EMU on test
BRAZIL: São Paulo suburban operator CPTM has started testing the first Class 9500 electric multiple-units that Hyundai Rotem is supplying. CPTM awarded Hyundai Rotem a R$788m contract in 2013 to supply 30 eight-car EMUs. A contract was awarded to CAF at the same time for a further 35 sets. ...
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NewsDr Joaquin Arambula
Dr Joaquin Arambula has been appointed to the California High-Speed Rail Authority Board of Directors as an ex-officio member, while CEO Jeff Morales stepped down on June 2.
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NewsVästtrafik awards EMU refurbishment contract
SWEDEN: Västtrafik has awarded Alstom a SKr90m contract to refurbish 18 ASEA/ABB X12 and X14 two-car electric multiple-units dating from 1991-95 which are used on Göteborg – Borås and Uddevalla – Borås – Varberg services. The refurbishment to be undertaken between autumn 2017 the end of 2020 includes ...
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NewsTehran metro Line 7 inaugurated
IRAN: The first phase of the sixth metro line in Tehran was inaugurated on June 10, connecting San’at Square to Basij on a 22 km alignment. Line 7 will eventually be 31 km long, once extensions at both ends open in March 2018. Nine more stations are ...