Main line rail industry news – Page 502
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NewsComplex interoperability requirements in Chicago PTC contract
USA: Wabtec Corp has signed a $22m contract to design, supply and commission Positive Train Control for the Belt Railway Company of Chicago, which owns and operates about 470 km of track, including 43 km of main line track. Under the contract announced on June 7 Wabtec is to provide ...
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NewsAlstom and Teleste sign framework agreement
FINLAND: Teleste Corp has signed a framework agreement to supply Alstom with on-train passenger information and public address systems, CCTV, communication technology and TFT and LED displays. Teleste’s products are ‘designed to let passengers enjoy clear, visible and up-to-date information during every phase of their journey’, said Pekka Vänni, Director ...
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NewsLund – Malmö quadruple tracking contract
SWEDEN: Trafikverket has selected the Lund – Arlöv Fyra Spår consortium of NCC and OHL for a SKr2bn contract to quadruple a section of the busy Lund – Malmö route. The civil works and railway systems contract announced on June 8 covers the construction of two temporary tracks between Hjärup ...
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NewsHudson Bay Railway services to Churchill suspended after washouts
CANADA: Hudson Bay Railway services between Amery, 47 km northeast of Gillam, and Churchill have been suspended indefinitely owing to ‘unprecedented and catastrophic’ flood damage and are not expected to resume before the winter season, parent company OmniTRAX announced on June 9. HBR has been unable to operate to Churchill ...
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NewsPatrick Jeantet
SNCF Réseau President Patrick Jeantet has been elected as President of French railway industry association Fer de France, succeeding Egis Group President Nicolas Jachiet.
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NewsAtkins awarded Cornish resignalling contract
UK: Atkins has been awarded a £9m contract to upgrade the signalling between Truro and St Erth. This forms part of Network Rail’s Cornwall Capacity Enabling Scheme to enable one extra train per hour to operate between Plymouth and Penzance. Atkins will be responsible for GRIP stages 4b to 8 ...
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NewsUK rail freight traffic down
UK: According to statistics published by the UK’s Office of Rail & Road on June 8, a total of 17∙2 billion net tonne-km of freight were moved on the national network in 2016-17, a 3% decrease on the year before and the lowest recorded since 1997-98 when a 16∙9 billion ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
In support of India’s Swachcha Bharat Abhiyan national sanitation programme, on June 1 Chittaranjan Locomotive Works rolled out the first WAG-9H electric freight locomotive to be equipped with a built-in a toilet cubicle with biodigester. DP World has awarded GB Railfreight a three-year contract to manage the movement and preparation ...
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NewsÖBB starts Pyhrnstrecke station upgrading
AUSTRIA: ÖBB-Infrastruktur launched a €26·9m programme to modernise three stations on the Pyhrnstrecke in Oberösterreich with a groundbreaking ceremony at Neuhofen an der Krems on June 7. Expected to take around 18 months at a cost of €9·3m, the work at Neuhofen will see the realignment of both main lines ...
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NewsTier 4 genset locomotive enters service
USA: Railserve’s first Tier 4 compliant Dual Leaf Gen-Set Locomotive has entered service in Freeport, Texas. The latest addition to Railserve’s family of locomotives has two Cummins QSX15 engines, and can use only one when hauling lighter loads. The Dual Leaf is intended for shippers, industrial users and short line ...
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NewsGo-Ahead selected for Stuttgart – Nürnberg operating contract
GERMANY: The Länder of Baden-Württemberg and Bayern have selected Go-Ahead as preferred bidder for the Netz 3A Murrbahn contract to operate Stuttgart – Schwäbisch Hall – Hessental – Crailsheim – Nürnberg services totalling 1∙3 million train-km/year for 13 years from December 2019. Go-Ahead will procure a fleet of Stadler Flirt3XL ...
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NewsHelsinki Artic XL tram design unveiled
FINLAND: Helsinki transport operator HKL has unveiled the design of the Artic XL trams that would run on the future Raide-Jokeri orbital route between Helsinki and Espoo. Styling has been provided by Idis Design. The trams will have a blue and green livery to distinguish them from the green ...
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NewsWork starts on San Martín viaduct
ARGENTINA: Transport Minister Guillermo Dietrich joined head of the city government Horacio Rodríguez Larreta on June 8 to mark the start of work on a new 5 km elevated alignment for the San Martín commuter route in Buenos Aires. Replacing a surface alignment between Palermo and La Paternal stations which ...
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NewsThalys aims for full trains and happy customers
EUROPE: High speed operator Thalys is to introduce a new fares structure and onboard service proposition on September 12. The current Comfort 1 and Comfort 2 classes of travel are to be replaced with Standard, Comfort and Premium, improving flexibility and increasing the proportion of discounted fares on offer from ...
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NewsLong-distance Lastochka agreed
RUSSIA: An agreement to develop a long-distance variant of the successful Lastochka electric multiple-unit family has been reached between Russian Railways and the Urals Locomotive joint venture of Sinara and Siemens. The accord to draft revised technical specifications was signed during the St Petersburg International Economic Forum by the head ...
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NewsNew metro line in Izmir approved
TURKEY: The Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs & Communications has approved a new metro line in Izmir following the completion of an environmental impact assessment. The 4·5 km route would run east from Halkapınar metro and Izban suburban railway station, which would also be the terminus of the future ...
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NewsGabon takes delivery of refurbished DB Regio coaches
GABON: Coaches formerly used by DB Regio in Germany are being refurbished by Electroputere VFU Pașcani in Romania for use on Libreville – Franceville overnight services operated by Sociéte d'Exploitation du Transgabonais. The first batch of nine vehicles was shipped at the end of May and is expected to arrive ...
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NewsFrançoise Bertrand
Canadian Minister of Transport Marc Garneau has appointed Françoise Bertrand as Chair of the Board of Directors at VIA Rail Canada for a five-year term.
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
On June 1 The Greenbrier Companies and Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance Co finalised agreements for the expansion of their commercial relationship which had been announced in April. MUL is to obtain its new wagons exclusively from Greenbrier until 2023, with a commitment to buy an initial 6 000 over ...
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NewsRotterdam railway rerouting approved
NETHERLANDS: State Secretary at the Ministry of Infrastructure & Environment Sharon Dijksma has approved plans by the Port of Rotterdam Authority and ProRail to reroute 4·5 km of the harbour railway serving Europoort to avoid the Caland Bridge. This would avoid delays to freight trains when the vertical lift ...