Main line rail industry news – Page 521
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NewsFleet monitoring by app
SPAIN: Maintenance systems specialist NEM Solutions has developed an app-based fleet management system which enables rail operators to check the condition of rolling stock from a smart phone or hand-held device. This allows users to monitor their vehicles from any location. The AURA Rail App works with trains that are ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
Trimble and video system suppler Railhead Corp have announced a partnership to integrate real-time remote monitoring, diagnostics and on-board video to maximise locomotive asset utilisation. Railhead will also offer Trimble’s R2M remote diagnostic system in the US market. Currently in widespread use in Europe, R2M processes multiple data feeds from ...
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NewsCustom wagons delivered and new CP tracks completed
CANADA: The first 177 of 531 wagons being custom-built by National Steel Car for K+S Potash Canada have been delivered to the Legacy Project mine site in Saskatchewan. The first batch of wagons will form one of three 3 km long trains to transport potash 1 800 km from the ...
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NewsMoscow metro Line 8 extension opens
RUSSIA: Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin opened an extension of the western section of metro Line 8 on March 16. The 7·3 km southwestern extension from Park Pobedy to Ramenki adds three stations. Construction of the extension started in April 2013, and test runs commenced on December 30 2016. Already ...
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NewsChina - Europe rail freight poses a growing threat to air cargo
INTERNATIONAL: China to Europe rail freight services are ‘no longer carrying volumes that can be ignored’, and the air cargo sector must start taking the threat to its traffic seriously, Marco Bloemen, Senior Vice-President at air freight consultancy Seabury, told the International Air Transport Association World Cargo Symposium in Abu ...
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NewsMIT and SNCF collaborate to improve stations
FRANCE: SNCF’s stations subsidiary Gares & Connexions and Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Senseable City Lab multi-disciplinary urban environment research group have signed an agreement to work together to improve waiting conditions at stations. The aim is to ‘improve the thermal comfort, acoustic, visual and other characteristics of stations in France’, ...
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NewsUK railway news round-up
The Department for Transport has begun a 10-week consultation on plans for the next South Eastern passenger franchise, which is expected to run from December 2018 until 2025. DfT's ambitions include longer trains, modernising or replacing older rolling stock and introducing smarter payment systems and automated delay refunds. It is ...
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NewsHelsinki tests mock-up longer tram
FINLAND: Helsinki transport operator HKL is using a full-scale tram mock-up to identify what infrastructure changes would have to be made to enable longer trams to run on its network. Night testing started on March 14 using a steel frame covered with a tarpaulin, towed by a tram. The ...
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NewsHector Rail orders 15 locomotives for timber traffic
SWEDEN: Siemens announced on March 15 that Hector Rail had placed a firm order for a further 15 Vectron AC electric locomotives, as an option on a July 2016 order for an initial five. The 200 km/h locomotives are scheduled to be delivered from early 2018 for use on heavy ...
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NewsNRE to modernise Connecticut DOT locos
USA: Connecticut Department of Transportation has awarded NRE a five-year contract to modernise and extend the operating lives of six EMD GP40-2H diesel locomotives dating from the 1970s which are used on commuter services. NRE said it would be able to produce 90% of the content in-house. Marketing Director Brandon ...
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NewsWabtec buys component manufacturer with underground headquarters
USA: Wabtec Corp has acquired Aero Transportation Products, which manufactures rolling stock components including glass fibre, aluminium and steel covers and doors for hopper wagons. ATP’s headquarters are located underground in a former limestone mine at Independence, Missouri, where the consistent temperature and humidity is ideal for glass fibre manufacturing. ...
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NewsAuckland opens Parnell station
NEW ZEALAND: A new station serving the eastern side of Auckland’s city centre was officially opened on March 13. Located on the site of former railway sidings on the steeply-graded climb from Britomart terminus to the junction at Newmarket, Parnell station is intended to serve the Auckland Domain, the University ...
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NewsPort of Antwerpen supports rail freight service
EUROPE: H&S Container Line is to introduce a second weekly freight service between Andernach in Rheinland-Pfalz in Germany and the Belgian port of Antwerpen, with financial support from the port authority. Around 64 million tonnes of freight were carried between Antwerpen and Germany in 2015, the majority by water but ...
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NewsLaunch customer orders 10 six-axle electro-diesel locos
GERMANY: Freight operator Havelländische Eisenbahn has become the first customer for a six-axle electro-diesel locomotive developed by Stadler Rail Valencia for the European market. The contract for Stadler to supply and maintain 10 six-axle Eurodual locomotives equipped for use under 15 kV 16·7 Hz and 25 kV 50 Hz electrification ...
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NewsAlstom’s iLint fuel cell trainset starts dynamic testing
EUROPE: Alstom has completed the first dynamic tests of its Coradia iLint fuel cell multiple-unit. In trials undertaken on the test track at Alstom’s Salzgitter factory in Germany where it was built, the Coradia iLint has achieved running speeds of up to 80 km/h, the company reports. Alstom has ...
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NewsBright colours chosen for Indian locos
INDIA: GE Transportation has confirmed the exterior design for the initial batch of 100 diesel locomotives with Evolution Series engines that it is supplying to Indian Railways.The external livery uses colours that are ‘celebrated in India during the Holi festival’, which occurs on March 13. ‘The bright shades reflect the ...
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NewsChinese proposal to bail out crisis-hit Bulgarian railway
BULGARIA: China Railway Rolling Stock Corp has submitted a proposal to make a significant investment in national rail operator BDZ Holding, caretaker Minister of Transport, Information Technology & Communications Hristo Alexiev has announced. The March 9 announcement came after the ministry made a series of decisions and management changes ...
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NewsAirline-inspired train seat launched
SEATS: Transcal has launched its Aerolite train seat, which is intended to be ‘lighter, slimmer and more comfortable’ than other options. The manufacturer says the Aerolite seat is one of the lightest on the market at 22 kg per passenger-place, with a slim profile which can be used to provide ...
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NewsKeith Foley
Keith Foley has left Transport for London to join the Transport Advisory division of SNC-Lavalin’s UK consultancy.
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NewsConstruction of PPP-funded high speed line begins
CHINA: Construction of the first Passenger-Dedicated Line to be financed through a public-private partnership arrangement officially began on March 9. The 331 km high speed line linking the cities of Hangzhou and Wenzhou in the eastern Zhejiang province is scheduled for completion in 2021, cutting the journey time from 2 ...