Main line rail industry news – Page 617
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NewsVladikavkaz orders trams
RUSSIA: Uralvagonzavod subsidiary Uraltransmash has agreed a leasing deal with the Vladikavkaz city authorities for the supply of 10 Type 71-407 trams. Uraltransmash presented the updated design of its four-axle single-section tram last year. The 39% low-floor vehicles feature asynchronous traction motors. Vladikavkaz has a 59 route-km network, ...
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NewsKazakh locomotive factory to be hub for exports
KAZAKHSTAN: Alstom announced on February 11 that it had completed the acquisition of an additional 25% stake in the EKZ electric locomotive manufacturing business from national railway KTZ, taking its shareholding to 50%. KTZ retains 25%, with the other 25% being held by Transmashholding. The deal had been agreed December ...
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NewsSignalling TSI revised
EUROPE: Meeting on February 10, the European Union’s Railway Interoperability & Safety Committee – bringing together representatives of the member states – voted unanimously in favour of the proposed recast of the Control Command & Signalling TSI. Being enacted as a Commission Regulation, the Change Control Management Regulation enacts a ...
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NewsMidland Metro trams to be converted for catenary-free operation
UK: The 21 CAF Urbos trams used on the Midland Metro light rail line are to be retrofitted with batteries to enable catenary-free operation, West Midlands transport agency Centro announced on February 12, and four more trams have been ordered which will be supplied with batteries already fitted. This will ...
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NewsDriverless metro reaches Barcelona airport
SPAIN: A further section of the orbital driverless metro line in Barcelona was inaugurated on February 12. The 19·6 km north-south Line 9 Sud in the west of the city connects Zona Universitària with stations at both terminals of the airport. There are 15 stations, including six interchanges. Services ...
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NewsQueensland NGR maintenance depot completed
AUSTRALIA: On February 13 Bombardier and Queensland government ministers will officially open the depot to maintain the electric multiple-units that it is supplying under the Queensland New Generation Rollingstock programme. The facility at Wulkuraka near Ipswich cost A$190m to build. Work was undertaken by Laing O’Rourke between February 2014 ...
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NewsManila Line 1 extension contract awarded
PHILIPPINES: Concessionaire Light Rail Manila Corp has awarded a consortium of Bouygues Travaux Publics and Alstom a €450m contract to extend metro Line 1. Alstom’s share is worth €160m and covers signalling and communications, power supplies and trackwork for the 11·7 km extension with eight stations. One new depot ...
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NewsUralvagonzavod wagons for Iran
IRAN: Russian rolling stock and defence group Uralvagonzavod has completed a Type 12-581-01 open wagon custom-designed for export to Iran by its Ural Design Bureau of Wagon Construction. The Type 12-581-wagon has a capacity of 66·7 tonnes. The 18-100 bogie is an existing 1 520 mm gauge design modified for ...
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NewsFreightliner Dragon on test
POLAND: The first of five E6DCF-DP Dragon locomotives that Newag is building for Freightliner PL has arrived at the Żmigród test circuit for homologation trials. Under a €17⋅5m contract signed with ING Lease in January 2015, the first three of the new fleet are due to be delivered by the ...
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NewsPraha tests locally-made tram
CZECH REPUBLIC: Passenger-carrying tests of a locally-built prototype tram started on routes 5, 6 and 7 of the network in Praha on February 1, and will run until the end of August. The EVO1 tram, also known as Evička, was built at the central workshops in Hostivař by the ...
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NewsGovernment support for Russian rolling stock manufacturers
RUSSIA: Details of government support for the rolling stock manufacturing industry were set out by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on February 9. Speaking at Tver Carriage Works during a conference on the prospects for the rolling stock industry, Medvedev said the government’s objective was to ensure the ...
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NewsParis route T3 heads further west
FRANCE: Initial public consultation is being undertaken until February 21 on plans for a further extension of tram route T3 in Paris. With the extension to Porte d’Asnières due to open at the end of 2017, local residents are now being invited to comment on options for extending T3 further ...
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NewsArticulated open wagon unveiled
RUSSIA: Two prototype high capacity wagons have been unveiled by United Wagon Co, which said its latest designs have ‘no analogues’ in Russia or the CIS. Certification of the two 1520 mm gauge designs is expected in the third quarter of 2016. The Type 12-6877 articulated twin-unit wagon increases ...
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NewsEMEF to maintain Porto LRVs
PORTUGAL: EMEF announced on February 10 that it had signed a contract with Metro do Porto for the maintenance of 35 Eurotram light rail vehicles. The €10·6m contract covers medium-term maintenance, including the LRVs’ 960 000 km general overhaul. The work will be carried out over 36 months at ...
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NewsSiemens CBTC for Paris RER Line E
FRANCE: On February 10 SNCF announced that it had awarded Siemens France a €186m contract to supply NExTEO communications-based train control for the central section of RER Line E in Paris. According to SNCF, this is the first major contract to be placed under the €3⋅7bn project to extend Line ...
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NewsNishi-Nippon orders EMUs
JAPAN: Kawasaki Heavy Industries is to supply 18 Series 9000 electric multiple-units to Nishi-Nippon Railroad Co for use on the 78 km Tenjin Omuta Line between Fukuoka and Omuta. To be manufactured at KHI’s Hyogo factory near Kobe, the EMUs are due to be delivered by March 2017 and ...
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NewsMelbourne’s Cranbourne – Pakenham line to be elevated
AUSTRALIA: A 2·7 km section of the Cranbourne – Pakenham suburban line in southeast Melbourne is to be rebuilt on an elevated alignment under a A$1·6bn contract announced by Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews on February 9. Upgrading of the busy line serving the Dandenong region is part of a ...
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NewsBelarus Railways orders Pesa DMUs
BELARUS: On February 9 Pesa signed a contract to supply Belarus Railways with a further four Type 730M diesel multiple-units to be delivered this year. There is an option for a further four which would be delivered in 2017. Pesa supplied an initial three Type 730M three-car 140 km/h partially ...
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NewsBozankaya and Bombardier sign high speed train production agreement
TURKEY: Bombardier Transportation and local supplier Bozankaya signed a memorandum of understanding in Ankara on February 9 to co-operate in high speed train production.The framework agreement envisages construction of a factory should the two companies win orders for high speed rolling stock from national operator TCDD, which is expected to ...
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NewsFunding for Devon and Cornwall enhancements study
UK: Funding for a study into the potential for electrification and raising line speeds between London, Devon and Cornwall was announced on February 9. The study is to be funded and commissioned by franchisee Great Western Railway and carried out by Network Rail, and will be used to inform a ...