Main line rail industry news – Page 656
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NewsSprinter Lighttrain upgrade contract awarded
NETHERLANDS: The consortium of Bombardier and Siemens which supplied NS Reizigers’ fleet of 131 Sprinter Lighttrain electric multiple-units has been awarded a contract to install toilets and fit slide-out steps to improve accessibility by mid-2021. The modifications were not foreseen when first orders for the EMUs were placed in 2005, ...
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NewsWork starts on Zeebrugge yard
BELGIUM: A groundbreaking ceremony on August 25 marked the start of construction of a new Zwankendamme marshalling yard to serve the Port of Zeebrugge. The yard will increase freight capacity, and also reduce the number of shunting movements required. The yard will be located on a greenfield site to the ...
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NewsFreight line passenger revival
GERMANY: Local freight railway Bentheimer Eisenbahn has called tenders for a contract to provide planning and engineering services for the reintroduction of passenger services on the 30 km Bad Bentheim – Neuenhaus line in Niedersachsen. Passenger trains on the route were replaced by railway-operated bus services in 1974. The ...
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NewsMetro trains on test in Montréal
CANADA: Montréal metro operator STM announced on August 25 that two Azur trainsets will begin daytime test running on the network. A prototype trainset without interior fittings arrived in April 2014 and has been used for night time testing on the network over the past 15 months, following trials ...
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NewsFirst train arrives at Rotterdam World Gateway
NETHERLANDS: The first commercial freight train arrived at the Rotterdam World Gateway container storage and transhipment terminal on August 25. RWG said this was a milestone in start-up of ‘the most advanced and most automated container terminal in the world’, which opened in October 2014 and began 24/7 operation ...
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NewsBeth Caruso to lead AREMA
Elizabeth S Caruso has been appointed as Executive Director & CEO of the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association with effect from September 1. She succeeds Larry Etherton, who has been serving as Interim Executive Director since the retirement of Charles H Emely in 2014. Caruso joined AREMA in 1999 ...
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NewsSydney Metro TBM breaks cover
AUSTRALIA: Tunnel boring machines typically arrive ‘face first’ at a breakthrough sites, but TBMs Maria and Isabelle which are being used on the Sydney Metro Northwest project passed through a future ventilation and emergency access shaft at Cheltenham with the top 3 m of their cutter heads above ground. ...
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NewsPassenger security app launched
INDIA: An app designed to improve the security of passengers on Eastern Railway's suburban services has been launched by Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu during a visit to the railway’s headquarters The Railway Mobile Instant Tracking Response & Assistance app can be used to alert the nearest Railway Protection ...
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NewsOslo metro depot commissioned
NORWAY: Metro infrastructure owner Sporveien Oslo has commissioned all four sheds at the Avløs depot on Line 2, marking the end of the 10-year Kolsåsbane project. This also included infrastructure upgrades on the line linking the city centre with Kolsås in the western suburbs. The previously disused ...
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NewsBelozerov joins RZD as Yakunin stands down
Oleg Belozerov was formally appointed as President & CEO of Russian Railways by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on August 20. Formerly First Deputy Minister of Transport, he succeeeds Vladimir Yakunin, who had announced two days earlier that he planned to enter politics.
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NewsDB Netz buys SBB’s Rail Control System
GERMANY: Infrastructure manager DB Netz has licensed the Rail Control System train control and dispatching package developed by Swiss Federal Railways, and plans to deploy it across the German network from 2019. Introduced by SBB in 2009, RCS is also used by BLS and SOB. Belgium’s Infrabel was the first ...
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NewsARTC awards National Train Communications System contract
AUSTRALIA: Inter-state network manager Australian Rail Track Corp has awarded Telstra a ‘multi-million dollar’, 10-year contract to provide telecoms services through the National Train Communications System. NTCS was developed as a cost-effective and interoperable voice and data communications network for the 8 500 km inter-state and Hunter Valley networks, using ...
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NewsSacramento inaugurates light rail extension
USA: Sacramento Regional Transit District held a ‘pre-opening celebration’ on August 23 ahead of the official opening ceremony for the Blue Line light rail extension from Meadowview Road to Cosumnes River College on August 24. Opening was originally planned for September, but the date was brought forward to coincide ...
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NewsNottingham Express Transit Phase 2 opens
UK: The first passenger service on Nottingham Express Transit Phase 2 departed from Clifton South at 06.02 on August 25, marking the opening of two new branches on the city’s tram network. The routes to Clifton South and Toton Lane diverge at Nottingham station tram stop, the previous southern ...
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NewsElectrification to Qarshi completed
UZBEKISTAN: A Talgo 250 Afrosiyob trainset ran from Toshkent to Qarshi on August 22 as part of celebrations marking the completion of work to electrify and upgrade the 140·8 km Marakand – Qarshi section of the 511 km Toshkent – Samarkand – Qarshi route. The project has raised the maximum ...
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NewsBudapest – Esztergom line reopens after modernisation
HUNGARY: National passenger operator MÁV-Start restarted services on the modernised Budapest – Esztergom line on August 20. Renovation of the 53 km route lasted more than three years and cost HF44·5bn, of which 85% was funded from EU sources. Electrification is around 18 months behind schedule and is expected ...
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NewsKharkiv metro inaugurates trainset
UKRAINE: The first new trainset to enter service on the Kharkiv metro since 2004 was inaugurated at Heroiv Pratsi station on Line 2 on August 21, marking 40 years since the opening of the city’s first metro line on August 23 1975. The five-car trainset was built by Kriukov Car ...
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NewsPhoenix opens Central Mesa light rail extension
USA: The Central Mesa extension of the Valley Metro light rail line in Phoenix was inaugurated on August 22, with events along the route to mark the opening. The 5 km extension is the first since the initial 32 km route was put into service at the end of ...
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NewsHigh speed rail priority in 2016 budget
SPAIN: Appearing before a parliamentary committee on August 19, Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Transport & Housing Julio Gómez-Pomar provided details of the rail spending budgeted by the Ministry of Development for 2016. Next year, the ministry is planning to spend a total of €5∙46bn on rail, a 5% ...
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NewsBenin – Niger railway agreement signed
AFRICA: Bolloré Group has signed a concession agreement with the two governments for the construction and operation of a railway from Cotonou in Benin to Niamey in Niger. The project involves rehabilitation of the metre-gauge Cotonou – Parakou line, and the construction of a 574 km extension. ‘This is ...