Main line rail industry news – Page 659
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NewsRail.One implements new structure
GERMANY: The separation of the activities of ballastless track and concrete sleeper supplier Rail.One GmbH into two legally and organisationally separate entities took effect on August 1. Rail.One GmbH headed by Verena Moosburger is now responsible for the German market, which it says is the ‘entrepreneurial and technological homeland’ of ...
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NewsLondon – Blackpool open access service approved
UK: On August 7 the Office of Rail Regulation informed Alliance Rail Holdings that it had decided to approve a 10-year track access contract between Network Rail and Great North Western Railway, an Alliance subsidiary which is planning to launch open access passenger services between London and Blackpool in early ...
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NewsBombardier wins Israel electric loco order
ISRAEL: Bombardier is to supply 62 Traxx AC electric locomotives to Israel Railways under a contract announced by the railway on August 5. Valued at 1bn shekel, the deal includes an option for a further 32 locos. ISR launched an international tender in July 2014 for the supply of between ...
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NewsSouth Korea to reinstate line to the DMZ
SOUTH KOREA: As part of events to mark the 70th anniversary of the partition of the Korean peninsula, on August 5 President Park Geun-hye attend a ceremony to launch work to reinstate the 9·3 km Baengmagoji – Woljeongi South Korean section of the former 222 km Gyeongwon Line between Seoul ...
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NewsMoscow commuter operating contracts awarded
RUSSIA: The Moscow city and regional authorities have awarded two 15-year contracts for the operation of suburban and regional passenger services to the incumbents, following a tender which also attracted a bid from Russian Railways’ Kazan-based commuter train operating subsidiary Sodruzhestvo. Central Suburban Passenger Co will continue to operate nine ...
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NewsHenrik Falk
Henrik Falk has been named as the next Chief Executive of metro operator Hamburger Hochbahn AG. Formerly Finance & Operations Director for Berlin’s BVG, he will succeed Günter Elste who is due to retire with effect from February 1 2016.
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NewsIzmir metro train design revealed
TURKEY: Izmir Metropolitan Municipality has revealed the design of the metro cars that it ordered from CNR Corp earlier this year. The 17 five-car sets ordered in March under a TL192m contract will increase the fleet to 182 cars. To be manufactured in China, the first trainset is due ...
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NewsISR freight locomotives delivered
ISRAEL: The first two of six GT26CW-2 diesel locomotives which are being built for Israel Railways by TZV Gredelj were unloaded at the port of Kishon near Haifa on August 5. TZV Gredelj is subcontractor to US firm National Railway Equipment for the 50m shekel order, which was placed through ...
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NewsAppeals block award of Hamburg – Sylt contract
GERMANY: Losing bidders Abellio and incumbent Transdev subsidiary Nord-Ostsee-Bahn have formally objected to the Land of Schleswig-Holstein’s selection of DB Regio for the contract to operate Bahnnetz-West passenger services from December 2016. Their appeal is expected to be heard in September. The contract covers the 238 km service RE6 from ...
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NewsSydney suburban fleet modernisation contract awarded
AUSTRALIA: Transport for New South Wales has awarded the UGL Unipart Rail joint venture an A$131m contract to modernise Sydney Trains’ fleet of 446 Tangara suburban electric multiple-unit cars by July 2018. The aim is to extend their service life and undertake ‘customer experience enhancements’ on the EMUs which ...
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NewsFeature articles in the August 2015 issue of Railway Gazette International
Feature articles in the latest issue of Railway Gazette International, the leading business journal for railway operators and suppliers, read in 140 countries. Subscribe to Railway Gazette International today. Comment World Congress on High Speed Rail: a sober outlook in Tokyo News Main Line Urban ...
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NewsMidi-Pyrénées orders more multiple-units
FRANCE: Alstom Transport announced a €46m order to supply a further five electric and three electro-diesel Régiolis multiple-units to the Midi-Pyrénées region on August 5. This follows from an initial 25 units ordered in 2009 which began entering service on the routes from Toulouse to Latour-de-Carol and Mazamet from ...
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NewsKiwiRail seeks interest in Napier – Gisborne line
NEW ZEALAND: KiwiRail has invited proposals from freight or tourist train operators interested in a non-exclusive licence to run services on the 210 km Napier – Gisborne line on North Island. Tenders are due by September 10, with the final decision scheduled to be announced by mid-October. ‘A number ...
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NewsPraha plans driverless metro line
CZECH REPUBLIC: Praha city council has announced plans to build the future metro Line D for operation with three-car driverless trainsets. The 10·6 km line with 10 stations would run south from Náměstí Míruto, splitting into to two branches terminating at Modřany and Depo Písnice. It is intended to ...
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NewsNeil Robertson
Neil Robertson has been appointed Chief Executive of the UK’s National Skills Academy for Railway Engineering, succeeding Gil Howarth who is re-establishing his former Howarth & Co Consultancy.
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NewsFinnish open access locomotive on test
FINLAND: The first of three locomotives which privately-owned Fennia Rail ordered from CZ Loko in November 2014 is undergoing trials at the Velim test circuit in the Czech Republic ahead of delivery later this month. The 1 524 mm gauge locomotive has been fitted with 1 435 mm gauge bogies ...
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NewsPR to withdraw all unsubsidised services
POLAND: National regional train operator Przewozy Regionalne has announced its intention to withdraw all its commercially-operated train and bus services with effect from September 1, and instead provide only those services which are subsidised by local authorities. PR introduced its interREGIO and REGIOexpress services in 2009 in an effort to ...
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NewsIrish public transport budget increased
IRELAND: National railway Iarnród Éireann is set to be benefit from an additional €60m which the government has allocated to the Ministry of Transport, Tourism & Sport’s public transport budget for 2015. The aim is to catch up with the backlog of work which resulted from country’s recession. Rolling stock ...
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NewsŠkoda Transportation buys majority stake in Transtech
FINLAND: On August 4 Škoda Transportation Group of the Czech Republic announced that it had completed the acquisition of a controlling stake in Finnish rolling stock manufacturer Transtech from investment company Pritech Oy. Ilka Brotherus will remain as a minority shareholder through family company Sinituote Oy, and the Transtech ...
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NewsPort of Antwerpen seeks last mile operator
BELGIUM: A neutral operator to provide wagonload freight services within the Port of Antwerpen is being sought by Railport Antwerpen NV, a company established by the port authority, the Essenscia federation of chemical and life sciences companies and industry association Alfaport. The aim is to increase the flexibility of ‘last ...