Main line rail industry news – Page 666
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NewsFirst Belgrano Sur DMUs arrive
ARGENTINA: On July 7 Minister of the Interior & Transport Florencio Randazzo visited the Port of Buenos Aires to inspect the first of 27 three-car DMUs ordered from CNR of China for the Belgrano Sur commuter network. According to Randazzo, the new vehicles would be operating ‘in 45 days’. Alongside ...
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NewsAŽD Praha wins Belarus resignalling contract
BELARUS: Belarus Railways has awarded AŽD Praha a KC350m contract to supply signalling equipment for the 86 km Zlobin – Gomel line which being modernised and electrified at 25 kV 50 Hz. The work is being financed using a US$80·7m loan from EximBank of China agreed in 2014, ...
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NewsTET revival plan presented
FRANCE: On July 7 Secretary of State for Transport Alain Vidalies presented the government’s proposals for reviving the Trains d’Equilibre du Territoire, SNCF’s network of conventional long-distance passenger services which have seen traffic fall by 20% since 2011. From €330m in 2014, operating losses are expected to rise to an ...
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NewsMock-up verifies Stadler’s Gotthard train design
SWITZERLAND: Stadler Rail and Swiss Federal Railways are using a full-size wooden mock-up to verify the planned interior design of the 29 Giruno trainsets ordered in May 2014 for use on services from Basel and Zürich to Milano via the Gotthard base tunnel. The mock-up at Stadler’s Bussnang factory ...
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NewsCaspian Sea port link opened
KAZAKHSTAN: President Nursultan Nazarbayev used teleconferencing facilities to formally open the Borzhakty – Ersai railway on July 2. The 13·9 km branch from the Aktau – Uzen line will serve a port which is being developed on the Caspian Sea near Kuryk. Construction of the line including the ...
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NewsMakkah metro civils contractor selected
SAUDI ARABIA: A consortium of Isolux Corsan, Kolin İnşaat Turizm Sanayi ve Ticaret and Haif Company has been selected as preferred bidder for civil works for Makkah metro lines B and C. The €2·3bn contract is expected to be signed in the next few months. The scope covers an ...
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NewsSouth West Trains to be refranchised
UK: Stagecoach Group confirmed on July 7 that the Department for Transport had ended discussions for a new direct award franchise at South West Trains which would have covered the period from February 2017 to at least April 2019. DfT had informed Stagecoach as far back as March 2013 ...
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NewsWiener Lokalbahn to modernise depot
AUSTRIA: This month inter-urban light rail operator Wiener Lokalbahn is to launch a 26-month project to rebuild its Wien-Inzersdorf depot. The project will bring more than 200 operations and maintenance staff together at a 6 500 m² facility meeting modern standards. The site will have 1 720 m of ...
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NewsAlger metro extends
ALGERIA: On July 4 Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal and RATP Group President & Chief Executive Elisabeth Borne inaugurated the first extension of the Alger metro since the line opened in 2011. The 4 km eastern extension from Haï El Badr to El Harrach Centre has three stations, with a ...
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NewsChinese manufacturer invests in US wagon venture
USA: China’s CRRC Corp has taken a minority stake in a joint venture formed by start-up Vertex Rail Technologies and private equity partners to manufacture wagons in Wilmington, North Carolina. Vertex Railcar Corp plans to produce ‘innovative’ tank cars branded Generation Next which would meet the DOT-117 safety standards ...
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NewsStadler Rail switches its focus from east to west
STADLER RAIL: Swiss rolling stock manufacturer Stadler Rail has announced plans to shift the focus of its growth plans away from the CIS and Middle East markets and towards the UK and the USA. On June 19 Stadler said the Swiss national bank’s decision to uncouple the franc from the ...
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NewsHuawei awarded Turkmenistan GSM-R contract
TURKMENISTAN: The Ministry of Railway Transport has awarded Huawei a contract to supply GSM-R for the 265 km line from Bereket to Ak Yayla on the Iranian border. The line was officially inaugurated by the presidents of Turkmenistan, Iran and Kazakhstan on December 3 last year. The scope of ...
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NewsNRE locos arrive in Abidjan
CÔTE D'IVOIRE: The first two of six GT26 diesel locomotives being supplied from the USA by NRE were unloaded at the Port of Abidjan on June 24. The remaining four are scheduled to arrive by August. Bolloré Africa Logistics subsidiary Sitarail holds the concession to operate the 1 260 ...
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NewsTallinn to Russia passenger services to be revived
EUROPE: Russian Railways’ Federal Passenger Co announced on July 3 that it is to launch a daily Moscow – St Petersburg – Tallinn service on July 10. RZD said it was ‘interested in organising stable international passenger traffic between Russia and Estonia’. The service will replace the separate trains from ...
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NewsHelsinki airport rail link opens
FINLAND: The Ring Rail Line linking Helsinki with Vantaa Airport opened to passengers on July 1. The 18 km route forms a loop joining the Helsinki – Lahti main line and the Martinlaakso branch in the west. After leaving the main line north of Tikkurlia, trains pass over a 500 ...
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NewsDVV Media acquires Rail Business Awards
UK: As part of the Railway Gazette Group’s continued commitment to the UK railway sector, DVV Media UK Ltd has acquired Rail Business Awards Ltd with effect from July 1. Developed and managed for the past 18 years by Woodhouse Communications, the Rail Business Awards recognise the very best of ...
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NewsMedellín metro orders more CAF cars
COLOMBIA: Spanish rolling stock manufacturer CAF announced on July 2 that it had signed an €89m contract with Empresa de Transporte Masivo Valle de Aburrá to supply 20 three-car trainsets for the Medellín metro. CAF said that the order has been placed in response to growing passenger numbers, and ...
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NewsStrukton Rail takes over Dutch industrial sidings
NETHERLANDS: With effect from July 1 Strukton Rail has acquired Netherlands Railways’ NS Spooraansluitingen business, which manages and maintains 130 km of track and 391 turnouts at industrial sites belonging to around 100 companies. As part of the takeover NSS has been rebranded as Strukton Rail Short Line. NS had ...
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NewsReykjavík light rail proposal
ICELAND: Outline proposals for a light rail network in Reykjavík are included in a long-term development strategy for the area around the capital which has been produced by the Samtök Sveitarfélaga á Höfuðborgarsvæðinu group of municipalities. The City Line would be intended to keep car traffic at current levels despite ...