All Railway Gazette International articles in March 2017 – Page 5
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Russia's government has launched a programme offering financial support for the replacement of life-expired shunting and other locomotives used on industrial railways which do not form part of the national network. On March 15 Mexico’s Economic Competition Commission published an abstract of a preliminary report which has concluded that there ...
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Metro Report InternationalTrump budget proposes cuts to urban transport grants
USA: In a blueprint for its proposed Financial Year 2018 budget, the Trump administration is planning to cut funding for the Department of Transportation to $16bn, a 13% reduction on that available for FY2017. Under the proposals, swingeing cuts would be made both to passenger train and municipal transport ...
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NewsLow emissions locos delivered to Texas
USA: Knoxville Locomotive Works has begun delivering its largest order for low-emissions diesel locomotives. The Type SE10B and SE15B locos were ordered by Locomotive Solutions for use at chemical plants in Texas, with partial funding from the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan administered by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. ...
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NewsRFI approves WEGH under-sleeper pads
ITALY: Infrastructure manager RFI has approved the use of WEGH Group’s concrete sleepers with under-sleeper pads on the national network. The USP has two surfaces, one attached to the underside of the sleeper using a machine built by WEGH’s Olmi division to ensure consistency, and a resilient portion which is ...
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NewsTrump proposes dramatic cuts to Amtrak operations and capital project grants
USA: In a blueprint for its proposed Financial Year 2018 budget, the Trump administration is planning to cut funding for the Department of Transportation to $16bn, a 13% reduction on that available for FY2017. Under the proposals, swinging cuts would be made both to passenger train and municipal transport ...
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Metro Report InternationalFreiburg offers electric cargo bike hire
GERMANY: Freiburg public transport operator VAG and the Südbaden branch of motoring association ADAC have added two electric cargo bikes to the city’s existing cargo bike hire offering. The city’s free LastenVelo Freiburg cargo bike hire service already has three three-wheel and two two-wheel conventional cargo cycles. The latest ...
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Metro Report InternationalValley Metro renews operating contract
USA: Valley Metro has approved a five-year extension to Alternate Concepts Inc’s contract to operate the 42 km light rail network centred on Phoenix. ACI has operated the line for Valley Metro since before the opening in December 2008. In fiscal year 2016 the network carried 15·6 million passengers ...
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NewsVityaz-M trams enter service in Moscow
RUSSIA: Two prototype Vityaz-M trams entered revenue service in Moscow on March 17. They had arrived at arrived at the Bauman depot on January 27. Moscow tram operator Mosgortrans ordered 300 three-section trams from a consortium of Transmashholding subsidiary Metrowagonmash and PK Transportnye Systemy last year. Deliveries from TMH’s ...
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Metro Report InternationalCRRC begins construction of Chicago factory
USA: CRRC Sifang America held a groundbreaking ceremony for its rolling stock assembly plant in Chicago on March 16. CRRC intends the 35 390 m2 factory in the Hegewisch district of southeast Chicago to become its North American assembly hub. Chicago Transit Authority awarded CRRC Sifang a framework contract ...
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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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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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Metro Report InternationalTaking a regional approach to journey planning
FRANCE: The Syndicat Mixte Intermodal Régional de Transports grouping of transport authorities in northern France has become the first organisation to deploy Conduent’s Mobility Companion Platform. The journey planner aims to simplify and encourage the use of public transport across the region. The passpass.fr website enables door-to-door journey planning ...
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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 ...