All Railway Gazette International articles in May 2020 – Page 6
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Metro Report InternationalSocial distancing measures in place as Transport for London increases services
UK: ‘Coronavirus poses monumental challenges to our city’s complex public transport network’, said Mayor of London Sadiq Khan on May 18, when Transport for London began increasing its services to accommodate growing ridership as coronavirus lock-down measures are eased. The increase in services ...
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NewsMore modernisation work to start on Douro Valley line
Douro Valley Pinhao (Photos: Luis Almeida) PORTUGAL: Infraestruturas de Portugal is to modernise a further section of the Douro Valley line after receiving notice to proceed from both the finance and infrastructure ministries. The scenic route links Porto with Pocinho, a distance ...
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NewsClimate change question in REMSA’s 2020 scholarship application
USA: The Railway Engineers Maintenance Suppliers Association has made climate change the focus of its 2020 scholarship programme, for which applications close on May 29. Applicants are being asked to draft an essay addressing ‘in what ways can the freight rail industry can benefit our environment? Do ...
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Metro Report InternationalTorino looks to the future with Hitachi Rail tram order
ITALY: ‘This is great news that bring us into the future’, said GTT Chief Executive Giovanni Foti, announcing that the Torino city transport operator had finalised a framework agreement for Hitachi Rail to supply up to 70 trams, with a firm order for an initial 30 vehicles. ...
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NewsETCS tested in Galicia as high speed corridor nears completion
SPAIN: A series of high speed test runs using ETCS Level 2 were made over the 111 km section of high speed line between Zamora and Pedralba de la Pradería in Galicia on May 15-19. A Class 112 electric trainset made a series of trips under simulated ...
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NewsFirst domestic freight train transits the Marmaray tunnel
TURKEY: The first domestic freight train has passed through the Marmaray rail tunnel linking Europe to Asia under the Bosporus in Istanbul, Turkey’s Ministry for Transport & Infrastructure reports. The train comprised 16 wagons carrying 32 containers of plastic raw materials, which were being transported 524 km ...
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Rail Business UKInvestigation into human performance in signalling operations published
UK: The Rail Accident Investigation Branch has published the results of an investigation into human performance during signalling operations, looking at what affects decisions made by signallers and the systemic factors which may influence them. The investigation examined five categories of incident: user worked crossing irregularities; ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
The Rwandan High Commissioner, DR Congo chargé d’affaires and a representative from South Sudan visited Kenya Railways’ Naivasha Inland Container Depot on May 12 to see its capabilities for handling freight in transit from the port of Mombasa to their countries. The 45 000 m2 facility has ...
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Metro Report InternationalUraltransmash tests domestically-developed tram
RUSSIA: Uraltransmash has begin trials with its Type 71-418 tram design in Yekaterinburg. The Type 71-418 was unveiled at the INNOPROM exhibition last year, and has been entirely developed and manufactured in Russia. The three-section 100% low-floor vehicle is 27·8 m long with a capacity of 320 ...
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NewsSwiss narrow gauge operators to study merger
SWITZERLAND: The Frauenfeld-Wil-Bahn and Appenzeller Bahnen boards have agreed to examine a possible merger of the two companies. The 1 000 mm gauge networks are not connected, but the companies have worked together since 2003 and it is envisaged that combining could reduce costs. ...
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NewsRegioJet prepares to launch Praha – Przemyśl service
EUROPE: Independent operator RegioJet has taken delivery of another nine 160 km/h air-conditioned couchette cars from DB. Formerly used on CityNightLine trains, the Type Bvcmz coaches which arrived in late April follow 18 similar vehicles which were acquired in 2019. After they have been refurbished, RegioJet plans ...
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Metro Report InternationalTransport for London to receive emergency funding
UK: The government has agreed to provide a grant of £1·095bn and a loan of £505m from the Public Works Loan Board to support continuity of operations at Transport for London. In return for the package of support running to October 17 which was agreed on May ...
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NewsPartnership to offer mission-critical IoT radio communications in the rail market
NORTH AMERICA: Siemens Mobility and private licensed wireless data network developer Ondas Networks have announced an exclusive partnership to offer a Siemens-branded portfolio of radio communications in the North American rail market. This will feature dual-mode equipment that is interoperable with Siemens Mobility’s extensive installed base of ...
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Rail Business UKHS2 signalling and traffic management procurement gets underway
UK: HS2 Ltd has formally begun the process of selecting a contractor to design, supply and support Control, Command, Signalling and Traffic Management Systems for the future high speed line. The contracts with an estimated combined value of £540m will cover: design, supply, installation, commissioning and ...
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NewsIndustry calls for improvements to Australian rail tendering processes
AUSTRALIA: The Australasian Railway Association has made 21 recommendations for simplifying and reducing the cost and time required to tender rolling stock and signalling contracts. ‘Australian tendering costs are higher than global benchmarks and that makes it harder to get projects out of the planning phase into ...
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NewsFIOL revival planned in stimulus package
BRAZIL: Transport Minister Tarcísio de Freitas is seeking R$480m from the national budget in order to restart construction of the East-West Integration Railway. The funds would be provided as part of the Pró-Brasil national economic stimulus package announced on April 24. The 1 527 km Ferrovia de ...
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Rail Business UKFranchising faces an uncertain future as ‘the clock is ticking’ on emergency agreement
UK: The only certainty in the UK rail sector at the moment is that the future is uncertain, particularly as the government’s long-term message is still to avoid using public transport if at all possible, whilst encouraging people to return to work. The Department for Transport’s Emergency ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
Captrain company ITL has begun work on a €2·4m project to expand its workshops at Pirna near Dresden with the provision of new training, storage and staff areas, as well as locomotive and wagon washing equipment. FreightCar America has reported Q1 revenue of ...
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Metro Report InternationalTramino II enters service in Braunschweig
GERMANY: Braunschweig city transport operator BSVG has put the first of seven Tramino II trams into regular service. ‘We are very happy that our fleet is now even more modern’, said Managing Director Jörg Reincke on May 6, noting that the fleet would ...
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Rail Business UKNorthumberland Line reopening plan advances
UK: Following the completion of the outline business case and option selection, AECOM and SLC Rail have been give the go-ahead to provide project management, design, operations and advisory services for the design phase of the Northumberland Line project. This would see the the reintroduction of passenger ...