News – Page 124
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Metro Report InternationalUrban transport industry news round-up
This week’s round-up of news from the urban transport sector.
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NewsSchleswig-Holstein establishes train leasing company
GERMANY: The Land of Schleswig-Holstein has established its own train leasing company ZUG.SH, saying this will lower financing costs and widen the pool of potential bidders for train operating contracts. ZUG.SH will finance the €500m purchase of 42 Coradia Max partly double-deck electric multiple-units already on ...
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NewsConstruction of Niš railway bypass launched
SERBIA: President Aleksandar Vučić officially launched construction of the 22·5 km Niš bypass railway with a ceremony on July 6. The single-track electrified line designed for 120 km/h running will link Niš Ranžirna yard with Sićevo station on the line to Dimitrovgrad, bypassing the city centre. ...
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NewsRail freight associations raise ‘serious concerns’ about digital automatic couplers
EUROPE: ‘Serious concerns’ about the competitive, economic, technical and operational impact of deploying digital automatic couplers have been set out by associations representing private freight operators in central and eastern Europe
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Metro Report InternationalMultimodal opportunities as Luxembourg tramway extension opens
LUXEMBOURG: The 3·7 km five-stop Phase D extension of the city of Luxembourg’s tramway south from Lycée Bouneweg to Stadion was opened by Mayor Lydie Polfer on July 7. The new terminus provides an interchange with bus services, and a park-and-ride facility is to open in ...
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NewsHumanoid robot to maintain Japanese railway infrastructure
JAPAN: A giant humanoid robot capable of undertaking tasks such as painting lineside structures, cutting back vegetation, lifting heavy objects and performing simple maintenance of overhead electrification equipment has been unveiled by developer Jinki Ittai Corp and West Japan Railway. The robot has two 12·2 m ...
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In depthInterview: Full service and multi-system in demand
Polish leasing company Cargounit is seeing growing demand for multi-system electric locomotives and bi-modes with a last mile capability, and CEO Łukasz Boroń tells Benjámin Zelki that customers are increasingly looking for full-service packages.
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NewsMetro Academy enables rail recruits to hit the ground running
AUSTRALIA: A ‘state-of-the-art’ Metro Academy has been opened in Melbourne to train rail staff ready for the opening of the cross-city suburban rail Metro Tunnel at the end of 2025. The academy has classrooms, tracks and platform replicas, including station equipment, and will support the existing ...
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Rail Business UKScottish transport ticketing goes digital
UK: Unicard has migrated paper-based ZoneCard tickets valid on ScotRail, Glasgow Subway and bus services in the west of Scotland to its ITSO-compliant smart ticketing platform. Strathclyde Partnership for Transport awarded the contract with the aim of improving the passenger experience and reducing the complexity of ...
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NewsVR beats Vy to win next Norrtåg operating contract
SWEDEN: The Norrtåg transport authority owned by four regions in the north of Sweden has selected VR Sverige as preferred bidder for the next contract to operate local passenger train services.
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Metro Report InternationalDenver airport peoplemover cars enter service
USA: Denver International Airport peoplemover operator Alstom has put into service the first six of 26 ‘top-of-the-line’ Innovia APM 300R peoplemover cars which it says will increase ‘capacity, efficiency and comfort’ at one of the world’s largest aviation hubs. ‘Manufactured in the US, and specifically designed ...
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NewsTransFLEX launched to offer freight customers more flexibility
EUROPE: Austrian Federal Railways’ freight business ÖBB Rail Cargo Group has formally launched its TransFLEX product, which aims to offer flexible freight services tailored to a customer’s individual needs. TransFLEX offers ‘uncomplicated ad-hoc or spot’ transport, as well as multimodal service including first and last mile ...
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Rail Business UKTrain operators highlight damage caused by abusive social media messages
UK: A campaign to raise awareness of the damaging effects of sending railway staff abusive social media messages has been launched by 15 train operators, with more expected to join. A short video shows a selection of offensive messages sent to customer contact staff and ...
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Metro Report InternationalMazyr to take delivery of first trams since 1988
BELARUS: The Mazyr tramway which is owned and operated by the oil refinery which it serves is about to take delivery of its first new trams since the 20 km line opened in 1988. In autumn 2024, BKM was awarded a contract to supply 10 Type ...
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NewsKTZ begins taking delivery of CRRC locomotives
KAZAKHSTAN: National railway KTZ has taken delivery of the first four of up to 200 locomotives which are to be supplied by CRRC under a US$1·3bn framework agreement signed when Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev visited China last October. The CKD6S diesel shunting locos being supplied by ...
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NewsMore coaches to boost capacity on Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway
KENYA: A further 20 coaches which CRRC Nanjing Puzhen is supplying to increase capacity on the 480 km Standard Gauge Railway route from Mombasa to Nairobi were shipped from Shanghai at the end of June. The contract signed in September covers a mix of first, second ...
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Rail Business UKRail sector responds to Labour general election win
UK: Organisations from across the rail sector have responded to the outcome of the July 4 general election, which saw a landslide victory for the opposition Labour over the previous Conservative government.
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Metro Report InternationalSiemens Mobility awarded Berlin U-Bahn CBTC contract
GERMANY: Berlin transport operator BVG has awarded Siemens Mobility a contract to supply communications-based train control to support Grade of Automation 2 attended semi-automated operation on metro lines U5 and U8.
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In depthFrance: Fret SNCF faces an uncertain future
Christian Scasso assesses the changes that are set to transform France’s nationalised rail freight operations in 2025.













