News – Page 136
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NewsNarrow-bodied EMUs ordered for Swiss line with restricted clearances
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has awarded Stadler a SFr140m contract to supply 11 narrow-bodied electric multiple-units for use on Seetalbahn services from Luzern to Emmenbrücke and Lenzburg. The route between Emmenbrücke and Lenzburg was originally built partly as a roadside light railway, and vehicles are restricted ...
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Rail Business UKBuckinghamshire HS2 viaducts make progress
UK: The EKFB joint venture of Eiffage, Kier, Ferrovial Construction and BAM Nuttall has made significant progress in the construction of two major viaducts on the section of High Speed 2 it is building in Buckinghamshire.
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NewsEuregiobahn electrification funded
GERMANY: Funding has been confirmed for the 15 kV 16·7 Hz electrification of the 47 km Euregiobahn network of local passenger routes in the Aachen area. The federal government has agreed to cover 90% of the €43m cost, with the Land and infrastructure owner Euregio Verkehrsschienennetz ...
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Metro Report InternationalKøbenhavn tram test running begins
DENMARK: København’s Hovedstadens Letbane has carried out the first test run between the light rail line’s depot at Rødovre Nord and Glostrup, 6 km to the south. The daytime test on August 14 was the first time one of the fleet of 29 Avenio LRVs built ...
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Metro Report InternationalBerlin calls tramway extension planning tender
GERMANY: Berlin transport operator BVG has called tenders for the provision of planning services to support the development of a proposed extension of tram Route M17 from Johannisthal to Gropiusstadt in the southeast of the capital. Preliminary feasibility and economic viability studies were completed in 2023, ...
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Rail Business UKTinted window film to reduce train air-conditioning needs
UK: TransPennine Express is trialling two tinted window films which it hopes will reduce solar heating and thus lower the energy used by train air-conditioning systems. The operator expects the film supplied by Aura Brand Solutions to block more than 30% of solar energy and 99·9% ...
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NewsCaltrain Downtown Rail Extension contract awarded
USA: The Transbay Joint Powers Authority has selected the AECOM-led Portal Connectors team to provide programme management and construction management services for the long-planned extension of Caltrain commuter rail services into central San Francisco. Downtown Rail Extension Branded as The Portal, the Downtown Rail Extension project ...
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Metro Report InternationalBattery-electric tampers ordered for rubber-tyred metro lines
FRANCE: Infrastructure maintenance contractor TSO has ordered two Plasser & Theurer MetroFlex E³ battery-electric tamping machines customised for use on the rubber-tyred metro lines in Paris. A special tamping concept is necessary to deal with the complex trackform; the rubber tyred wheelsets run on horizontal guideways ...
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NewsIndian cabinet approves construction of eight railway lines
INDIA: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved eight new line projects which are intended to improve connectivity, minimise logistics costs, reduce oil imports and lower CO2 emissions. The projects approved on August 9 include 64 stations providing enhanced connectivity for about 400 000 people. ...
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NewsSubic – Batangas railway study to be commissioned
PHILIPPINES: The Department of Transportation is to call tenders at the end of this year for a feasibility study into a proposed 250 km freight railway between Subic Bay, Clark, Manila and Batangas. Philippine National Railways Chairman Michael Macapagal told local media in July that the ...
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Metro Report InternationalChildren with Down’s syndrome act as tram conductors
NETHERLANDS: Staff on Amsterdam tram Route 26 gave children with Down’s syndrome the chance to be conductors for a day, opening and closing the doors and announcing the stops.
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NewsVR to divest infrastructure assets to facilitate Finnish rail competition
FINLAND: ‘Our strategy focuses on profitability, growth and creating a values-based VR culture’, VR Group CEO Elisa Markula said when she the presented the national operator’s H1 2024 results on August 16 and set out plans to divest some assets to facilitate competition. With the opening ...
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Rail Business UKLNER withdraws flexible off peak fares from more stations
UK: LNER’s pilot scheme withdrawing flexible Off-Peak and Super Off-Peak fares is to be expanded to cover journeys between London and more than 20 stations around and between Newcastle, Berwick-upon-Tweed and Edinburgh from September 30. In January, the nationalised operator launched a two-year ‘Simpler Fares’ trial ...
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Rail Business UKAll-day off-peak fare trial fails to achieve modal shift goals
UK: A pilot scheme which removed peak fares on ScotRail services in favour of offering cheaper off-peak fares all day is to end, after analysis found only ‘a limited degree of success’ in achieving modal shift from cars The Scottish government spent £40m subsidising the ScotRail ...
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Metro Report InternationalConstruction starts on Istanbul’s next tram line
TURKEY: Construction has started on a 3·2 km section of tramway in central Istanbul, linking Feshane on tram Line T5 with Bayrampaşa Meydan. Known as the Eyüpsultan – Bayrampaşa Tramway, the route will form a tangential link between the existing T5 light ...
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NewsFederal budget increases equity in DB InfraGO
GERMANY: The federal government has agreed to changes in the national budget for 2025 that will replace a provision for grants worth €4∙5bn by equity increases in Deutsche Bahn’s infrastructure business, DB InfraGO. In the same statement on August 16, the government announced that DB would ...
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NewsBilingual station signs installed in Austria
AUSTRIA: Austria Federal Railways has begun installing bilingual signs at stations in communities that are legally defined as bilingual. The first such signs were installed at St Michael ob Bleiburg/Šmihel pri Pliberku station. Four stations in the Land of Kärnten are to get signs in Slovenian, ...
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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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NewsBrussels – Venezia night train to serve winter sports and city break destinations
EUROPE: Open access night train operator European Sleeper is to launch a seasonal Brussels – Utrecht – Köln – München – Innsbruck – Verona – Venezia service to winter sports and city trip destinations. The service is being planned around school holidays, the peak winter sports ...