News – Page 17
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Rail Business UKCracks found on Caledonian Sleeper vehicles
UK: A National Incident Report issued on January 10 confirmed that hairline cracks have been found in the T slots of eight of 75 MkV coaches in the Caledonian Sleeper fleet at points where the yaw damper bracket joins the body of the vehicle. Industry sources ...
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NewsBlackRock to acquire Global Infrastructure Partners
INTERNATIONAL: Investment company BlackRock has reached an agreement to acquire Global Infrastructure Partners, which has a portfolio including stakes in Australian rail freight operator Pacific National, rolling stock leasing group VTG and Italian open access high speed train operator Italo. The transaction announced on January 12 ...
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NewsWien S-Bahn ring plans announced
AUSTRIA: The Wien municipality has announced plans to create an S-Bahn ring from 2032 by combining two services and upgrading a freight-only line for passenger use. The orbital service would be formed from the existing S80 and S45 services; S45 trains would be extended from Handelskai ...
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Rail Business UKInnovation in Railway Construction funding announced
UK: Funding to test rail infrastructure technology has been awarded in the second round of the Innovation in Railway Construction competition. The first round covered feasibility studies, and the second round provides funding to take the ideas to concept stage at the Global Centre of Rail ...
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NewsTaiwan Railway restructured as state-owned corporation
TAIWAN: Control of the national rail network has been transferred to a newly established Taiwan Railway Corp, as successor to the former Taiwan Railway Administration. Transformation of the railway from a government department into a state-owned corporation had been under discussion since 2002, but was given ...
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NewsUK underwrites financing for another section of Turkish high speed rail network
TURKEY: The UK government’s export credit agency UKEF has agreed to underwrite a €1·03bn loan arranged by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group for three Turkish companies to construct Turkey’s 140 km long Yerköy – Kayseri route modernisation scheme. UKEF has partnered with export credit agencies from Italy ...
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NewsBari – Bitritto railway opens
ITALY: Revenue passenger services on the newly-built Bari – Bitritto line began on January 9, following an inauguration ceremony the previous day. The standard gauge electrified single-track line is 11·9 km long, with 2·5 km running parallel to the existing Bari – Taranto main line and ...
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NewsKiwiRail orders track inspection car
NEW ZEALAND: KiwiRail has awarded MerMec a contract to supply a replacement track evaluation car. MerMec said the vehicle would provide ‘exhaustive’ real-time track analysis using 12 inspection and measurement systems including lasers, cameras and others sensors. MerMec CEO Luca Necchi Ghiri said the contract announced ...
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NewsÖBB orders the latest evolution of the Mireo EMU family
AUSTRIA: Austrian Federal Railways has placed a firm order for 70 electric multiple-units based on a development of Siemens Mobility’s established Mireo design. The €800m order announced on January 19 is the first to be placed under a €5bn 10-year framework agreement covering up to 540 ...
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In depthEurope: Overnight trains are back in vogue
With the launch of next-generation rolling stock on ÖBB’s international overnight trains and the revival of a Paris – Berlin service, the stage is set for a night train renaissance in Europe. Toma Bačić reports.
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Rail Business UKHS2 route no longer protected from development
UK: The government has formally lifted the planning protection which had been put in place to safeguard the route of the now-cancelled Phase 2a of High Speed 2 between the West Midlands and Crewe. Land close to Handsacre will continue to be safeguarded to allow HS2 ...
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In depthTrack Maintenance: Modular welding offers smoother running
Following service testing with the latest evolution of its proven APT 1500 R flash-butt welding head, Plasser & Theurer is now developing a modular range of carrier vehicles to optimise both design and utilisation.
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Rail Business UKTOPS data integration helps Tarmac optimise rail freight performance
UK: Everysens has integrated data from Network Rail’s Total Operations Processing System into its Transport Visibility & Management System software to enable construction materials company Tarmac to monitor shipments by rail. The TVMS uses data from TRUST (Train Running Under System TOPS) to drive a live ...
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In depthTrack Maintenance: Intelligent wheel-rail conditioning can reduce noise and wear
Advances in the control of wheel-rail conditioning are helping to facilitate a transition from stand-alone wayside and onboard applicators to an intelligent network that continually optimises the management of both friction and noise.
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NewsNarrow gauge hydrogen trains ordered as operator aims to be ‘modern and sustainable‘
ITALY: Reginal operator Ferrovie della Calabria has awarded Stadler a firm order to supply and maintain a further three 950 mm gauge hydrogen multiple-units. The order announced on January 18 has been placed under a June 2023 framework agreement awarded jointly by FdC and Sardinian transport ...
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NewsAlstom selected for Romanian loco order
ROMANIA: Railway reform authority ARF has named Alstom preferred bidder for a contract to supply 16 four-axle electric locomotives. The announcement was made on January 16, with formal award of the contract subject to a 10-day standstill period. The order worth 767·5m lei+VAT, including 20 ...
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NewsRENFE ticket sales competition commitments made legally binding
SPAIN: Commitments which national train operator RENFE made to address the European Commission’s concerns regarding the supply of data to rival ticketing retailers have been made legally binding under EU antitrust rules. ‘Today’s decision opens up competition in online rail ticketing services in Spain’, said Margrethe ...
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NewsDB Regio places order as Coradia Stream high capacity becomes Coradia Max
GERMANY: DB Regio has ordered nine three-car and nine five-car Alstom Coradia Max partly double-deck electric multiple-units. The announcement of the order on January 18 comes after the Länder of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg awarded DB Regio the contract to operate Ostsee-Alster service RE1 between Hamburg ...