All News articles – Page 6
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NewsMore EU funding to enhance the Kosovan network
KOSOVO: A second tranche of EU funding worth €17·2m has been awarded to Kosovo to support rehabilitation of the railway between Fushë Kosovë and Mitrovicë, which is on the main line running south towards the border with FYR Macedonia and is part of pan-European Corridor X. The EU funding is ...
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NewsHopes rise for trans-Korean rail traffic
ASIA: The first train in a decade to cross the border between the two Koreas passed through the Demilitarised Zone on November 30 as negotiations begin to restore international rail traffic between the two countries. Staffed by 28 South Korean specialists, the test train is due to spend 18 days ...
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NewsPoroshenko inaugurates airport link in Kyiv
UKRAINE: On November 30, national railway UZ introduced an airport shuttle branded Kyiv Boryspil Express between the city’s Pasazhyrskiy station and its principal airport. The rail link to Boryspil airport has been completed within a budget of 480m hryvna; it required construction of a 4 km branch running south from ...
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NewsBrightline to negotiate land leases as Orlando – Tampa proposal progresses
USA: The state of Florida has chosen to accept a proposal from inter-city passenger company Brightline to develop a route between Orlando and Tampa, largely following trunk roads. Brightline had initially proposed the route as the third phase of its network; Florida Governor Rick Scott then issued a request for ...
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NewsNew York MTA to acquire Grand Central Terminal
USA: New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority has agreed to purchase Grand Central Terminal and sections of the Hudson and Harlem commuter rail lines, correcting what it terms a ‘historical quirk’ of New York infrastructure ownership. The acquisitions, valued at $35m, were approved at an MTA finance committee meeting in mid-November. ...
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NewsStadler rolls out Guardia with BLS as it expands into signalling
SWITZERLAND: Field tests and approval work is now underway ahead of the introduction of Stadler’s first onboard train protection unit with BLS. Stadler describes the development of the Guardia ETCS onboard unit as a ‘key milestone’ in its history. The Swiss company has previously focused on producing vehicles, but two ...
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NewsMedway seeks Iberian freight growth
PORTUGAL: Private freight operator Medway is planning to invest €25m in a new intermodal terminal at Famalicão. The subsidiary of shipping line MSC Group hopes that construction can begin next year, once Famalicão municipality and infrastructure manager Infraestruturas de Portugal have given final sign-off. According to Medway President Carlos ...
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NewsMarmaray corridor to open in Q1 2019, minister says
TURKEY: Transport Minister Cahit Turhan provided a progress update on November 16 on three new line projects as they near completion under the railway investment Master Plan. The government’s priority is completion of the surface works along the Marmaray corridor which runs across Istanbul from Gebze on the Asian side ...
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News‘Broad coalition’ needed to deliver HS2
UK: ‘It will take a broad coalition involving us, the supply chain and local and national government to deliver this project’, Mark Thurston, Chief Executive of government high speed rail project delivery company HS2 Ltd told the All-Party Parliamentary Rail Group on November 20. He was updating parliamentarians on progress ...
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News‘Serious challenges’ facing California high speed programme
USA: The programme to build a high speed rail network through California linking Los Angeles with the San Francisco Bay Area is facing ‘serious challenges’, according to a report issued by the state auditor on November 15. Many of the risks relate to California High Speed Rail Authority’s decision to ...
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NewsPrivate funding needed under C$6bn VIA Rail investment plan
CANADA: National passenger operator VIA Rail says that private-sector backing will be needed to support an investment programme worth more than C$6bn over the next decade. Chief Executive Yves Desjardins-Siciliano told the Terrapinn World Rail Festival conference in Amsterdam on November 13 that VIA Rail’s most pressing priority is to ...
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NewsSHERPA project tackles terrorist threat to railways
EUROPE: The Shared & coHerent European Railway Protection Approach project to address risks associated with terrorist threats to trains and stations was launched in Paris on November 13. The 24-month SHERPA project is being funded by a grant from the European Union’s Internal Security Fund Police and co-ordinated by ...
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NewsMercitalia launches high speed freight service
ITALY: FS Group freight subsidiary Mercitalia is to launch its first high speed freight service on November 7. FS says the Mercitalia Fast service is designed to meet the needs of express courier companies, logistics operators, producers and distributors. Operated by a converted ETR500 trainset, the Mercitalia Fast overnight service ...
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NewsContract to modernise Turkey – Bulgaria main line awarded
TURKEY: Working with the Directorate-General for Foreign Relations & European Union Affairs, the transport ministry has awarded a contract to modernise a 200 km section of the main line which links Istanbul with the Bulgarian border to a consortium of domestic construction and contracting groups Gulermak Agir Sanayii ve Taah ...
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NewsBranch line to serve Samsun logistics hub
TURKEY: Infrastructure manager TCDD has awarded a TL190m contract for the construction of a railway between the existing Samsun - Sivas line and TCDD's Gelemen rail logistics centre. The lead contractor will be a consortium of Dekovil Entegre Sistemler and Feza Taahut. The contract involves construction of a 6·7 km ...
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Rail Business UKEurostar to expand Amsterdam service next year
EUROPE: Cross-Channel high speed operator Eurostar expects to launch a third daily train between London and Amsterdam in June 2019, reflecting the initial success of the route which was launched with two trains per day in April this year. Eurostar reports that it has already carried more than 130 000 ...
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NewsSBB Cargo to test autocouplers in intermodal traffic
SWITZERLAND: In January 2019 SBB Cargo plans to begin a full-scale test of wagons fitted with automatic couplers on intermodal services. Under a SFr1·5m programme, a fleet of 100 wagons has been equipped with hybrid couplings that feature an autocoupler which folds up to reveal a conventional screw coupler. SBB’s ...
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NewsBonomi launches updated Omnia cantilever design
ITALY: Electrification specialist Gruppo Bonomi has updated its Omnia cantilever design with what it terms a ‘self-supporting’ variant suited to use in tunnels and other restricted access sites. The Omnia range of overhead line structures has been offered by the Italian supplier since 2008 and has been approved for use ...
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NewsBluetooth beacon competition to enhance stations
FRANCE: SNCF’s stations business Gares & Connexions has launched an innovation competition branded Open Beacon aimed at enhancing the accessibility of and service offering at major stations. The term ‘open beacon’ refers to Gares & Connexions’ plan to install Bluetooth geolocation tags in more than 300 stations across the country. ...
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Rail Business UKWorld rail freight news round-up
Marking 10 years of direct intermodal trains between China and Germany, Deutsche Bahn has established DB Cargo Eurasia as a dedicated business unit to develop Eurasian transit freight. DB and partners including Russian Railways launched a single train between Xiangtang and Hamburg in 2008; it now runs 3 600 per ...