All Railway Gazette International articles in October 2014 – Page 4
-
NewsFirst Series H5 Shinkansen trainset arrives in Hokkaido
JAPAN: The first Series H5 trainset for the Hokkaido Shinkansen was delivered to the island on October 13. A welcoming ceremony was held at Haldane Harbour before the vehicles were transferred by road to JR Hokkaido’s Nanae depot. Built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Kobe, the trainset had been ...
-
NewsUrban rail news in brief - October 2014
The Andhra Pradesh government is reviewing bids to undertake feasibility studies for a metro in Visakhapatnam. Toronto’s first Bombardier Flexity Outlook trams entered service on the 510 Spadina route on August 31. The 100% low-floor cars are part of the first new generation of streetcars in the city ...
-
NewsPresident reopens railway to Jaffna
SRI LANKA: The final section of line reconnecting the Jaffna peninsula in the north with the rest of the rail network was formally opened by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on October 13. The 38 km Pallai – Jaffna link restores what was one of Sri Lanka Railways' most important routes before ...
-
NewsUK invites interest in buying 40% stake in Eurostar
EUROPE: The British government formally invited expressions of interest in buying its 40% stake in cross-Channel high speed train operator Eurostar International Ltd on October 13. Potential bidders have until October 31 to respond, with the government saying its key objective is to ‘maximise value for money for the ...
-
NewsGeraud Boursin
FRANCE: Urban rail operator RATP Dev reshuffled its commercial team on September 1 by splitting its development division in two. A Bids Development team is led by Geraud Boursin (photo), while former Development Director Alain Polonsky leads the Strategy & Business Relations unit.
-
NewsDavid Statham
UK: David Statham started as Managing Director of operator Southeastern on September 15. He was previously Managing Director at First Capital Connect.
-
NewsConsortium agrees to buy Porterbrook
UK: The owners of rolling stock leasing company Porterbrook Rail Finance Ltd announced an agreement for the sale of their interests to an international consortium of investors on October 10. The transaction is expected to close by the end of October. Porterbrook owns and manages around 5 900 passenger ...
-
NewsJesper Lok
DENMARK: DSB Chief Executive Jesper Lok has tendered his resignation and will leave the national operator when a successor is found, or by August 31 2015 at the latest.
-
NewsPhil Hufton
UK: Network Rail announced on September 15 that Phil Hufton is to replace Robin Gisby (photo) as Managing Director, Network Operations. Hufton joins NR next year from London Underground, where he is Chief Operating Officer.
-
NewsMuhammad Anwar Bubak
PAKISTAN: Pakistan Railways has appointed Muhammad Anwar Bubak as General Manager, Operations, in succession to Anjum Pervez, who has retired.
-
NewsMinistries restructured
KAZAKHSTAN: Under a wide-ranging restructuring of President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s government which was launched in August, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Transport & Communications has been merged with the Ministry of Industry & New Technologies, National Space Agency and the Communication & Information Agency. Within the combined ministry, former Minister of Transport & ...
-
NewsŠefcovic to succeed Kallas
EUROPE: Slovakian MEP Maroš Šefcovic (photo) has been nominated in the college of European Commission President-Elect Jean-Claude Juncker as Commissioner for Transport & Space, with responsibility for the DG MOVE directorate-general. Šefcovic will also supervise the activities of the European Railway Agency. Provided his appointment is ratified by a vote ...
-
NewsBudapest awards €91m fare collection system contract
HUNGARY: Budapest transport authority BKK has awarded Scheidt & Bachmann a €91m five-year contract to design, supply and manage an automated multi-modal fare collection system. The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development is providing €54·5m to finance the project, and the municipality HF5·3bn. Scheidt & Bachmann and its Hong Kong-based ...
-
NewsHigh-capacity wagons for Volkswagen's inbound logistics
EUROPE: Following successful trials with two prototypes, this month leasing company Touax Rail is to supply Volkswagen with the first series-built vehicles from an order for 300 high-capacity sliding-wall wagons. Volkswagen Logistics awarded Touax a contract in October 2013 for the development and lease of 300 twin-axle wagons, which were ...
-
NewsZSSK seeks locomotives and coaches
SLOVAKIA: National passenger operator ZSSK has called separate tenders for the supply of multi-voltage electric locomotives and coaches. Six four-axle 6·0 MW electric locomotives with a maximum speed of 200 km/h are required to replace ageing Škoda Class 350 locomotives on EC and IC services on the Praha – ...
-
NewsAtlanta Streetcar starts test running
USA: The first light rail vehicle for the Atlanta Streetcar line began test running under its own power on October 1. Siemens has supplied four cars from its S70 Avanto LRV family under a $17·2m contract awarded in 2011. These are powered from overhead wires at 750 V DC. ...
-
NewsChicago commuter modernisation plan
USA: Chicago commuter rail operator Metra has proposed a 10-year, $2·4bn modernisation plan, which it says is the ‘first long-term rolling stock plan in Metra history’. Of the current fleet of 837 coaches, 40% date from before the 1990s. The plan would see the purchase of 367 new cars ...
-
NewsWien Hauptbahnhof officially inaugurated
AUSTRIA: Wien Hauptbahnhof was formally inaugurated by President Heinz Fischer when he launched two days of celebrations at the capital's new main station at 10.00 on October 10. The through station integrates north–south and east–west routes including three TEN corridors by replacing the former Südbahnhof and Ostbahnhof termini which ...
-
NewsHitachi to build ScotRail EMUs
UK: Hitachi Rail Europe confirmed on October 9 that it has been selected as preferred bidder to supply and maintain a fleet of electric multiple-units for the next ScotRail franchise, which had been awarded to Abellio by Transport Scotland the previous day. Subject to the successful conclusion of negotiations, Hitachi ...
-
NewsWorld rail market October 2014
Belgium: Danobat is to supply an underfloor wheel lathe for De Lijn’s Oostende tram depot. Germany: Nomad Digital is to supply wi-fi equipment for 20 Alstom Coradia EMUs ordered for use on Elektro-Netz Niedersachsen-Ost services. Poland: BillBird is rolling out electric invoicing for PKP Cargo. PR has ...