All Railway Gazette International articles in October 2015
All articles published this month.
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NewsOpen access can replace long-distance franchises
Earlier this year the UK’s Competition & Markets Authority launched a consultation looking at how greater competition might be introduced on the British network. Nick Brooks responds by arguing for a licensing approach that would allow the open access model to replace franchising on inter-city routes.
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NewsMetro-North locos return to service
USA: The first of seven EMD GP35R diesel locomotives which Brookville Equipment Corp is modernising for New York MTA has re-entered service with Metro-North Commuter Railroad. The locomotives date from 1964 and are used on rescue and works trains. They are being modernised under a contract awarded in 2013, which ...
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NewsOntario appoints high speed rail advisor
CANADA: On October 30 the government of Ontario announced the appointment of former federal Transport Minister David Collenette as a special advisor tasked with developing high speed rail proposals for the Windsor - London - Kitchener-Waterloo - Toronto corridor. Collenette is to work with public and private-sector stakeholders to assess ...
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NewsCAF completes first Santiago trainset
CHILE: CAF announced on October 30 that the first metro trainset to be completed for Santiago had been inspected by Minister of Transport & Telecommunications Andrés Gómes-Lobo and Metro de Santiago President Rodrigo Azócar during a visit to the Spanish rolling stock manufacturer’s Beasain plant. Under a contract awarded in ...
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NewsMHI delivers Ina Line trainsets
JAPAN: The first of three Model 2020 Automated Guideway Transit rubber-tyre light metro trainsets ordered from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is expected to enter service on Saitama New Urban Transit Co’s Ina Line from November 4. The six-car trainsets are expected to replace older stock on the 13 km Omiya – ...
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NewsKim Jong Un inspects North Korean metro trainset
NORTH KOREA: Kim Jong Un, First Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, visited the Kim Jong Thae Electric Locomotive Complex on October 23 to inspect what the official news agency described as a locally-made metro trainset. Pyongyang has two metro lines totalling 22 km, operated using rolling stock acquired ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news in brief
Presenting its financial results for the first nine months of 2015 on October 29, Vossloh AG announced than it was treating its Vossloh Rail Vehicles unit in Valencia as a discontinued operation with effect from September 30. Talks with parties interested in buying the Rail Vehicles unit have been ‘accelerated’, ...
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NewsDieselnetz Südthüringen winner announced
GERMANY: Following a competitive tender, on October 28 the Land of Thüringen named Süd-Thüringen-Bahn as the winner of the next two contacts to operate Dieselnetz Südthüringen local passenger services. Incumbent operator Süd-Thüringen-Bahn is owned by Erfurter Bahn and Hessische Landesbahn. The new contracts will run for 11 years from ...
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NewsQuito metro works contract awarded
ECUADOR: A consortium of Acciona and Odebrecht has been awarded a US$1⋅54bn contact to undertake Phase 2 of the Quito metro, the municipality and project organisation Metro de Quito announced on October 27. The contract covers the construction of 22⋅1 km of tunnels from the bus terminal at Quitumbe in ...
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NewsCongress extends PTC deadline by three years
USA: The potential shutdown of many rail services on January 1 has been avoided, after Congress approved a three-year extension of the federally-mandated December 31 deadline for the installation of Positive Train Control. The installation of PTC by the deadline was not considered feasible by the industry, and without ...
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NewsNTV signs €460m Pendolino contract
ITALY: A €460m contract for the supply of eight Pendolino trainsets and 20 years of maintenance was signed by Flavio Cattaneo, Chief Executive of open access high speed train operator NTV, and Pierre-Louis Bertina, Managing Director of Alstom Transport Italy, on October 29. The first of the 250 km/h Pendolino ...
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NewsFirst South West Trains Class 707 EMU under construction
UK: The first bodyshell for the 30 five-car Class 707 Desiro City electric multiple-units ordered by South West Trains for Windsor – London Waterloo commuter services has been completed at Siemens’ Krefeld factory in Germany. Design work has been finished, and the first EMU is expected to be completed by ...
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NewsSNCF launches digital investment fund
FRANCE: SNCF has launched a €30m SNCF Digital Ventures investment fund, which aims to ‘actively seek and identify digital initiatives that will impact SNCF’s transport business’. The fund will invest in companies that are working with SNCF on innovation, and acquire stakes in companies specialising in areas that ‘are ...
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NewsTfL undertakes further Crossrail 2 consultation
UK: Transport for London has begun public consultation on the route and design of Crossrail 2, a proposed tunnel running under London from Wimbledon in southwest to Tottenham Hale and New Southgate in the north. This would connect existing suburban rail networks at each end. TfL said two previous ...
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NewsTrenitalia planning Paris – Brussels high speed service
EUROPE: Italian national operator Trenitalia has confirmed that it is holding preliminary discussions with its suppliers and relevant regulatory bodies regarding the possible launch of an open access high speed service between Paris and Brussels. Speaking in Milano on October 28, Pietro Diamantini of FS Group's Passenger Division suggested that ...
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NewsEl Paso PCC streetcar modernisation contract awarded
USA: Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority has awarded Brookville Equipment Corp an $18·8m contract to overhaul and modernise six PCC streetcars dating from 1937 for use on the future 7·7 km El Paso Streetcar Project in Texas. Brookville said the aim would be to provide ‘a modern transit solution wrapped ...
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NewsMonitoring tank wagons via satellite
EUROPE: Chemical supplier SABIC is to equip its fleet of 500 chemical tank wagons with ATEX Ovinto Sat M2M tracking and monitoring systems developed by Ovinto based on Globalstar satellite communications technology. Ovinto Sat collates data from various sensors and GPS devices on each of SABIC's wagons, and sends information ...
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NewsRENFE prepares for wi-fi roll-out
SPAIN: National operator RENFE is to equip 89 high speed trainsets as well as 20 suburban stations under the first phase of its wi-fi programme, Development Minister Ana Pastor announced on October 26. Working with its technology partner Telefónica, over the past three months RENFE has been undertaking trials with ...
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NewsMoldova enhances cross-border links
MOLDOVA: National railway CFM has put refurbished diesel multiple-units into service on the route from Chișinău to Iași in Romania, and has signed an agreement with Ukrainian Railways for the reinstatement of the line from the border town of Basarabeasca to Berezyne in Ukraine. Five 1 520 mm gauge ...
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NewsUkrainian Railways becomes joint stock company
UKRAINE: National railway Ukrzaliznytsia was formally registered as a state-owned joint stock company with an authorised capital of 229·9bn hryvnia on October 21. This replaces its previous status as an integral part of the Ministry of Transport, and is intended to give the organisation a more commercial ...