Passenger rail news
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NewsHafeet Rail lets contracts to build Oman – UAE railway
ASIA: Three agreements have been signed paving the way for construction of a 303 km mixed-traffic railway linking the port of Sohar in Oman with Abu Dhabi in the UAE. The contracts for the project, which is expected to have a total budget of around US$3bn, ...
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NewsNext-generation Railjets enter service to link three countries
EUROPE: Austrian Federal Railways has put into service the first of its updated Railjet trainsets on services linking Germany, Austria and Italy. Toma Bačić rode on a preview run between München and Verona on April 5.
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NewsIR launches low-cost expresses
INDIA: Indian Railways has introduced a new category of loco-hauled trains, which is intended to provide an enhanced travel experience for its ‘lower class’ passengers who account for the majority of its long-distance traffic. Branded as Amrit Bharat, the trains will offer slightly less basic accommodation ...
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NewsCeremony launches Brightline West’s high speed link to Las Vegas
USA: Project promoter Brightline West held a groundbreaking ceremony on April 22 in Las Vegas to launch its project to build a high speed line from the city to southern California.
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News‘Price dumping’ row mars Ouigo’s latest expansion
SPAIN: SNCF’s low-cost subsidiary Ouigo has further expanded its operations in Spain, launching Madrid – Valladolid services on April 19, consisting of two return trips per day. Single fares start at €9, and initially 14 000 tickets per week have been made available. The operator could ...
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NewsParis Line C investment plan outlined
Photos: Jérémie Anne FRANCE: Paris regional transport authority Ile-de-France-Mobilités has set out revised plans to develop RER Line C, one of the busiest and most operationally challenging in the conurbation. Line C is 176 route-km long and features six branches; it carries up to 540 000 ...
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Rail Business UKDoopee Doo offers rewards to incentivise use of trains and local businesses
UK: Doopee Doo is working with Transport for Wales to roll out a reward scheme which is designed to encourage people to explore by train and to incentivise support for local businesses. Passengers can visit selected destinations to received rewards through an app. Themed packages are ...
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NewsPrasa restores more suburban rail services
SOUTH AFRICA: Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa has restarted its Metrorail suburban rail services on five sections of the networks in the provinces of Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape. Local rail services across the country had been disrupted by a spate of vandalism and cable ...
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NewsA1 rail link extension in Jerusalem approved
ISRAEL: The National Committee for Design & Construction of Infrastructure has approved proposals for an extension of Israel Railways’ direct A1 line under the centre of Jerusalem.
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NewsTrenitalia seeks more business in France
EUROPE: Italian national operator Trenitalia is seeking to expand its presence in the French market by growing both its domestic high speed services and by providing more international links.
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NewsComfortJet cars unveiled in Praha
CZECH REPUBLIC: National operator ČD unveiled the first of its fleet of ComfortJet inter-city trainsets in Praha on April 9. Speaking at the ceremony, Transport Minister Martin Kupka said the trains reflected the ‘qualitative leap’ which ČD’s rolling stock had gone through ...
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NewsStadler selected for Bulgarian double-deck train order
BULGARIA: Stadler has been selected to supply seven double-deck electric multiple-units for use by national passenger operator BDZ . Stadler’s bid came in at 301m leva, including 15 years of maintenance, with a delivery time of 26 months. The 200 km/h units will have a capacity ...
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NewsDublin – Belfast electric-battery trains funded
EUROPE: Funding is now in place for the procurement of electric-battery inter-city trains to increase frequencies and reduce journey times on the cross-border Enterprise service between Dublin and Belfast which is operated jointly by Iarnród Éireann and Northern Ireland Railways. An order for eight 1 600 ...
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Rail Business UKRequest to Stop button ready for trial at Welsh stations
UK: Transport for Wales is to trial a prototype Request to Stop system incorporating train running information and a button which passengers arriving at station can push to alert the driver of the next train to the need to call at a request stop. This removes ...
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NewsETCS delays hinder Uruguayan rail revival
URUGUAY: A number of problems have been preventing the operation of passenger and freight services, with some not expected to be resolved until a new government is formed in March 2025. The railway union is negotiating with the transport ministry for a reorganisation of national railway ...
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Rail Business UKUber looks to bring ridesharing platform to the rail market
UK: Eight of the 10 most popular destinations for Uber trips in the UK are railway stations, and the company is keen to use its globally recognised ridesharing platform to encourage the use of modes which are more sustainable than privately owned cars, Mobility Lead Rebecca ...
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NewsEuropean Rail Timetable business for sale
INTERNATIONAL: Director and Editor-in-Chief John Potter has decided to sell European Rail Timetable Ltd, publisher of the famous red book which contains almost 600 pages of detailed schedule information for 50 000 trains, as well as maps and useful travel information for Europe and beyond. The ...
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NewsFirst Mireo Plus B battery-electric multiple-units enter service
GERMANY: An initial four Siemens Mobility Mireo Plus B battery-electric multiple-units entered passenger service on Netz 8 Ortenau routes in Baden-Württemberg on April 8. ‘We are writing a new chapter in railway history’, said the Land‘s transport minister Winfried Hermann. ’Trains operating in the Ortenau region ...
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NewsČD and RegioJet competition dispute settled
CZECH REPUBLIC: National operator ČD and Open access company RegioJet have agreed to end all legal proceedings relating to a dispute about competition on the Praha – Ostrava line Under the so-called Falcon Case, RegioJet had sought damages of up to KC717m, alleging that ČD had ...
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NewsManila passenger services suspended to accelerate commuter rail construction
PHILIPPINES: March 27 marked the last operation of passenger services for five years in the Manila metropolitan area in order to accelerate construction of the North-South Commuter Railway. Philippine National Railways suspended its diesel-worked operations on the Governor Pascual – Manila Tutuban and Tutuban – Alabang ...