Passenger rail news – Page 115
-
News
Lausanne – Bercher EMU delivered
SWITZERLAND: Chemin de fer Lausanne-Echallens-Bercher has begun taking delivery of six three-car electric multiple-units being supplied by Stadler. The Be 4/8 EMUs ordered in 2017 are derived from the Worbla units which Stadler has supplied to Regionalverkehr Bern-Solothurn. The 23·6 km metre-gauge LEB route between Lausanne-Flon and ...
-
Rail Business UKFirst Trenitalia awarded West Coast Partnership
UK: The consortium of FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) has been selected for the West Coast Partnership franchise to operate intercity services on the West Coast Main Line and the first phase of High Speed 2, the Department for Transport announced on August 14. Final award is ...
-
NewsSunbury line upgrade package
AUSTRALIA: The Victoria state government has approved the first package of civil works to upgrade the 39·5 km Sunbury suburban line, which forms the electrified suburban section of the Melbourne – Bendigo main line. The upgrading will pave the way for enhanced services following completion of the Metro Tunnel ...
-
NewsRegioJet to launch Praha – Wien – Budapest service
EUROPE: Czech open access operator RegioJet has announced plans to launch a long-distance passenger service on the Praha – Wien – Budapest route from June 2020. There would be two trains each way per day, operated as extensions of the Praha – Brno – Wien services which have been running ...
-
NewsAppenzeller Bahnen to Ouagadougou
AFRICA: Société de Transport Ivoiro-Burkinabe has acquired rolling stock formerly used by Appenzeller Bahnen in Switzerland. Following refurbishment in France, the three BDe 4/4 II electric railcars, three ABt driving cars and nine second class coaches are to be used on thrice-weekly services between Abidjan in Côte ...
-
Rail Business UKLevenmouth reopening moves forward
UK: The Scottish Government has given the go-ahead for detailed design work to support the proposed reopening of the 6·5 km railway serving Levenmouth at an estimated cost of £70m, Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure & Connectivity Michael Matheson confirmed on August 8. The rail link had been identified ...
-
NewsAmsterdam – Brussels trainsets ordered
NETHERLANDS: National operator NS has awarded Alstom a contract to supply a further 18 Intercity New Generation 200 km/h electric multiple-units, which will provide it with a pool of 20 units equipped for use on Amsterdam – Brussels services as well as domestic routes. This would enable the locomotive-hauled ...
-
Rail Business UKUK in Interrail and Eurail ticketing dispute
UK: The Rail Delivery Group will cease to be a member of the Eurail Group of railway companies with effect from January 1 2020, ending the ability of visitors to Great Britain to use the Interrail and Eurail pass schemes. RDG offers its own its range of BritRail passes. ...
-
NewsCoast-to-coast cruise train crosses Africa
INTERNATIONAL: On August 2 a passenger train set out on the return leg of a coast-to-coast trip across Africa. Departing from the port of Lobito on Angola’s Atlantic coast and bound for the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam on the Indian Ocean, the train had arrived in Lobito on ...
-
Rail Business UKSouth Eastern franchise competition cancelled pending Rail Review
UK: The Department for Transport terminated the competition for the next South Eastern franchise on August 7, saying it had ‘significant concerns’ that continuing with the process ‘would lead to additional costs incurred to the taxpayer, with no certainty that this would deliver envisaged benefits for passengers ...
-
NewsAlstom to supply 10 EMUs to Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
FRANCE: Alstom is to supply the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region with a further 10 four-car Coradia Polyvalent multi-system electric multiple-units for €70m. The region has previously ordered 17 similar units which are scheduled to enter service on the cross-border Léman Express route to Switzerland in mid-December 2019. The latest batch ...
-
NewsBaden-Württemberg backs battery Mireos
GERMANY: The Land of Baden-Württemberg has decided to order a fleet of 20 Mireo battery-electric multiple units from Siemens Mobility to operate the Netz 8 Ortenau package of regional lines, the state government announced on August 2. Procurement began in May for the concession to operate the electrified route ...
-
NewsTrenitalia plans €2·7bn regional EMU spend
ITALY: State-owned passenger operator Trenitalia has invited expressions of interest by October 1 for the supply of up to 250 single-deck EMUs with an estimated total value of €2·7bn. The FS Group subsidiary is looking to award two four-year framework agreements for EMUs to operate regional passenger services on ...
-
NewsWestbahn to operate RegioJet’s Wien – Praha trains
EUROPE: Open access operators Westbahn and RegioJet have signed an agreement under which Westbahn will take over the ‘technical operation’ in Austria of RegioJet’s international trains which link Wien, Brno and Praha. Since their launch in December 2017, these trains have been operated between Wien Hbf and the Czech ...
-
Editorial CommentComment: Jumping on the night train
After years of decline, overnight trains in Europe could be on the cusp of a renaissance. Rail is increasingly being hailed as a sustainable alternative to short-haul flying, encouraged in part by the flygskam (flight shaming) movement that originated in Sweden, and bolstered by the success of ...
-
NewsMÁV domestic coach production gathers pace
HUNGARY: Following on from two prototype vehicles produced in 2014-15, a series batch of 20 IC+ hauled coaches for international trains has been completed by national railway holding MÁV. The vehicles have been produced in-house at MÁV’s Szolnok workshop. They have been funded by the company and contain more ...
-
NewsCDG Express trains ordered
FRANCE: The Hello Paris consortium selected to operate the CDG Express airport rail link has ordered 13 electric multiple-units to run the service at a cost of €160m, Alstom confirmed on August 1. CDG Express will run for 32 km between Paris-Est and Charles-de-Gaulle airport Terminal 2, using a ...
-
NewsPassenger trains start to serve Yakutsk
RUSSIA: Regular passenger trains have started running on the northern section of the Yakutia Railway, following celebrations on July 27 attended by State Counsellor Vyacheslav Shtyrov, on behalf of the President of the Sakha Republic Aisen Nikolayev. Formal approval of the line for passenger operation was granted on July ...
-
Rail Business UKAzuma launches on Flying Scotsman
UK: East Coast Main Line operator LNER launched its Hitachi-built Class 800 Azuma trainsets on Anglo-Scottish services on August 1, deploying one of the electro-diesel units on its flagship 05.40 Flying Scotsman service from Edinburgh to London King’s Cross and the 17.30 return working. Class 800s have been operating ...
-
Rail Business UK
UK railway news round-up - August 1
On July 25 TransPennine Express accepted the first of the Nova 2 branded Civity EMUs which are being supplied by CAF and Eversholt Rail. The five-car Class 397 units will enter service later this year on TPE’s services from Manchester and Liverpool to Edinburgh and Glasgow via the West Coast ...