Passenger rail news – Page 117
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NewsHigher capacity double-deck coach on test
ISRAEL: National railway ISR has reconfigured three of its Bombardier Transportation double-deck coaches with a revised interior layout designed to provide a 20% increase in capacity per vehicle In order to accommodate more standing passengers, the seats and tables have been removed from the lower deck and replaced with the ...
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NewsNational control centre approved
IRELAND: The construction of a €135m National Train Control Centre to manage the entire Iarnród Éireann network was approved by the Irish government on July 17. The new centre is to be delivered by IÉ, with government funding provided through the National Transport Authority as part of Project Ireland ...
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NewsFuzhou Changle airport lines approved
CHINA: The National Development & Reform Commission has approved the construction of two railway lines to provide access to Fuzhou Changle International Airport in Fujian province. The Fuzhou – Changle airport line will be 58 km long, running from Fuzhou’s main station to Changle Airport via Nantaidao, Changle, and ...
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NewsElectrification goes live in northern Portugal
PORTUGAL: Prime Minister António Costa and Housing & Infrastructure Minister Pedro Nuno Santos attended ceremonies on July 16 to mark completion of two electrification schemes on routes north of Porto. Both projects are part of the government’s Ferrovia 2020 investment plan. A 14·2 km section of the Porto – ...
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Metro Report InternationalMÁV-Start’s first Kiss rolled out
HUNGARY: Stadler’s factory in Dunakeszi has rolled out the first Kiss double-deck electric multiple-unit for national passenger operator MÁV-Start, which has so far ordered a total of 19 under a 2017 eight-year framework agreement for up to 40. Testing is to be undertaken in Germany and the Czech Republic, ...
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Rail Business UKWilliams reiterates call for UK franchising changes
UK: Greater accountability and a clear customer focus are the principal requirements for reform of the UK rail sector, according to Keith Williams, the independent chairman of the rail review established by Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling in the wake of the May 2018 timetable change debacle. ...
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NewsRegioJet to strengthen overnight trains
EUROPE: RegioJet has bought 18 couchette cars from Deutsche Bahn, which it intends to use to lengthen its night trains on the Praha – Košice route to up to 18 vehicles with a capacity of up to 1 000 passengers per train. The fleet expansion follows a successful ...
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NewsIkea furnishing for BDZ sleeping cars
BULGARIA: As part of its onboard advertising programme, national operator BDZ has worked with furniture and household goods company Ikea to fit sleeping cars with ‘colourful accessories giving the compartments home comforts and an additional summer mood’. The cars with Ikea furnishings are now operating on services from the capital ...
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NewsBulgaria launches fleet renewal plan ahead of market liberalisation
test1 BULGARIA: National operator BDZ needs to focus on service quality, sustainability and long-term performance in order to ‘convince the public that it is developing in an upward trend’ and remain the state’s main passenger service provider when the market is liberalised in 2024, Minister of ...
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NewsSBB halts court battle with BLS
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has asked the Federal Administrative Court to suspend its appeal lodged in July 2018 against the decision by the Federal Office of Transport to allocate two routes in the national long-distance passenger service concession to BLS. The Bern – Biel and Bern – Burgdorf – Olten ...
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Rail Business UKVirgin Trains rolls-out app to keep everyone informed
UK: Inter-city operator Virgin Trains has provided its staff with a mobile app which is designed to enable them to supply passengers with more timely and accurate information during service disruption. Back on Track was custom developed for Virgin Trains by UP3 and ServiceNow, but the operator told a launch ...
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NewsCPTM plans tourist service to Santos
BRAZIL: São Paulo suburban operator CPTM ran two test trains in late June on the São Paulo – Santos route as part of assessments ahead of the possible launch of a passenger service. The test trains ran on June 18 and 27, and form part of CPTM’s preparations ...
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NewsPassenger services revived on freight line
GERMANY: Passenger services were reintroduced on the 28 km Bad Bentheim – Neuenhaus route in Niedersachsen on July 6, following a €21m project to upgrade Bentheimer Eisenbahn’s previously freight-only line. Discounted preview fares were offered on the first day, with the full revenue service beginning on July 7. The line’s ...
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NewsSouth Coast Rail groundbreaking ceremony
USA: A groundbreaking ceremony at East Freetown in Massachusetts on July 2 officially marked the start of work on Phase 1 of the South Coast Rail commuter project. The $1·047bn project will extend Boston’s Middleborough Line commuter rail services to Taunton, New Bedford and Fall River, the only major cities ...
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NewsThailand launches Cambodian border service
THAILAND: State Railway of Thailand launched a twice-daily passenger service between Bangkok and the Cambodian border on July 1. The service is aimed at Thai and foreign tourists and people visiting the Rong Kleua Market. The service is expected to promote cross-border trade with Cambodia, with significant growth in ridership ...
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NewsSachsen line reopenings under consideration
GERMANY: Local transport authority VMS is studying options for reviving passenger services to Rochlitz and on the Pockau-Lengefeld – Marienberg line in Sachsen. Servies to Rochlitz ended in 2000, with passengers instead needing to travel by bus to Geithain for connections to Leipzig and Chemnitz. VMS is studying options and ...
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NewsCoach kits delivered to Kazakhstan
KAZAKHSTAN: Transmashholding’s Tver Carriage Works is supplying Tulpar-Talgo with kits for the assembly of Type 61-4447 coaches in Nur-Sultan. The Russian factory has supplied 137 complete coaches of various types to Kazakhstan over the past decade, and this is its first contract to supply kits for local assembly. The ...
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NewsCP and EMEF to merge ahead of market opening
PORTUGAL: The government has approved a €45m capital investment programme for both national operator CP and rolling stock maintenance business EMEF. To be funded from the state budget, the 2019-22 plan approved on June 27 has two parts. The first covers investment of €9m in 2019, primarily to enable EMEF ...
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NewsFinnish passenger tendering plan put on hold
FINLAND: Recently-appointed Minister of Transport & Communications Sanna Marin has suspended plans to call tenders for the operation of regional passenger services in southern Finland. On June 27 the ministry said that the preparatory process had shown that it would not be possible to proceed as planned. A fair and ...