Passenger rail news – Page 133
-
NewsSNCF to run fuel cell train in 2022
FRANCE: National operator SNCF expects to start testing hydrogen technology during 2021, and to run its first fuel cell powered train in the first quarter of the following year, according to Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Rail Systems & Technology, Pierre Izard. Addressing a meeting of regional government representatives on December ...
-
NewsConnection concerns raised as Ouigo expands
FRANCE: The European timetable change on December 9 marks a further expansion of SNCF’s low-cost high speed operation Ouigo. Routes to be added to the network include three daily return services between Paris-Lyon and Marseille, and three between Lille-Flandres and Marseille. When Ouigo was launched in April 2013, it operated ...
-
NewsSiemens presents first Mireo EMU
GERMANY: Siemens presented the first Mireo electric multiple-unit at its Wildenrath test facility on December 6. The aluminium-bodied modular articulated EMU design is intended for commuter and regional services. DB Regio became the launch customer in February 2017 when it placed a firm order for 24 three-car units. These ...
-
Rail Business UKTranslink orders more CAF DMU cars
UK: Northern Ireland transport operator Translink has ordered a further 21 diesel multiple-unit cars from CAF to cope with increasing ridership on the Northern Ireland Railways network. Funded by £50m from the Department of Infrastructure, the intermediate vehicles have been ordered as an option on the contract under which CAF ...
-
NewsRhein-Ruhr-Express trains are ready to roll
GERMANY: The first Desiro HC EMUs being built for Rhein-Ruhr Express services by Siemens Mobility are on course to enter service with the December 9 timetable change, following their formal approval by the Federal Railway Office using its new authorisation process. Under a €1·7bn contract from a consortium of local ...
-
NewsKorail-Supreme Railways merger plan back on
SOUTH KOREA: The government has revived plans to combine national passenger operator Korail with new entrant Supreme Railways, Korail’s Vice-President for Passenger Transport Hyungik Cho has told Railway Gazette. The Ministry of Land & Infrastructure has commissioned a feasibility study into the effects of the possible merger, and its conclusions ...
-
NewsBelfort – Delle reopening to revive Franco-Swiss link
EUROPE: The 22 km missing link between Belfort in eastern France and Delle on the border with Switzerland is to reopen for passenger trains with the European timetable change on December 9, following a formal opening ceremony on December 6 to be attended by French Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne and ...
-
Rail Business UKOyster and contactless payment to be extended further outside London
UK: Acceptance of Oyster and contactless payment is to be extended to Hertford North and Epsom next year, Rail Minister Andrew Jones announced on November 30. Ticket barriers will be modified to accept Oyster and contactless cards at Epsom, Cuffley, Bayford and Hertford North early next year. Stations up ...
-
NewsTrains return to Churchill
CANADA: The first VIA Rail passenger service for 18 months arrived at Churchill in northern Manitoba on December 4, having left Winnipeg two days earlier. Following the arrival of a freight train on November 25, the occasion marked the reopening of the Hudson Bay Railway, which provides the only land ...
-
NewsNSW to study regional high speed rail options
AUSTRALIA: The New South Wales state government has commissioned a study of four preferred corridors for high speed rail services, which it believes could transform travel patterns on regional routes radiating up to 300 km from Sydney. Announcing the study on December 3, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said ‘we know ...
-
News
Wien – Bratislava upgrading inaugurated
AUSTRIA: The first phase of modernisation work on the Wien – Marchegg – Bratislava route was formally inaugurated on November 30, paving the way for expansion of the Austrian capital’s S-Bahn network with the December 9 timetable change. Double-tracking and electrification of the 3·7 km section between Erzherzog-Karl-Straße and a ...
-
NewsPoroshenko inaugurates airport link in Kyiv
UKRAINE: On November 30, national railway UZ introduced an airport shuttle branded Kyiv Boryspil Express between the city’s Pasazhyrskiy station and its principal airport. The rail link to Boryspil airport has been completed within a budget of 480m hryvna; it required construction of a 4 km branch running south from ...
-
NewsFNM orders Stadler EMUs for TILO services
EUROPE: An agreement was signed in Milano on November 30 for Stadler to supply nine six-car electric multiple-units which FNM will lease to Trenord for use on TILO cross-border services between Lombardia in Italy and Ticino in Switzerland. FNM called tenders last year, and has placed the €114·4m order in ...
-
NewsImpuls purchases by voivodships
POLAND: Lubuskie voivodship has awarded Newag a 43m złoty contract to supply two three-car diesel multiple-units by the end of 2020. Ordered to increase capacity on the Krzyż – Gorzów Wielkopolski – Berlin corridor, the 130 km/h TSI-compliant units will have a capacity of almost 400 passengers including 150 seats. ...
-
NewsNew York MTA to acquire Grand Central Terminal
USA: New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority has agreed to purchase Grand Central Terminal and sections of the Hudson and Harlem commuter rail lines, correcting what it terms a ‘historical quirk’ of New York infrastructure ownership. The acquisitions, valued at $35m, were approved at an MTA finance committee meeting in mid-November. ...
-
NewsGlacier Express reveals Excellence Class coaches
SWITZERLAND: Two coaches which have been upgraded to provide a premium ‘Excellence Class’ on the tourist-focused Glacier Express service have been unveiled by operating partners Rhätische Bahn and Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn. The interiors were designed by Nose Design Experience, and refitting of the coaches provided by RhB and MGB was ...
-
Rail Business UKSix short-term priorities for London rail services
UK: The London Assembly’s Transport Committee published a report on November 26 setting out what it sees as the short-term priorities for heavy rail services in the capital. Broken Rails: A Rail Service Fit for Passengers makes six recommendations: 1. Effective small-scale interventions: The committee’s key recommendation is that infrastructure ...
-
NewsMarmaray corridor to open in Q1 2019, minister says
TURKEY: Transport Minister Cahit Turhan provided a progress update on November 16 on three new line projects as they near completion under the railway investment Master Plan. The government’s priority is completion of the surface works along the Marmaray corridor which runs across Istanbul from Gebze on the Asian side ...
-
NewsVästtrafik increases EMU order
SWEDEN: Västra Götaland transport authority Västtrafik announced an order for a further five Bombardier Transportation Zefiro Express electric multiple-units on November 22. The order has been placed as an option on a SKr3·8bn contract for an initial 40 of the units which was announced in March and included ...
-
NewsTalgo selected for Latvian EMU contract
LATVIA: National passenger operator Pasazieru Vilciens has selected Talgo to supply a fleet of 32 electric multiple-units for suburban and regional services, CEO Rodzers Janis Grigulis announced on November 21. Formal award of the contract is expected to follow the 10-day regulatory standstill period. The Talgo VitTal EMUs are to ...