Passenger rail news – Page 136
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Rail Business UKStudy to look at adapting Bordeaux station to handle London trains
EUROPE: The four infrastructure managers responsible for the high speed lines between London and Bordeaux have agreed to study the feasibility of adapting Bordeaux Saint-Jean station to handle international passengers traveling to and from the UK. SNCF Réseau, Eurotunnel, Lisea and HS1 said the October 10 agreement was a key ...
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Rail Business UKWales & Borders to offer the ‘best passenger rail service in the UK’
UK: The KeolisAmey joint venture took over from Arriva Trains Wales as the operator of Wales & Borders services with the start of the new franchise on October 14. The 15-year Operations & Development Partner contract was awarded by the devolved Welsh Government’s Transport for Wales agency, and is ...
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NewsCourt instructs PRASA to apply safety rules
SOUTH AFRICA: Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa must comply with the safety requirements set by the Railway Safety Regulator under a ruling made by the North Gauteng High Court on October 11. An initial court ruling on October 5 had lifted the suspension of PRASA’s operating licence imposed on ...
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NewsPRASA on the brink as court defers safety shutdown
SOUTH AFRICA: The future of the 2 300 route-km network operated by Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa is in grave doubt amid a spiralling safety crisis that has seen the national rail regulator request suspension of the operator’s licence. The Rail Safety Regulator suspended PRASA’s right to operate on ...
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NewsHyundai Rotem wins further Bangladesh loco contract
BANGLADESH: Hyundai Rotem announced on October 11 that it had won a US$239m order to supply 70 diesel-electric locomotives for Bangladesh Railway. Production at Rotem’s Changwon plant in South Korea is due to begin in 2020, with deliveries due by 2023. The 19 m long, 2 200 hp locos ...
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NewsRENFE and ADIF to support Texas Central high speed service
USA: On October 10 high speed project promoter Texas Central announced that it had selected Spanish national operator RENFE and infrastructure manager ADIF as ‘strategic partners’ for the 386 km high speed line between Houston and Dallas. The Spanish partners were one of five bidders, Texas Central said. ‘RENFE is ...
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NewsCPPK orders more Ivolga EMUs from TMH
RUSSIA: On October 4, Central Suburban Passenger Co signed a contract with Transmashholding subsidiary Tver Carriage Works for the supply of a further 15 seven-car Ivolga EMUs. The value of the contract is 11bn roubles and marks a follow-on order for the design after CPPK ordered 24 six-car trainsets in ...
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NewsAppenzeller Bahnen’s Durchmesserlinie project completed
SWITZERLAND: The Durchmesserlinie project to enable through running between Appenzeller Bahnen’s metre-gauge Trogen and Appenzell routes was officially inaugurated on October 6. Revenue services on the realigned St Gallen – Trogen route began the following day using Tango light rail vehicles supplied by Stadler. The work included construction of ...
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Rail Business UKPassenger assistance app on test
UK: A mobile app enabling passengers with disability to get assistance during their journeys is being tested by Greater Anglia, London Northwestern Railway, West Midlands Railway and South Western Railway ahead of a planned national launch next year. Developed by Transreport in collaboration with disability organisations including Scope, RNIB, Disability ...
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News€50m plan to link Paris stations as an ‘integrated hub’
FRANCE: Transport authority Île-de-France Mobilités has outlined a 10-point package running until 2024 to rehabilitate the urban realm around Nord and Est stations in Paris, as well as improving access between them. The €50m programme is intended to enhance the walking routes between the two stations, which using existing streets ...
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Rail Business UKScotRail HSTs ready to enter service
UK: ScotRail will put its first refurbished diesel HST sets into revenue service between Aberdeen and Edinburgh on October 15, the operator announced during a VIP preview run on October 10. Full deployment is expected to follow from the December 9 timetable change. Branded Inter7City, the 26 upgraded HST sets ...
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NewsWellington infrastructure spending funded
NEW ZEALAND: A NZ$196m package of improvements to the Wellington regional rail network was announced by Transport Minister Phil Twyford on October 9. NZ Transport Agency funding of NZ$193m is being provided through the National Land Transport Fund to support infrastructure renewals and capacity enhancement under two business cases put ...
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Rail Business UKHS2 unveils Birmingham station concepts
UK: Proposals for two new high speed stations in the West Midlands were unveiled by HS2 Ltd on October 9 as part of a public engagement programme. HS2 is seeking feedback on the designs before formal submissions for planning approval are lodged with Birmingham City Council and Solihull Metropolitan ...
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NewsSNCB updates Hasselt workshops
BELGIUM: An extension to the SNCB rolling stock workshops at Hasselt was formally opened on October 8, with a ceremony attended by CEO Sophie Dutordoir, the new Managing Director of SNCB Technics Gerd de Vos, Governor of Limburg Herman Reynders and the Mayor of Hasselt Nadja Vananroye. Under development since ...
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Rail Business UKTrainPal smartphone app offers split ticketing options
UK: A smartphone booking app which calculates split ticketing options has been launched by Ctrip, the parent company of flight booking platform Skyscanner. The intricacies of the UK ticketing system mean it is sometimes possible for passengers to save money by booking separate tickets for different sections of a through ...
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Rail Business UKNorthern unveils CAF multiple-units to bring a 'step-change in quality'
UK: The first CAF Class 195 diesel multiple-unit and Class 331 electric multiple-unit for the Northern franchise were officially unveiled by operator Arriva Rail North’s Managing Director David Brown and Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry at Alstom’s Edge Hill depot in Liverpool on October 4. The 25 two-car and 30 ...
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NewsFirst section of Moscow – Kazan high speed line to open in 2024
RUSSIA: A construction agreement covering the first section of the Moscow – Kazan high speed line was announced by RZD First Deputy Director Alexander Misharin at the ProMotion 1520 conference in Sochi on October 2. The agreement calls for work to start next year on a 301 km alignment between ...
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NewsPassenger service reinstated
URUGUAY: Regular passenger services from Montevideo to Pando and Sudriers were reinstated on October 1, having been withdraw in May 2012. The service initially runs once a day, towards Montevideo in the morning and retuning in the evening. A second round trip is to be added in November, and a ...
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NewsFour-storey Bangkok Bang Sue station takes shape
THAILAND: Construction of a new passenger hub for Bangkok is around 70% complete and on course for opening towards the end of 2020, according to municipal officials. Bang Sue Grand Station will be a four-storey structure covering 300 000 m2 and would replace Hua Lamphong as the city’s principal main ...
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NewsFlixTrain: ‘We want to make sustainable mobility accessible to everyone’
Having grown from a tech startup to an international coach company in just five years, FlixMobility has now entered the rail market. The e-commerce platform seeks to become a multimodal provider of sustainable transport, CEO & Co-Founder André Schwämmlein tells Railway Gazette International