Passenger rail news – Page 145
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Rail Business UKGreater Anglia electro-diesels under construction
UK: Swiss manufacturer Stadler is producing a total of 58 Flirt UK electric and electro-diesel multiple-units for use by Greater Anglia. The order placed in August 2016 as part of a programme to completely renew the Greater Anglia fleet includes 24 four-car and 14 three-car electro-diesel units which will ...
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NewsCelebrations as Brightline trains reach Miami
USA: A weekend of celebrations entitled ‘Welcome to the 305!’, referencing the city’s historic telephone code, marked the launch of Brightline inter-city services to Miami on May 19. Brightline’s first public trains ran in January over the 74 km between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale. The extension to Miami ...
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NewsLagos – Kano standard gauge contract signed
NIGERIA: China Civil Engineering Construction Corp is to complete the long-planned 1 435 mm gauge railway linking Lagos and Kano, under a U$6·68bn contract signed in Abuja on May 15. During the signing ceremony Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi said the line should be completed in two to three years, ‘depending ...
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NewsBy Coradia to Batna
ALGERIA: National operator SNTF has introduced a direct passenger service between Alger and the eastern part of the High Plateau line, with the launch of a daily Alger – M’Sila – Batna round trip. Introduced on May 3, the service is operated by one of SNTF’s new Alstom Coradia El ...
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NewsVolgograd airport rail link opens
RUSSIA: Passenger services on the Volgograd airport rail link began on May 18, following an inauguration ceremony the previous day Services use a 1·2 km branch which Russian Railways has built to connect Gumrak station with the airport passenger terminal, which has been rebuilt ready for when the city hosts ...
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NewsBangladesh Railway orders 10 locomotives
BANGLADESH: Hyundai Rotem is to supply 10 mixed-traffic diesel-electric locomotives to Bangladesh Railway under a 41bn won contract announced on May 18. Intended for mixed traffic use on the metre gauge Dhaka – Chittagong route, the locomotives will be delivered from Hyundai Rotem’s Changwon plant in South Korea starting ...
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NewsRegioJet puts Traxx locos into service
CZECH REPUBLC: The first of eight Bombardier Transportation Traxx multi-system electric locomotives ordered by open access operator RegioJet in April 2017 entered service on May 16. The first passenger train to be hauled by one of the new locomtives was RJ1017, the 17.48 from Praha to Ostrava and Návsí. After ...
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Rail Business UKGovernment terminates Virgin Trains East Coast franchise
UK: The current InterCity East Coast franchise held by a joint venture of Stagecoach Group (90%) and Virgin Holdings (10%) will be terminated on June 24, Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling informed the House of Commons on May 16. From that date, DOHL, a government-owned ‘operator of last ...
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NewsZillertalbahn selects hydrogen train supplier
AUSTRIA: Zillertalbahn operator ZVB announced on May 15 that it had selected Stadler to supply five hydrogen fuelled multiple-units for its 760 mm gauge line. A prototype is expected to be ready for trials in 2020, with the remaining four trainsets expected to be delivered in 2022. ZVB currently ...
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NewsCompetition is key as high speed rail keeps growing
Global ridership has surged by 40% in the three years since UIC last staged its World Congress on High Speed Rail. Yet operators and policymakers must work hard to keep the rail mode ahead as competition grows both in and for the market. Benjámin Zelki reports from the latest summit ...
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NewsAlstom and Eversholt plan fuel cell EMUs
UK: Plans to fit hydrogen fuel cells to redundant electric multiple units were announced by Alstom on May 14. Confirming that ‘hydrogen technologies and solutions will play a key role in our global vision for the future’, the manufacturer said it was working with rolling stock leasing company Eversholt Rail ...
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NewsDigital guide to the Bernina Express
SWITZERLAND: Following a successful launch in first class, from May 10 Rhätische Bahn is making its Infot(r)ainment digital route guide available to all Bernina Express passengers. Accessible on smartphones, tablets or laptops, Infot(r)ainment provides information and interactive maps covering the route from Chur and Davos to St Moritz and Tirano. ...
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NewsRevolution VLR railcar to be demonstrated in 2020
UK: Leasing company Eversholt Rail has joined the Revolution VLR consortium of Transport Design International, Cummins, Prose, Transcal Engineering, RDM Group and the University of Warwick, which has secured government funding to design and build a lightweight diesel-battery railcar demonstrator by early 2020. The concept is intended for low-traffic and ...
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NewsHull Trains reveals ‘luxurious and aesthetically appealing’ AT300 design
UK: Open access operator Hull Trains has revealed the appearance of its future fleet of five Hitachi AT300 trainsets, following the completion of the engineering and design phase and the sign-off for production to begin. The £60m order for five five-car inter-city electro-diesel multiple-units was placed by ...
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News‘Root and branch’ reform of UK rail fares proposed
UK: The Rail Delivery Group is to undertake public consultation ahead of producing proposals for how it could work with government to implement a ‘root and branch reform’ of fare and ticket regulation. The current regulatory structure for ticketing in Great Britain was fixed at the time of privatisation ...
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NewsVirgin Trains sells tickets through Amazon Alexa
UK: Amazon Echo voice-activated devices with the Alexa virtual assistant and Amazon Pay can now be used to book advance single tickets for Virgin Trains East Coast and West Coast services. The launch on May 3 follows Virgin Trains' introduction last November of a journey planning ‘skill’ for Amazon Alexa. ...
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NewsSecond airport rail link opens in Kuala Lumpur
MALAYSIA: A rail link to Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Kuala Lumpur was inaugurated on May 1. The Ministry of Transport funded the 521m ringgit project. The route branches off from the metre-gauge line that links Kuala Lumpur with Port Klang at Subang Jaya. It runs north along ...
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NewsGreat Northern Class 717 EMUs unveiled
UK: Siemens has unveiled the Class 717 Desiro City electric multiple-units which it is building for Govia Thameslink Railway. Being built at the Siemens plant at Krefeld in Germany, the 25 six-car units are scheduled to enter service from September on GTR’s Great Northern commuter services from Welwyn Garden City, ...
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NewsAlstom trainset for Senegal on test
SENEGAL: The first of 15 four-car Coradia Polyvalent electro-diesel multiple-units ordered for the Train Express Régional project in Dakar is now on test at Alstom’s plant at Reichshoffen in France. The Train Express Régional will link the centre of Dakar with the new Blaise Diagne international airport in Diass, serving ...
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NewsNo ‘ironing board’ seats, Greater Anglia promises
UK: With advice from consultancy Schoenemann Design, operator Greater Anglia has selected Italian company FISA's Lean seat design for used on its future Stadler trainsets, and has made adjustments to the shape of the base cushions, lumbar support and headrests. The Bombardier Transportation Aventra EMUs ordered for Greater Anglia's commuter ...