Passenger rail news – Page 157
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NewsSwiss long-distance concession delayed
SWITZERLAND: The Federal Transport Office, BAV, has decided to postpone the award of new concessions to operate long-distance passenger services on the national network, and to directly award SBB a two-year extension to its existing contract until the December 2019 timetable change. SBB had been in negotiation with regional operators ...
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NewsSouth Western Railway awards Class 442 refurbishment contract
UK: South Western Railway has awarded Kiepe Electric UK a contract to undertake a £45m refurbishment of 18 Class 442 electric multiple-units for use on fast London Waterloo – Portsmouth services from December 2018. Work to be undertaken at Eastleigh to increase the reliability and efficiency of the units will ...
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NewsHigh speed rail station concepts inspired by culture, people and identity
MALAYSIA: Architectural design concepts for the stations on the Malaysian section of the future Kuala Lumpur – Singapore high speed line were unveiled at the MyStations - Transforming Malaysia event on October 17. Project promoter MyHSR Corp said the designs were ‘inspired by the dynamism of culture, people and identity’ ...
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NewsRoca electrified to La Plata
ARGENTINA: Electric services began operating between City Bell and La Plata on the Roca commuter network in Buenos Aires on October 18, marking completion of an electrification project undertaken as part of a US$250m upgrade of the 1 676 mm gauge commuter routes running south from the capital. With the ...
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NewsHydrogen fuel cell multiple-units ordered
GERMANY: Niedersachsen transport authority LNVG has announced an order for Alstom to supply 14 hydrogen fuel cell multiple-units, with options for 33 more. The initial batch of units is to be deployed on Weser-Elbe services between Cuxhaven, Bremerhaven, Bremervörde and Buxtehude. The contract has been awarded to a consortium ...
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NewsCAF Sprinter New Generation EMU unveiled
NETHERLANDS: The first four-car CAF Sprinter electric multiple-unit for NS was unveiled at NedTrain’s Zaanstraat depot in Amsterdam on October 19. In 2014 NS selected CAF for an order to supply 68 three-car and 50 four-car units from its Civity family. An intensive test programme is planned before the EMUs ...
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NewsTransilien double-deck EMU launches new livery
FRANCE: The first Regio 2N double-deck EMU for the Transilien suburban network around Paris was officially unveiled at SNCF’s Villeneuve Technicentre on October 19, by Pierre Messulam, Deputy Director-General of SNCF Transilien, Laurent Bouyer, President of Bombardier Transport France and Valérie Pécresse, President of the Ile-de-France region and Ile-de-France Mobilités ...
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NewsKorail orders Hyundai Rotem EMUs
SOUTH KOREA: Korail has awarded Hyundai Rotem a 111·6bn won contract to supply 128 electric multiple-unit cars, the manufacturer announced on October 18. Delivey of the 110 km/h trainsets is due to be completed by the end of 2019. Most of the trainsets are to be deployed on commuter ...
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NewsFormer Air France CEO Spinetta to assess future of French rail sector
FRANCE: Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has appointed the former head of Air France-KLM Jean-Cyril Spinetta to draw up a fresh strategy for the rail sector. Announced by Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne on October 16, the Spinetta study is intended to inform transport legislation due to be published in the first ...
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NewsPortal Bridge renewal launched
USA: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Amtrak Board Chairman Tony Coscia marked the start of work on the long-planned replacement of the Portal Bridge with a groundbreaking ceremony on October 13. The 110-year old two-track swing bridge over the Hackensack River between Kearny and Seacaucus has long been a ...
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NewsBombardier and CAF win West Midlands train contracts
UK: Bombardier Transportation and CAF have been selected to supply rolling stock for the next West Midlands franchise, the West Midlands Trains Ltd consortium of Abellio, East Japan Railway and Mitsui & Co announced on October 17. Totalling 413 vehicles, the orders are worth £680m, with financing being led by ...
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NewsTeething troubles as IEP trainsets enter revenue service
UK: All did not go to plan when the first of the Hitachi Class 800 trainsets ordered under the Department for Transport’s £5·7bn Intercity Express Programme entered passenger service with Great Western Railway on October 16. Industry guests gathered at Bristol Temple Meads station for the inaugural service, the 06.00 ...
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NewsÖBB coach tender back on track
AUSTRIA: Tendering for a fleet of coaches for daytime and overnight inter-city services for national operator ÖBB is to resume following withdrawal of an objection by Siemens. The company had complained in August about changes to the specification for a framework contract that included an initial tranche of 200 km/h ...
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NewsPolish service approved as LEO Express aims to develop a central European network
EUROPE: Czech open access operator LEO Express expects to announce the launch date for its planned Praha – Ostrava – Katowice – Kraków open access service in the near future, after Polish regulator UTK completed the certification process and granted train paths on October 13. Daily services would leave ...
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NewsKaliningrad – Lithuania border station commissioned
RUSSIA: Border facilities for passengers and freight crossing between Kaliningrad oblast and Kybartai in Lithuania were commissioned at Chernyshevskoye in the east of the Russian exclave on October 2. Border formalities were previously undertaken 10 km west in Nesterov. Construction of the 1·9bn rouble facility started in 2005, and the ...
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NewsNorwegian passenger service tendering underway
NORWAY: Invitations to tender for the Lot 1 Sør passenger train operating contract were issued to prequalified bidders by Jernbanedirektoratet on October 12, when the national railway agency also announced plans for further competitive tendering. The Lot 1 Sør contract covers inter-city services on the Sørlandet line to Stavanger, Jær ...
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NewsProduction of next-generation Acela Express fleet underway
USA: Production of the bodyshells and principal components for the Avelia Liberty high speed trainsets ordered for Amtrak’s premium Acela Express service has begun at Alstom’s Hornell factory in New York state, the manufacturer has confirmed. The fleet is expected to enter service in 2021-22. Alstom displayed a ...
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NewsTrainline increases international options
TICKETS: Trainline announced on October 5 that it had added a further 11 websites to its portfolio, along with Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Czech, European and Brazilian Portuguese, Polish and Mandarin Chinese options to take the number of languages offered to 14. Prices are now offered in a further 15 ...
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NewsDB Regio selected for Dieselnetz Ulm contract
GERMANY: Following a European tender, Bayern railway authority BEG has selected incumbent DB Regio to operate Dieselnetz Ulm passenger services from December 2020 until December 2032. The contract covers regional services on the Ulm – Memmingen (– Buxheim) and Ulm – Weißenhorn routes which are to be operated using new ...
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NewsInfotainment available on Shatabdi Express service
INDIA: Digital services company Trolex|Aporta is to supply its Juxta closed-network infotainment package for Northern Railway’s New Delhi – Habibganj Shatabdi Express services. Passengers will be able to stream entertainment and news directly to mobile devices using a secure local wi-fi network, without buffering and without needing a connection ...