Passenger rail news – Page 170
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NewsAlmaty – Toshkent wide-bodied Talgo service launched
ASIA: The national railways of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have launched a passenger service between Almaty and Toshkent using wide-bodied coaches developed by Talgo. The first train arrived in the Uzbek capital on March 22. Regular services will initially run twice per week in each direction, departing from Almaty on Saturdays ...
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NewsSwedish national operator to bid for Norwegian contracts
NORWAY: Swedish national passenger operator SJ has established local subsidiary SJ Norge to bid for the operating contracts which are being tendered under Norway’s railway reform programme. The Ministry of Transport & Communications expects to award two contracts this year covering the operation from December 2018 of the Sørlandet, Jær ...
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NewsLutz confirmed as DB Chairman as board reshaped
GERMANY: Meeting on March 22, the Deutsche Bahn AG Supervisory Board confirmed the appointment of Dr Richard Lutz as CEO of the national railway, succeeding Dr Rüdiger Grube who stepped down as Chairman of the Management Board in January. Having served as Chief Financial Officer since 2010, Lutz had been ...
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NewsStadler selected for high-capacity EMU contract
HUNGARY: Sole bidder Stadler Bussnang has been selected for a framework contract to supply high-capacity electric multiple-units, national passenger operator MÁV-Start announced on March 17. Further negotiations will now take place before a firm order is signed. MÁV-Start called tenders in December for the supply of up to 40 ...
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NewsDolnośląskie awards four-year operating contract
POLAND: Dolnośląskie voivodship has awarded national local passenger train operator PolRegio (formerly known as Przewozy Regionalne) a contract to operate local passenger services in 2017-20. The deal is worth a total of 153·6m złoty over four years. The voivodship is to pay PolRegio 50m złoty/year in 2017, with its payments ...
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NewsGySEV orders Vectron locomotives
EUROPE: Hungary to Austria cross-border operator GySEV has signed a contract for Siemens to supply five Vectron locomotives, with an option for a further four. The firm order announced on March 17 covers three triple-system electric locomotives, and two dual-system locomotives with last-mile engines. The locomotives will be equipped with ...
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NewsTrump proposes dramatic cuts to Amtrak operations and capital project grants
USA: In a blueprint for its proposed Financial Year 2018 budget, the Trump administration is planning to cut funding for the Department of Transportation to $16bn, a 13% reduction on that available for FY2017. Under the proposals, swinging cuts would be made both to passenger train and municipal transport operations ...
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NewsMIT and SNCF collaborate to improve stations
FRANCE: SNCF’s stations subsidiary Gares & Connexions and Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Senseable City Lab multi-disciplinary urban environment research group have signed an agreement to work together to improve waiting conditions at stations. The aim is to ‘improve the thermal comfort, acoustic, visual and other characteristics of stations in France’, ...
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NewsNRE to modernise Connecticut DOT locos
USA: Connecticut Department of Transportation has awarded NRE a five-year contract to modernise and extend the operating lives of six EMD GP40-2H diesel locomotives dating from the 1970s which are used on commuter services. NRE said it would be able to produce 90% of the content in-house. Marketing Director Brandon ...
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NewsAuckland opens Parnell station
NEW ZEALAND: A new station serving the eastern side of Auckland’s city centre was officially opened on March 13. Located on the site of former railway sidings on the steeply-graded climb from Britomart terminus to the junction at Newmarket, Parnell station is intended to serve the Auckland Domain, the University ...
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NewsChinese proposal to bail out crisis-hit Bulgarian railway
BULGARIA: China Railway Rolling Stock Corp has submitted a proposal to make a significant investment in national rail operator BDZ Holding, caretaker Minister of Transport, Information Technology & Communications Hristo Alexiev has announced. The March 9 announcement came after the ministry made a series of decisions and management changes ...
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NewsAirline-inspired train seat launched
SEATS: Transcal has launched its Aerolite train seat, which is intended to be ‘lighter, slimmer and more comfortable’ than other options. The manufacturer says the Aerolite seat is one of the lightest on the market at 22 kg per passenger-place, with a slim profile which can be used to provide ...
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NewsBrightline targets inter-city opportunities
USA: Inter-city passenger promoter All Aboard Florida is expanding its horizon to focus on other potential markets across the country. The company announced on March 8 that Dave Howard, ‘a veteran executive from the sports and entertainment industry’, was joining the leadership team as Chief Executive Officer for the Brightline ...
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NewsVancouver Island commuter rail study
CANADA: Options for establishing a commuter service on 15 km of the former Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway corridor between Westhills in Langford and Victoria West on Vancouver Island are to be studied, British Columbia’s Ministry of Transportation & Infrastructure announced on March 9. A working group is to be formed ...
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NewsAmsterdam – Brussels EMUs approved
NETHERLANDS: Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem informed the lower house of parliament on March 8 that he had approved a request from national passenger operator NS to purchase two additional Alstom electric multiple-units, as an option on its Inter-city New Generation procurement programme. Authorised by the Ministry of Finance as the ...
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NewsLéman Express moves closer
EUROPE: During a ‘summit’ between the two railways held in Paris on March 9, SBB CEO Andreas Meyer and SNCF President Guillaume Pepy signed a co-operation agreement for the operation from December 2019 of the Léman Express network of cross-border regional and suburban services centred on Genève. Under the agreement, ...
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NewsSiemens rolls out first Cascades Charger locomotive
USA: The first of eight SC-44 Siemens Charger diesel-electric locomotives ordered by Washington State Department of Transportation has been rolled out at the manufacturer’s Sacramento plant. The locomotives are to be used with Talgo coaches on the Cascades service from Eugene, Oregon, to Vancouver in Canada, which is operated by ...
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NewsRhein-Ruhr-Express depot construction launched
GERMANY: The foundation stone for the Rhein-Ruhr-Express maintenance depot was laid in Dortmund-Eving on March 7. Siemens is building the 70 000 m2 facility on the site of a former marshalling yard on the Dortmund – Lünen main line. A 163 m long, 63 m wide and 12·4 m ...
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NewsiDTGV brand to disappear
FRANCE: The iDTGV brand for high speed services which can only be booked online is to be phased out, SNCF announced on March 7. The brand will first be withdrawn on routes from Paris to Bretagne and the southwest with the opening of the LGV Bretagne Pays de la Loire ...
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NewsScotRail EMU refurbishment contract awarded
UK: Leasing company Eversholt Rail has awarded Knorr-Bremse RailServices a contract to undertake a £6m refurbishment of 22 three-car Class 320 electric multiple-units operated by ScotRail. KBRS will undertake the work at its Springburn site in Glasgow between October 2017 and early 2019. The scope includes repainting all surfaces, installing ...