Passenger rail news – Page 173
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NewsRailway flotations envisaged in Indian budget
INDIA: Plans to float off several Indian Railway subsidiaries including construction arm IRCON, Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corp and Indian Railway Finance Corp were announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the national budget on February 1. He said shares in the IR Public Sector Enterprises would ‘soon’ be ...
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NewsHoosier State returns to Amtrak fold
USA: Amtrak is to resume providing rolling stock for the Hoosier State inter-city train between Chicago and Indianapolis with effect from March 1, the Indiana Department of Transportation announced on January 30. Serving intermediate stops at Crawfordsville, Dyer, Lafayette and Rensselaer, the state-sponsored train operates four days per week each ...
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NewsŠkoda double-deck push-pull set for DB on test
GERMANY: The first of six double-deck push-pull trainsets being built by Škoda Transportation for Deutsche Bahn is undergoing trials at the Velim test circuit in the Czech Republic. Entry into service is not now expected before December 2017. The trainset is initially formed of four coaches, although it will operate ...
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NewsNarrow gauge coaches modernised
GEORGIA: A programme to refurbish locomotive-hauled coaches used on Georgian Railway’s 900 mm gauge Borjomi – Bakuriani line is to be expanded to cope with an increase in ridership on the 37 km route. Two pairs of PV-900 coaches were modernised at the Tbilisi rolling stock works during 2016, but ...
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NewsTwo new EMU fleets as DB Regio selected for Rheintal contract
GERMANY: The selection of DB Regio as preferred bidder to operate Rheintal passenger services for 12½ years from June 2020 was announced by the Land of Baden-Württemberg on January 26. Award of the contract is subject to the 10-day regulatory standstill period. The so-called Netz 4 routes had been tendered ...
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NewsTendering starts for Bogotá — Belencito
COLOMBIA: National infrastructure agency ANI has begun tendering for a contract worth up to 720m pesos to operate the 257 km Bogotá — Belencito route. Proposals are due to be submitted by 10.00 on February 7. Bidders are expected to include Dracol Líneas Férreas which has operated the 914 mm ...
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NewsTGVmax offers unlimited travel for less than a car-share
FRANCE: A new online ticketing product offering passengers aged 16 to 27 unlimited travel on long-distance services for €79 a month was announced by SNCF on January 23. TGVmax will be available on 94% of TGV and Intercités services and on every day of the year, with the exception of ...
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NewsRancagua Express carries first passengers
CHILE: State railway EFE began trial operation of its new commuter service between Santiago and Rancagua on January 24. During the initial phase, there are three departures from the capital during the morning peak, and one at 20.45 on Fridays. There are departures from Rancagua at 07.20, 10.00 and 19.30. ...
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NewsTrenitalia joins FirstGroup to bid for UK franchises
UK: Two weeks after the Italian state railway group entered the UK rail market by agreeing to acquire the Essex Thameside franchise from National Express, FS Italiane subsidiary Trenitalia UK announced on January 24 that it was joining FirstGroup to bid for the East Midlands franchise and the forthcoming West ...
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NewsSBB launches multi-modal trip planning apps
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has launched SBB Reiseplaner apps for iOS and Android, providing a door-to-door trip planner based on HaCon’s Hafas platform which includes multi-modal public transport connections, car sharing provider Mobility, private cars and private or hired bikes along as well as car and cycle parking. The user ...
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NewsHitachi shows how Trenitalia’s Rock will roll
ITALY: A mock-up of one of the driving cars from the double-deck regional electric multiple-units which Hitachi Rail Italy is to supply to Trenitalia was unveiled at the manufacturer’s Pistoia plant on January 20. In August 2016 Trenitalia awarded Hitachi a €333m firm order for 39 five-car Caravaggio high-capacity double-deck ...
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NewsProcurement of High Speed 2 trains begins
UK: The process to procure rolling stock for High Speed 2 was initiated on January 20, when the Department for Transport issued a periodic indicative notice regarding the acquisition of up to 60 trainsets. The formal call for tenders is planned for 2018, with the contract worth an estimated £2·75bn ...
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NewsTrenitalia awarded 10-year inter-city contract
ITALY: A 10-year ‘universal service contract’ for Trenitalia to operate socially-desirable day and night inter-city services was signed on January 19. Awarded jointly by the Ministry of Infrastructure & Transport and the Ministry of Economy & Finance, the contract is backdated to January 1 and runs to December 31 2026. ...
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NewsFS signs deal to buy Greek national train operator
GREECE: The share purchase agreement for Italian state railway group Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane to buy 100% of Greek national passenger and freight train operator Trainose was signed on January 18. Privatisation agency Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund had named FS as preferred bidder on July 14 2016. Russian Railways ...
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NewsBaden-Württemberg awards passenger operating contracts
GERMANY: The Länd of Baden-Württemberg has awarded a series of contracts for the operation of passenger services. In partnership with Bayern, the Land has awarded DB RegioNetz the Netz 11 contract to operate Hohenlohe-Franken-Untermain services, after receiving no objections from losing bidders. The contract runs for 12 years from December ...
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NewsAbellio to sell 40% stake in Greater Anglia to Mitsui
UK: The Abellio UK subsidiary of Dutch national passenger train operator NS announced on January 17 that it had signed an agreement to sell 40% of its Greater Anglia business to Japanese trading group Mitsui & Co. Abellio said this would be the first time that a ...
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NewsMore TET transfers agreed
FRANCE: On January 12 Transport Secretary Alain Vidalies met with Philippe Richert, President of the association of French regions, and SNCF Voyageurs Director General Florence Parly to review progress with the programme to transfer responsibility for the loss-making Trains d’Equilibre du Territoire network of conventional passenger services from central government ...
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NewsFinland adopts Erex energy metering
FINLAND: National infrastructure manager Liikennevirasto has brought into operation the Erex energy monitoring and billing system developed by the European Railway Energy Settlement System, the ERESS partnership announced on January 12. The agency becomes the seventh member of the not-for-profit organisation, alongside Banedanmark, Bane NOR, Infrabel, SBB, Trafikverket, and the ...
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NewsMacedonian operator orders Chinese locomotives
MACEDONIA: National freight and passenger operator MŽ Transport has awarded Chinese manufacturer CRRC Zhuzhou an €8m contract to supply four electric locomotives. Speaking at the signing ceremony on January 10, MŽ Transport CEO Nikola Kostov said the TSI-compliant 25 kV 50 Hz locomotives would offer European and world standards of ...
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NewsPayPal and Apple Wallet speed Stansted Express booking
UK: Passengers using the stanstedexpress.com website to book tickets for travel on Abellio Greater Anglia’s Stansted Express service from London Liverpool Street to Stansted Airport can now pay via PayPal and add their tickets to Apple Wallet. This removes the need for passengers to print out tickets before travelling. The ...