Passenger rail news – Page 181
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NewsJakarta – Bandung DBOM concession agreed
INDONESIA: A 50-year design build operate maintain concession was signed in Jakarta on March 16 between the government and the Sino-Indonesian consortium promoting a 142 km fast passenger line between the capital and Bandung.The concession held by the Kerata Cepat Indonesia Cina consortium takes effect on May 31 2019, when ...
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NewsTrain delay refund process to be improved
UK: The Office of Rail & Road made recommendations for improving the process for claiming refunds for train delays on March 18. ORR was responding to a ‘super-complaint’ made by consumer organisation Which? in December, which claimed the current process is neither clear nor straightforward. Following the super-complaint ORR undertook ...
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NewsDB needs ‘quality, quality and more quality’ to return to economic success
GERMANY: ‘A self-critical look shows us that we did not achieve the targets we set’, said Deutsche Bahn CEO Rüdiger Grube when presenting the group’s 2015 annual results on March 16. Grube said three events had a major impact on the national railway last year: ‘unusually fierce’ storms; the longest ...
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NewsTransdev signs Wellington operating contract
NEW ZEALAND: Greater Wellington Regional Council signed a contract on March 15 for Transdev Wellington Ltd to operate suburban rail services in the capital. Transdev Wellington is a joint venture of Transdev, which has operated rail services in Auckland since 2004, and Hyundai Rotem which will maintain ...
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NewsEurostar passenger numbers steady but profit down
EUROPE: Cross-Channel high speed train operator Eurostar reports that it carried 10·4 million passengers in 2015, the same total as 2014. Sales revenue was impacted by the strength of sterling, being flat year-on-year at constant exchange rates but down 5% at actual exchange rates from £867m in 2014 to ...
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NewsBelfast Transport Hub planning underway
UK: Northern Ireland public transport agency Translink is developing plans for an extensive redevelopment of Belfast Great Victoria Street station and the adjacent bus station to form an integrated Belfast Transport Hub with rail, bus, cycle, taxi and car facilities. The current rail and bus stations handle seven million passengers/year, ...
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NewsTransdev orders Coradia Lint DMUs for Augsburg
GERMANY: Transdev has placed a €115m order for 28 Alstom Coradia Lint diesel multiple-units which its Bayerische Regiobahn subsidiary is to use from December 2018 on Dieselnetz Augsburg I services from Augsburg to Landsberg and Füssen and from München to Füssen. The order announced by Alstom on March 11 ...
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NewsDB Regio awarded Donau-Ostalb operating contract
GERMANY: The Land of Baden-Württemberg has awarded incumbent and sole bidder DB ZugBusRegionalverkehr Alb Bodensee the Netz 5 Donau-Ostalb passenger operating contract which runs for 10 years from the December 2016 timetable change. The current subsidy of €11·69 per train-km will decrease to €10·20 in the first year and then ...
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NewsCBTC goes live on København S-Bane
DENMARK: Infrastructure manager Banedanmark has commissioned the first section of CBTC signalling on the København S-Bane network. The northern section of Line A between Jægersborg and Hillerød was switched over with effect from February 29. The legacy signalling on the 1·5 kV DC electrified network uses a mix of technologies ...
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NewsStation waiting room fitted with timed doors
CANADA: As part of a programme to revitalise underused stations, the waiting room at La Pocatière station in Québec has been reopened through a partnership between VIA Rail and the municipality of Ste-Anne-De-La-Pocatière. It has been equipped with a timed door-opening system synchronised with the timetable of the Montreal – ...
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NewsGreat Western Railway and Network Rail sign alliance agreement
UK: Network Rail and Great Western Railway signed an alliance agreement on March 4, committing the infrastructure manager and franchised train operator to a ‘more aligned approach’ to improve performance and increase efficiency. Joint planning will aim to minimise disruption during major upgrading projects such as the ongoing 25 ...
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NewsGibela starts work on EMU factory
SOUTH AFRICA: The Gibela joint venture of Alstom and local partners marked the start of construction of its new EMU manufacturing plant at Dunnotar on March 4, with a ceremony attended by Alstom Chairman & CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge, PRASA Chairman Dr Popo Molefe, Transport Minister Dipuo Peters and the Mayor ...
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NewsSydney Trains to build integrated control centre
AUSTRALIA: Sydney Trains is to develop an integrated Rail Operations Centre at a cost of A$276m, New South Wales Minister for Transport & Infrastructure Andrew Constance announced on March 2. To be located at Green Square, on the Airport line south of the city centre, the ROC is expected to ...
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NewsMetrolinx receives first Tier 4 locomotive
CANADA: Greater Toronto regional transport agency Metrolinx has taken delivery of a prototype Tier 4 compliant diesel locomotive from Wabtec’s MotivePower subsidiary, and has signed a US$97m contract for 16 more to be delivered from 2017. According to Wabtec, the MP54 prototype is the first commuter locomotive to be delivered ...
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NewsSoftware for Izy low-cost high speed train launch
SALES: Dutch company Sqills has supplied Thalys with the sales and distribution software for the Izy low cost service which it plans to launch in April. The S3 Passenger platform includes revenue management, pricing and booking engines, seat reservations, inventory management, a customer relationship management front-end and station and ...
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NewsRegional bidding dropped under NS reform plan
NETHERLANDS: National passenger operator NS announced a programme of structural reforms for 2016-19 on March 1, saying its primary future focus would be on the designated core rail network. NS will no longer bid to operate local services under contracts tendered by the provinces, and the Qbuzz rail and bus ...
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NewsSyntus orders Flirts for Zwolle services
NETHERLANDS: Stadler Rail is to supply Syntus with 16 Flirt3 electric multiple-units for use on the services from Zwolle to Kampen and Enschede which the Keolis subsidiary is to operate from December 2017. The €125m contract announced by Stadler on March 2 covers the delivery of nine three-car and ...
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NewsBuilt awarded Flinders Street station contract
AUSTRALIA: Built Pty Ltd has been awarded a contract to refurbish the historic administration building at Melbourne’s Flinders Street station, Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan announced on March 1. The work will include repairing the leaking roof, restoring the ‘crumbling’ façade and re-painting ...
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NewsRovos Rail buys Shongololo Express
SOUTH AFRICA: Luxury cruise train operator Rovos Rail has completed the purchase of the Shongololo Express, taking over 19 coaches and agreeing to employ all of the staff. Shongololo Express operates three routes from Pretoria, with the Southern Cross to Victoria Falls and Dune Express to Swakopmund ...
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NewsCommuter operator c2c launches automatic delay repay
UK: Essex to London commuter operator c2c announced the launch of its automatic delay repay scheme on February 25, enabling passengers using its smartcard to receive automatic compensation for delays without needing to apply for it. Passengers can check their journey record and how much compensation they are owed on ...