Passenger rail news – Page 182
-
NewsNewrest wins SNCF catering supply contract
FRANCE: Newrest announced on February 22 that its subsidiary Facilit’Rail had been awarded a contract by SNCF to provide logistics for on-train catering on TGV, iDTGV and Intercités services, as well as the Alleo high speed joint venture with DB. Running for ‘just over’ four years, according Newrest, the contract ...
-
NewsPremium fleet envisaged under TET revival plan
FRANCE: Setting out the first progress update in the government’s ‘road map’ to reviving France’s conventional long-distance passenger trains, Transport Secretary Alain Vidalies confirmed on February 19 that the ‘rolling stock fleet for these trains would be entirely renewed by 2025’. Suggesting that a major factor in the decline in ...
-
NewsKončar KEV DMU enters service
CROATIA: Passenger operator HŽ PP’s first Končar KEV Class 7023 diesel multiple-unit entered revenue service on February 15, operating on the route between Zagreb, Varaždin and Kotoriba. The three-car articulated DMU is 58·5 m long. It has 151 fixed and nine folding seats, two wheelchair spaces, space for two bicycles ...
-
NewsHuman error caused Bad Aibling collision
GERMANY: A ‘human error with disastrous consequences’ led to the fatal train crash near Bad Aibling on February 9, Bayern’s state prosecutor Wolfgang Giese has confirmed. Killing 11 people and injured another 80, the head-on collision between two Flirt EMUs on a single-track line was the worst railway accident in ...
-
NewsAmtrak reviews Gulf Coast revival
USA: Proposals to reinstate inter-city passenger services between New Orleans and Jacksonville are moving forward, with the operation of a special inspection train by Amtrak and the Southern Rail Commission on February 18-19 to examine the infrastructure along the Gulf Coast route. The line had previously ...
-
NewsRock Rail signs first rolling stock financing deal
UK: Rock Rail Ltd has entered the rolling stock market with the signing of a deal worth more than £200m to finance a fleet of Siemens electric multiple-units for use by Govia Thameslink Railway. Equity for the deal announced on February 17 is being provided by Standard Life Investments ...
-
NewsVilnius – Klaipėda DMU delivered
LITHUANIA: The first of seven Pesa 730ML diesel multiple-units which national operator LG has ordered for the Vilnius – Klaipėda route was unveiled in Vilnius on February 15. The 140 km/h units are similar to DMUs which Pesa has supplied to Belarus Railways, but with an upgraded interior suitable for ...
-
NewsBretagne funds EMU order
FRANCE: On February 16 Bombardier announced that SNCF had placed a €34m order for an additional four eight-car Regio 2N double-deck electric multiple-units. They are being financed by the Bretagne region and are scheduled to be delivered in 2019. The order is an option on a 2010 framework agreement ...
-
NewsQueensland NGR maintenance depot completed
AUSTRALIA: On February 13 Bombardier and Queensland government ministers will officially open the depot to maintain the electric multiple-units that it is supplying under the Queensland New Generation Rollingstock programme. The facility at Wulkuraka near Ipswich cost A$190m to build. Work was undertaken by Laing O’Rourke between February 2014 ...
-
NewsNishi-Nippon orders EMUs
JAPAN: Kawasaki Heavy Industries is to supply 18 Series 9000 electric multiple-units to Nishi-Nippon Railroad Co for use on the 78 km Tenjin Omuta Line between Fukuoka and Omuta. To be manufactured at KHI’s Hyogo factory near Kobe, the EMUs are due to be delivered by March 2017 and ...
-
NewsMelbourne’s Cranbourne – Pakenham line to be elevated
AUSTRALIA: A 2·7 km section of the Cranbourne – Pakenham suburban line in southeast Melbourne is to be rebuilt on an elevated alignment under a A$1·6bn contract announced by Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews on February 9. Upgrading of the busy line serving the Dandenong region is part of a ...
-
NewsBelarus Railways orders Pesa DMUs
BELARUS: On February 9 Pesa signed a contract to supply Belarus Railways with a further four Type 730M diesel multiple-units to be delivered this year. There is an option for a further four which would be delivered in 2017. Pesa supplied an initial three Type 730M three-car 140 km/h partially ...
-
NewsBombardier to overhaul Maryland commuter coaches
USA: Maryland Transit Administration announced a $36·8m contract for Bombardier Transportation to overhaul 63 MARC III coaches on February 4. The double-deck commuter cars have been in service for coming up to 17 years. ‘Overhauling our MARC III cars is a cost-effective way to improve the safety and reliability of ...
-
NewsNorway starts passenger service tendering process
NORWAY: The Ministry of Transport & Communications announced on February 4 that it had called competitive tenders for an initial two contracts for the operation of passenger services from December 2018. Tender 1 covers the Sørlandet, Jær and Arendal lines in the south of Norway. Tender 2 covers Trondheim – ...
-
NewsStagecoach and FirstGroup shortlisted for South Western franchise
UK: Incumbent Stagecoach South West Ltd and FirstGroup’s First South Western Trains Ltd have been shortlisted to bid for the next South Western passenger franchise, the Department for Transport announced on February 4. Around 14% of all UK rail journeys are made on the current South Western network, with ...
-
NewsTransdev wins Sachsen operating contract
GERMANY: The Leipzig and Mittelsachsen transport authorities have selected Transdev Regio Ost for the Dieselnetzes Nordwestsachsen Lot B contract to operate passenger service R6 between Leipzig, Grimma and Döbeln from June 12 2016 to December 2025. The contract covers the operation of almost 1 million train-km/year using a fleet of ...
-
NewsArriva to launch Praha suburban service
CZECH REPUBLIC: DB subsidiary Arriva Vlaky is to launch an unsubsidised suburban passenger service on the 49 km line between Praha Hlavní and Benešov u Prahy on February 29. The semi-fast trains will run every two hours on weekdays, calling at Vršovice, Strašnice zastávka, Hostivař, Mnichovice, Senohraby and Čerčany. ...
-
NewsBeograd Centar station inaugurated
SERBIA: Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić inaugurated the first phase of Beograd’s future main station on January 26. Eight of the 10 tracks and five of the six platforms at Beograd Centar (also known as Prokop) station are now being used by two daily return services to Novi Sad and 105 ...
-
NewsRebuilt Den Haag Centraal station opened
NETHERLANDS: The rebuilt Den Haag Centraal station was officially inaugurated by Mayor Jozias van Aartsen and State Secretary at the Ministry of Infrastructure & Environment Sharon Dijksma during a day of celebrations on February 1. The redesigned terminus is intended to be brighter, more spacious and less cluttered than ...
-
NewsQueensland NGR EMU cars shipped from Mumbai
AUSTRALIA: The first six of 450 electric multiple-unit cars which Bombardier Transportation is building at its Savli plant in India under Queensland’s A$4·4bn New Generation Rollingstock contract were shipped from the Port of Mumbai at the end of January. Following testing the first units are expected to enter service in ...