Passenger rail news – Page 186
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NewsNanjing – Anqing PDL opened
CHINA: The 258 km Nanjing – Anqing Intercity Railway was opened to revenue service by China Railway Corp on December 6, following four months of test running. Under construction since 2010 at a cost of 25bn yuan, the 200 km/h Passenger-Dedicated Line mainly serves the province of Anhui, with a ...
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NewsEIB loan to fund Südbahn upgrading work
AUSTRIA: Austrian Federal Railways and the European Investment Bank signed a €1·8bn loan agreement on November 30 for upgrading work on the Südbahn route between Wien and Graz to 2026. The loan is to be disbursed over the next three years in tranches of €600m. The money will support ...
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NewsZSSK to end Bratislava – Košice inter-city services
SLOVAKIA: National passenger operator ZSSK announced on December 4 that it would withdraw all of its inter-city services on the 445 km Bratislava – Košice main line with effect from January 18, having previously cut service levels by 40% earlier this year. Czech open access operator RegioJet had warned in ...
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NewsRhätische Bahn takes first delivery of Albula line trainset
SWITZERLAND: StadlerRail delivered the first new-generation trainset for Rhätische Bahn’s Albula line to Landquart depot on December 2. Testing of the 1 000 mm gauge trainsets ordered to operate express services between Chur and St Moritz, is due to begin between December 7 and 11, with certification by the ...
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NewsAbellio receives first R-net Flirt 3 EMU
NETHERLANDS: The first of six Stadler Flirt 3 electric multiple-units ordered by Abellio to operate services on the Gouda – Alphen aan den Rijn route arrived at NedTrain’s Leidschendam depot on December 3. In 2014 the province of Zuid-Holland awarded NS Reizigers and Abellio Rail NRW GmbH a contract ...
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NewsPR to take over in Kujawsko-Pomorskie
POLAND: National regional train operator PR is to take over operation of local services on electrified lines in Kujawsko-Pomorskie with effect from the December 2015 timetable change. In 2013 Kujawsko-Pomorskie voivodship awarded Arriva RP a two-year contract to operate the electric services, but it subsequently chose to award the next ...
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NewsMoscow Small Ring EMUs ordered
RUSSIA: On December 2 Moscow operator Central Suburban Passenger Co signed a contract for Transmashholding’s Demikhovo plant to supply 35 Type ED4M-500 electric multiple-units between February and July 2016. The six-car 3 kV DC EMUs are to be used on the 54 km Small Ring line in Moscow, where passenger ...
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NewsLondon Midland agrees direct award franchise contract
UK: On December 3 the Department for Transport announced a direct award agreement which will see incumbent Govia continue to operate the West Midlands passenger franchise under the London Midland brand from the expiry of its current deal in April 2016 until October 2017. The Govia joint venture of Go-Ahead ...
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NewsDiesel tram-trains for Puebla
MEXICO: Vossloh Rail Vehicles has delivered what it says are the first tram-trains in the Americas, two diesel vehicles ordered last year by the government of the state of Puebla. The new vehicles have been acquired as part of an 800m pesos project to introduce a tourist service over the ...
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NewsKoleje Śląskie gets 10-year operating contract
POLAND: Śląskie voivodship has agreed to award its in-house train operator Koleje Śląskie a 10-year contract to operate local passenger services from January 1 2016 to December 31 2025. The voivodship will pay KŚ a total of 1·4bn złoty, but not not more than 140m złoty a year, and the ...
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NewsSouth Wales Metro consultation to begin
UK: Public consultation on the proposed Cardiff Capital Region Metro programme to develop an integrated network of rail, bus and light rail services is to begin in early 2016, Wales’ First Minister Carwyn Jones announced on November 30. Metro would involve incremental infrastructure improvements and potentially the development ...
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NewsRebuilt Arnhem Centraal station rewrites the rules
NETHERLANDS: A €37·5m ‘Transfer Terminal’ at Arnhem Centraal which architectural practice UNStudio claims ‘rewrites the rulebook’ on station design was officially opened by Sharon Dijksma, State Secretary at the Ministry of Infrastructure & Environment, on November 19. This marks the completion of 20-year project to redevelop the 1950s station area ...
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NewsVIA Rail acquires Brockville Subdivision
CANADA: VIA Rail Canada has acquired the Brockville Subdivision from Canadian Pacific. This comprises 45 km of single track between Smiths Falls and Brockville on the Ottawa – Toronto route in Ontario. ‘This acquisition will strengthen our rail network dedicated to passenger trains in the Ottawa region, where VIA Rail ...
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NewsFrance announces security checks for international rail passengers
FRANCE: Equipment to enable passengers and their luggage to be scanned prior to boarding Thalys services in Paris and Lille is to be installed before December 20, Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development & Energy Ségolène Royal has announced. During an interview with radio station France Inter, the minister ...
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NewsEurostar e320 enters service
EUROPE: The first of Eurostar’s 17 Siemens-built Velaro e320 trainsets began operating in limited commercial service on November 20, having been authorised for passenger operation through the Channel Tunnel the previous day. According to Eurostar, ‘we received the final piece of safety authorisation earlier than expected’, allowing the company to ...
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NewsODEG wins Netz Spree-Neiße operating contract
GERMANY: Following an open tender conducted by transport authority VBB, on November 19 the Land of Brandenburg and Oberlausitz-Niederschlesien transport auithority ZVON announced that incumbent Ostdeutsche Eisenbahn had been selected to operate Netz Spree-Neiße services for 12 years from December 2018. The contract covers the operation of 1·9 million train-km/year ...
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NewsSlovakia calls tenders for long-distance operating contract
SLOVAKIA: The Ministry of Transport has called for tenders for its first contract to operate subsidised long-distance passenger services. This is intended as the initial stage in a long-term plan to liberalise the passenger market. The tender announced on November 6 covers the 230 km Bratislava – Banská Bystrica ...
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NewsGo-Ahead and Abellio win Stuttgart passenger operating contracts
GERMANY: UK company Go-Ahead and the Abellio subsidiary of Dutch national railway NS have been selected for three contracts to operate Netz 1 passenger services from Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg’s Minister for Transport & Infrastructure Winfried Hermann announced on November 17. Formal award of the contracts by transport authority Nahverkehrsgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg ...
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NewsUzbekistan Railways orders more Talgo trainsets
UZBEKISTAN: National railway UTY has signed a €38m contract for Patentes Talgo to supply a further two 250 km/h trainsets in 2017. The extra trainsets have been ordered as part of the ongoing 25 kV 50 Hz electrification of the 291 km Samarkand – Bukhara line which is scheduled for ...
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NewsCross-border train ready to live longer and prosper
EUROPE: Translink NI Railways is undertaking a major refurbishment of the three locomotive-hauled trainsets used on the cross-border Enterprise service between Belfast and Dublin. The first completed eight-car set re-entered service on November 16, and all are expected to return to service by the end of the year. The Enterprise ...