Passenger rail news – Page 188
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NewsCongress extends PTC deadline by three years
USA: The potential shutdown of many rail services on January 1 has been avoided, after Congress approved a three-year extension of the federally-mandated December 31 deadline for the installation of Positive Train Control. The installation of PTC by the deadline was not considered feasible by the industry, and without ...
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NewsNTV signs €460m Pendolino contract
ITALY: A €460m contract for the supply of eight Pendolino trainsets and 20 years of maintenance was signed by Flavio Cattaneo, Chief Executive of open access high speed train operator NTV, and Pierre-Louis Bertina, Managing Director of Alstom Transport Italy, on October 29. The first of the 250 km/h Pendolino ...
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NewsFirst South West Trains Class 707 EMU under construction
UK: The first bodyshell for the 30 five-car Class 707 Desiro City electric multiple-units ordered by South West Trains for Windsor – London Waterloo commuter services has been completed at Siemens’ Krefeld factory in Germany. Design work has been finished, and the first EMU is expected to be completed by ...
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NewsTrenitalia planning Paris – Brussels high speed service
EUROPE: Italian national operator Trenitalia has confirmed that it is holding preliminary discussions with its suppliers and relevant regulatory bodies regarding the possible launch of an open access high speed service between Paris and Brussels. Speaking in Milano on October 28, Pietro Diamantini of FS Group's Passenger Division suggested that ...
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NewsRENFE prepares for wi-fi roll-out
SPAIN: National operator RENFE is to equip 89 high speed trainsets as well as 20 suburban stations under the first phase of its wi-fi programme, Development Minister Ana Pastor announced on October 26. Working with its technology partner Telefónica, over the past three months RENFE has been undertaking trials with ...
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NewsMoldova enhances cross-border links
MOLDOVA: National railway CFM has put refurbished diesel multiple-units into service on the route from Chișinău to Iași in Romania, and has signed an agreement with Ukrainian Railways for the reinstatement of the line from the border town of Basarabeasca to Berezyne in Ukraine. Five 1 520 mm gauge ...
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NewsDurchmesserlinie project completed
SWITZERLAND: The eight-year Durchmesserlinie project to increase capacity by eliminating the need for east–west trains to reverse at Zürich Hauptbahnhof was officially completed with a ceremony marking the end of Phase 2 on October 26. Phase 1 of the 9·6 km Durchmesserlinie comprised the 4·8 km S-shaped Weinberg Tunnel ...
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NewsNew guidance on handling passenger complaints
UK: The Office of Rail & Road issued new guidance on complaints handling procedures for the rail industry on October 26, saying it aimed to reflect developments including social media and ‘ensure that the industry is keeping pace with the changing needs and expectations of passengers.’ The previous guidance from ...
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NewsChiltern Railways launches Oxford Parkway service
UK: Chiltern Railways launched passenger services between London Marylebone and new stations at Bicester Village and Oxford Parkway on October 26. The trains use a 1 km chord which has been built to connect the Chiltern main line through Bicester with the existing Oxford – Bicester Town branch. The stations ...
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NewsThameslink Class 700 testing to begin soon
UK: Siemens has now produced more than 380 of the 1 140 bodyshells for the Thameslink Class 700 Desiro City electric multiple-unit fleet at its Krefeld plant in Germany, with two eight-car Class 700/0 and 10 12-car Class 700/1 EMUs now completed. Two 12-car units have been delivered to ...
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NewsEIB funds RENFE investment
SPAIN: RENFE President Pablo Vázquez and European Investment Bank Vice-President Román Escolano signed an agreement on October 1 that will see EIB provide up to €600m for investment projects over a period of three years. Among the projects to be financed with EIB funding will be an investment programme ...
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NewsChinese-funded consortium to build Jakarta – Bandung fast line
INDONESIA: Construction could start next year on a passenger-dedicated line linking Jakarta with Bandung over a 140 km alignment that would make use of vacant land next to a toll motorway. The approval of the project is the latest twist in a long-running series of negotiations between the authorities in ...
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NewsNorfolk Southern to stop accepting traffic ahead of PTC deadline
USA: Ahead of the now unachievable December 31 deadline for the introduction on PTC on routes carrying passenger trains and certain hazardous freight traffic, Norfolk Southern announced on October 20 that it would stop accepting shipments of poisonous-inhalation-hazard commodities with effect from December 1. NS has also written to Amtrak, ...
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NewsScrap inter-city franchising, say Virgin and Stagecoach
UK: Stagecoach Group and Virgin have called for the replacement of the ‘confused and damaging’ system whereby franchised and open-access train operators compete on inter-city routes. In their joint response to a Competition & Markets Authority consultation on options for increasing on-rail competition, Stagecoach and Virgin suggest a new ...
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NewsRhein-Ruhr-Express operating contracts signed
GERMANY: Contracts for the operation of Rhein-Ruhr-Express passenger services from December 2018 to December 2033 were signed by National Express, Abellio and a group of five transport authorities at a ceremony in Hamm on October 19. The five RRX routes totalling around 14·6 million train-km per year were tendered as ...
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NewsPRASA’s Gauteng Nerve Centre completed
SOUTH AFRICA: The Gauteng integrated control centre in Kaalfontein near Johannesburg was handed over to passenger operator PRASA on October 13, and is due to take control of an initial section of the province’s 1 067 mm gauge 3 kV DC electrified main line network from January. The Gauteng Nerve ...
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NewsModernised Bydgoszcz Główna station opens
POLAND: The modernised Bydgoszcz Główna station was officially opened to passengers at 10.10 on October 10. A new station building with a 3 500 m2 glass façade has been erected, while the historic island platform building has been modernised along with the platforms and subways. The work used 6 ...
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NewsHessische Landesbahn wins operating contract
GERMANY: Following a European tender, on October 12 the Rhein-Main, Rheinland-Pfalz Süd and Bayern transport authorities jointly announced that Hessische Landesbahn had been selected to operate Netz Südhessen-Untermain passenger services from December 2018. The contract covers two routes: RB75: Wiesbaden – Mainz – Darmstadt – Aschaffenburg;RB55: Frankfurt – Maintal – ...
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NewsInvestment agency takes majority stake in Polish regional operator
POLAND: The treasury’s industrial development and restructuring agency Agencja Rozwoju Przemysłu has acquired a 51% stake in Przewozy Regionalne from the 16 voivodships, which were given joint ownership of the regional passenger train business when it was spun out of state railway group PKP. The voivodships retain 49%. The government ...
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NewsEurobahn retains Hellweg-Netz contract
GERMANY: Following an international tender, the Westfalen-Lippe and Rhein-Ruhr transport authorities announced on October 5 that they had selected incumbent Keolis subsidiary Eurobahn for the next contract to operate Hellweg-Netz passenger services. The final award of the contract is subject to the 10-day regulatory standstill period. The ...