Passenger rail news – Page 197
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NewsRDC seeks more paths in Sylt Shuttle auction
GERMANY: Open access operator RDC Deutschland has applied to operate up to 59 additional car-carrying shuttle services a day between Niebüll and Westerland on the island of Sylt from December 2015. Applications for additional paths over the 39 km route closed on April 13 after RDC Deutschland secured a ...
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NewsGo Rail to suspend Tallinn - Russia services
EUROPE: Estonian private operator Go Rail, which operates Tallinn – Moscow/St Petersburg passenger trains, confirmed on April 16 that it is to ‘temporarily suspend’ its services, owing to a ‘significant decrease in the number of tourists coming from Russia’. Chief Executive Alar Pinsel said that ‘being a private company that ...
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NewsAutoSlaap Trein car-carrying service closes
EUROPE: EETC Vakantietreinen announced the end of its AutoSlaap Trein car-carrying service on April 15, saying cost increases had left it with no other option but to cease operations. The company said this 'very unfortunate' decision would mean the loss of around 50 jobs. The weekly summer-only overnight services ran ...
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NewsOstrava airport rail link opens
CZECH REPUBLIC: Ostrava became the first city in the country with a rail link to its international airport when a single-track electrified line to Leoš Janáček Airport in Mošnov was inaugurated on April 13. The KC553m project was 85 % funded by the European Union, with the remainder from the ...
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NewsRegiotrans restarts operations
ROMANIA: Private passenger operator Regiotrans hopes to resume all its previous services this month, after regaining an operating certificate on March 30 and repairing enough rolling stock to reinstate one-third of its previous routes on April 1. National safety agency ASFR had withdrawn the company’s operating certificate on March ...
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NewsConsultation on Bulgarian railway recovery strategy
BULGARIA: A draft strategy for the development of the rail network in 2015-22 and the restructuring of state railway company Holding BDZ was published for consultation by the Minister of Transport, Information Technology & Communications on April 7. Minister Ivaylo Moskovski said ‘joint and targeted actions’ by National Railway Infrastructure ...
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NewsAlstom/TMH electric locomotive enters service
KAZAKHSTAN: The first of 95 Type KZ4AT electric passenger locomotives has entered revenue service on the Astana – Kokshetau route, Alstom announced on April 2. Two more are now on test and are expected to be handed over this year. The KZ4AT was developed by Alstom and Transmashholding and is ...
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NewsJR East unveils Yamanote Loop Series E235 EMU
JAPAN: East Japan Railway has unveiled a prototype for its next generation of electric multiple-units to operate the 1 067 mm gauge Yamanote Loop around the centre of the capital. This heavily-used 34·5 km circular line serves the main Tokyo Station as well as the key interchange at Shinjuku, which ...
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NewsAlgerian coach refurbishment contract confirmed
ALGERIA: National railway SNTF has confirmed a €75m contract for a consortium of Faiveley Transport and Compin to modernise 202 main line and suburban coaches. On March 26 consortium leader Faiveley said it had a €45m share of the contract, including the supply of doors as well as heating, ...
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NewsKončar KEV delivers first production EMU
CROATIA: Končar KEV delivered its first series built Class 6112 multiple-unit to national passenger operator HŽ PP on March 30, following test running on the Zagreb Podsused Tvornica – Tovarnik line. Končar began developing the EMU in 2008, with the aim of targeting the rail operators in former Yugoslavia. A ...
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NewsBuenos Aires – Rosario service launched
ARGENTINA: Minister of the Interior & Transport Florencio Randazzo was present at the Retiro terminus in Buenos Aires on April 1 to see off the first service to Rosario operated with new traction and rolling stock purchased by the federal government from CNR Changchun of China. ‘Each train has capacity ...
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NewsVIAS awarded Erft-Schwalm-Netz operating contract
GERMANY: Following an international tender, the Rhein-Ruhr and Rheinland transport authorities VRR and NVR have jointly selected VIAS GmbH to operate Erft-Schwalm-Netz passenger services for 12 years from December 2017. The decision was announced on March 26, with a contract to be signed following the 10-day standstill period. ...
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NewsTrenitalia orders more Vivaltos
ITALY: Trenitalia has placed an order for a further 70 Vivalto double-deck regional coaches, AnsaldoBreda announced on April 1. The €98m order is an option on a contract signed in March 2010. It covers 14 push-pull driving cars to be manufactured at AnsaldoBreda’s plant in Pistoia, and 56 intermediate coaches ...
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NewsHonam high speed railway inaugurated
SOUTH KOREA: The 182·3 km Honam High Speed Railway serving the southwest of the country was formally opened by President Park Geun-hye in a ceremony at Gwangju Songjeong station on April 1, attended by many VIPs and invited guests, including the heads of Korea Rail Network Authority and national operator ...
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NewsTransdev wins Leipzig - Chemnitz operating contract
GERMANY: The Mittelsachsen and Leipzig transport authorities have selected Transdev subsidiary Mitteldeutsche Regiobahn to operate Leipzig – Geithain – Chemnitz passenger service E7 (currently RE6) from December 13 2015. The contract covers the operation of hourly services totalling around 1 million train-km/year. It runs until at least December 2023, ...
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NewsLGV Est Phase 2 completed
FRANCE: On March 31 SNCF President Guillaume Pepy joined SNCF Réseau President Jacques Rapoport and other dignitaries as the last rail was welded to mark the completion of construction work on Phase 2 of LGV Est, the high speed line between Paris and Strasbourg. Work on Phase 2, covering the ...
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NewsLevel crossings to go as Harderwijk rebuilding approved
NETHERLANDS: Infrastructure manager ProRail has confirmed that the station at Harderwijk is to be rebuilt by the end of 2016, under an accord signed with national passenger operator NS, the town council and Gelderland province on March 26. As well as improving passenger facilities, the reconstruction will eliminate two level ...
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NewsPrototype EMU on test
RUSSIA: The first of two prototype EG2Tv electric multiple-units developed by Transmashholding’s Tver Carriage Works has arrived at the Shcherbinka test circuit near Moscow, where it is to undergo certification trials ready for potential series production. TMH is developing the EG2Tv as the basis for a new generation of EMUs ...
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NewsAutomatic EMU inspection system in new maintenance contract
UK: National Express Group has awarded Bombardier Transportation a contract to maintain the 74 Bombardier Class 357 Electrostar EMUs operated under the Essex Thameside franchise, which is branded c2c. The current franchise began in November 2014 and runs for 15 years. Bombardier’s contract was announced on March 30. It runs ...
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NewsSerco to sell Great Southern Rail
AUSTRALIA: Serco Group plc has agreed to sell its Great Southern Rail business to Sydney-based private equity firm Allegro Funds for an enterprise value and cash consideration of £2·5m. GSR operates tourist-focused passenger services including The Ghan, Indian Pacific and Overland, and Serco said a review undertaken last year ...