Passenger rail news – Page 206
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NewsGovia directly awarded new South Eastern franchise
UK: Incumbent Govia has been directly awarded a new franchise to operate South Eastern services from the expiry of its current contract on October 12 2014 until June 24 2018, the Department for Transport announced on September 11. The current Integrated Kent franchise has been operated ...
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NewsMalpensa Terminal 2 rail link contract awarded
ITALY: Main construction works for an extension of Milano’s Malpesa Express airport rail link from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 is set to get underway shortly, following the award of the €77m contract to Itinera. Terminal 2 handles six million passengers a year, around a third of the airport’s traffic, ...
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NewsCSR delivers first Mitre cars
ARGENTINA: The first 12 of an initial batch of 30 electric multiple-unit cars delivered by CSR of China for the Mitre commuter route were unloaded in Buenos Aires on September 6. CSR is supplying a total of 30 six-car EMUs to operate Mitre routes electrified at 830 V DC third ...
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NewsEast Japan Railway targets Californian high speed contracts
USA: JR East is to lead a Japanese consortium in bidding for railway systems contracts for the Los Angeles – San Francisco high speed line now being developed by the California High Speed Rail Authority. JR East announced in Tokyo that it expects to work in partnership with six other ...
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NewsStadler ships first Aeroexpress EMU
RUSSIA: The first of 25 double-deck electric multiple-units which Aeroexpress has ordered for its services to Moscow's Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Vnukovo airports has begun its journey to Russia from Stadler Rail's Altenrhein factory in Switzerland. The €381m order for 16 four-car and nine six-car aluminium-bodied EMUs based on Stadler's Kiss ...
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NewsDB Regio signs Dieselnetz Niedersachsen-Südost contract
GERMANY: Following a competitive tender, the Niedersachsen and Braunschweig transport authorities have awarded incumbent DB Regio a contract to operate Dieselnetz Niedersachsen-Südost passenger services for 15 years from December 2014. The contract signed on August 29 covers six routes: Braunschweig – Salzgitter – Lebenstedt (RB 44);Braunschweig – Wolfenbüttel – Schöppenstedt ...
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NewsSiemens wins South West Trains suburban EMU order
UK: South West Trains announced on September 3 that it had selected Siemens and leasing company Angel Trains for a £210m contract to supply 30 five-car electric multiple-units. The Desiro City EMUs would be ‘similar in style to the Class 700 units being produced for the Thameslink route’. Deliveries ...
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NewsAlstom awarded ScotRail EMU refurbishment contract
UK: Leasing company Eversholt Rail has awarded Alstom a two-year contract worth £36·1m to modernise 40 Class 334 three-car 25 kV electric multiple-units. These were built by Alstom in 1999-2001 and are operated by ScotRail. The work is due to start in early 2015. It will be led by Alstom’s ...
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NewsChallenging and frustrating year hits KiwiRail
NEW ZEALAND: KiwiRail has had a ‘challenging’ and ‘frustrating’ financial year, the national railway announced on August 29, adding that it is ‘cautious about the outlook for 2015’, particularly in the commodities sector. KiwiRail warned that it ‘cannot rely on revenue growth alone to get us to a sustainable position’. ...
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NewsMore Transperth multiple-units wanted
AUSTRALIA: Western Australia’s Public Transport Authority is to issue a request for information to gauge manufacturers’ interest in supplying at least 50 six-car electric multiple-units to double the size of the Transperth fleet. The additional EMUs would support anticipated ridership growth on the 1 067 mm gauge network, as well ...
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NewsHaydarpaşa station modernisation approved
TURKEY: The historical monuments section of the Ministry of Culture & Tourism has approved plans for Istanbul’s Haydarpaşa station to be modernised for use by high speed services. The landmark waterfront station on the Asian side of the city opened in 1908. Services were suspended in 2013 because of ...
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NewsDSB sets out long-term rolling stock requirements
DENMARK: National passenger operator DSB has supplied the Ministry of Transport with an assessment of the rolling stock needed under the government’s Togfonden DK strategy. This aims to use taxes on hydrocarbon extraction to fund electrification and infrastructure works to provide 1 h journey times between Denmark’s main cities. The ...
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NewsMontpellier Sud de France station bidder selected
FRANCE: Infrastructure manager RFF has selected a consortium led by Icade as preferred bidder for the public-private partnership contract to design and build Montpellier Sud de France station. The station on the new line between Nîmes and Montpellier is due to open in the fourth quarter of 2017. It ...
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NewsAlstom selected for Algerian inter-city contract
ALGERIA: National railway SNTF has selected Alstom Transport as preferred bidder for a contract to supply 17 electro-diesel multiple-units for long-distance services. Award of the €200m contract announced on August 19 is subject to a 10-day standstill period. The trainsets would be based on the Coradia Liner design ordered by ...
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NewsFirst Haramain high speed trainset revealed
SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Railways Organization President Mohamed Khaled al Suwaiket visited the first trainset for the Haramain High Speed Rail project at the Talgo’s factory at Rivabellosa in Spain on August 11. The 450 km high speed line will link Makkah with Madinah, via Jeddah and King Abdul Aziz International ...
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NewsTendering starts for high speed line to Querétaro
MEXICO: During a ceremony held in the city of Querétaro on August 15, federal Secretary of Communications & Transport Gerardo Ruiz and Querétaro state governor José Calzada formally signed off tendering documentation for the project to build a high speed line between Mexico City and Querétaro. Representing an investment in ...
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NewsNorthern and TransPennine Express franchise shortlist announced
UK: On August 19 the Department for Transport announced the six bidders which have been prequalified to submit ‘innovative and ambitious proposals’ to operate two passenger franchises in northern England. Invitations to tender are expected to be issued in December, with the winners to be announced by October 2015. The ...
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NewsToronto airport rail link DMU delivered
CANADA: The first two of 18 diesel multiple-unit cars being supplied by Sumitomo for Toronto’s Union-Pearson Express airport rail link has been delivered to regional transport agency Metrolinx. The US$75m order placed in 2011 covers 12 Type A driving cars and six Type B intermediate cars with toilets, which will ...
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NewsPerth airport rail link approved
AUSTRALIA: Detailed proposals for an 8·5 km rail link to serve Perth Airport and the city’s ‘eastern foothills’ suburbs were announced by the Premier of Western Australia Colin Barnett on August 11, following the endorsement of the A$2·2bn scheme by the state cabinet. The line would will diverge from Transperth’s ...