Passenger rail news – Page 212
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NewsTransPennine EMU fleet delivered
UK: Train operator First TransPennine Express took delivery of the last of 10 Siemens Class 350/4 Desiro electric multiple-units on March 28, 25 months after the £60m contract was signed. The four-car 25 kV 50 Hz EMUs are leased from Angel Trains, and will be used to increase capacity between ...
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NewsFirst Jazz EMU delivered
ITALY: Alstom officially handed over the first of 70 Coradia Meridian electric multiple-units being built for Trenitalia at Roma Termini on March 27. The operator placed the €440m order for the four and five-car 160 km/h EMUs in November 2012. Following the musical themes of the Vivalto and Minuetto trainsets, ...
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NewsAusterity in Northern Rail direct award franchise
UK: The Department for Transport announced on March 27 that it had directly awarded incumbent Northern Rail a new franchise running from the end of its current franchise on April 1 2014 until February 2016, when a long-term franchise is now expected to be let. DfT said the deal 'marks ...
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NewsCoach order a done deal
POLAND: PKP Intercity is expected to confirm a contract shortly for FPS to supply 20 long distance passenger coaches for Warszawa - Poznan - Szczecin services. Valued at 148 million złoty, the deal covers eight first class, 10 second-class and two restaurant cars, specifying air-conditioned vehicles suitable for 200 km/h ...
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NewsRecord ridership in a 'challenging year' for SBB
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways found 2013 'a challenging year', but carried more than a million passengers/day for the first time while its freight business recorded positive net income for the first time in more than 40 years. SBB's consolidated net income fell from SFr422·5 in 2012 to SFr238·2m in 2013, ...
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NewsRégiolis approved for passenger service
FRANCE: Alstom reports that its Régiolis multiple-unit is now expected to enter passenger service with SNCF on April 22. What the manufacturer describes as ‘an important milestone' in the Régiolis commissioning programme was reached on March 21 when safety regulator EPSF issued its approval for the new train type to ...
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NewsCantus retains Nordost-Hessen-Netz contract
GERMANY: Following a Europe-wide tender, on March 24 Nordhessen transport authority NVV selected incumbent Cantus for a 15-year contract to operate Nordost-Hessen-Netz regional services between December 2016 and December 2031. The services linking Kassel, Göttingen and Fulda and between Bebra and Eisenach have been operated by the Cantus joint venture ...
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NewsNew fares boost high speed traffic
SPAIN: Presenting on March 20 the results of the first 12 months of the market-based fares structure introduced by RENFE in February 2013, Development Minister Ana Pastor reported that the number of passengers carried on high speed services had grown by 23⋅47% from 12 million to reach 14⋅9 million in ...
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NewsHyundai Rotem awarded high speed train contracts
SOUTH KOREA: Hyundai Rotem has been awarded two contracts to supply 300 km/h high speed trainsets. A 324bn won contract covers 10 KTX-Sancheon trainsets for the Suseo High Speed Railway subsidiary of Korail, which will operate the 60 km high speed line now under construction to serve the southeastern ...
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NewsDB orders S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland EMUs
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn placed a €146m contract for 29 Bombardier Talent 2 electric multiple-units on March 20, the 13th firm order under a €1bn framework agreed in 2007. The 19 three-car and 10 five-car EMUs are to be manufactured at Bombardier's Hennigsdorf site. They are due to enter service from ...
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NewsFyra dispute settled as AnsaldoBreda buys back V250 trainsets
NETHERLANDS: National passenger operator NS has reached agreement with AnsaldoBreda and its parent company Finmeccanica to settle the ongoing dispute over the V250 trainsets supplied for the aborted Fyra high speed services linking Amsterdam with Brussels and Breda. Under an agreement announced on March 17, AnsaldoBreda will take back all ...
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NewsSiemens Charger passenger locomotive contract finalised
USA: Siemens announced on March 18 that the states of Illinois, California, Michigan, Missouri and Washington had formally issued a notice to proceed with production of 32 diesel-electric passenger locomotives suitable for speeds up to 200 km/h. The procurement is being led on behalf of the five states by ...
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NewsSeries E7 debuts on Nagano Shinkansen
JAPAN: JR East officially launched its first dual-system Series E7 Shinkansen trainsets in revenue service on March 15, in conjunction with the country’s national timetable change. Developed jointly with JR West, which has ordered its own build designated Series W7, the new trainsets are intended to operate Hokuriku Shinkansen services ...
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NewsNorthern focus needed, says HS2 Chairman
UK: Deferral of the proposed link between High Speed 2 and High Speed 1 and extension of the first phase route from Lichfield north to Crewe are among the recommendations of a report issued on March 17 by HS2 Ltd Chairman Sir David Higgins outlining how the UK’s proposed high ...
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NewsBuenos Aires metro car converted to diesel-electric railcar
ARGENTINA: A former Buenos Aires metro car is being converted into a diesel-electric railcar by the Ferrocarril Central Buenos Aires co-operative, which hopes to restore passenger services to the currently disused Fátima - Rojas section of the 1 435 mm gauge Urquiza network. Intended to operate with two trailer vehicles, ...
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NewsKing opens rebuilt Rotterdam Centraal station
NETHERLANDS: King Willem-Alexander ceremonially inaugurated the rebuilt Rotterdam Centraal station on March 13, during celebrations which included dancing and musical performances. The station has been rebuilt to cope with predicted growth from the current 110 000 passengers/day - as many people as use Amsterdam Schiphol airport - to 323 000 ...
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NewsTendering to start for new line to Toluca
MEXICO: Secretary of Communications & Transport Gerardo Ruiz signed off tendering documentation for the project to build an electrified passenger railway from Mexico City to Toluca at a ceremony held on February 28. The new line would run for 58 km from Observatorio, the western terminus of Line 1 of ...
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NewsUlaanbaatar Railway orders coaches
MONGOLIA: Ulaanbaatar Railway has awarded Transmashholding's Tver Carriage Works a contract to supply 12 second and two first class compartment coaches, and a staff car with a compartment adapted for a person with reduced mobility and an accompanying person. The air-conditioned coaches will be based on the 61-4440 and 61-4445 ...
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NewsPTC, higher speeds and accessibility in Amtrak infrastructure programme
USA: The continued roll-out out of Positive Train Control, works to upgrade the Northeast Corridor and improvements to station accessibility for passengers with disabilities are included in Amtrak's infrastructure programme for 2014. PTC has now been installed on 850 track-km of Amtrak-owned sections of the Northeast Corridor and its Michigan ...
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NewsFive-year direct award Great Western franchise proposed
UK: The Department for Transport is considering directly awarding incumbent FirstGroup a five-year contract to operate the Great Western franchise, which covers passenger services linking London with southwest England and south Wales. Plans to tender a new long-term Great Western franchise were put on hold following the collapse of the ...