Passenger rail news – Page 223
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NewsFRA assesses Northeast Corridor upgrading options
USA: The Federal Railroad Administration issued on April 2 a Preliminary Alternatives Report to mark the start of the Department of Transportation’s formal study of options to develop the Boston – New York – Washington Northeast Corridor. FRA says its report, entitled ‘NEC Future’, is the first step to developing ...
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NewsRegioJet awarded pilot Czech operating contract
CZECH REPUBLIC: The Ministry of Transport announced on March 26 that it had awarded private operator RegioJet a contract to run subsidised passenger services on the 144 km Ostrava - Opava - Krnov - Olomouc route for 15 years from December 2014. This is intended as the pilot for the ...
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NewsMetLife invests in IEP
UK: MetLife Inc, a US-based provider of insurance and pensions products, announced on April 4 that it had acquired a minority stake in Agility Trains West Ltd for an undisclosed sum. This consortium was formed by Hitachi Rail Europe and John Laing Investments to supply and maintain a fleet of ...
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NewsArriva RP awarded Kujawsko-Pomorskie contracts
POLAND: Kujawsko-Pomorskie voivodship has awarded Arriva RP two contracts covering the provision of regional passenger services on around two-thirds of the electrified routes in the voivodship. Arriva RP already operates the non-electrified routes under a 10-year contract signed in 2009. The latest contracts run for two years from the December ...
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NewsDB orders Twindexx Vario EMUs for Main-Spessart services
GERMANY: Bombardier Transportation announced a €113m firm order to supply Deutsche Bahn with 12 four-car Twindexx Vario electric multiple units on April 2. The contract has been placed within a December 2008 framework agreement. The latest batch of double-deck EMUs are to be used on Main-Spessart services between Bamberg, Würzburg, ...
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NewsTCDD launches Eskisehir – Konya high speed service
TURKEY: A direct high speed service linking Eskisehir and Konya was officially inaugurated by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on March 23, accompanied by Transport Minister Binali Yıldırım and TCDD Director General Süleyman Karaman. Introduction of the direct service follows the completion of a 5 km west-to-south connecting curve linking ...
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News'Fastest series-built train in Europe' unveiled
ITALY: The first of 50 ETR1000 high speed trains was unveiled by FS Holding Chief Executive Mauro Moretti at AnsaldoBreda's factory in Pistoia on March 26. FS hailed the ETR1000 as 'the fastest series-built train in Europe', noting that it had been designed for speeds of up to 400 ...
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NewsEuroMaint to refurbish HKX cars
GERMANY: On March 20 RDC Deutschland signed a contract for EuroMaint Rail to modernise six former Austrian Federal Railways Class 4010 electric multiple-unit cars for use as hauled stock on Hamburg-Köln-Express open access inter-city services. The two driving trailers and four intermediate vehicles are to be fitted with electronic reservation ...
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NewsAbellio Rail NRW wins cross-border operating contract
GERMANY: Rhine-Ruhr transport authority VRR has selected Abellio Rail NRW to operate Niederrhein-Netz services for 12 years from December 2016. The operating contract announced on March 22 covers routes RB33 Mönchengladbach - Krefeld - Wesel and RB35 Dusseldorf - Emmerich. RB35 is to be extended to Arnhem in 2017, with ...
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NewsEast Coast to join revised franchising programme
UK: An 'immediate start' to re-letting the InterCity East Coast franchise was announced by Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin on March 26, when he unveiled a 'detailed transparent timetable' for the replacement of all passenger train operating franchises over the next eight years. ICEC has been run by the Department ...
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NewsPassenger volumes up at Eurostar
EUROPE: High speed operator Eurostar International reported a doubling in operating profit and modest increase in passenger volumes when reporting full-year financial results for 2012 on March 25. The operator carried 9·9 million passengers in 2012, 2% up from 9·7 million for the prior year, whilst operating ...
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NewsCNR ships passenger fleet to Argentina
ARGENTINA: Following shipment from the port of Dalian, the first batch of diesel locomotives and coaches that CNR of China is supplying for long-distance services is expected to arrive in Buenos Aires by the end of March. Under a US$20m contract signed in July 2010, CNR Dalian is supplying the ...
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NewsAVE trials in France
FRANCE: A RENFE Series 100 high speed trainset undertook trial running at 300 km/h on LGV Est between Paris and Lorraine-TGV station during the week of March 18. Alstom’s Belfort plant has modified the Spanish trainset for use in France, and SNCF’s Technicentre Est-Européen depot has fitted onboard measuring ...
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NewsRail at heart of US$68bn investment programme
THAILAND: Construction of four standard-gauge dedicated passenger lines and the doubling of 3 000 route-km of metre-gauge lines is at the heart of a US$67·6bn infrastructure investment bill approved by cabinet ministers in Bangkok on March 20. Rail infrastructure accounts for the lion’s share of the planned capital outlay, with ...
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NewsJR East introduces 320 km/h running
JAPAN: With the launch of its new timetable on March 16, East Japan Railway began regular operation at 320 km/h between Utsonomiya and Morioka on the Tohoku Shinkansen, using its Series E5 trainsets. This is currently the fastest permitted speed for revenue services in Japan. Derived from the Fastech 360 ...
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NewsCaltrain upgrading deal agreed
USA: Work to upgrade and electrify the Caltrain commuter rail corridor between San Francisco and San Jose to accommodate high speed trains is set to move forward, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the California High Speed Rail Authority and the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board which ...
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NewsOperating contracts awarded by Länder
GERMANY: The Land of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has awarded DB Regio a contract to operate Ost-West services for 15 years from 2015. The contract covers the operation of around 3·5 million train-km/year on non-electrified routes from Pasewalk to Lübeck, Grambow, Bützow and Ueckermünde. Meanwhile, Sachsen-Anhalt and Brandenburg have awarded the Mitteldeutsche S-Bahn-Netz ...
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NewsAirline training for railway staff
UK: Train operator First Great Western has reached agreement with low-cost airline Flybe for more than 1 000 of its staff to participate in a purpose-designed customer service training course at the Flybe Training Academy near Exeter and at FGW's training unit at London Paddington over the next nine months. ...
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NewsFour railways save money with a joint train order
SWITZERLAND: Four metre-gauge operators in western Switzerland have jointly selected Stadler Bussnang to supply a total of 17 two and three-car electric multiple-units worth a total of SFr150m. Announcing the orders on March 13, Stadler said joint procurement had saved SFr28m compared to separate competitions and should offer long-term savings ...
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NewsOperator sought for Den Haag - Brussels service
NETHERLANDS: Den Haag's city-owned company The Hague Trains Holding has invited expressions of interest in a two-year contract to operate inter-city services between Den Haag and Brussels. An OJEU notice was published on March 13, following informal discussions with six potential operators and approval from the Dutch completion authority for ...