Passenger rail news – Page 226
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NewsHigh speed line opens between Barcelona and Figueres
SPAIN: The Prince of Asturias joined Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, President of the Catalunya regional government Artur Mas and Development Minister Ana Pastor on January 8 to officially open the completed high speed line between Barcelona Sants and Figueres Vilafant. Revenue services were due to start the following day. RENFE ...
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NewsGerman operating contracts awarded
GERMANY: Bayern transport agency Bayerische Eisenbahngesellschaft and Rhein-Main transport authority RMV have selected DB Regio for a contract to operate hourly Main-Spessart services between Frankfurt, Aschaffenburg and Würzburg for 12 years from December 13 2015. Trains will continue on to Schweinfurt and Bamberg every 2 h. DB Regio plans to ...
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NewsMore Flirts for Belarus
BELARUS: Last month Belarusian Railways signed a firm order for Stadler Bussnang to supply a further six Flirt electric multiple-units in 2013-14. The five-car EMUs are intended for regional routes and will offer greater comfort and more luggage space than the units which Stadler has delivered for Minsk suburban services. ...
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NewsAbellio orders Talent 2 electric multiple-units
GERMANY: Bombardier Transportation's Hennigsdorf plant is to supply 20 three-car and 15 five-car Talent 2 electric multiple-units to Abellio Rail NRW under a €172m contract announced on December 31. The EMUs are to be deployed on Saale-Thüringen-Südharz services which Abellio is to operate from December 2015 under a 15-year contract ...
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NewsPakistan Railways signs Night Coach Express PPP agreement
PAKISTAN: A public-private partnership agreement for Shalimar Group to manage an overnight Lahore - Karachi passenger service was signed by Pakistan Railways on December 26. The Night Coach Express is scheduled to start in early January, with Shalimar Group managing commercial aspects of the service and PR responsible for ...
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NewsBeijing - Guangzhou high speed line completed
CHINA: Through high speed trains began operating between Beijing and Guangzhou on December 26, with the completion of the 663 km Beijing – Shijiazhuang – Zhengzhou Passenger-Dedicated Line. Coming exactly three years after the inauguration of the Wuhan – Guangzhou PDL on December 26 2009, and three months after ...
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NewsCinova EMU to serve Pearl River Delta
CHINA: A new design of 200 km/h EMU designed for short-distance inter-city operations has been rolled out by CSR Sifang, and is expected to enter service on routes in the Pearl River Delta area of southern China during 2013. Officially designated as class CRH6, and branded ‘Cinova’, the new EMU ...
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NewsIraqi Republic Railways orders Chinese DMUs
IRAQ: A US$115m contract for Chinese firm Dongfang Electric Corp to supply Iraqi Republic Railways with 10 diesel multiple-units was signed in Baghdad on December 15. The first two units are scheduled to be delivered within a year. IRR said the 160 km/h trainsets would be modern, sophisticated and built ...
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NewsNew and refurbished trains for Hessische Landesbahn
GERMANY: Hessische Landesbahn has awarded Alstom contracts totalling €40m for the supply of seven new Coradia Lint diesel multiple-units and the modernisation of 25 existing trainsets. The DMUs are to be deployed on Eifel-Westerwald-Sieg regional services which HLB is to operate under a 15-year contract starting in August 2015. ...
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NewsMariazellerbahn commissions a stairway to heaven
AUSTRIA: More than 2500 people attended celebrations at the Mariazellerbahn's Laubenbachmühle depot on December 16 to mark the unveiling of the first of nine low-floor electric multiple-units which Stadler Rail is supplying for Austria's longest narrow gauge railway. Bishop of St Pölten Klaus Küng and Superintendent of the Evangelical Church ...
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NewsAlstom wins Coradia Continental train order
GERMANY: On December 18 Alstom announced contracts worth more than €100m to supply and maintain 20 Coradia Continental electric multiple-units, which from December 2015 are to be deployed on Elektronetz Niedersachsen Ost regional services from Hannover to Wolfsburg and Wolfsburg to Hildesheim via Braunschweig. There is an option for a ...
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NewsLublin airport rail link opens
POLAND: Rail services from Lublin to Lublin (Swidnik) Airport station began on December 17. This follows completion of a 2·2 km branch from Swidnik station, which was built by PRK Expol with KZA Lublin responsible for signalling and PKP Energetyka for electrification. The new airport has been developed from ...
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NewsTest runs start under Barcelona
SPAIN: RENFE began using the new tunnel between Sants and La Sagrera in Barcelona on December 17, as it commenced test running with Class 103 trainsets on the high speed line between Sants, Girona and Figueres Vilafant. Taking place between 08.00 and 18.00, the test runs are also being used ...
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NewsRail Technical Strategy launched
UK: A 30-year vision for the evolution of railway technology was outlined on December 13 with the publication in London of the 2012 Rail Technical Strategy. Unlike the 2007 version which had been prepared by the Department for Transport, the document has been developed by the pan-industry Technical Leadership Strategy ...
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NewsElektriraudtee unveils first diesel Flirt
ESTONIA: The first diesel version of Stadler Rail's Flirt family of multiple-units was unveiled by Tallinn passenger operator Elektriraudtee on December 13. Elektriraudtee signed two contracts with Stadler for new trains in August 2010. An order for 12 three-car and six four-car electric multiple-units is worth €80m, of which 85% ...
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NewsAmtrak to start Acela Express fleet replacement
USA: Amtrak has abandoned plans to lengthen its current fleet of 20 Acela Express trainsets to increase capacity, and instead intends to procure a new fleet of high speed trains to operate on the Northeast Corridor between Washington DC, New York and Boston. Amtrak ridership has increase by 50% over ...
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NewsTendering starts for Brazilian high speed line
BRAZIL: On December 13 federal transport agency ANTT announced the start of tendering for the planned 510 km high speed railway between Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Campinas. Bidders have been given until August 13 2013 to submit their proposals for the operation and maintenance of the route, preceded ...
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NewsStadler awarded Łódź EMU contract
POLAND: Stadler Rail has been awarded a contract to supply 20 two-car Flirt electric multiple-units to Łódzka Kolej Aglomeracyjna, a voivodship-owned company which is to take over the operation of services around the city of Łódź next year. EU sources are meeting 59% of the cost of the LKA ...
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NewsMulhouse - Müllheim reopens to passengers
EUROPE: SNCF began operating regular passenger services between Mulhouse in France and Müllheim in Germany with the December 9 timetable change, following the completion of a programme to upgrade the 17·5 km freight route between Mulhouse and the border at Chalampé. There are now seven TER services each weekday ...
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NewsLondon Overground orbital route completed
UK: Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin inaugurated an extension of the London Overground network through south London on December 10, creating an orbital service around the capital. Passenger services had begun the previous day. The project required construction of a 1·3 km link joining existing ...