Passenger rail news – Page 231
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NewsAll Aboard Florida appoints station planners
USA: Florida East Coast Industries has appointed architects to plan the stations for its proposed 'All Aboard Florida' inter-city service between Miami and Orlando. The $1bn plan for a privately-owned, operated and maintained passenger service using FECI lines and new construction was announced in March, with a target launch ...
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NewsPesa DMU brings international standards to local service
KAZAKHSTAN: National railway KTZ has deployed a diesel multiple-unit supplied by Polish manufacturer Pesa on a daily return working between Turkestan and Shymkent. The new unit is intended to bring 'international standards' of passenger comfort to 19 minor stations where long-distance trains do not stop. Similar to the ...
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NewsCapita Symonds to develop passenger counts database
UK: The Department for Transport has awarded Capita Symonds a £1·9m contract to develop and manage a Rail Passenger Counts Database. This will collate and report data from train operators, providing an insight into usage and identifying trends to enable expenditure to be targeted more effectively. Counts will initially ...
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NewsVladivostok airport rail link opens
RUSSIA: Airport shuttle operator Aeroexpress launched a passenger service between Vladivostok and the city's international airport at Knevichi on July 20. The project has involved the construction of a 4 km link to a new station at the airport, as well as upgrading existing track, electrification equipment and stations. ...
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NewsAgility Trains signs Intercity Express Programme contract
UK: Signing of the Intercity Express Programme contract to supply and maintain the next generation of 200 km/h inter-city trains was announced by the Department for Transport and Agility Trains on July 25. The overall package is valued at £4·5bn. Financial close has been reached for IEP Phase 1, which ...
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NewsSalzburger Lokalbahn goes low-floor
AUSTRIA: Salzburger Lokalbahn has unveiled the first of its ET40 two-car electric multiple-units to be rebuilt with the insertion of a low-floor centre car. The low-floor section is 350 mm above rail level, making the articulated vehicles more accessible to passengers with reduce mobility. There will be two wheelchair spaces, ...
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NewsPlovdiv – Svilengrad integrated control centre opens
BULGARIA: A centralised traffic control centre has been opened in Plovdiv, marking the latest stage in the long-running modernisation of the main line to Svilengrad, close to the Turkish border. At an inauguration ceremony on July 10, Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski said the dispatch facility was the ...
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NewsWuhan - Yichang Passenger-Dedicated Line opens
CHINA: A 293 km Passenger-Dedicated Line between Wuhan and Yichang in Hubei Province opened on July 1. The Hanyi Railway was built by China Railway 12th Bureau Group, with work getting underway in 2008. There are eight stations, and trains run at up to 200 km/h, with a fastest journey ...
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NewsCalifornia vote approves high speed funding
USA: Following a highly-charged debate, California’s state legislature voted on July 6 to allocate the funding needed to start construction of the state’s planned high speed line between Los Angeles and San Francisco, which is currently costed at $68bn. The senate voted 21-16 to approve a bill authorising the state ...
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NewsNS seeks next-generation Sprinter
NETHERLANDS: Bidders have been invited to prequalify for a contract to supply single-deck EMUs for national passenger operator NS. The base order would be for vehicles ‘with a total capacity of approximately 10 000 to 20 000 seats’, with deliveries commencing between October 2016 and October 2017. The next-generation Sprinter ...
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NewsStations for mobile workers
NETHERLANDS: Serviced office company Regus and Dutch national passenger operator NS have opened their first station2station business lounge at Amersfoort station, and are planning to develop a total of 13 drop-in office facilities at inter-city stations by the end of the year. The lounges provide access to office facilities including ...
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NewsSwiss start work on fourth control centre
SWITZERLAND: The foundation stone for SBB’s new Central Region control centre at Olten was officially laid on July 5, although preparatory work has been underway since last October. The ceremony was attended by Bruno Stehrenberger, Head of Operations at SBB Infrastruktur, the city’s mayor Ernst Zingg and canton Solothurn’s Director ...
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NewsWi-fi is latest upgrade for SWT Desiro fleet
UK: A £3·2m programme to install wireless internet on the 45 five-car Class 444 Siemens Desiro EMUs operated by South West Trains was announced on July 4. As well as enabling passengers to access the internet and e-mail on the move, wi-fi will enable real-time monitoring of on-train equipment and, ...
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NewsHKX prepares to take on DB
GERMANY: Open access operator Hamburg-Köln Express expects to launch revenue services between the two cities on July 23, having opened its ticket sales channels on July 4. HKX will initially operate one train per day from Monday to Wednesday in competition with Deutsche Bahn, serving six intermediate ...
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NewsThree-year investment programme approved
VIETNAM: An investment programme worth US$9·5bn over the next three years has been approved by parliament, paving the way for state railway DSVN to undertake significant modernisation works on key north-south corridors. Due for completion by 2015, the package focuses on raising line speeds to 120 km/h ...
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NewsIC4s return to service
DENMARK: National passenger operator DSB announced on July 2 that it had received authority to put its troubled fleet of IC4 DMUs back into passenger service. The trains had been withdrawn from traffic in November 2011 after problems were identified with the braking system. DSB has been allowed to run ...
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NewsIntelligent planning to minimise disruption
AUSTRALIA: RailCorp of New South Wales has awarded Siemens a contract to supply and support 'intuitive' technology designed to optimise timetabling to improve reliability and punctuality on the busy Sydney - Blacktown corridor. 'Our control system is capable of re-routing and prioritising trains automatically in the event of disruption', according ...
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NewsSlaskie abandons national operator PR in favour of local company
POLAND: Slaskie voivodship's in-house passenger operator Koleje Slaskie has been directly awarded a three-year contract to replace Poland-wide Przewozy Regionalne as the provider of all regional passenger services in the voivodship when PR's current five-year agreement ends in January 2013. PR operates nationally and is owned by the voivodship governments. ...
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NewsFirst phase of Poznan Glówny PPP redevelopment completed
POLAND: A new main building at Poznan Glówny station was inaugurated by President Bronisaw Komorowski on May 29. The €7m building partially spanning platforms 1, 2 and 3 has been developed under a PPP agreement between infrastructure manager PKP PLK which provided the land, and Europa Fund III and TriGranit ...
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NewsNîmes - Montpellier contract signed
FRANCE: The 25-year PPP contract covering financing and construction of the mixed-traffic high speed line bypassing Nîmes and Montpellier was formally signed on June 28, by Réseau Ferré de France President Hubert du Mesnil and Bouygues Construction President & CEO Yves Gabriel on behalf of the OC’VIA consortium. Bringing together ...