Passenger rail news – Page 239
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NewsQuick arrival in the Klang Valley
MALAYSIA: CSR Zhuzhou delivered the first of 38 six-car electric multiple-units to KTMB in September, having rolled it out just a year after the 4bn yuan order was signed in July 2010. Six are scheduled to arrive this year, entering traffic from January on KTM Komuter services in the ...
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NewsMadrid Barajas airport rail link opens
SPAIN: RENFE suburban services began running to a new station beneath Terminal 4 at Madrid Barajas airport on September 23. An official opening ceremony had been performed the day before by Development Minister José Blanco, President of the Madrid regional government Esperanza Aguirre and Mayor of Madrid Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón. Trains ...
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NewsAlstom to supply trains for O-Train capacity expansion
CANADA: Operator OC Transpo has awarded Alstom Transport a C$34m contract to supply six Coradia Lint diesel multiple-units to increase capacity on the O-Train service in Ottawa. The 8 km line currently carries around 12 000 daily riders, double the initial target when the service was launched in 2001, and ...
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NewsClass 730 high speed electro-diesel trainset on test
SPAIN: During a test run on the high speed line between Ourense and A Coruña on September 20, Development Minister José Blanco announced that RENFE would introduce Class 730 gauge-changing electro-diesel trainsets on services between Madrid and the northwestern region of Galicia in mid-2012. The trainsets would enable Madrid - ...
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NewsPresidential opening for LGV Rhin-Rhône
FRANCE: President Nicolas Sarkozy inaugurated the first 140 km section of LGV Rhin-Rhône between Villiers-les-Pots and Petit-Croix on September 8, cutting a ribbon at the new TGV station outside Besançon to mark the formal opening of the high speed line. He then travelled to Belfort-Montbéliard TGV, where a rolling stock ...
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NewsSiemens and RZD sign €2·5bn EMU and maintenance contracts
RUSSIA: A €2bn contract for the Train Technologies joint venture of Siemens and Sinara to supply a further 1 200 Desiro RUS electric multiple-unit cars to Russian Railways in 2015-20 was signed on September 7. The contract was signed during Expo 1520 at Shcherbinka, and follows a preliminary agreement concluded ...
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NewsZagreb suburban EMU enters service
CROATIA: A prototype 25 kV 50 Hz suburban electric multiple-unit developed jointly by Koncar and TZV Gredelj entered service in Zagreb on September 5. The four-car articulated unit No 6112 101 has been developed as a prototype for the proposed replacement of Ganz Class 6111 EMUs which the HZ ...
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NewsElectro-diesel Talgo unveiled
SPAIN: Patentes Talgo is converting 15 RENFE Class 130 gauge-changing high speed trainsets to the Class 730 hybrid by replacing the end seating cars with two new trailers each housing an MTU 12V4000R43L engine and traction alternator. With a continuous rating of 3600 kW, the Class 730 has a top ...
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NewsHow to sell train tickets online
UK: Consumer body Passenger Focus has published a study into how passengers buy rail tickets online, making recommendations to improve the process. The report was commissioned from Outlook and follows a study of ticket vending machine interfaces. Passenger Focus says online purchasing is becoming the default choice for long-distance travel. ...
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NewsBy rail from Buenos Aires to Montevideo
SOUTH AMERICA: President Cristina Fernández of Argentina met her Uruguayan counterpart José Mujica in Salto on August 29, having travelled from Ayuí using the rail link between the two countries across the Salto Grande dam on the River Uruguay, briefly used by passenger trains between 1982 and 1985. The ceremony ...
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NewsAll change at Vigo
SPAIN: RENFE services began calling at a temporary station in Vigo in the northwestern region of Galicia on August 28, following the offical opening of the new facility by Development Minister José Blanco the day before. With three platforms 285 m, 165 m and 100 m long and a ...
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NewsSaudi Arabian train on test at Velim
SAUDI ARABIA: The first of eight fixed-formation diesel trainsets which Saudi Railways Organization ordered from CAF in July 2008 is now undergoing trials at the VUZ testing centre at Velim in the Czech Republic. The 180 km/h push-pull trainset is formed of five 26·8 m long passenger coaches and single-cab ...
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NewsSNCF takes Westbahn stake
AUSTRIA: On August 23 SNCF confirmed that it had bought a 26% stake in Rail Holding AG, the parent company of open access operator Westbahn Management GmbH. The purchase takes the form of an injection of share capital into Rail Holding, which becomes a three-way joint venture between SNCF ...
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NewsOpening of Ankara - Konya fast line completes strategic link
TURKEY: Passenger services on Turkey's second 250 km/h line began on August 24, the day after the Ankara - Konya route was inaugurated by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Built at a cost of YTL1bn, the north-south line completes a strategic link in the rail network. Taking the direct 306 ...
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NewsTransitAmerica selected to operate Caltrain services
USA: TransitAmerica Services Inc has been selected to operate Caltrain commuter services in California under a contract which is set to be formally approved by the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board on September 1. The five-year deal announced on August 18 will be worth $62·5m in the 2013 financial ...
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NewsRZD launches Moscow - Beijing tourist train
RUSSIA: The Russian Railways Tour corporate and private travel services joint venture of RZD's Federal Passenger Company and Intourist launched an inaugural tourist train from Moscow to Beijing on August 15. Designed for holidaymakers rather than people making an end to end journey, the trip takes 14 days and includes ...
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NewsSeptember delivery for Serbian DMU
SERBIA: National railway ZS expects to take delivery of the first of 12 two-car diesel multiple-units during September, with entry into traffic by the end of the year. Transmashholding will deliver the remaining 11 units from its Metrovagonmash plant near Moscow during 2012. Inspecting the first unit at the factory ...
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NewsRZD and Transmashholding agree double-deck train concept
RUSSIA: Transmashholding announced on August 11 that it had agreed terms of reference with Russian Railways for the development of 160 km/h double-deck trainsets for inter-regional services on routes of up to 700 km. Production is expected to begin in 2014, with the first trains used on routes from ...
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NewsWestern concourse increases King's Cross capacity
UK: A £500m programme is underway to equip London King's Cross station to handle a predicted a growth in traffic from 40 million station users a year to a potential 50 million, and restore the nineteenth century structure to its former glory as part of the regeneration of the surrounding ...
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NewsNew minister sets out priorities for Indian Railways
INDIA: Two days after being sworn in as Railway Minister, Dinesh Trivedi set out his priorities for Indian Railways during his first visit to IR headquarters on July 14. Trivedi said he plans to implement the Vision 2020 set out by his predecessor Mamata Banerjee. He will give priority to ...