Passenger rail news – Page 241
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NewsFrauenfeld-Wil-Bahn orders Stadler trains
SWITZERLAND: Frauenfeld-Wil-Bahn has awarded Stadler Rail a SFr31m contract to supply five electric multiple-units for its 18 km metre-gauge line in Thurgau, the manufacturer announced on June 30. Scheduled to enter service in mid-2013, the three-car trainsets will be custom designed for FW, which is electrified at 1·2 kV DC ...
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NewsRZD proposes fast trains to serve 2018 World Cup
RUSSIA: Proposals to develop a network of high speed or accelerated train services ready for the 2018 FIFA World Cup are included in the Modernising Existing Rail Infrastructure strategy produced by Russian Railways’ Institute of Transport Economics & Development. The strategy offers ‘a practical tool’ for transporting ...
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NewsBeijing - Shanghai high speed line opens
CHINA: The world's longest high speed line was inaugurated with simultaneous departures from Beijing and Shanghai at 15.00 on June 30, as part of events marking the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party. Construction of the Beijing - Shanghai Passenger-Dedicated Line officially began on April 18 2008, and the ...
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NewsV/Line returns after North East Rail Revitalisation
AUSTRALIA: Daily V/Line inter-city passenger services from Melbourne returned to Albury on June 26, the day after ceremonies were held to mark the completion of the North East Rail Revitalisation Project. The project to increase passenger and freight capacity on the route between Melbourne and the border with New South ...
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NewsVeolia takes over from troubled DSBFirst
SWEDEN: Veolia Transport is to take over local services in southern Sweden which are currently operated by DSBFirst Sverige, Gunnar Wulff, Chief Executive of regional transport authority Öresundståg announced on June 28. This follows an agreement between DSB and Öresundståg which aims to ensure continued operations and also to stabilise ...
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NewsOttawa O-Train expansion plan approved
CANADA: Ottawa Transit Commission has voted unanimously to move ahead with a C$59m plan to expand the O-Train diesel light rail service, including the purchase of six new vehicles. Two new passing loops would be added and signalling upgraded, allowing a cut in headways from 15 min to 8 min. ...
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NewsGauge-changing trains ordered for Moscow – Berlin
RUSSIA: RZD's Federal Passenger Co and Patentes Talgo signed a contract for seven 20-car long-distance passenger trains at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 18. Talgo said the contract worth more than €100m ‘marks the culmination of 15 years of bilateral contact between the two companies’. Three trains ...
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NewsRégiolis regional train rolls out
FRANCE: Alstom unveiled its first Régiolis regional multiple-unit to 300 guests at its Reichshoffen plant on June 14, and expects to start running trials with 10 trainsets from the end of June. Part of Alstom's Coradia Polyvalent product line, Régiolis is a 160 km/h multiple-unit offered in a range of ...
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NewsTours – Bordeaux concession signed
FRANCE: RFF President Hubert du Mesnil and Chief Executive of Vinci Constructions Xavier Huillard signed the PPP concession for construction and operation of LGV Sud-Europe Atlantique on June 16. The ceremony in Paris followed confirmation of the terms by the RFF board on June 9 and approval by the Prime ...
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NewsSiemens beats Bombardier to Thameslink train order
UK: Rail Minister Theresa Villiers named Siemens plc and the Cross London Trains (XLT) consortium of Siemens Project Ventures GmbH, PPP fund Innisfree Ltd and investment company 3i Infrastructure plc as preferred bidder to build, own, finance and maintain new trains and depots for the Thameslink Programme on June 16. ...
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NewsTraxx UK aimed at two franchises
UK: Bombardier is targetting Greater Anglia and InterCity East Coast as possible customers for a UK version of its successful Traxx electric locomotive family. According to Alberto Lacchini, Director, Sales, in Bombardier’s Locomotives Business Unit, ‘we are well advanced in the design and are ready to launch the product’.Bombardier believes ...
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NewsReturn of the Bicol Express
PHILIPPINES: Following three test runs in late May, Philippine National Railways announced on June 9 that long-distance passenger services between Manila and Bicol province would resume on June 29. The announcement marks the completion of a four-year, 18bn pesos programme to rebuild PNR’s 479 km Main Line South between the ...
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NewsDual gauge to enable high speed to Madrid Airport
SPAIN: The cabinet has given its approval for the Ministry of Development to spend €15·86m on equipping the rail link to Barajas Airport in Madrid for dual-gauge operation, enabling high speed services to use the new €190m route from Chamartín. Following the completion of upgrading work on 4·1 km of ...
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News'Reliable and economical' Russian EMU to roll out next year
RUSSIA: Following Alstom's acquisition of a 25% stake in Transmashholding, on June 6 the companies confirmed details of their ongoing project to develop a 'reliable and economical' electric multiple-unit for the Russian market. The ED10 modular EMU platform will offer a range of regional and suburban options combining modern ...
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NewsSiemens wins København S-bane signalling contract
DENMARK: Infrastructure authority Banedenmark has selected Siemens to install its Trainguard MT communications-based train control on the København S-bane network. Due to be confirmed later this month, the CBTC deal is the first of four major contracts for resignalling the entire Danish rail network. The other three, a framework contract ...
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NewsThird generation TGV Duplex handed over
FRANCE: Alstom Chief Executive Patrick Kron formally handed over the first of 55 'third generation' TGV Duplex high speed trainsets to SNCF President Guillaume Pepy by on May 30. Ordered in June 2007, the latest evolution of the TGV Duplex family incorporates changes arising from EU Technical Specifications for ...
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NewsDMU deliveries take IÉ from oldest to newest fleet
IRELAND: On May 30 Iarnród Éireann took delivery of the first 12 of 57 inter-city diesel multiple-unit cars which were ordered from Mitsui in 2009 and are being assembled by Hyundai Rotem of South Korea with components from Tokyu Car Corp of Japan. The rest will arrive from South Korea ...
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NewsSinara and Siemens announce Desiro production agreement
RUSSIA: Siemens and local manufacturer Sinara Group have launched Train Technologies, a joint venture to produce Desiro electric multiple-units for the Russian market in Yekaterinburg. ‘Preliminary contracts’ worth ‘around €2bn’ were signed at the 1520 Strategic Forum in Sochi on June 1 by Siemens Mobility CEO Dr Hans-Jörg Grundmann, Dimitry ...
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NewsParis to Clermont-Ferrand high speed line plans outlined
FRANCE: Four possible routes for a high speed line linking Paris with Orléans, Clermont-Ferrand and Lyon were unveiled by RFF on May 26, following four years of discussion. LGV POCL is part of the 2 500 km of new line included in the government's Grenelle d'Environnement strategy as a long-term ...
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NewsPKP Intercity signs Pendolino contract
POLAND: PKP Intercity and Alstom Transport signed a €665m contract on May 30 for the supply and maintenance of 20 New Pendolino trainsets. They are to be delivered from Alstom's Savigliano plant in Italy from 2014, and along with ongoing infrastructure upgrades will cut the fastest Warszawa - Gdansk ...