Passenger rail news – Page 246
-
NewsTouch & Travel by iPhone
GERMANY: DB is trialling a Touch & Travel ticketing application for use with Apple's iPhone smart phone. The application can use three forms of ticket validation and fare collection: automatic position determination, 2D bar codes or the input of touch point numbers. On long-distance ICE/IC and EC trains ticket purchasing ...
-
NewsNortheast high speed opening
CHINA: The 111 km Changchun - Jilin Passenger-Dedicated Line opened on January 10, connecting Jilin province's two most prominent conurbations and Changchun's airport at Longjia. Intermediate stations at Jixi and Jiutai South are to open shortly. The line has an annual capacity of 23 million passengers, with 20 services in ...
-
NewsEiffage wins LGV Bretagne PPP
FRANCE: Following an extraordinary board meeting on January 18, infrastructure manager RFF announced that it had selected Eiffage as preferred bidder to build LGV Bretagne – Pays de la Loire under a PPP deal valued at €3·4bn. The project covers construction of 214 km of new line, of which 182 ...
-
NewsBreak of gauge no more
EUROPE: Opening of the new line between Perpignan and Figueres and completion of a €337m programme to provide a 1 435 mm gauge route for freight trains between Figueres and Barcelona Morrot has enabled 6 h to be cut from the transit time for intermodal services. Since December 21 ...
-
NewsFlywheel railcar to operate demonstration commuter service
UK: A lightweight diesel railcar with flywheel energy storage is to operate a demonstration commuter service on the Mid-Hants heritage railway in southern England for four weeks during February. The Parry People Mover PPM50 will provide a peak commuter service from Medstead & Four Marks to Alton, where there is ...
-
NewsReturn to Malanje marks Angolan railway revival
ANGOLA: Caminhos de Ferro de Luanda passenger and freight services returned to the city of Malanje after 18 years on January 13, following rehabilitation of the 424 km line from Luanda. Passenger trains are scheduled to take 9 to 10 h with one stop at Ndalatando, and around 300 ...
-
NewsFirst phase of Hainan Island high speed ring opens
CHINA: The high speed line down the east coast of the island province of Hainan was officially opened on December 30, with a ceremony which also launched construction of a second phase along the west coast which will form a high speed rail ring around the island. The initial line ...
-
NewsDB orders double-deck trains for long-distance services
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn has awarded Bombardier Transportation a €362m contract to supply 137 Twindexx 2010 coaches and 27 Traxx P160AC electric locomotives to enter service from the end of 2013. While DB Regio uses around 2 000 double-deck cars on regional services, the contract announced on January 12 is DB's ...
-
NewsVeolia awarded Bayern to Austria operating contract
GERMANY: Bayern transport procurement body Bayerische Eisenbahngesellschaft has selected Veolia Transport's German subsidiary Veolia Verkehr for a 12-year contract to operate E-Netz Rosenheim regional services from December 2013. Expected to generate total revenues of €1bn, the contract awarded in December covers services previously operated by DB on two routes between ...
-
NewsTaiwan Railway Administration orders tilting trains
TAIWAN: Japanese suppliers Sumitomo Corp and Nippon Sharyo confirmed on January 6 that they had signed a NT$10·6bn contract to supply Taiwan Railway Administration with 17 inter-city tilting trainsets capable of operation at 150 km/h. Under the deal agreed on December 31, the eight-car EMUs are due to be delivered ...
-
NewsFrench regions order more Régiolis trains
FRANCE: Alstom Transport announced orders for a further 22 Coradia Polyvalent regional multiple-units on January 4, firm contracts within the framework agreement which the manufacturer signed with SNCF in October 2009. The latest orders are worth €125m and cover 10 Régiolis units for the Poitou-Charentes region and 12 for Auvergne. ...
-
NewsCompletion of Ankara - Konya high speed line is significant step
TURKEY: The first passenger train on TCDD's new Ankara - Konya high speed line ran on December 17, marking another significant step in the country's rail development. International Affairs Director Ibrahim Ceslik says revenue services are expected to begin in early 2011, following the formal completion of the line at ...
-
NewsSiemens wins first Vectron order
EUROPE: Siemens Mobility announced on December 22 that it had signed the first contract for supply of new locomotives from its modular Vectron family. München-based leasing company Railpool GmbH has ordered six locos for use on passenger and freight services in Germany and Austria. The contracts were signed at the ...
-
NewsPassenger trains to return to Norfolk
USA: Virginia’s Governor Bob McDonnell announced on December 20 that daily inter-city passenger trains will return to Norfolk within three years, restoring regular services to the Hampton Roads region for the first time since 1977. The announcement followed the signing of an agreement between the Commonwealth of Virginia and ...
-
NewsRhB orders Albula line trainsets
SWITZERLAND: Rhätische Bahn has signed a SFr110m contract with Stadler for the supply of seven new-generation trainsets to operate principal services on the Albula main line between Chur and St Moritz. The deal forms the third stage in RhB’s rolling stock renewal programme, bringing the total order value to SFr310m. ...
-
NewsGrant reallocations double California’s high speed pilot section
USA: The planned initial segment of California’s proposed high-speed rail network was almost doubled in length on December 20, thanks to the reallocation of federal funding promised for right-of-way upgrading schemes in Wisconsin and Ohio. Following the rejection of those projects by the two states’ newly-elected governors, the Department of ...
-
NewsDB awards ETCS on-board contract
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn has awarded a €60m contract to Alstom for the supply and installation of on-board ETCS equipment for 121 high speed trainsets to be used on both international and domestic services. The order covers 71 ICE-T tilting trainsets and 50 ICE3 sets. Alstom will supply its Atlas on-board ...
-
NewsScottish cities reconnected
UK: A fourth direct route between Edinburgh and Glasgow came into operation on December 12, following the completion of a £300m project to reconnect the Glasgow – Airdrie and Edinburgh – Bathgate branch lines. The work re-establishes a through route which had been truncated for passengers in 1956 and closed ...
-
NewsRoyal opening for Madrid – Valencia
SPAIN: The Madrid to Cuenca and Albacete section of the high speed line to Valencia was formally inaugurated by the Prince of Asturias and his consort on December 15. The section from Cuenca to Valencia will follow on December 18. The completion of a further 438 km of high speed ...
-
NewsInter-city funding convention signed
FRANCE: A convention providing government support for residual and loss-making inter-city services on the conventional network was signed in Paris by Transport Minister Thierry Mariani and SNCF President Guillaume Pepy on December 13. Designated Trains d'Equibre du Territoire, the initiative forms part of a government commitment to support balanced national ...