Passenger rail news – Page 251
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NewsStansted Airport trains under construction
UK: The first of 30 four-car Class 379 Electrostar electric multiple-units for National Express East Anglia will begin tests at Bombardier Transportation's Derby plant in September, the manufacturer announced on July 21. The 160 km/h units have been ordered for use on services from London Liverpool Street to Stansted Airport ...
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NewsFinal tender issued for LGV Bretagne
FRANCE: Infrastructure manager RFF confirmed on July 21 that it had issued the final tender documents to the three bidders shortlisted for the ‘partnership contract’ to build LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire between Le Mans and Rennes. The three consortia led by Bouygues, Vinci and Eiffage have been given until ...
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NewsFourth order for CRH1 high speed trains
CHINA: The Ministry of Railways has ordered an additional 40 CRH1 Zefiro high speed trains from the Bombardier Sifang (Qingdao) Transportation joint venture at a cost of 5·2bn yuan, Bombardier announced on July 16. The eight-car trains will have a top speed of 250 km/h and capacity for 604 passengers, ...
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NewsKiwiRail announces Auckland electric train shortlist
NEW ZEALAND: KiwiRail has shortlisted Hitachi, Hyundai Rotem, Bombardier Transportation and a consortium of CAF and Mitsubishi for the contract to supply up to 38 three-car electric multiple-units to operate Auckland suburban services. KiwiRail is working with Auckland Regional Transport Authority to procure the 1 067 mm gauge trains as ...
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NewsRFF agrees terms for Tours – Bordeaux PPP concession
FRANCE: Infrastructure manager Réseau Ferré de France confirmed on July 15 that it had completed negotiations with the Vinci-led LISEA consortium over the PPP concession to build LGV Sud Europe Atlantique between Tours and Bordeaux, which it describes as ‘the largest railway project in Europe’, with a total cost of ...
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NewsDB Regio awarded Warnow-Netz operating contract
GERMANY: The Land of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has awarded incumbent DB Regio a new 13-year contract to operate Warnow-Netz regional services. Announced on June 30, the contract will be implemented in two phases and will eventually cover the operation of 4 million train-km a year. The first phase comes into effect in ...
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NewsSiemens joint ventures to supply Desiros and modernise yards
RUSSIA: Siemens is to form joint ventures to supply 240 electric multiple -units and modernise 22 marshalling yards under memoranda of understanding signed when German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for talks in Yekaterinburg on July 15. The agreements were signed by Siemens President & CEO Peter ...
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NewsSeries E6 mini-Shinkansen trainset unveiled
JAPAN: The: prototype Series E6 mini-Shinkansen trainset for East Japan Railway's Akita route was unveiled to the public at Sendai depot on July 9. Once trials are completed the train is expected to enter commercial service from 2013. The Series E6 has five motor and two trailer cars, providing 315 ...
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NewsNewrest buys Compagnie des Wagon-Lits
EUROPE: Accor has sold its Compagnie des Wagons-Lits onboard rail catering activities to Newrest WL, a joint venture with Newrest in which Accor has a 40% stake. Announcing the deal on July 7, Accor said it plans to withdraw from the onboard catering sector and has an option to sell ...
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NewsShanghai - Nanjing high speed line opens
CHINA: High speed services between Shanghai Hongqiao and Nanjing were launched with a ceremony hosted by Governor of Jiangsu province Luo Zhijun on July 1. The line is designed for running at up to 350 km/h, cutting the fastest journey time between the cities by around 80 min to ...
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NewsDB beats ÖBB to Bayern contract
GERMANY: Austrian Federal Railways was unsuccessful in its first tender for a foreign passenger rail operating contract, losing out to DB Regio in its bid to run Werdenfels-Netz services on behalf of Bayern transport authority Bayerische Eisenbahngesellschaft. Veolia and BeNEX had also bid for the contract, which covers the operation ...
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NewsModified mix saves fuel
UK: St Louis, Missouri-based International Fuel Technology believes that its DiesoLIFT 10 additive could deliver significant fuel economy benefits in diesel multiple-unit powerpack applications. Rather than being petroleum-based, IFT's proprietary fuel additive formulations are derived from a mixture of surfactant substances. DiesoLIFT 10 has undergone four years of ...
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NewsArriva Nederland orders its 99th Stadler GTW
NETHERLANDS: Stadler announced a €140m order to supply Arriva Nederland with a further 38 GTW mul tiple-units on July 2, bringing its orders for the articulated units to a total of 99. Worldwide, Stadler has now sold 539 GTW units to operators in 10 countries. The latest Arriva order covers ...
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NewsRio - São Paulo high speed rail bidding ready to start
BRAZIL: Bid documents for the concession to build and operate the proposed high speed line between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo are expected to be issued before July 9, according to the Director of the government’s land transport directorate Agência Nacional de Transportes Terrestres. ANTT director Bernardo Figueiredo ...
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NewsBlack Sea bullet plan
GEORGIA: President Mikheil Saakashvili outlined his vision for fast trains to cut the 360 km Tbilisi - Batumi journey from 8 h to less than 3 h on May 31. Opening a construction base in Batumi for the upgrading of GRZ's main line, he said modern transport and communications were ...
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NewsFyra launch delayed again
NETHERLANDS: A further year's delay to the launch of high speed domestic services on HSL-Zuid has been confirmed by Transport Minister Camiel Eurlings, who has admitted to the Dutch parliament that there is no prospect of the AnsaldoBreda V250 trainsets entering revenue service before the December 2011 timetable change at ...
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NewsRENFE unveils Class 112 high speed train
SPAIN: National operator RENFE unveiled the new Class 112 high speed train at its future home, the extended Santa Catalina rolling stock maintenance facility in Madrid, on June 29. A total of 30 Class 112s have been ordered from Talgo and Bombardier for the Madrid - Valencia high speed ...
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NewsSiemens Vectron locomotive on test
INTERNATIONAL: Fresh from its München assembly plant, a new Siemens multi-system electric locomotive targeted at European operators is being put through its paces at the Wegberg-Wildenrath test centre in Germany. Christened Vectron, the four-axle machine is destined to be one of Siemens' star exhibits at the InnoTrans 2010 event in ...
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NewsDB orders more double-deckers
GERMANY: Bombardier Transportation is to supply DB with a further 21 double-deck coaches for use in Sachsen-Anhalt from the end of 2010. The €34m contract announced on June 24 was placed under a 2003 framework agreement which covered 298 vehicles worth €411m with options for a further 300 (RG 8.03 ...
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NewsLowering the bar to London
EUROPE: On June 17 the European Commission cleared the transformation of Eurostar from a co-operative arrangement between SNCF, SNCB and London & Continental Railways into a stand-alone joint venture controlled by SNCF and LCR with SNCB holding a non-controlling stake. Approval was subject to conditions which are intended to lower ...