Passenger rail news – Page 253
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NewsLa Sagrera contracts awarded
SPAIN: ADIF has awarded two contracts worth a total of €5892m for the construction of a new station at La Sagrera in Barcelona, located on the high speed line to the French border. Also served by regional and suburban trains and with parking space for 2500 cars, it is expected ...
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NewsPortuguese high speed concession signed
PORTUGAL: Minister of Public Works, Transport & Communications António Mendoça participated in ceremonies on May 8 to mark the formal signing of the 40-year PPP concession contract covering construction of the country’s first high speed line. He was joined by Assistant Secretary of State Paulo Campas, Transport Secretary Correia da ...
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NewsRegioJet launches its yellow spring trains
CZECH REPUBLIC: After more than two years of campaigning and having obtained a passenger operating licence last October, the RegioJet subsidiary of travel agent and coach operator Student Agency has managed to finally enter the local rail market, albeit briefly, and to acquire a fleet of electric locomotives to support ...
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NewsDouble-deck in Delhi
INDIA: Rail Coach Factory rolled out its first double-deck coach for trials between Delhi and Muradabad on March 31. A double-deck train is expected to be in service by the end of the year. The stainless steel car was developed by RCF and Research Design & Standard Organisation over nine ...
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NewsAlstom opens new Pendolino depot
UK: A purpose-built depot designed to maintain and service Virgin Trains' Class 390 Pendolino trainsets was formally inaugurated by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool Councillor Mike Storey on May 12. Owned and operated by Alstom's West Coast Traincare business, the depot at Edge Hill will provide the extra capacity needed ...
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NewsNorthern secures two-year franchise extension
UK: Northern Rail announced on May 13 that it had exceed the performance targets necessary to trigger a two-year extension to its franchise to operate passenger services across the north of England. Northern Rail is owned by a joint venture of Serco and Abellio, the subsidiary of Dutch national rail ...
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NewsBombardier wins SBB double-deck train order
SWITZERLAND: On May 12 Swiss Federal Railways announced that Bombardier Transportation had been selected to supply a fleet of 59 double-deck electric multiple-units for long-distance services. The order for a total of 436 vehicles is the largest single rolling stock contract which SBB has placed, and includes ...
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NewsArriva awarded Vechtdal Lines operating contract
NETHERLANDS: The provinces of Overijssel and Drenthe and the region of Twente announced on May 11 that they had jointly selected Arriva to operate regional passenger services on the Vechtdal Lines. Bids had also been received from Syntus, Veolia and Pollarisrail. Arriva will take over the Zwolle - Mariënberg - ...
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NewsAlstom EMUs ordered for Stockholm commuter services
SWEDEN: On May 11 Alstom Transport announced a €102m order to supply Stockholm public transport authority Storstockholms Lokaltrafik with 12 Coradia Nordic electric multiple-units for use on Stockholm - Uppsala services from 2012. The articulated six-car 15 kV 16·7 Hz units will have space for 374 passengers, asynchronous traction ...
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News600-train framework agreements announced
GERMANY: BeNEX has announced framework agreements under which three rolling stock manufacturers could each supply up to 200 multi-section electric multiple-units. The tendering process began in 2008 and ended on May 5 with the announcement of agreements for Bombardier Transportation to supply Talent 2 units, Alstom Transport its Coradia Continental ...
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NewsVeolia and Transdev sign definitive merger agreements
EUROPE: On May 5 Caisse des Dépôts and Veolia Environnement announced the signing of definitive agreements for the merger of Transdev and Veolia Transport, having completed consultation with employee representatives. The deal is subject to authorisation by the French government and regulatory authorities, who will be formally notified 'in ...
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NewsDB unveils next-generation ICE
GERMANY: The first of 15 Velaro D fourth-generation ICE trainsets for Deutsche Bahn was formally unveiled at Siemens’ Uerdingen plant in Krefeld on April 28 by DB Board Member, Technical, Dr Volker Kefer and the CEO of Siemens Mobility Dr Hans-Jörg Grundmann. Designated Class 407, the eight-car trainsets are ...
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NewsDB and SJ win Norrtåg regional operating contract
SWEDEN: The Botniatåg joint venture of Deutsche Bahn subsidiary DB Regio Sverige and Swedish national passenger operator SJ has been selected to operate Norrtåg regional passenger services on the Botnia line and other routes in northern Sweden. The contract runs for six years to August 2016, with an ...
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NewsLGV Bretagne negotiations move forward
FRANCE: Infrastructure manager RFF announced on April 27 that it had invited final offers from the three consortia bidding for the contract to build and maintain LGV Bretagne-Pays-de-la-Loire, with a view to naming a preferred bidder by the end of this year. Expected to cost around €3·4bn at current prices, ...
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NewsFuzhou - Xiamen high speed passenger services begin
CHINA: Passenger services on the 275 km railway paralleling the coast between Fuzhou and Xiamen in Fujian province began on April 26, following from the start of freight services on December 31. The 15·3bn yuan direct line is much shorter than the previous inland rail route, and the CRH2 trains ...
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NewsDB confirms Arriva takeover bid
EUROPE: Deutsche Bahn continues its rapid expansion across the European rail and bus sectors, with the announcement on April 22 that it had agreed terms to acquire Arriva plc. The cash bid had been for the UK-based rail and bus operator was discussed by the DB AG ...
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NewsStadler wins Czech railcar contract
CZECH REPUBLIC: On April 20 Ceské Dráhy awarded Stadler Rail a KC1·776bn contract to supply 33 Regio-Shuttle RS1 partly low-floor diesel railcars to replace the ubiquitous Class 810 railbuses on regional services in Vysocina and Liberec. This is the first contract under the national passenger operator's programme of extensive ...
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NewsDesiro ML framework to meet ÖBB's expansion plans
AUSTRIA: On April 20 Siemens Mobility announced a framework agreement to supply Austrian Federal Railways with up to 200 Desiro ML regional electric multiple-units over five years. Similar to trains currently being built for Belgium's SNCB, the 160 km/h Desiro ML will be equipped for use in Germany, where ÖBB ...
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NewsOTIF expands to meet modern needs
INTERNATIONAL: The recent accession of Russia is a major development for the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail, according to Secretary General Stefan Schimming, even through only a limited number of RZD routes are initially covered by the convention establishing a uniform system of regulations for cross-border traffic. Montenegro ...
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NewsEurostar restructuring closer
EUROPE: A framework agreement enabling the final stages of the restructuring of Eurostar from a partnership into a corporate entity has been signed by the three national shareholders SNCF, SNCB and London & Continental Railways. Announcing the move on April 12, recently-appointed Eurostar CEO Nicolas Petrovic said 'I am very ...