Passenger rail news – Page 258
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NewsQR National to be floated in 2010
AUSTRALIA: Detailed plans for the break-up and partial privatisation of QR were announced on December 8 by Queenland's state Premier Anna Bligh. The coal and general freight business, including some network infrastructure, is to be floated on the Australian stock market at the end of 2010. The new company ...
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NewsCool in the desert
SAUDI ARABIA: To cope with desert temperatures of up to 55°C, the eight 200 km/h trainsets which Saudi Railways Organisation ordered from Spanish rolling stock manufacturer CAF in July 2008 are to be fitted with a comprehensive cooling system from Voith Turbo. The push-pull trainsets will have five coaches ...
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News'Bloody slaughter' beckons
GERMANY: Whilst the past decade has seen a steady expansion of competitive tendering for the operation of regional services, Deutsche Bahn's monopoly of long-distance services has remained largely intact. Competition has been limited to a token daily InterConnex service between Leipzig, Berlin and Rostock and the locally-supported Alex inter-regional routes ...
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NewsDSB wins Krösatågen operating contract
SWEDEN: Jönköpings Länstrafik has selected Danish state railway subsidiary DSB Småland to run Krösatågen services on five routes around Jönköping and Nässjö from December 12 2010. The 10-year contract is worth SKr800m and covers the operation of 2·1 million train-km a year using 14 local authority-owned Bombardier Itino and Y1 ...
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NewsRegulator calls for train information code of practice
UK: In an effort to encourage a competitive market in the provision of live train-running information, the Office of Rail Regulation has asked the Association of Train Operating Companies to publish a code of practice setting out criteria against which it will assess applications for access to its 'Darwin' database ...
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NewsPKP PR rebrands
POLAND: National regional train operating business PKP PR is being renamed Przewozy Regionalne, reflecting the transfer of ownership from state railway PKP to the 16 voivodships. 'We wanted to emphasize our separateness from the PKP Group, and also indicate the effects of restructuring to passengers through a new ...
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NewsChina may be next Desiro customer
CHINA: Working in partnership with a local company, Siemens Mobility is hoping to secure an order for around 50 suburban trainsets in Guangzhou, having tendered a version of its Desiro product platform. Of major interest to Siemens and rival bidders are options that could see up to 1500 further ...
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NewsRFF to launch Perpignan – Montpellier study
FRANCE: Following a public consultation between March and July 2009, infrastructure manager RFF announced on November 26 that it is to launch formal design studies for the high speed line between Montpellier and Perpignan. According to RFF, the public consultation led to the emergence of a ‘preferred corridor’ in terms ...
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NewsNomad to supply inter-city wi-fi
NETHERLANDS: Train operator NS has awarded an initial five year contract to Nomad Digital and T-Mobile for the installation of 3G broadband services on its services. Under what the supplier describes as one of its largest transport awards, Nomad Digital will deploy its R3500 mobile broadband gateway on 187 inter-city ...
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NewsDB places firm order for DMUs
GERMANY: DB Regio has placed the first firm order for Alstom Coradia Lint 41 diesel multiple-units within the terms of a 2008 framework agreement for up to 180 units. The €40m order announced on November 26 covers 16 two-car units, designated VT648.4 by DB, for use on regional services ...
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NewsHong Kong high speed approved
CHINA: Construction of the Hong Kong section of the planned 142 km Express Rail Link from West Kowloon to the Shibi railway hub in New Guangzhou is set to get underway by the end of this year, after the Special Administrative Region’s Executive Council approved the XRL project on October ...
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NewsWien Hauptbahnhof construction contract awarded
AUSTRIA: ÖBB Infrastruktur has awarded the €220m contract to build Wien’s new Hauptbahnhof to a consortium led by Strabag. The first stage will be ready by 2013 and the overall project in 2015. The redevelopment will incorporate around 100 shops and restaurants and 600 car parking spaces. Later phases will ...
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NewsTickets go on sale as Sapsan aims to beat the planes
RUSSIA: Russian Railways announced on November 20 it had begun selling tickets for Sapsan services between Moscow and St Petersburg which will start on December 18. There will initially be three trains each way, with simultaneous departures from each city at 06.45, 13.00 and 19.00 and a best journey ...
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NewsDB Regio wins Swedish contract
SWEDEN: Östgötland transport authority ÖstgötaTrafiken has selected DB Regio Sverige to operate local services for 10 years from December 12 2010, with an option for a four-year extension. Five new Coradia Lirex X61 EMUs are due to enter service with the 2010 timetable change, permitting the operation of a ...
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NewsBombardier preferred for double-deck EMU deal
FRANCE: SNCF confirmed on November 18 that it had selected Bombardier Transportation as preferred bidder for the supply of up to 860 high-capacity double-deck electric multiple-units for regional services. Negotiations are underway with a view to the contract being signed in February 2010. Designated Porteurs a Haute Densité, the ...
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NewsFirst Class 380 car on test
UK: Siemens Mobility's Krefeld-Uerdingen plant in Germany has begun testing the first vehicle from the fleet of 22 three-car and 16 four-car Desiro electric multiple-units being built for ScotRail. Developed from the Desiro UK family, Class 380 has lightweight aluminium bodyshells with a bolt-on steel structure at the front ...
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NewsFinnish Flirt enters service
FINLAND: The first of 32 Stadler Flirt electric multiple-units ordered for commuter services in Helsinki and southern Finland went into regular traffic on November 18. The previous week two units had been formally handed over to national railway VR after a year-long test phase. The second is currently being ...
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NewsPuy-de-Dôme rack railway trains ordered
FRANCE: Stadler Rail has announced a SFr25m order to supply four articulated electric multiple-units for the 5·3 km rack railway which SNC-Lavalin is building on the Puy-de-Dôme in the Massif Central. The vehicles will be based on units which the Swiss train builder has supplied for FGC’s ...
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NewsBombardier hands over first ALP-46A
USA: The first of 36 type ALP-46A electric locomotives being built for New Jersey Transit was ceremonially handed over at Bombardier Transportation's Kassel plant in Germany on November 12. The ALP-46A locomotives were ordered at cost of US$317m as a follow-on from 29 ALP-46 locomotives which have been in ...
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NewsHuge train orders in China
CHINA: The Ministry of Railways has placed three orders for a total of 280 high speed trainsets and 400 freight locomotives. Knorr-Bremse is to supply subsystems worth €500m for one of the high speed contracts in the company's largest ever order. China Northern signed a 40·8bn yuan contract on ...