Passenger rail news – Page 269
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NewsAlstom wins order for 23 Coradia Nordic units
SWEDEN: Local authority owned leasing company Transitio has placed a €148m order with Alstom for 23 four-car Coradia Nordic regional EMUs to be used by Norrtåg in northern Sweden and Västtrafik in Västra Götaland. Ordered as part of a 10-year rail development plan for the north, the 11 ...
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NewsZSSK on the way to rolling stock renewal
Modernisation Slovakia's national passenger operator ZSSK has called three tenders for the supply of new rolling stock, which should help to rejuvenate the railway's fleet and attract passengers after years of falling patronage. Michal Málek reports.
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NewsClass 395 whisks minister to London
UK: Transport Minister Lord Adonis accompanied Southeastern Managing Director Charles Horton on a special trip from Ashford to St Pancras International on board a Hitachi Class 395 trainset on December 12. Marking the start of a one-year countdown to the launch of high speed domestic services on High Speed ...
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NewsAGV tests reach 360 km/h
FRANCE: On December 14 Alstom and Eurailtest will complete four weekends of high speed testing of the Pégase AGV demonstrator on LGV Est, one of the few lines where it is possible to reach speeds of 360 km/h. The AGV has already undergone four months of testing at the ...
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NewsEMU redesigned for airport traffic
UK: As part of a shake-up of London - Brighton services which saw the Gatwick Express dedicated airport service absorbed by commuter operator Southern in June, on December 9 Southern began returning to traffic 17 third-rail EMUs which have been refurbished after having being withdrawn by South West Trains in ...
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NewsTMH-Alstom chosen for double-deck contract
RUSSIA: State railway RZD announced on December 8 that it had selected the TMH-Alstom joint venture of Alstom and Transmash Holding as its strategic partner for the supply of double-deck passenger carriages. Tenders had been called in March for the supply of 1 210 double-deck 'hotel train' vehicles, which ...
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NewsFirst Gautrain cars arrive
SOUTH AFRICA: The ship carrying the second pair of Bombardier EMU cars for Gautrain is expected to dock in Durban on December 8, following the arrival of the initial pair on December 1. The first 15 vehicles are being built at Bombardier's Derby plant in the UK. The 46 ...
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NewsSwiss national timetable on a single page
SWITZERLAND: Subscribers to Railway Gazette International will have received a copy of Netgraph with the December 2008 issue. Devised by Zürich-based transport planning consultancy SMA & Partner, the visual representation of the 2009 Swiss timetable represents the network as the relationships between routes. The introduction of nationwide co-ordinated timetables ...
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NewsMaking every second count
SWITZERLAND: SBB is focusing on making better use of reserves in train scheduling to add greater robustness to its integrated national timetable. Real-time management of train services to maintain connections and more detailed passenger information provision are at the heart of the ‘Co-Production’ concept.
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NewsCrossrail agreements signed
UK: A series of core funding and governance agreements paving the way for construction of the long-planned Crossrail route under London were signed on December 4 by Transport Minister Andrew Adonis and Mayor of London Boris Johnson. A parallel deal was finalised with the City of London Corporation which will ...
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NewsSuburban spending
ARGENTINA: On October 25 Transport Secretary Ricardo Jaime announced a 600m pesos investment plan for 2009-11 on the Belgrano Sur commuter network in Buenos Aires. This has been operated for the government by a consortium of operators since Metropolitano was stripped of its concession on May 22 2007 (RG 6.07 ...
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NewsIC4 enters regular service
DENMARK: With effect from December 1 DSB has put the first of the troubled IC4 diesel multiple-units into regular passenger service. The trains have been carrying passengers on test services since August 7. They are being deployed on a daily return service on the Aarborg - Århus - København ...
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NewsPKP Intercity takes over inter-regional services
POLAND: Responsibility for operating 381 Polish inter-regional services was transferred from the state railway's regional business unit PKP PR to PKP Intercity on December 1. The move is a part of the process of transferring ownership of PKP PR to the voivodships. A total of 1 908 coaches, 51 ...
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NewsSNCF launches France's human train
AESTHETICS: As a showcase for its Rolling Stock Engineering Division, SNCF has enlisted the help of a team of designers to rethink the passenger environment of a regional EMU. Nick Kingsley joined Régine Charvet-Pello, whose agency oversaw the interior redesign, for a guided tour.
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NewsICE axle cracks wreak havoc
GERMANY: Passengers on Deutsche Bahn's long-distance trains have had a torrid time in recent weeks following a series of incidents that culminated in the sudden withdrawal from service of all 71 ICE-T tilting trainsets on October 24. DB had been concerned about possible cracks in the axles of its ICE3 ...
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NewsThameslink EMU invitations to tender issued
UK: On November 27 the Department for Transport issued pre-qualified bidders Alstom, Bombardier, Hitachi and Siemens with invitations to tender to supply a fleet of dual-voltage EMUs for Thameslink commuter services through London. The exact number of trains is still to be determined, but the manufacturers have been told to ...
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Golden egg on the Golden Pass
SWITZERLAND: For decades Swiss operator Montreux-Oberland-Bernois has dreamed of running through trains on its Golden Pass route from Montreux on Lac Léman to Interlaken and Luzern. Already world famous because of its stunning scenery, the trip requires passengers to change trains at Zweisimmen and Interlaken Ost because the central ...
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NewsICE3 order to increase capacity and flexibility
GERMANY: DB's management board has selected Siemens to supply a further 15 multi-voltage high speed trains. A contract for the ICE3 sets will be signed once the supervisory board gives its final go-ahead in mid-December, with industry sources putting the value at close to €500m. DB had called for ...
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NewsFirst KTX-II unveiled in Korea
SOUTH KOREA: Celebrations were held at the Hyundai Rotem plant in Changwon on November 25 to launch the country’s first locally-developed 300 km/h trainset. Joining the roll-out ceremony were the Chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee on Land Transport & Maritime Affairs Lee Byung Suk and the Vice-Minister of ...
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NewsBoardman named head of Amtrak
USA: Joseph Boardman has been appointed President & Chief Executive Officer of the National Railroad Passenger Corp for a one-year period with effect from November 26. He takes over as the head of Amtrak from Chief Operating Officer William Crosbie, who has been acting CEO since the resignation of Alexander ...