Passenger rail news – Page 277
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NewsCheaper trains through supplier-led standardisation
Rolling stock engineers gathered in Paris on April 2 to mark the conclusion of a European Commission-backed project to cut life-cycle costs through the industry-led standardisation of subsystem interfaces
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Tehran places €360m order
IRAN: Tehran Urban & Suburban Railway Co signed a €360m contract with China Northern for 455 metro cars and 160 double-deck coaches on March 26. CNR has delivered 1 408 coaches and 432 metro cars to customers outside China since 2001, and described the latest contract as its largest-ever export ...
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Melbourne transport vision
AUSTRALIA: The Victorian government has released a report by Sir Rod Eddington setting out an A$18bn plan to tackle Melbourne's rapidly increasing transport gridlock. Roads are increasingly congested, while the demand for public transport has caught the government and private operators by surprise, with peak hour trains and trams severely ...
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NewsMore West Coast Pendolinos
UK: Alstom has been given notice to proceed with the production of 106 Class 390 Pendolino vehicles worth €318m for the West Coast Main Line, the Department for Transport announced on May 6. A firm contract including maintenance and worth a total of €1·8bn will be finalised in August. The ...
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Wi-fi at 320 km/h
FRANCE: SNCF is investing in satellite-based on-train internet access to give its TGVs a competitive edge in the liberalised passenger market after 2010. Jean-Paul Masse reports
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München maglev dropped
GERMANY: Federal Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee and the President of Bayern Günther Beckstein agreed on March 27 to cancel the 37 km maglev link from Franz-Josef Strauss airport to München Hauptbahnhof (RG 10.07 p591). Closer examination of project had increased the projected construction cost to more than €3bn from ...
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NewsBrussels RER order won on seats
BELGIUM: On April 13 SNCB confirmed that it had awarded a contract for supply of 305 three-car EMUs over the next eight years; at € 1 425m it is the largest rolling stock order ever placed in Belgium. As we reported last month, SNCB has selected Siemens' modular Desiro Mainline ...
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Duplex-NG on trial
FRANCE: Between April 14 and 17, the first pre-series unit of SNCF's order for 80 new-generation TGV Duplex trainsets undertook endurance testing at up to 320 km/h between Tourcoing and Benestroff, using LGVs Nord, Interconnexion and Est. Known as DASYE (Duplex ASYnchrone ERTMS), the Series 700 sets are similar to ...
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Wide-body suburban set unveiled
FRANCE: SNCF President Guillaume Pepy inspected the first four bodyshells for the future fleet of articulated wide-bodied Paris suburban trains at Crespin in northern France on March 28. Unveiled by President of Bombardier France Jean Bergé, the design was previously called Spacium 3.06 because of its 3·06 m wide bodies ...
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FrontRunner services begin
USA: A day of free rides inaugurated Utah Transit Authority's 71 km FrontRunner commuter service between Salt Lake City and Ogden on April 26. UTA placed two of the line's MotivePower MPXpress locomotives nose--to-nose behind the speakers' platform at Salt Lake Central for the launch, a modern re-enactment of the ...
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NewsModular station opens this month
UK: The first trains are due to call at a newly-built station at Mitcham Eastfields in south London on May 19. The station is a showcase for modular construction developed in-house by UK infrastructure manager Network Rail, which is seeking an economical way to build new stations or rebuild ...
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NewsVeloxia signs Argentine high speed deal
ARGENTINA: On April 29 President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner formally signed a turnkey contract with the Veloxia consortium for the construction of a 320 km/h line between Buenos Aires, Rosario and Córdoba. The consortium had been selected for the concession on January 16, having submitted the sole ...
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Trains reach Modi’in Merkaz at last
ISRAEL: ISR General Manager Yitzhak Harel visited the new central station in Modi’in on April 1 to mark the start of revenue services on the final 6 km section of the new line from Ben Gurion Airport which opened as far as Modi’in Outskirts station on September 1 last year. ...
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NewsPassenger News In Brief
UK commuter operator Merseyrail has awarded Cityspace a contract to install seven Smart Point touch screen terminals to provide ticket sales, passenger information and journey planning at five unstaffed stations. Wireless links provide real-time data feeds to the machines, which go live next month. The total number of Pasmo and ...
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Los Angeles is going gated
USA: The board of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has voted to approve a 10-year, $46m lease contract with Cubic Transportation Systems which will see the installation of 379 faregates at all Red and Purple line stations and selected light rail stops where it is architecturally feasible. MTA ...
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DB launches Touch&Travel pilot
TELEPHONE Ticketing: The first 200 test users began using Touch&Travel mobile phone e-ticketing in Germany on February 29, in a pilot for a system which DB and development partner Vodfone hope to introduce nationally in 2010. The initial trials cover suburban trains in Berlin, local transport in Potsdam, and Berlin ...
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State funding deal
USA: Responding to an 88% increase in ridership on state-supported inter-city services between 1996 and 2006, the Department of Transportation has unveiled a grant programme to support efforts by individual states to fund enhancements to passenger rail operations. 'Rail passengers demand improved service and quality and this grant programme will ...
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Piezoelectric floor not such a bright idea
JAPAN: East Japan Railway has announced the results of its experiments with a 6 m² piezoelectric floor covering, which was fitted at the ticket gates of a Tokyo station where it used the movement of passengers to generate electricity. It worked, but only just. Production peaked at 10 kW-sec ...
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Metrorail revitalisation
SOUTH AFRICA: SARCC Chief Executive Lucky Montana has unveiled a three-stage investment strategy costing R18bn. This is aimed at providing additional services for the 2010 football World Cup, and creating a sustainable commuter network to serve the major cities after the tournament. Montana hopes that 96% of Sarcc's 4 600 ...
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NewsSlow starter is close to high speed launch
The political and environmental climate is right for further expansion of high speed rail