Passenger rail news – Page 281
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NewsWorld Speed Survey 2007: New lines boost rail's high speed performance
With Eurostar celebrating its first high speed run between Paris and London's St Pancras station on September 4, the latest biennial World Speed Survey published in the September 2007 issue of Railway Gazette International confirms that construction of new high speed lines is helping to make inter-city rail travel more ...
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AGV tailors capacity and performance to the market
Nearing completion at Alstom's factory in La Rochelle are the seven cars of the prototype Automotice à Grande Vitesse. Alstom's Technical Director François Lacôte briefed Murray Hughes on the train's design and target market
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NewsTangula Railtours launching luxury train to Tibet
Tangula Railtours has placed contracts for three five-star cruise trains offering luxury travel over the world's highest railway
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NewsHitachi Class 395 EMU arrives in Britain
UK: The first of 29 Hitachi trains ordered for domestic services on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link was unloaded at the Port of Southampton on August 23. The vehicles were shipped from Kobe onboard MV Tarago, a roll-on, roll-off vessel operated by Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics, the company responsible for delivering ...
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Study says no to seat belts on trains
A MAJOR report published by Britain's Rail Safety & Standards Board on July 31 draws together the findings of several research programmes extending over five years into the case for using seat belts on ...
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Sleeper EMU to be developed under co-operation deal
ALTHOUGH plans for deployment of its fleet of high speed trains have slipped compared with the original proposals, Chinese Railways is on course to have all the CRH1, CRH2 and CRH5 trainsets in service during 2008. The CRH1 sets built by Bombardier's Chinese joint venture company Bombardier Sifang Power Transportation ...
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Niche luxury train market offers profitable opportunities
The luxury train market has a high profile, but it requires a bespoke service from railway management and staff. So what are the benefits for the train operators and their host railways?
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NewsHybrid trains enter service in Japan
EAST Japan Railway has begun commercial operations with its Kiha E200 hybrid diesel-battery multiple units, putting the first unit into service with a ceremony at Nakagomi on July 31. The 100 km/h trains will operate nine round trips a day on the 79 km unelectrified Koumi Line between Kobuchizawa and ...
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News100% regeneration at c2c
TO EMPHASISE its claim as the only UK train operating company to have 100% of its fleet capable of regenerative braking, c2c unveiled Electrostar No 357 010 in a distinctive green livery at London Fenchurch Street station on June 4. The fleet of 74 Class 357s is now exceeding ...
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Dual-mode locomotive joint order
A REQUEST for proposals has been issued by New Jersey Transit and Montréal's Agence Métropolitaine de Transport for joint procurement of up to 70 dual-mode diesel/AC electric locomotives for commuter rail services. Specifications were drawn up by engineering consultancy STV and include the ability to work in push-pull mode ...
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NewsHybrid High Speed Train unveiled
UK: On May 3 Hitachi Europe unveiled 'Hayabusa', which it says is Europe's first battery-assisted diesel-electric power car. The hybrid drive has been installed in a British HST power car to allow realistic trials of the prototype technology, which Hitachi and its development partners Brush Traction, Network Rail and Porterbrook ...
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NewsEurostar records strong growth
REPORTING ITS first quarter results for 2007 on April 17, Eurostar announced a strong jump in traffic and revenue on its cross-Channel high speed trains. Passenger-journeys increased by 5?4% to 1?79 million, whilst sales revenues of ?142m were 13?2% ahead of the same period in 2006. Contributing to the higher ...
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NewsSelf-service scanning
UK: As its mobile ticketing project gains in popularity, Chiltern Railways has installed two scanning devices on ticket gates at London's Marylebone station to allow passengers to validate tickets carried as barcodes on their phones. Chiltern says its three-month trial of mobile ticketing (RG 1.07 p31) has proved a great ...
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Morocco's rail renaissance takes a major step forward
The renewal of Morocco's railway is now proceeding rapidly with the start of work on major projects that will determine the future shape of the network. As well as providing major investment, the government is restructuring the national operator to facilitate the involvement of the private sector in both new ...
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Two cities adopt smart tickets
TICKETING: Affiliated Computer Services announced on February 12 that it had won a US$14m three-year contract from Marseille Provence Metropole to implement a multi-operator and multi-modal contactless ticketing system across the city. ACS will deploy its Atlas multi-operator system in partnership with Spie. Implementation will allow a single smart card ...
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Five qualify to build CDG Express
FRENCH Minister of Transport Dominique Perben announced on January 30 that five consortia had qualified for the concession to develop a dedicated rail link to Paris Charles-de-Gaulle airport (RG 9.06 p485). The five bids are from: Eiffage partnered with Macquarie Bank a group formed of Bouygues TP, Seco-Rail, RATP-Développement, ...
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NewsOpen access high speed bid
BIDS ARE due to close around February 28 for supply and maintenance of a fleet of 25 high speed trains, with an option for up to 10 more sets. A group of four leading Italian businessmen is planning to launch services on three domestic routes in competition with Trenitalia. ...
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NewsPendolino deal falls apart
THE SURGE of passengers riding Virgin's tilting Pendolinos after the UK's West Coast Main Line was upgraded for 200 km/h operation has created an urgent need for two extra vehicles in each of the 53 nine-car trainsets. Under a 'handshake deal' valued at around ?158m, reached on January ...
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Bluetooth in Bilbao
RENFE Cercanías de Bilbao has launched a trial Bluetooth service, offering passengers timetable, fares and service disruption information on their mobile phones and PDAs. The service uses J2ME technology to communicate with Bluetooth-enabled devices, allowing passengers to download a guide to RENFE services in the local area, complete with ...
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NewsEurostar seeks better connections
AT THE END of a year that saw revenue increase by 11·7% to £518m, and passengers carried through the Channel Tunnel rise 5·4% to a record 7·85 million, Eurostar Chief Executive Richard Brown told the Railway Study Association in London on January 10 that after HS1 opens in November 'we ...