Passenger rail news – Page 83
-
NewsMinho line electrification completed
PORTUGAL: Infraestruturas de Portugal has completed the 25 kV 50 Hz electrification of its Minho line between Viana do Castelo and Valença in the far north of the country.
-
Rail Business UKFirstGroup agrees £6m termination fee for TransPennine Express
UK: FirstGroup plc announced on May 11 that it had reached agreement with the Department for Transport on the fee payable for termination of the TransPennine Express franchise. The move is part of the process agreed with DfT as the Covid-19 pandemic saw operators moving into ...
-
NewsDOT backs return of Gulf Coast passenger trains
USA: The Department of Transportation has endorsed efforts to revive inter-city passenger train services on the Gulf Coast route east of New Orleans, which were suspended following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Writing to the Chairman of the Surface Transportation Board Martin Oberman on May 10, DOT ...
-
NewsFlixTrain to launch new routes and night trains
EUROPE: Having launched its first FlixTrain services in Sweden on May 6, FlixMobility announced on May 11 that it intends to launch two additional inter-city routes in Germany over the coming months, as part of an expansion programme aiming to double the number of open access services.
-
NewsConnecting Europe Express to tour 26 countries in 36 days
EUROPE: Marking Europe Day on May 9 and the EU Year of Rail, the European Commission has confirmed the programme for its Connecting Europe Express exhibition train. Intended to demonstrate ‘the power of rail to connect people and businesses’, the project will also celebrate the cultural, economic ...
-
Rail Business UKZipabout shows passengers their last mile options
UK: A last mile feature has been added to the Rail Delivery Group’s National Rail ‘Alert Me by Messenger’ function, which uses Facebook’s messaging platform to provide passengers with alternative routes to help maintain social distancing if their journey is predicted to be busy or disrupted. ...
-
NewsNew Zealand’s 10-year Rail Plan prioritises resilience and reliability
NEW ZEALAND: The government has published a 10-year Rail Plan, setting out its ambitions for a ‘resilient and reliable’ rail network and outlining its investment priorities. The plan does not provide a definitive list of investments or funding commitments, but is intended as a sign of ...
-
Rail Business UKNI Railways targets zero emissions by 2040
UK: Translink is to assess the options for procuring zero-emission trains in support of its recently published Climate Positive Strategy, which sets out an ‘ambitious’ target to achieve a 50% reduction in train, bus and building emissions by 2030, net zero emissions by 2040 and to ...
-
NewsPandemic brings ‘bleak’ first quarter for European railways
EUROPE: The coronavirus pandemic continues to have a heavy impact across the rail sector, according to the Community of European Railway & Infrastructure Companies’ Covid Impact Tracker.
-
NewsHydrogen trains for the Heidekrautbahn
GERMANY: Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer has authorised investment of €25m in a project to introduce hydrogen fuel cell trains in the Land of Brandenburg. Announcing the grant at Basdorf station on the Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn on May 3, Scheuer said this would be ‘a giant step ...
-
NewsRegulations agreed for Luxembourg Protocol rolling stock registry
INTERNATIONAL: Draft regulations have been approved outlining the operation of the international rolling stock registry that is being established under the Luxembourg Protocol to the Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment. The regulations have been drawn up by a Preparatory Commission which includes ...
-
NewsLe Train eyes Arcachon – La Rochelle TGVs
FRANCE: Taking advantage of the forthcoming liberalisation of domestic passenger services, open access operator Le Train has applied to transport regulation authority ART for powers to run regional high speed services in the southwest.
-
NewsCastex agrees to fund Bordeaux – Toulouse high speed line
FRANCE: The French government will contribute €4·1bn to help finance the long-planned high speed line between Bordeaux and Toulouse, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced on April 28. Toulouse is France’s fourth largest city and the capital of the Occitanie region. It would be the last major conurbation ...
-
NewsProvence – Côte d’Azur upgrade funding agreed
FRANCE: The government has agreed a €3∙5bn funding package to launch the first two phases of the long-planned upgrade of the route along the Mediterranean coast between Marseille and Nice, including sections of new line.
-
In depthRail Baltica concept trains inspired by sun, sea and sand
EUROPE: Rail Baltica project promoter RB Rail has produced conceptual images to help inform the public about the type of trains which could link Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania with Poland and western Europe using the future standard gauge line. The concepts are intended to inform the ...
-
NewsJR Central sets out ¥722bn spending plan to stimulate post-Covid recovery
JAPAN: JR Central has unveiled its investment priorities for the 2021-22 financial year, which began on April 1, as it seeks to recalibrate its business for the post-Covid recovery period, when restoring lost ridership will be a key priority.
-
NewsSnälltåget will not bid for Stockholm – Brussels night train contract
EUROPE: Open access operator Snälltåget has decided not to bid for the contract to operate the Swedish government’s proposed overnight service between Stockholm, Malmö, Hamburg, Köln and Brussels.
-
NewsSiemens preferred bidder to supply Amtrak with bi-mode trainsets
USA: Amtrak has selected Siemens Mobility as preferred bidder to supply a fleet of 83 electro-diesel trainsets for use on medium-distance inter-city services in the Northeast Corridor, the Cascades corridor in the Pacific Northwest and on various state-supported routes.
-
NewsSBB orders 60 double-deck EMUs to increase capacity and accessibility
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has awarded Stadler a contract to supply a further 60 Kiss double-deck electric multiple-units to provide additional capacity and improve accessibility on its InterRegio long-distance services.
-
NewsHANS retains operating contract
GERMANY: Sachsen-Anhalt transport authority NASA and its Berlin-Brandenburg counterpart VBB have awarded Hanseatische Eisenbahn a contract to operate Elbe-Altmark II passenger services for six years from the December 2022 timetable change. The contract covers local services RB 34 Stendal – Rathenow and RB33 Stendal –Tangermünde. The ...