Passenger rail news – Page 10
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News
Gyumri – Vanadzor passenger service restarts after 13 years
ARMENIA: South Caucasus Railway has restarted local passenger services between Gyumri, Shirakamut and Vanadzor with the launch of a trial daily train each way. The Russian Railways subsidiary operates the Armenian network under a long-term concession agreement. The 65 km route forms ...
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News
EFE extends Chillán – San Carlos service to Parral
CHILE: National railway EFE has extended its Chillán – San Carlos regional passenger service north to Parral, using part of the electrified main line that connects Chillán with Santiago. EFE launched the Chillán – San Carlos trains at the end of last year, and the four ...
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News
Tesla shuttle train launches
GERMANY: A free shuttle train has been launched to serve Tesla’s Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg site to the east of the capital. Giga Berlin now has its own train shuttle, capable of moving 400 people per ride 🚆 pic.twitter.com/gmvy80GFFn — Tesla Europe (@teslaeurope) September 4, 2023 ...
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News
First ComfortJet on test
CZECH REPUBLIC: The first of the ComfortJet rakes of push-pull coaches which ČD has ordered from a consortium of Siemens Mobility and Škoda Group arrived at the Velim test centre on September 11 for an extensive testing and approval programme. In April 2021 the national operator ...
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News
Grand Est invests in secondary routes
FRANCE: Rural railways and branch lines in the Grand Est région are to receive a funding injection worth more than €52m to ensure continuity of service over the next few years. The funds are destined for 14 routes where little or no maintenance has been carried out ...
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Metro Report International
Testing begins on Seoul GTX Line A
SOUTH KOREA: Test running has started on a 28 km section of Line A on the Great Train Express commuter rail network in Seoul. The first test run starting at Suseo station on September 21 was attended by Won Hee-ryong, Minister of Land, Infrastructure & ...
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Rail Business UK
Northern to trial British Sign Language announcements
UK: Train operator Northern is looking for charities, organisations or specialists who could help it to provide British Sign Language interpretation of its onboard announcements. A trial is planned on services between Manchester Victoria and Leeds by the end of the year. ‘We know that rail ...
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News
Brightline opens West Palm Beach to Orlando extension
USA: Private sector inter-city train operator Brightline has extended its Miami – West Palm Beach service 270 km north to Orlando. The first service arrived at the station in Orlando airport on September 22, where it was met by more than 500 elected officials, business leaders ...
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News
Indonesian high speed line to be branded Whoosh
INDONESIA: The Jakarta - Bandung high speed railway is to be branded as ‘Whoosh’. Announcing the brand on September 21, the Ministry of Transportation explained that Whoosh comes from the sound of fast trains, and means Waktu Hemat, Operasi Optimal, Sistem Handal (‘Time saving, optimal operation, ...
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News
Ferrotramviaria unveils Pop EMUs
ITALY: Bari to Barletta local train operator Ferrotramviaria has unveiled the first of 11 Pop electric multiple-units being supplied by Alstom. Ferrotramviaria has now taken delivery of five of the units, with the remaining six to be delivered a rate of two per year in 2024-26. ...
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News
Newag and PKP Intercity unveil 200 km/h Griffin locomotive
POLAND: Newag unveiled the first 200 km/h version of its Griffin multi-system electric locomotive at the 15th Trako International Railway Fair in Gdańsk on September 20. National long-distance operator PKP Intercity placed a 258·6m złoty order for 10 Griffin E4MSP locomotives capable of 200 km/h operation ...
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News
DB opens first of 25 redesigned station travel centres
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn has opened the first of 25 redesigned station travel centres at Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof. Features include a larger reception area with staff who can deal quickly with minor queries, a more inviting waiting area, and information on approximate waiting times, with the option to ...
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News
Korail’s first ITX-Maum trainsets enter service
SOUTH KOREA: National operator Korail has put into service the first of a build of 107 inter-regional trainsets being supplied by domestic manufacturer Dawonsys. The first nine four-car EMUs were put into revenue service on September 1, following a ceremony at Taebaek on August 25 attended ...
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Rail Business UK
Voyager transfer anticipated as CrossCountry gets National Rail Contract
UK: The Department for Transport has directly awarded Arriva UK Trains a National Rail Contract to continue to operate CrossCountry long-distance passenger services. The contract announced on September 19 succeeds a unique Operating Cost Franchise Agreement which DfT entered into in October 2020 during the pandemic. ...
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Rail Business UK
National Rail Contract aims to enable Avanti West Coast to plan ahead
UK: The Department for Transport has awarded the Avanti West Coast joint venture of FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia UK (30%) a further National Rail Contract to continue to operate West Coast Main Line inter-city passenger services from the expiry of its current agreement on October 15. ...
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Metro Report International
Moskva Central Diameter 4 launched
RUSSIA: The fourth and longest of the Moskva Central Diameter cross-city suburban commuter lines has been launched. The 86 km MCD-4 was inaugurated on September 9 by President Vladimir Putin and Mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin. The route covers 86 km from Aprelevka in the west ...
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News
More trains and Spanish connections planned as SNCF signs Occitanie operating contract
FRANCE: The Occitanie région has directly awarded SNCF Voyageurs a €4bn contract to operate regional passenger trains for 10 years, and has set a target of increasing ridership from 80 000 to 100 000 passengers/day as soon as possible. President of the région Carole Delga said ...
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News
Changes follow review of commuter rail disruption
NEW ZEALAND: KiwiRail is taking action to improve track inspection on passenger routes in Wellington and Auckland following the publication of a report into service disruption during May which Greater Wellington Regional Council Chair Daran Ponter said provides ’an eye-opening account of poor decision-making’. The report ...
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News
Wellington train operating contract extended
NEW ZEALAND: Greater Wellington Regional Council has extended Transdev’s contract to operate local passenger trains under the Metlink brand until July 3 2031. Transdev has operated the services since 2016, carrying more than 1·3 million passengers/year on 2 000 services/week. It runs 3·22 million train-km/year on ...
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News
Open access start-up Le Train raises funding
FRANCE: Aspiring open access operator Le Train has raised a further €8m to support its plans to launch passenger services from Bordeaux to Angoulême, Poitiers, Tours, Nantes and Rennes. The funding was raised from Aquiti Gestion, Charente Périgord Expansion, Naco and Tudigo, joining existing investors Crédit ...