Railway electrification news – Page 5
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Rail Business UKThird rail or batteries could replace Southern diesel trains
UK: Govia Thameslink Railway is unable to commit to decarbonisation of its operations unless Network Rail and the Department for Transport agree to fund and implement alternatives to diesel operation on the un-electrified Ashford – Hastings and Hurst Green – Uckfield lines, the operator says in its ...
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Metro Report InternationalLondon Underground orders second-generation safety system
UK: London Underground has awarded Drallim Industries a contract to design, manufacture and service an enhanced version of the Permanent Current Rail Indicating Device. The permanently-fixed traction current status indicators are designed to reduce the risk of staff accessing the track when the traction current is ...
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NewsJR Central develops automated Shinkansen overhead line checks
JAPAN: Central Japan Railway has developed an automated overhead line inspection system that can be fitted to series-built trains used on the Tokaido Shinkansen. Able to check the position of wires and the condition of fittings while trains are travelling at up to 300 km/h, the ...
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Rail Business UKGovernment will consider rail freight operators’ proposals for last-mile electrification
UK: The government will consider industry proposals for last-mile electrification into freight terminals which would enable operators to take advantage of existing and future main line electrification when procuring new locomotives, Rail Minister Huw Merriman has told Rail Business UK. Speaking at an event to announce ...
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Rail Business UKScottish rail electrification framework procurement underway
UK: Network Rail has begun procurement for a framework contract covering the ‘efficient, consistent development, delivery, entry into service and handback’ of electrification to decarbonise rail operations in Scotland. This forms part of the Aberdeen Route Upgrade Electrification programme worth £250m-£300m and the £50m-£60m electrical safety ...
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Rail Business UKLong-term and overseas opportunities for rail apprentices
UK: The Transpennine Route Upgrade programme is ‘an investment in people’ and ‘it really is important that these projects leave a legacy of skills’, Rail Minister Huw Merriman said when he announced the latest tranche of funding. Speaking on December 4, Merriman said ‘if you look ...
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Rail Business UKRail plans in Hull and East Yorkshire devolution deal
UK: Electrification from Hull to Sheffield and Leeds, journey time reductions, a parkway station and more local input into rail priorities are included in a proposed devolution deal signed by the leaders of East Riding of Yorkshire and Kingston upon Hull City councils and the Department ...
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Rail Business UKLatest tranche of Transpennine Route Upgrade funding confirmed
UK: The release of a further £3·9bn tranche of funding for the ongoing £11·5bn Transpennine Route Upgrade was confirmed by Rail Minister Huw Merriman on December 4. The Department for Transport indicated that work on TRU would be accelerated through the cash injection and noted that ...
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Rail Business UKRail Charging Facility to enable battery trains to use local power supplies
UK: Porterbrook has announced a £1·7m deal with Siemens Mobility to purchase a Rail Charging Converter, a modular and containerised system developed to enable a battery-powered train to be recharged from standard local power supply cables in places where 25 kV 50 Hz overhead electrification is ...
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NewsCross-border passenger services resume after eight years
EUROPE: Passenger services have restarted on the 45 km line linking Subotica in Serbia with Szeged in Hungary after an eight-year hiatus. An inauguration ceremony was held at Palić station in Serbia on November 28 and was attended by Serbian Minister of Construction, Transport & Infrastructure ...
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Rail Business UKNetwork Rail awards East Kilbride electrification contracts
UK: Network Rail has awarded the main works contracts for the East Kilbride Enhancement Project, which includes electrification of the line near Glasgow. The announcement on November 22 follows the confirmation of Scottish government funding in September, The contracts totalling £61·5m have been awarded to Story ...
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Rail Business UKEurostar depot equipped with moveable overhead electrification
UK: Electrification specialist Furrer+Frey has completed a project to install moveable conductor bar at Eurostar’s Temple Mills depot in east London. A total of 1·5 km of movable overhead has been installed on the eight depot tracks. It can be moved out of the ...
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Rail Business UKElectrification hopes sidelined in RSSB sustainability strategy
UK: The Rail Safety & Standards Board has launched a Sustainable Rail Blueprint, which it says will support the rail industry in making progress on environmental and social sustainability challenges. According to RSSB, the industry faces a challenge not just to deliver net ...
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NewsEU recovery funds underwrite two more Italian route modernisation schemes
ITALY: As part of an intensive investment programme underpinned by EU funding, infrastructure manager RFI has awarded two route enhancement contracts totalling €633m. Under a €374·2m contract announced on October 31, a consortium of Eteria Consorzio Stabile Scarl and Salcef is to double-track the 9 km ...
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NewsRevised California high speed rail track and electrification design RFQ issued
USA: California High-Speed Rail Authority has released a new request for qualifications for a contract to provide design services for the track and overhead electrification systems. The contract has an estimated value of up to $131·2m, plus options. It would cover high-level designs for track and ...
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NewsBari – Martina Franca line electrified
ITALY: Ferrovie del Sud Est has completed electrification of the 81 km line running from Bari through Casamassima and Putignano to Martina Franca. This will save 1 900 tonnes of CO2 a year, FS Group subsidiary FSE said when the electrification was inaugurated on October 16. ...
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NewsNijmegen – Roermond upgrading and electrification contract awarded
NETHERLANDS: Infrastructure manager ProRail has awarded Swietelsky Rail Benelux a contract to upgrade, partly double-track and electrify the 88 km Nijmegen – Roermond line. The Maaslijn is one of the longest and most intensively used diesel-operated single-track lines in the Netherlands, with the Arriva-operated services carrying ...
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Rail Business UKZero on-site emission overhead line renewals
UK: Infrastructure manager Network Rail has completed a four-night overhead line equipment renewal project at Royston which, for the first time in its Eastern Region, was undertaken with the worksite producing no carbon emissions. Hybrid engineering vehicles operated solely in battery mode, welfare facilities were powered ...
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In depthTraction: Intermittent wiring could form path to decarbonisation
Is there a feasible way to decarbonise North America’s railroads? Partial electrification matched with battery-powered traction may offer an answer.
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Metro Report InternationalEnergy bank to boost tramway power supply
NETHERLANDS: The use of an ‘energy bank’ to reinforce a tramway power supply without needing to build a substation is to be piloted in Rotterdam from December. The energy bank will be installed at the Posthumalaan turning loop, which is currently only used at times of ...













