All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 283
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NewsNormandie orders long distance EMUs
FRANCE: SNCF has awarded Bombardier Transportation firm contracts to supply 27 more 10-car Omneo Premium double-deck electric multiple-units for use on long-distance services, acting on behalf of the Normandie region which is funding the orders. The €162m order for 11 units announced on June 23 and a ...
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NewsVandalised freight line reopened after six years
SOUTH AFRICA: Transnet has re-opened the freight route between Pretoria North and Hercules, which has been closed since August 2014 owing to cable theft and sabotage. Reopening is intended to improve the efficiency and reliability of trains serving customers in the mining and automotive sectors, supporting ...
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NewsLineas awards diesel locomotive overhaul contract
BELGIUM: Freight operator Lineas has awarded Voith a contract to overhaul an initial 30 of its Siemens/Vossloh Class 77 diesel-hydraulic locomotives, to improve reliability, reduce operating costs and minimise downtime. The 4½-year agreement announced on June 23 covers a major overhaul with a predefined scope, plus options ...
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NewsStudy finds uncertainties in rail to bus conversion
Source: Lokaltog DENMARK: Conversion of the Østbanen local railway in eastern Sjælland into a busway could be a viable alternative to renewing the life-expired rail infrastructure, a study has suggested. The infrastructure rail renewals which are required are expected to take 2½ years and cost at least ...
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NewsDedicated logistics concept developed for China – Germany medical glove shipments
INTERNATIONAL: Geodis has organised four shipments of containers carrying millions of disposable medical gloves from Chengdu to Nürnberg by rail for the German government. A batch was also sent to Frankfurt by air. The 40 ft containers are fitted with GEOtags which enable live tracking via GPS. ...
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NewsEast Coast Main Line digital railway funding approved
UK: Network Rail has been authorised to spend £350m on preparatory works for the installation of ETCS Level 2 on the southern section of the East Coast Main Line, the Department for Transport announced on June 22.
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NewsStadler Mannheim formed through acquisition of VIPCO
GERMANY: Stadler has acquired VIPCO GmbH, which has become a new German subsidiary under the name Stadler Mannheim GmbH. The 50 staff in Mannheim, Kassel and Halle will develop hardware and software for train control, communication and diagnosis systems for use across the Stadler Group, including products ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
United Wagon Co’s TikhvinSpetsMash plant has delivered 100 Type 11-6874 covered vans to Kuchukterminal, which now has a fleet of 220 vans with 25 tonne axleload Type 18-9855 bogies. UWC estimates that more than 5 000 life-expired vans are due to be removed from service by 2022, ...
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NewsETR700 HVAC maintenance contract
ITALY: Liebherr-Transportation Systems is to overhaul and maintain the 39 cab cooling and 157 saloon air-conditioning systems it supplied for the 19 ETR700 high speed trainsets. The former Fyra fleet is now operated by Trenitalia on the Milano – Bologna – Ancona – Lecce corridor. In ...
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NewsVirginia Railway Express operating contract extended
USA: The Virginia Railway Express partnership of the Northern Virginia and Potomac & Rappahannock transport commissions has exercised an option for Keolis to continue operating commuter rail services linking towns in the middle and north of the state with Washington DC for a further five years. VRE ...
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NewsSnälltåget targets 2021 expansion
EUROPE: Citing uncertainties over international travel as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, open access operator Snälltäget has decided to suspend its seasonal overnight trains between Sweden and Germany for 2020 and focus on developing an increased service from 2021.
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NewsFirst approval for AngelStar’s Guardia onboard ETCS
POLAND: The AngelStar joint venture of Stadler and MerMec has obtained type approval for its Guardia onboard ETCS equipment for the first time. Stadler Flirt electric multiple-units for Koleje Mazowieckie have been fitted with Guardia ETCS baseline 3.4.0 equipment which supports dynamic ...
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NewsJR East commissions Robel track machine
JAPAN: East Japan Railway has taken delivery of a Robel Mobile Maintenance System, as part of a strategy to invest in advanced equipment that improves the efficiency of manual track maintenance tasks and worker safety.
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NewsEurostar to test facial biometrics for ‘walk-through’ check-in
EUROPE: A walk-through facial biometric verification system is to be tested which would enable Eurostar passengers to complete ticket checks and border exit processes at London’s St Pancras International station without contact with people or hardware. Passengers opting the use the accelerated pre-boarding option would use ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
ENSCO Rail has acquired an enhanced user license for Vampire Pro vehicle-track interaction modelling software, including access to the source code for long-term sustainability. ‘Integrating Vampire Pro with automated web-based processes such as our Autonomous Track Geometry Measurement System and data analytics will provide customers with the ...
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NewsIndian Railways converts coaches into coronavirus isolation wards
INDIA: With the incidence of Covid-19 infections continuing to rise, more than 5 000 passenger coaches have been converted by Indian Railways’ zonal workshops to act as temporary isolation wards during the pandemic.
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NewsTurkey’s National Train to enter service this year
TURKEY: The National Train electric multiple-unit developed under a programme to increase the use of domestic technology and support the adoption of TSI standards has been completed and is expected to enter revenue service this year, Minister for Transport & Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoğlu said during a ...
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NewsKoralm Tunnel breakthrough
AUSTRIA: The north bore of the 32·8 km Koralm Tunnel was broken through on June 17, no fewer than 18 years after the start of work on the first exploratory tunnelling. Celebrations were limited because of coronavirus measures. The south bore had been completed on August ...
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NewsIarnród Éireann awards national traffic management system contract
IRELAND: National railway Iarnród Éireann has awarded Indra a €32m contract to supply a highly automated traffic management system which will allow the majority of its 2 400 km network to be controlled from Dublin. The contract announced on June 18 covers design, supply and commissioning of ...
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NewsHow the rail sector fought Covid-19
INTERNATIONAL: The International Union of Railways’ coronavirus task force has published its third document on the sector’s response to the crisis, focusing on how the rail industry fought Covid-19 during lockdown periods and looking at the mitigation measures put in place to stop the spread of ...