All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 335
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NewsRegioJet buys double-deck coaches to cope with ridership growth
SLOVAKIA: RegioJet has acquired 10 second-hand double-deck coaches from DB Regio, which it plans to use to provide a rapid increase in capacity on Bratislava – Dunajská Streda – Komárno services operated under contract to the Ministry of Transport. The Dbz750 coaches were built at the Bautzen plant in ...
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Railway supply industry news round-up
SNC-Lavalin Group has announced that it is to withdraw from the lump-sum turnkey contracting market. It intends to fulfil current contractual obligations, including the Montréal REM metro project. 'Lump-sum, turnkey projects have been the root cause of the company’s performance issues', said Interim President & CEO Ian L Edwards on ...
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NewsNew lines go ahead as FS infrastructure spending approved
ITALY: A €28bn package of funding for FS Group infrastructure spending was formally approved by the government’s Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning on July 24, the state railway group has confirmed. CIPE has also approved updates to the programme contracts between the Ministry of Infrastructure & Transport and the ...
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NewsIRCON to undertake Sri Lanka railway upgrade
SRI LANKA: A US$91·3m contract for the modernisation of the 130 km Maho – Omanthai line was signed by the government and Indian Railways subsidiary IRCON International on July 18. The 36-month project will raise the line speed from 60 km/h to 120 km/h and eliminate 40 km/h speed ...
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NewsLocos retrieved from Sierra Leone
AFRICA: Diesel locomotives which South African freight and financial services company Grindrod Ltd supplied for use at a mine in Sierra Leone which has now ceased operating have been recovered for use elsewhere. Grindrod delivered a total of 34 S30SCC locomotives to haul iron ore from African ...
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NewsMinimum access rights include station platforms, court rules
AUSTRIA: The use of station platforms is included within the ‘minimum access package’ which EU Directive 2012/34 requires infrastructure managers to make available to all train operators, the European Court of Justice has ruled. This means that charges for the use of platforms must not exceed the cost that ...
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NewsDSB starts driverless S-bane train procurement
DENMARK: State operator DSB has launched a market sounding exercise in preparation for the procurement of a fleet of driverless trains to operate the København S-bane. Building on work now underway to equip the S-bane with CBTC, the government decided in December 2017 to convert the stand-alone 1·5 kV ...
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NewsBRX’s acquisition of Pioneer Railcorp approved
USA: Short line group Pioneer Railcorp announced on July 19 that its shareholders had approved the company’s acquisition by BRX Transportation Holdings, an entity formed by infrastructure investors Brookhaven Rail Partners, Related Infrastructure and private equity investor Stephens Capital Partners. Pioneer Railcorp owns 15 common carrier short lines including ...
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NewsNorfolk Southern starts TOP 21 roll-out
USA: Norfolk Southern has successfully rolled out the first phase of its Thoroughbred Operating Plan 21, covering its wagonload and automotive traffic, the railway confirmed on July 22. Mirroring the principles of the Precision Scheduled Railroading concept adopted by other Class Is, TOP21 is designed to improve system velocity ...
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NewsCement trains start rolling on Tanga – Moshi line
TANZANIA: The revival of freight operations on the country’s 438 km Usambara Railway was marked by a ceremony at Moshi on July 20 attended by Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa. The Tanga – Moshi line has been out of use for 12 years, but the Prime Minister told parliament in ...
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NewsFlixTrain raises funding for expansion
INTERNATIONAL: FlixMobility has completed a Series F funding round co-led by growth equity firms TCV and Permira, with long-time investor HV Holtzbrinck Ventures also participating through a joint investment with the European Investment Bank. In the rail sector, the company plans to use the equity raised to support the growth ...
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NewsCalifornia Northern Railroad commissions low-emission locos
USA: Two Knoxville Locomotive Works low-emission diesel locos have entered service on Genesee & Wyoming’s California Northern Railroad following the completion of trials. The 1·79 MW locomotives have 12-cylinder MTU engines and use selective catalytic reduction technology to meet Tier 4 emissions requirements. They are expected to provide fuel ...
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NewsElectrification, batteries and hydrogen trains should replace DMUs, says study
GERMANY: Electrification, battery power and fuel cells are the most sensible options for replacing diesel multiple-units, according to an environmental and value-for-money study undertaken by the Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies. The Alternatives to DMUs in Rail Passenger Transport study was undertaken by VDE with ...
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NewsFreightCar America to close Roanoke factory
USA: Wagon manufacturer FreightCar America is to permanently close its factory at Roanoke, Virginia, by mid-November. The company has leased the site from Norfolk Southern since 2005. ‘The closure of our Roanoke facility is another next step in our “Back to Basics” strategy as we continue to ...
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NewsCalifornia High-Speed Rail Authority issues Track & Systems RFQ
USA: California High-Speed Rail Authority has issued a request for qualifications for its Phase I Track & Systems contract, which has an estimate value of $1·6bn. This would cover design, construction, and testing of the trackwork, electrification, signalling, train control and other railway systems for the 190 km route ...
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NewsGautrain success foreshadows expansion
SOUTH AFRICA: Outline plans to extend Gautrain to serve more of the Gauteng region have been drawn up as part of an assessment of the project’s economic and social impact. About R110bn could be allocated for construction of extensions and 19 new stations, plus R24∙4bn on improvements to the existing ...
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DB buys Westbahn’s Kiss EMUs
EUROPE: Deutsche Bahn has signed an agreement to acquire Austrian open access operator Westbahn’s fleet of 17 Stadler Kiss double-deck electric multiple-units. Announcing the deal on July 22, the German national railway said Westbahn’s four-car and six-car units had ‘achieved the highest levels of customer satisfaction’; some of the ...
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NewsVectrons ordered for Ceneri Base Tunnel services
SWITZERLAND: Landesbank Baden-Württemberg subsidiary SüdLeasing has awarded Siemens Mobility a contract to supply 20 Vectron multisystem electric locomotives which will be operated by SBB Cargo International under a long-term leasing plan with a flexible term. The order announced on July 22 includes a full-serve maintenance agreement with Siemens Mobility ...
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NewsHigher capacity double-deck coach on test
ISRAEL: National railway ISR has reconfigured three of its Bombardier Transportation double-deck coaches with a revised interior layout designed to provide a 20% increase in capacity per vehicle In order to accommodate more standing passengers, the seats and tables have been removed from the lower deck and replaced with the ...
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NewsGautrain seeks second-hand EMUs from the UK
SOUTH AFRICA: Gautrain Management Agency is planning to obtain second-hand rolling stock from the UK. This follows an abortive tender called in February 2016 for a fleet of 12 new four-car trainsets. Despite three bidders being shortlisted, none of the bids was compliant. After evaluating its options, GMA decided ...