All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 563
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NewsBergen trams reach Birkelandsskiftet
NORWAY: Bergen Mayor Marte Mjøs Persen and Hordaland County Mayor Anne Gine Hestetun inaugurated an extension of Bergen’s Bybanen tram route on August 15. The southern extension from Lagunen to Birkelandsskiftet adds 6 km and five stops to the route. Journey time on the extension is 8 min, bringing ...
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NewsCaltrain signs double-deck EMU and electrification contracts
USA: On August 15 the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board formally signed contracts for Balfour Beatty to electrify the 82 km Caltrain rail corridor between San Francisco and San Jose and for Stadler to supply a fleet of double-deck electric multiple-units. Stadler is to supply 16 six-car EMUs under its ...
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NewsBudamar expands into the Balkans
EUROPE: Slovak company Budamar Logistics has bought a stake in Croatian open access freight operator PPD Transport, as part of its plans to expand into the Balkan region. Budmar is mainly targeting Croatia and Serbia, where it plans to provide rail and logistics services to major industrial companies. On July ...
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NewsRolling stock components on display
PARKER HANNIFIN: Rolling stock components including control valves and filtration equipment for pneumatic systems will be showcased by Parker Hannifin at InnoTrans 2016, along with control systems for pantographs, doors and couplings. The company’s range of rugged hoses and connectors used in rail applications will also be on display. Also ...
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NewsBucurești metro funding proposals published
ROMANIA: The Ministry of Transport published a funding proposal on August 10 that includes an extra €52·5m for current projects. The money is to come from the sale of greenhouse gas emission credits. The largest share of the proposed funds is to be put towards metro Line M6, which ...
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NewsMilano metro extension work to restart
ITALY: Milano City Council has approved a revised plan for the northern extension of metro Line M1. Work is due to resume later this year, with opening planned for 2017. The bankruptcy of the original contractor caused work on the 1·8 km underground extension to stop. The estimated €23·3m ...
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NewsModernised Polar Bear Express coach unveiled
CANADA: The first of 16 coaches used on the Polar Bear Express service which are being refurbished at Ontario Northland’s North Bay workshop was unveiled by Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne on August 12. The province is providing C$17m to upgrade Ontario Northland’s Polar Bear Express, which provides the only year-round ...
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NewsBrookfield Rail takes track maintenance in-house
AUSTRALIA: Western Australia freight network concessionaire Brookfield Rail brought its track and civil maintenance activities in-house with effect from August 15. Track maintenance on the 5 500 km network had previously been undertaken by John Holland, and Paul Lowney, Brookfield Rail’s General Manager, Asset Management & Projects, said the companies ...
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NewsPK TS trams ordered for Rostov
RUSSIA: PK Transportnye Systemy has been selected to supply 16 trams to Rostov-na-Donu. Deliveries from Transmashholding’s Tver Carriage Works are due to be completed by the end of November. The single-section 71-911E City Star is 16·5 m long and 2 500 mm wide with capacity for 170 passengers at ...
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NewsRegional infrastructure funding agreed
ITALY: Regional rail services and international corridors are set to receive a further boost, after the CIPE joint economic planning committee of the transport and finance ministries agreed on August 10 to allocate €11·5bn for transport investment, primarily rail. The package has three main pillars – regional railways, corridor development ...
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NewsRail freight news in brief
Russian wagon builder RM Rail has obtained certification enabling series production of its Type 15-1288-02 ammonia wagon. The 3 200 mm diameter tank is made from high-strength steel, providing a capacity of 56 tonnes or 87 m3 within the 1-T loading gauge, an increase of 17% on previous designs. There ...
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NewsLloyds Somers supplies Glasgow Subway depot equipment
UK: Lloyds Somers has supplied sets of bogie rotators and vehicle lifting jacks for use at the Glasgow Subway depot. The rotators for use with the metro trainsets’ 1 220 mm gauge bogies were a repeat order to a pair which had been supplied previously, but the rail vehicle lifts ...
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NewsPraha – München upgrading planned
EUROPE: Czech infrastructure manager SŽDC, passenger operator ČD and freight operator ČD Cargo have signed a memorandum of understanding to work together on a proposed enhancement of the single track and unelectrified section of the route from Praha to München via Česká Kubice and Furth im Wald. The companies envisage ...
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NewsChicago’s Metra suspends rolling stock procurement
USA: Chicago commuter rail operator Metra announced on August 9 that it had suspended the procurement process for 367 gallery cars, for which it had issued a request for proposals on February 2. The decision has been taken because of changes to the funding of Metra’s $2·4bn ...
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NewsRefrigerated container train targets perishables market
ASIA: Russian Railways’ subsidiary RZD Logistics has launched a trial service moving perishable goods from China to Russia. A refrigerated container train carrying fruit and vegetables was dispatched from Dalian on August 8 en route to Orekhovo-Zuevo near Moscow, with an anticipated journey time of 18 to 20 days. The ...
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NewsArriva to increase Czech Republic – Slovakia services
EUROPE: Arriva Vlaky has unveiled plans for a significant expansion of its long-distance cross-border trains between Praha in the Czech Republic and Trenčín in Slovakia, via Přerov, Uherské Hradiště and Vlárský Průsmyk. According to the company, the weekly service introduced on March 5 has proved very successful and some ...
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NewsTaiyuan – Jiaozuo PDL approved
CHINA: The National Development & Reform Commission has given the go-ahead for construction of the Taiyuan – Jiaozuo passenger-dedicated line, which is expected to take 4½ years. The 362 km double track alignment will be designed for 250 km/h operation, with a minimum curve radius of 3 000 m. ...
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NewsDecatur Central Railroad joint venture
USA: Short line group OmniTRAX has formed a joint venture with Topflight Grain Cooperative Inc to modernise and operate Topflight Grain’s newly-renamed Decatur Central Railroad in Illinois. The line links Cisco and Decatur, where there is an interchange with CN. Terms were not disclosed. Decatur Central Railroad will transport grain ...
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NewsFaiveley targets five key themes
FAIVELEY: With the European Commission set to reach a conclusion by October 24 on the competition implications of Wabtec’s planned purchase of Faiveley, the French group’s focus at this year’s InnoTrans is on five key themes. These are: energy efficiency, mass reduction, systems reliability and quality, ease of maintenance and ...
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NewsPakistan Railways e-ticketing agreement
PAKISTAN: An agreement for the roll-out of e-ticketing was signed by Pakistan Railways and United Bank Ltd on August 10. Passengers will be able to pay for travel using credit or debit cards, and the UBL Omni mobile banking app. PR will then send an SMS e-ticket, containing the ticket ...