All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 647
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NewsScomi and Škoda Transportation sign partnership
INTERNATIONAL: Czech company Škoda Transportation and Malaysian monorail and bus supplier Scomi Engineering have signed an agreement to collaborate in the development of mass rapid transit and light rail vehicles. ‘This collaboration by both parties will enable Scomi to participate in a wider range of transport projects’, said Kanesan ...
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NewsTram bridge across Kraków Płaszów station opened
POLAND: A 1 km section of new tram line connecting Kraków’s Wielicka and Lipska streets via a 600 m bridge across Kraków Płaszów station opened on August 30. Although the new link is relatively short, construction was a complex two-year project. The bridge incorporates a tram stop with stairs and ...
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NewsOuigo to expand as SNCF rethinks low-cost services
FRANCE: Ouigo low-cost TGV services are to be expanded to a further eight stations in the north and west of the country in 2016, SNCF announced on September 3. Faced with increasing competition from the liberalisation of long-distance bus services and the growth of ride-sharing, SNCF has unveiled a new ...
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NewsHitachi opens Newton Aycliffe rolling stock plant
UK: Prime Minister David Cameron was amongst the guests at celebrations marking the opening of Hitachi Rail’s £82m rolling stock plant at Newton Aycliffe in County Durham on September 3. Other VIPs included Chancellor George Osborne, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin and Rail Minister Claire Perry. The plant will produce the ...
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NewsHull Trains to order Hitachi electro-diesel trainsets
UK: East Yorkshire to London open access inter-city operator Hull Trains announced a £68m plan to order five Hitachi electro-diesel multiple-units on September 3. These would enter service in 2020, subject to the successful completion of negotiations with infrastructure manager Network Rail and regulator ORR for a ...
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NewsSapphire Corp to acquire Ranken Infrastructure Ltd
ASIA: The shareholders of Singapore-listed Sapphire Corp approved the 360m yuan acquisition of Chinese rail engineering specialist Ranken Infrastructure Ltd at an extraordinary general meeting on September 2. The deal is expected to be completed by October. Established in 1998, Chengdu-based Rankin undertakes projects in China, India, Bangladesh and Saudi ...
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NewsRefurbished ScotRail DMU rolled out
UK: The first of 40 Class 158 diesel multiple-units to be refurbished at Knorr-Bremse RailServices' Springburn facility was unveiled by ScotRail on September 1. The £14m modernisation of the units built in 1989-92 includes seating improvements, better lighting, modern carpets, improved accessibility, new CCTV, automated passenger-counting systems and at-seat power ...
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NewsSzczecin extends right bank tram network
POLAND: Regular services on a new tram line on the right bank of the River Odra in Szczecin began on August 29, ready for the start of the new school year and two days after the inauguration ceremony. Agreements for construction of the first phase of the new line were ...
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NewsChina Railway Corp orders Zefiro380 high speed trains
CHINA: China Railway Corp has ordered a further 15 eight-car CRH380D high speed trainsets from Bombardier Sifang (Qingdao) Transportation for 2·4bn yuan. Announcing the order on September 2, the BST joint venture of Bombardier and CSR Sifang Rolling Stock Co said it had begun delivering an initial batch of 70 ...
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NewsRichard Hunter
Richard Hunter has been named Managing Director & Head of Projects for Bombardier UK, replacing interim MD Noel Travers.
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NewsHitachi Information Control Systems Europe formed
UK: The Railway Engineering Co was renamed as Hitachi Information Control Systems Europe Ltd with effect from September 1. The signalling, operations, simulator and automatic route-setting software company was acquired by Hitachi in December 2012, and is now Hitachi’s traffic management systems integrator for the European market. The company’s ...
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NewsUnited Wagon Co to supply castings for the US wagon market
RUSSIA: A 10-year agreement for United Wagon Co to supply Wabtec Corp with castings for the US wagon market was signed at the Expo 1520 trade fair in Shcherbinka on September 2. Wabtec Corp is to provide design documentation and a manufacturing license enabling UWC’s Tikhvin plant to supply side ...
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NewsPomeranian Metropolitan Railway opens
POLAND: Revenue services on the Pomorska Kolej Metropolitalna line serving Gdańsk airport began on September 1, following inauguration celebrations including steam-hauled trains on August 30. The new line is owned by PKM, a dedicated company established by Pomorskie voivodship. Branching from the existing network at Gdańsk Wrzeszcz, it uses ...
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NewsHigh speed links to the northeast completed
CHINA: A 210 km rail link to the North Korean border town of Dandong was opened for revenue service on September 1. This is the first of two high speed lines serving the border region that are scheduled to open this year. Under construction since 2010, the 207 km Shenyang ...
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NewsPorto operating contract retendered
PORTUGAL: Metro de Porto and bus operator STCP are retendering the contract to operate the city’s public transport networks, having agreed with preferred bidder Transports Ciutat Comtal that agreements reached earlier this year would be rescinded. All prequalified bidders for the earlier competition, including TCC, have been invited to participate. ...
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NewsDriving simulator investment
ARGENTINA: Minister of the Interior & Transport Florencio Randazzo opened a suite featuring 11 driving simulators at the national railway training facility, Cenacaf, in Temperley last month. Supplied by Spanish specialist Lander Simulation, the simulators are intended to recreate precisely the conditions that drivers will encounter on the Mitre and ...
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NewsFujitsu buys Applied Card Technologies
UK: Fujitsu announced its ‘multi-million pound’ acquisition of Applied Card Technologies on August 27. ‘ACT is a proven expert in the digital ticketing space and will be a vitally important part of the Fujitsu business’, said Regina Moran, CEO of Fujitsu UK & Ireland. ‘Digital ticketing is ...
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NewsTracking jumper cables
CABLES: A new design of pluggable inter-car jumper cable has been developed by Harting to carry electrical power, data and control signals. The jumpers use Han rectangular connectors to ensure a robust connection to the vehicles, and these have been fitted with industrial-grade Ha-VIS RFID transponders to improve the ...
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NewsNational Training Academy for Rail accreditation
UK: Expected to open later this year, the UK's National Training Academy for Rail near Northampton has reached an agreement with engineering certification organisation EAL covering 39 of its planned courses. Backed by the National Skills Academy for Railway Engineering, NTAR is located beside the Siemens rolling stock maintenance depot ...
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NewsSolar and wireless automated level crossing commissioned
COLOMBIA: Ferrocarril del Pacífico has commissioned the first of 22 level crossings on the 196 km Buenaventura – Palmira route which are being fitted with automated safety systems by US firm Railroad Signal International, using a solar-powered train detection system from Canadian company Argenia Railway Technologies. Completion of the project ...