All Railway Gazette International articles in September 2020 – Page 7
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News
Automated train operation tested in Moscow
RUSSIA: Automatic operation could be introduced on the 54 km Moscow Central Ring line next year, Russian Railways CEO Oleg Belozerov said following tests with an Lastochka electric multiple-unit. Trains would run under Grade of Automation 2, with a driver in the cab to monitor operations. Trials ...
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Rail Business UK
Five firms selected for HS2 Innovation Accelerator initiative
UK: HS2 Ltd has opened the second round of applications to join its Innovation Accelerator programme, seeking small and medium-sized firms specialising in process efficiencies and the passenger experience at stations. Entrepreneurs and tech specialists are invited to apply by September 18. This follows the announcement of ...
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Rail Business UK
Solar-powered scarecrow deployed to keep birds away from electrical equipment
UK: A solar-powered scarecrow that mimics the calls of a hawk is being used to humanely scare away birds which were damaging overhead line equipment and the pantographs of Avanti West Coast Pendolino trainsets at Alstom’s Longsight depot. ‘Birds at Alstom’s depot have become a real ...
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Metro Report International
Moscow orders 114 trams
RUSSIA: PK TS was the sole bidder for a contract to supply a total of 114 trams to Moscow operator Mosgortrans. The order announced on September 8 covers a further 74 Type 71-931M Vityaz-M three-section articulated vehicles and 40 single-section 71-911EM Lionet trams, which are intended to ...
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News
Automating level crossing inspections
USA: VisioStack has been awarded funding for two projects to develop automated level crossing inspection technology, as part of the Department of Transportation’s Small Business Innovation Research programme. The Aerial Crossing Inspection System project aims to use unmanned aerial vehicles and machine learning to perform level crossing ...
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News
RailSpetsTrans orders 300 wagons
RUSSIA: RailSpetsTrans and State Transport Leasing Co have placed an order for United Wagon Co to supply 300 vans by the end of the first half of 2021. The Type 11-6874 covered van was developed by UWC’s All-Union Research & Development Centre for Transportation Technology and is ...
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In depth
Freight: Unlocking access to Australia’s largest port
Despite surging growth in in recent years, the port of Melbourne remains heavily reliant on road haulage, causing major impacts in the nearby city centre. So the state government and port operator are redoubling efforts to shift more freight to rail after a number of false starts. John Kirk reports.
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News
FreightCar America to move production to Mexico under ‘operational realignment’
NORTH AMERICA: FreightCar America has signed a letter of intent to acquire joint venture partner Fabricaciones y Servicios de México’s 50% stake in the new wagon manufacturing plant at Castaños in Mexico, and will consolidate all of its production there by January 2021. This will mean the ...
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Metro Report International
Hiroshima Rapid Transit Co orders more rubber-tyre light metro trainsets
JAPAN: Hiroshima Rapid Transit Co has awarded Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering a contract to supply a further 13 six-car Series 7000 Automated Guideway Transit rubber-tyre trainsets to replace existing vehicles on the 18·4 km New Transit Line 1, known as the Astram Line. The trainsets ...
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Rail Business UK
11 700 km of electrification plus battery and hydrogen trains in traction decarbonisation strategy
UK: Network Rail has published its interim Traction Decarbonisation Network Strategy, setting out preliminary recommendations for meeting government ambitions to decarbonise the rail network. The Interim Business Case released on September 10 considers the three main ways of achieving this aim: electrification, batteries ...
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Metro Report International
BONNsmart contactless ticketing goes live
GERMANY: The initial phase of what the partners say is the first contactless ticketing scheme in Germany has gone live in Bonn. Passengers are able to use contactless bank cards or suitable mobile devices to pay for travel on bus routes SB60 to the airport and 66 ...
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Rail Business UK
CrossCountry resumes normal seat reservations
UK: CrossCountry resumed providing reservations for specific seats on all its trains with effect from September 7. Since June, all customers have been requested to reserve a place when travelling with CrossCountry, to help maintain social distancing on board trains during the coronavirus pandemic. The operator said ...
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News
BLS unveils ‘modern, innovative, compact, all-round’ trains
SWITZERLAND: The first of 58 electric multiple-units ordered by BLS was unveiled at Stadler’s Erlen commissioning centre on September 9. The latest members of the Flirt multiple-unit family have been branded MIKA, meaning Moderner, Innovativer, Kompakter Allroundzug (modern, innovative, compact, all-round train). Two ...
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Rail Business UK
Grand Central drops plans for Blackpool – London open access service
Rail Business UK understands that after months of work exploring all options, it had become clear that the service would not be financially viable until at least 2024.
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Rail Business UK
Wabtec to overhaul IC225 sets as lease extended
UK: Leasing company Eversholt Rail The leasing has awarded Wabtec Faiveley UK a contract to overhaul seven IC225 push-pull trainsets at its Doncaster site. This comes after operate LNER extended it lease until summer 2023, with a possible extension to summer 2024. The deal includes 10 Class ...
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Rail Business UK
Interim report sets out earthwork management plans following Stonehaven derailment
UK: Network Rail’s interim report into improving the resilience of its earthworks to extreme weather was published by the government on September 10. The report was commissioned by Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps following the fatal derailment of a ScotRail train at Carmont near Stonehaven ...
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Metro Report International
Pisa plans first modern tram route
ITALY: The city of Pisa has approved plans to build a starter light rail line in the centre of the city, its legacy metre-gauge tram network having closed in 1952. The 4∙4 km route would connect the main line station with the Ospedale di Cisanello medical complex ...