All Switzerland articles – Page 10
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NewsStadler selected for Waldenburgerbahn contract
SWITZERLAND: Baselland Transport has selected Stadler to supply 10 light rail vehicles to operate on the Waldenburgerbahn line, the operator announced on October 23. BLT is ordering the vehicles under a joint procurement with Aargau Verkehr, which is to receive eight for the Limmattalbahn project in Zürich. BLT expects ...
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NewsSBB Cargo to test autocouplers in intermodal traffic
SWITZERLAND: In January 2019 SBB Cargo plans to begin a full-scale test of wagons fitted with automatic couplers on intermodal services. Under a SFr1·5m programme, a fleet of 100 wagons has been equipped with hybrid couplings that feature an autocoupler which folds up to reveal a conventional screw coupler. SBB’s ...
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NewsAppenzeller Bahnen’s Durchmesserlinie project completed
SWITZERLAND: The Durchmesserlinie project to enable through running between Appenzeller Bahnen’s metre-gauge Trogen and Appenzell routes was officially inaugurated on October 6. Revenue services on the realigned St Gallen – Trogen route began the following day using Tango light rail vehicles supplied by Stadler. The work included construction of ...
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NewsBreakthrough for new Albula tunnel
SWITZERLAND: Rhätische Bahn’s 5 860 m long new Albula tunnel was holed through on October 2. Train services are expected to start in late 2021 or early 2022, with more than 15 000 trains carrying 1·2 million passengers/year. The existing 5 864 m long tunnel on the Chur – St ...
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NewsWascosa and Aves One acquire 4 400 wagons
EUROPE: A consortium of wagon leasing company Wascosa and Hamburg-based logistics assets investor Aves One completed the acquisition of 4 400 wagons from the Nacco subsidiary of CIT Group on October 1. Wascosa has also taken over Nacco’s operations in Hamburg. VTG announced plans for the acquisition of Nacco in ...
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NewsTraverso offers space and comfort
INNOTRANS: Swiss operator Schweizerische Suedostbahn and Stadler used the InnoTrans trade show in Berlin on September 19 to present what Stadler Group CEO Thomas Ahlburg described as the longest Flirt trainset yet built. The copper coloured eight-car low-floor units will replace SOB’s existing rolling stock on the St Gallen - ...
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NewsRhätische Bahn orders locomotives
SWITZERLAND: Rhätische Bahn awarded Stadler Bussnang a SFr215m contract to supply seven two-axle overhead/battery electric shunting locomotives on September 3. They are scheduled to enter service in 2020, enabling 11 older locomotives to be withdrawn. The metre-gauge locomotives will be identical to ones ordered by Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn in ...
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NewsFurka Base Tunnel modernisation gets underway
SWITZERLAND: Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn has begun work on a major project to modernise the 15·4 km Furka Base Tunnel, which opened in 1982. The main contractor is the Arge Furka 1618 consortium of Pizzarotti and Luigi Notari. New cabling and electrification equipment are to be installed, and changes to ...
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NewsBLS opens Rosshäuser Tunnel
SWITZERLAND: BLS celebrated the completion of the Rosshäuser Tunnel on the Bern – Neuchâtel line on August 25, ahead of the planned start of regular services on September 3. The 1 910 m long single bore tunnel with two tracks on a new 2·4 km alignment will replace a winding ...
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NewsFV-Dosto dining car unveiled
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways unveiled the first dining car for its new FV-Dosto double-deck EMUs in Zürich on August 21. The upper deck dining saloon presents what SBB describes as a bright, modern ambience with excellent views. SBB believes that on train dining is ‘a trump card’ which gives ...
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NewsSBB challenges long-distance concession split
SWITZERLAND: Insisting that ‘legal clarification is necessary’, on July 16 Swiss Federal Railways lodged a formal challenge with the Federal Administrative Court against the decision to split the concession to operate long-distance passenger services. According to SBB, the decision by the Federal Office of Transport to award two inter-regional ...
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NewsStadler starts work on new factory
SWITZERLAND: A groundbreaking ceremony launched construction of Stadler’s new assembly plant at St Margrethen in the northeast corner of Switzerland on July 4. The SFr86m facility will be used to assemble Kiss double-deck trainsets, replacing a former aircraft factory in nearby Altenrhein which is no longer suitable for the task. ...
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NewsUsing onboard telematics units to identify wheel flats
SWITZERLAND: A project to use wagons’ onboard telematics units to provide an early warning of wheel flats has been undertaken by leasing company Wascosa and Savvy Telematic Systems, with the support of the Federal Office for the Environment which is seeking to reduce train noise. Savvy has developed an algorithm ...
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NewsAlstom ETCS for SBB Pendolinos
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has awarded Alstom a €16m contract to upgrade the train control systems on its 19 ETR610 trainsets with its Atlas ETCS Level 2 Baseline 3 technology, with the Swiss national train control system being a specific transmission module. This forms part of a wider ongoing ...
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NewsStadler enters the signalling market
STADLER: Consolidation in the supply sector including the planned Siemens-Alstom merger and CRRC’s expansion has spurred Stadler to develop its own signalling and automation systems. The Swiss group wants to avoid the need to purchase important components from its competitors in the rolling stock market, and also sees an opportunity ...
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NewsSwiss long-distance concession split confirmed
SWITZERLAND: The Federal Office for Transport announced on June 12 its final decision to split the concession to operate long-distance passenger services from the December 2019 timetable change. Most routes and the whole of the inter-city network will be run by incumbent SBB, but BLS will operate Interregio services on ...
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NewsSüdostbahn unveils Traverso EMU
SWITZERLAND: The first of 11 electric multiple-units which Stadler is to supply to Südostbahn for Voralpen-Express services was unveiled in Erlen on June 6. Part of the Flirt family, the six eight-car and five four-car 160 km/h units will feature a new motor bogie design and lightweight trailer bogies ...
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NewsMinisters urge that Rastatt lessons are learnt
EUROPE: Transport ministers have issued a Declaration calling for rapid implementation of measures to mitigate the effects of a major incident such as the seven-week closure last August of the Rhein Valley main line between Basel and Karlsruhe in Germany following a tunnel collapse beneath the alignment at Rastatt. The ...
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NewsSBB and Trenitalia to step up cross-border services
EUROPE: Swiss and Italian national operators SBB and Trenitalia signed an agreement on May 22 to increase the number of cross-border inter-city services. In an initial step the 2020 timetable will include an extra Basel – Milano service via Bern, giving four trains a day in each direction, with a ...
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NewsOperators oppose long-distance concession plans
SWITZERLAND: Regional operator BLS is contesting the plans announced in April by the Federal Office for Transport (BAV) for the 10-year concession to run long-distance passenger services from December 2019. Under the proposals national operator SBB would run all Intercity routes and most of the so-called Basic Network, but the ...