Swiss railway news – Page 13
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NewsBelfort – Delle reopening to revive Franco-Swiss link
EUROPE: The 22 km missing link between Belfort in eastern France and Delle on the border with Switzerland is to reopen for passenger trains with the European timetable change on December 9, following a formal opening ceremony on December 6 to be attended by French Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne and ...
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NewsGlacier Express reveals Excellence Class coaches
SWITZERLAND: Two coaches which have been upgraded to provide a premium ‘Excellence Class’ on the tourist-focused Glacier Express service have been unveiled by operating partners Rhätische Bahn and Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn. The interiors were designed by Nose Design Experience, and refitting of the coaches provided by RhB and MGB was ...
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NewsSmartRail 4.0 pilot within three years
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways expects to launch trials of a next-generation signalling system within three years. Reporting details of progress with the ‘ambitious’ SmartRail 4.0 programme at the Alpine Rail Optimisation conference in Wien on November 8, SBB’s head of Co-operation & Research for the project Bernhard Rytz said the ...
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NewsDiesel-battery hybrid locos ordered for SBB Cargo
SWITZERLAND: Investment group Reichmuth Infrastruktur Schweiz’s leasing business LokRoll 2 has awarded Alstom a €40m contract to supply 12 Prima H3 diesel-battery hybrid shunting locomotives, which it will lease to SBB Cargo for 10 years. The three-axle locomotives are to be delivered from Alstom’s Stendal plant from October 2020. ...
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NewsRhätische Bahn opens 'Little Sister' bridge
SWITZERLAND: Rhätsiche Bahn services are scheduled to be diverted over the recently-completed second Hinterrhein bridge at Reichenau from November 4, enabling the original bridge dating from 1895 to be closed for renovation. The older structure is scheduled to reopen in late 2019. This will complete a SFr32·5m project to provide ...
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NewsMatterhorn Gotthard Bahn locos to be modernised
SWITZERLAND: Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn has awarded Swiss Federal Railways a SFr35·4m contract to modernise nine HGe4/4-II electric locomotives and three BDt driving trailers. The work is to be undertaken at SBB’s Bellinzona works by the end of 2022. The 1·9 MW metre gauge Bo-Bo locomotives equipped for rack operation were ...
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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 ...