All Switzerland articles – Page 13
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SBB orders rescue trains
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has awarded a consortium of Windhoff Bahn- & Anlagentechnik and Dräger Safety a SFr38m contract to supply three firefighting and rescue trainsets by the end of 2018. The LRZ18 trainsets will be based at Genève, Melide and Brig to cover the CEVA line, Ceneri base tunnel ...
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Cantons back Grimsel Tunnel to link metre gauge networks
SWITZERLAND: The cantons of Bern and Valais and electricity distribution company Swissgrid unveiled a SFr580m plan for the construction of a railway linking the Zentralbahn and Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn metre-gauge networks on February 4. Swissgrid’s high voltage link over the Grimsel Pass is due to be replaced, and the ...
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Gotthard Base Tunnel freight tests begin
" src="https://d1x8q5iq3n6y12.cloudfront.net/CMS/s3/dvv-library/web/import/pics/tn_ch-gotthard-base-tunnel-first-freight-train-test.jpg?w=660" />SWITZERLAND: Testing of freight rolling stock in the 57 km Gotthard Base Tunnel began on January 16, when project promoter AlpTransit Gotthard and SBB Cargo undertook trials with a variety of wagon types including two rolling motorway lorry-carrying vehicles. Further tests over the coming weeks will assess vehicle ...
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Rebuilt snow blower on the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn
SWITZERLAND: Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn is keeping its Oberalp Pass route open this winter using a snow clearing vehicle which has been completely rebuilt by Schmidt. The metre-gauge vehicle which was previously used on the Rhätische Bahn’s Bernina route is more than 50 years old. After being acquired by MGB it ...
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Windhoff designs high performance on-track machines for SBB
SWITZERLAND: Windhoff Bahn- und Anlagentechnik has announced details of the 35 self-propelled on-track machines which it is to supply to Swiss Federal Railways under the largest single contract which the company has won. Deliveries are scheduled from spring 2017 until 2021, with the first five vehicles to undergo six months ...
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Waldenburgbahn to be regauged
SWITZERLAND: Plans to convert the 13·1 km Waldenburgbahn from 750 mm to 1 000 mm gauge by 2022 were approved by Basel’s construction and planning commission last month. The single-track line from Liestal to Waldenburg opened in 1880 and was electrified at 1·5 kV DC in 1953. It is ...
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Rhätische Bahn takes first delivery of Albula line trainset
SWITZERLAND: StadlerRail delivered the first new-generation trainset for Rhätische Bahn’s Albula line to Landquart depot on December 2. Testing of the 1 000 mm gauge trainsets ordered to operate express services between Chur and St Moritz, is due to begin between December 7 and 11, with certification by the ...
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SBB inaugurates Olten control centre
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways formally inaugurated its regional control centre at Olten on November 17, in a ceremony attended by SBB CEO Andreas Meyer, the president of canton Solothurn Roland Fürst and the Mayor of Olten Martin Wey. BZ Mitte is one of four regional centres that will eventually manage ...
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SBB orders locomotives with ‘working and waiting’ cabs
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways’ Infrastructure business has awarded preferred bidder Alstom a €175m contract to supply 47 Prima H4 electro–diesel locomotives. The four-axle locomotives are scheduled to enter service in 2018, and will be used to haul infrastructure trains and for shunting in yards at Lausanne and Limmattal. Alstom ...
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Durchmesserlinie project completed
SWITZERLAND: The eight-year Durchmesserlinie project to increase capacity by eliminating the need for east–west trains to reverse at Zürich Hauptbahnhof was officially completed with a ceremony marking the end of Phase 2 on October 26. Phase 1 of the 9·6 km Durchmesserlinie comprised the 4·8 km S-shaped Weinberg Tunnel ...
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SBB orders maintenance fleet
SWITZERLAND: To handle rising volumes of infrastructure construction and maintenance traffic, Swiss Federal Railways has placed two orders totalling SFr265m for Alstom to supply 47 mainline and shunting locomotives and Windhoff 35 self-propelled infrastructure maintenance vehicles. SBB had called tenders in March 2014 as part of programme to renew its ...
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SBB Cargo and DB Schenker extend trans-Alpine contract
SWITZERLAND: An extension of SBB Cargo’s contract to haul Germany – Italy trans-Alpine transit freight trains on behalf of DB Schenker was signed by representatives of the two companies inside the Gotthard base tunnel on September 25. DB switched its Gotthard transit contract from BLS to SBB in December 2013. ...
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Swiss government funds more maintenance
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has secured a 15% increase in infrastructure funding from the government for the next three-year performance contract covering 2017-20. Due to be submitted to parliament after a hearing in September, the increase is justified by a predicted 9% rise in gross tonne-km and additions to the ...
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DB Netz buys SBB’s Rail Control System
GERMANY: Infrastructure manager DB Netz has licensed the Rail Control System train control and dispatching package developed by Swiss Federal Railways, and plans to deploy it across the German network from 2019. Introduced by SBB in 2009, RCS is also used by BLS and SOB. Belgium’s Infrabel was the first ...
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Mock-up verifies Stadler’s Gotthard train design
SWITZERLAND: Stadler Rail and Swiss Federal Railways are using a full-size wooden mock-up to verify the planned interior design of the 29 Giruno trainsets ordered in May 2014 for use on services from Basel and Zürich to Milano via the Gotthard base tunnel. The mock-up at Stadler’s Bussnang factory ...
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Stadler Rail switches its focus from east to west
STADLER RAIL: Swiss rolling stock manufacturer Stadler Rail has announced plans to shift the focus of its growth plans away from the CIS and Middle East markets and towards the UK and the USA. On June 19 Stadler said the Swiss national bank’s decision to uncouple the franc from the ...
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Mixed fleet for cross-border RER
EUROPE: The Rhône-Alpes region of France has announced that it is to order a fleet of 17 Régiolis EMUs for the RER Franco-Valdo-Genevois network that will connect Evian, Saint-Gervais, Annecy and Bellegarde with Genève and Lausanne in Switzerland. Worth €220m, the order is to be placed under the framework agreement ...
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SBB approves pre-series Twindexx EMU
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has confirmed that two Bombardier Transportation pre-series Twinindexx Express double-deck long-distance electric multiple-units meet its quality standards and technical requirements, ahead of the start of test running in Switzerland. SBB announced the approval on June 8, when it formally unveiled one of the pre-series EMUs and ...
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Switzerland unveils biggest timetable shake-up since Bahn 2000
SWITZERLAND: This year’s timetable change on December 13 will be ‘the most ambitious since the introduction of Bahn 2000 in 2004’, Swiss Federal Railways announced on May 26. Long-distance services are set to expand by 660 000 train-km, or about 1%, while regional services will increase by 2·3 million train-km, ...
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Strong franc brings Huber+Suhner structural changes
SWITZERLAND: Cable, connector and antenna systems supplier Huber+Suhner announced measures to cope with the impact of ‘negative effects due to the strong Swiss franc’ on May 12. The changes will lead to around 25 early retirements and 25 redundancies at its Herisau and Pfäffikon sites in 2015, along with ...