Swiss railway news – Page 18
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NewsSBB awards on-track plant contracts
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has awarded contracts totalling SFr136m a year for the lease of 65 tampers, cranes and other track maintenance plant over periods of five to 10 years. The contracts are due to come into effect at the end of 2015, when the current agreements signed in 2006 ...
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NewsFirst Ceneri base tunnel breakthrough
SWITZERLAND: A final blast at noon on March 17 broke through the southern end of the western bore of the Ceneri base tunnel on the Gotthard corridor, 13 months ahead of schedule. The base tunnel’s twin 15·4 km bores are being excavated south from the Vigana portal, north from ...
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NewsZEB funds ease Bern traffic flows
SWITZERLAND: The release of a fifth tranche of funding under the ZEB railway infrastructure development programme paves the way for Swiss Federal Railways to start work on six enhancement projects worth a total of SFr170m. The biggest of these is the long-standing scheme to separate traffic flows at Wylerfeld east ...
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NewsSNCB Logistics launches Swiss Xpress
EUROPE: Belgian national freight operator SNCB Logistics has launched a fast single wagonload service between Antwerpen and Basel, which has reduced the transit time from seven to four and a half days. SBB Cargo provides feeder services in Switzerland. The Swiss Xpress trains leave the Belgian port on Mondays, ...
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NewsSBB orders more ETR610 tilting trains
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has exercised an option for Alstom to supply an additional four ETR610 New Pendolino tilting trainsets for use on the north–south Gotthard and Simplon corridors from 2017. The SFr120m order announced on January 30 follows two previous orders for seven and eight trainsets. The 250 ...
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NewsKnorr-Bremse to buy Selectron Systems
SWITZERLAND: Knorr-Bremse has signed an agreement to acquire rail vehicle automation, networking and control technology supplier Selectron Systems. Selectron Systems is based in Lyss and has more than 100 employees. Knorr-Bremse said customers of both companies would benefit in the original equipment, operations and aftermarket sectors, with Selectron Systems ...
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NewsBLS buys back DB’s stake in BLS Cargo
SWITZERLAND: BLS has agreed to buy back the 45% stake BLS Cargo which is owned by DB Schweiz Holding for an undisclosed price. Announcing the agreement on January 6, BLS said the transaction would have no effect on the existing operational relationships between the companies, and DB Schenker Rail would ...
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NewsS-Bahn expansion schemes launched
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has started work on a major capacity improvement programme between Genève and Lausanne. Announcing the launch of the SFr3bn ‘Léman 2030’ project at a ceremony in Renens station on November 22, SBB said that traffic on the route along the shore of Lac Léman is expected ...
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NewsSwiss border link inaugurated
SWITZERLAND: The first section of the FMV cross-border rail link will open for revenue service on December 15, following a formal dedication on November 27 attended by representatives from canton Ticino, the federal government, SBB and TILO, the cross-border transport operator for Ticino and Lombardia. Partially funded by the federal ...
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NewsSBB gets free trains following double-deck delays
SWITZERLAND: A revised schedule for the delivery of Twindexx Express long distance double-deck electric multiple-units ordered in 2010 has been agreed with Bombardier Transportation, Swiss Federal Railways announced on November 19. In compensation for a further one-year delay to deliveries, Bombardier will supply SBB with three additional EMUs and spare ...
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NewsSBB awards Eppenberg tunnel contract
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways announced on November 14 that it had awarded a SFr273·7m contract for the construction of the 3 km Eppenburg tunnel, the key element in the SFr855m project to four-track the busy Olten – Aarau line by 2020. The contract awarded to the ARGE Marti Eppenberg ...
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NewsTracklaying completed in Gotthard base tunnel
SWITZERLAND: The completion of tracklaying in the 57 km Gotthard base tunnel was marked with a ceremony at 12.00 on October 31, when the concrete was poured for a ‘Golden Sleeper’, 54 m from the southern portal at Bodio. Noting that it is now possible for diesel-hauled trains to run ...
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NewsFirst MTR Express inter-city Flirt on test
SWEDEN: Ahead of the launch of MTR Express Stockholm – Göteborg open access services in March 2015, guests including Railway Gazette joined MTR Nordic and Stadler staff on a test run of the operator’s first Flirt Intercity EMU in Switzerland on October 17. MTR Express is part of the Nordic ...
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NewsZentralbahn orders more Fink EMUs
SWITZERLAND: Zentralbahn signed a SFr53m contract on September 22 for Stadler Rail to supply five more Fink metre-gauge electric multiple-units. Under the deal signed by ZB Managing Director Renato Fasciati and Stadler Rail Group CEO Peter Spuhler, the three-car rack EMUs are to be delivered in late 2016. They ...
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NewsNexans signs SBB cable framework
SWITZERLAND: Nexans announced on September 24 that it had signed a five-year framework agreement with SBB for the supply of signalling and balise power supply cable. The agreement is worth €35m in total. From next month, Nexans is to provide over 7 000 km of cable for infrastructure upgrade projects ...
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NewsCeneri base tunnel dispute resolved
SWITZERLAND: The Federal Supreme Court has upheld two appeals by the preferred bidders against the Federal Administrative Court’s decision to block the award of two contracts for fitting out the 15·4 km Ceneri base tunnel. The losing bidders for the contracts had appealed to the Federal Administrative Court, which ruled ...
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NewsWagon leasing company calls for subsidy rethink
EUROPE: State subsidies for the installation of low-noise wagon brakes need to be rethought to increase uptake, according to Mark Stevenson, Chief Executive of wagon leasing company AAE. Replacing cast iron brake blocks with low-noise LL blocks cuts noise by around a half, according to Stevenson, and quieter trains ...
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NewsCeneri base tunnel delay warning
SWITZERLAND: Opening of the 15·4 km Ceneri base tunnel could be delayed by two years to December 2021 as result of tendering disputes, AlpTransit Gotthard warned a supervisory committee of the Swiss parliament on August 28. The project promoter said that the effects that any such delay would have ...
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NewsSBB overspend funded
SWITZERLAND: SBB announced on June 30 that it had reached agreement with the Federal Office for Transport over the financing of projected overspends in its infrastructure maintenance budget during the five-year plan period 2013-17. Faced with increasing traffic volumes, SBB spent SF129m more than anticipated in 2013, and the ...
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NewsSBB orders Stadler EMUs
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways announced two firm orders for Stadler Rail to supply additional electric multiple-units on June 9. A SFr397m order covers 19 six-car double-deck EMUs to be delivered from late 2018. These will enable service frequencies to be increase on the Zürich S-Bahn network. The second order ...