Technology news – Page 104
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NewsTesmec preferred bidder to supply maintenance vehicles to RFI
ITALY: Bergamo-based Tesmec expects the formal award before the end of the year of a contract to supply up to 88 multi-functional maintenance vehicles to infrastructure manager RFI.With a nominal value of €92m, the contract for which Tesmec has been named preferred bidder is divided into three lots; two cover ...
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NewsHigh tech paint booth for Hitachi plant
UK: The 31 m by 9 m paint spray booth oven built to accommodate rail vehicles at Hitachi Rail’s Newton Aycliffe rolling stock plant has been designed by Junair Spraybooths to optimise running costs while complying with safety requirements. The iSystem touch control is pre-programmed with bake cycles and ...
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NewsDB launches digital passenger information competition
GERMANY: The DB Information business unit of Deutsche Bahn has launched a second competition for web developers, designers and start-ups to develop novel apps, software or digital tools to enhance the provision of information at major stations across Germany. Part of the wider 'Infrastructure 4.0' initiative to increase the role ...
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NewsCummins QSK95 achieves Tier 4 certification
USA: Cummins received Tier 4 certification for its QSK95 diesel engine from the Environmental Protection Agency on March 31, ‘making it the first single prime power engine’ certified by EPA as meeting the Tier 4 emissions standards for use on locomotives. According to Cummins, the 3 281 kW QSK95 has ...
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NewsSiemens and Huawei successfully test CBTC over LTE
SIGNALLING: Huawei announced on March 29 that it had completed interoperability testing of communication-based train control over LTE with Siemens France, and an on-site dynamic test would take place in April. The laboratory tests saw CBTC, passenger information and CCTV streams carried over an LTE network. Huawei and Siemens ...
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NewsIdeagen to replace UK rail safety reporting system
UK: Railway safety and standards authority RSSB has awarded Ideagen a £4·9m contract to replace the industry-wide safety reporting system using its Gael Enlighten cloud-based application. The new SMIS+ safety management information system will replace RSSB’s current database, which dates from 2002 and acts as a central reporting facility for ...
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NewsVirtual ticket office on test in Essen
GERMANY: A ‘virtual walk-up ticket office’ which combines a self-service ticket machine with a video link to a call centre is being tested at Essen Hauptbahnhof by city transport operator EVAG and Cubic Transportation Systems. NextAgent offers the functionality of a staffed ticket office, according to Cubic. The video ...
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NewsWhale way to keep drains clear
UK: Infrastructure manager Network Rail has taken delivery of eight bespoke road-vehicles designed for drainage cleaning by specialist tank lorry supplier Whale Tankers and Hilton Rail Consulting. The vehicles will be deployed to clear leaves and other materials from trackside catch pits which are used to ensure large volumes of ...
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NewsKnorr-Bremse wins sugar cane wagon brake systems contract
BRAZIL: Freight operator RUMO ALL has awarded Knorr-Bremse a contract to modernise the braking equipment on 8 500 sugar cane wagons, and take exclusive responsibility for maintaining the brakes over the next 15 years. The agreement announced on March 17 covers DB60-II control valves, slack adjusters and other components complying ...
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NewsTrain maintenance robot funding
UK: Funding has been allocated for academic studies into the feasibility of using robots and autonomous systems to undertake ‘dangerous, difficult, dirty and dull’ rolling stock maintenance tasks. Industry safety organisation RSSB has selected four projects to share £250 000 under the Application of Robotics & Autonomous Systems to ...
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NewsPolish GSM-R certified for Level 2 operation
POLAND: Rail regulator UTK issued the first certification on March 3 for the use of GSM-R data radio to support ERTMS train operations on the Polish network. The use of ETCS Level 2 had been certified on March 19 2014, but formal approval of the GSM-R data communications was needed ...
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NewsSoftware for Izy low-cost high speed train launch
SALES: Dutch company Sqills has supplied Thalys with the sales and distribution software for the Izy low cost service which it plans to launch in April. The S3 Passenger platform includes revenue management, pricing and booking engines, seat reservations, inventory management, a customer relationship management front-end and station and ...
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NewsBiarri Group launches dedicated rail business
AUSTRALIA: Software and analytical tool developer Biarri Group has launched a dedicated business serving the railway industry. Biarri has supplied asset, maintenance and resource planning and operations software to companies including Kansas City Southern, Aurizon, Pacific National, ARTC and Rio Tinto, and has worked with GE Transportation and Oliver ...
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NewsRobots on test at Paris stations
FRANCE: A robot luggage trolley and two types of cleaning machine are being tested in Paris by SNCF’s station management business Gares & Connexions. The motorised luggage carrier has sensors which enable it to automatically follow the route taken by staff who are assisting less-mobile passengers at Paris Est. ...
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NewsNetwork Rail to pilot Digital Railway in East Anglia
UK: Network Rail is finalising the site for a pilot deployment of technology integration under its Digital Railway programme, with the route from Norwich to Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth in East Anglia understood to be under consideration. The project aims to integrate ERTMS, train operations management systems and real-time ...
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NewsThree aims for Network Rail’s Digital Railway
UK: More trains, better connections and greater reliability are the three aims of Network Rail’s Digital Railway strategy to apply technology to make the most effective use of existing infrastructure, Digital Transformation Director Patrick Bossert told TechUK’s Digital Railway for the UK conference in London on February 11. NR’s ...
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NewsSignalling TSI revised
EUROPE: Meeting on February 10, the European Union’s Railway Interoperability & Safety Committee – bringing together representatives of the member states – voted unanimously in favour of the proposed recast of the Control Command & Signalling TSI. Being enacted as a Commission Regulation, the Change Control Management Regulation enacts a ...
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NewsArticulated open wagon unveiled
RUSSIA: Two prototype high capacity wagons have been unveiled by United Wagon Co, which said its latest designs have ‘no analogues’ in Russia or the CIS. Certification of the two 1520 mm gauge designs is expected in the third quarter of 2016. The Type 12-6877 articulated twin-unit wagon increases ...
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NewsBozankaya and Bombardier sign high speed train production agreement
TURKEY: Bombardier Transportation and local supplier Bozankaya signed a memorandum of understanding in Ankara on February 9 to co-operate in high speed train production.The framework agreement envisages construction of a factory should the two companies win orders for high speed rolling stock from national operator TCDD, which is expected to ...
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NewsKnorr-Bremse buys TMD Friction’s rail activities
EUROPE: Knorr-Bremse Group has acquired the railway brake pad development and manufacturing activities of Nisshinbo Holdings subsidiary TMD Friction. TMD Friction’s entire rail sector portfolio and its site at Manchester in the UK are being transferred to Knorr-Bremse. The facility at Coswig in Germany is being retained by TMD Friction ...