Technology news – Page 75
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Metro Report InternationalIntegrating driverless road shuttles into public transport
INTERNATIONAL: Bestmile and Init announced on November 28 that they will work together to develop technologies to enable the incorporation of driverless road vehicles into public transport operations. Focusing on autonomous vehicles for first and last-mile services connecting to transport hubs, the companies aim to integrate their respective back-end ...
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Metro Report InternationalContactless payment arrives on Sydney Trains
AUSTRALIA: The open payment ticketing trial in Sydney was expanded on November 27 to include the Sydney Trains network and NSW Train Link services that accept Opal cards. Transport for New South Wales began a contactless ticketing trial on the Manly Ferry service in July 2017 using open payment ...
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NewsVan carriers boost wagon flexibility
EUROPE: Mercitalia’s international rail freight subsidiary TX Logistik is piloting the use of specialist load carriers to transport commercial vehicles on intermodal pocket wagons. Branded as ‘roadrailLink’, the load carrier has been developed by Salzburg-based Vega International Car-Transport & Logistic-Trading (Vegatrans), and manufactured by Kässbohrer Transport Technik. Fitted with adjustable ...
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Metro Report InternationalValley Metro launches incident reporting app
USA: Phoenix’s Valley Metro has launched AlertVM, a free safety and security app which passengers can use to discreetly report suspicious activity, vandalism, graffiti, disruptive behavior and maintenance issues to staff, or receive notifications about service delays. ‘We are committed to providing our riders with a safe and reliable light ...
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NewsRail communications platform migrated to Amazon cloud
EUROPE: Rail industry data exchange technology company Hit Rail, which is owned by 12 European railways and used by 50 companies across 21 countries, has completed the migration of its HEROS Infrastructure as a Service communications platform to the Amazon AWS cloud. The migration was supported by consultancy inQdo, which ...
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NewsBaden-Württemberg backs ETCS in Stuttgart
GERMANY: The Land of Baden-Württemberg agreed in principle on November 27 to support proposals for the roll-out of the European Train Control System and digital interlockings in the Stuttgart region by 2030. The Baden-Württemberg cabinet has authorised the Land transport ministry to enter into financing negotiations with the federal government, ...
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Metro Report InternationalCBTC goes live on New York’s 7-Flushing Subway line
USA: New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority confirmed on November 26 that CBTC had been activated along the length of the 7-Flushing Subway line. The 16 km Flushing Line runs from 34th Street/Hudson Yards in Manhattan to Main Street, Flushing via Queensboro Plaza, carrying both local and express services at peak ...
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NewsStadler rolls out Guardia with BLS as it expands into signalling
SWITZERLAND: Field tests and approval work is now underway ahead of the introduction of Stadler’s first onboard train protection unit with BLS. Stadler describes the development of the Guardia ETCS onboard unit as a ‘key milestone’ in its history. The Swiss company has previously focused on producing vehicles, but two ...
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Metro Report InternationalAutonomous bus trial planned for Edinburgh
UK: Passenger-carrying trials of full-sized autonomous buses is due to take place in Edinburgh from 2020. Government research funding body Innovate UK is contributing £4·4m towards the project, with additional funding coming from operator Stagecoach East Scotland, Transport Scotland, bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis, technology company Fusion Processing and mobility ...
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NewsHydrogen train operation planned
GERMANY: The Länder of Brandenburg and Berlin are planning the joint award of a contract for the development and operation of hydrogen fuel cell powered trains on the RB27 Heidekrautbahn route. The proposed contract would start in December 2022 and run for 15 years, a length selected to provide experience ...
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NewsWabtec offers hosted PTC back-office for ASLRRA members
USA: The American Short Line & Regional Railroad Association has entered into an agreement for Wabtec Railway Electronics to provide Positive Train Control to its member railways using a hosted multi-tenant back office system. This is designed to offer complete PTC back-office functionality within a package which is cost-effective for ...
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Metro Report InternationalMobile ITSO-compatible ticketing on test in Birmingham
UK: Transport for West Midlands is trialling mobile ticketing using the UK’s ITSO interoperable specification on the West Midlands Metro tram network. The pilot project is funded by the Midlands Connect regional partnership as part of its smart ticketing programme. It is initially available for up to 500 users, ...
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Rail Business UKSmarter approach to flood prevention on test
UK: A project has been launched which aims to combine real-time measurement of water levels, weather forecasting, historical data and smart analysis to prevent the flooding of railway lines. The TrackWater project is being undertaken by InTouch Ltd, Network Rail, Lancaster University and the Transport Systems Catapult, with funding from ...
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Metro Report InternationalDriverless shuttle trial in Rennes
FRANCE: A driverless shuttle trial started on the Beaulieu campus of Université de Rennes 1 on November 15 and will run until June. Two autonomous shuttles supplied by Navya are running on a 1·3 km route, which is shared with road vehicles and pedestrians. Services operate on weekdays and ...
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Metro Report InternationalAutonomous vehicle research centre to be set up in Singapore
SINGAPORE: Continental and EasyMile have signed a memorandum of understanding to form a research and development team based in Singapore to work on autonomous vehicles. The team’s work would focus on developing perception and deep learning technology, with the eventual aim of testing an autonomous vehicle in the city. ...
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Metro Report InternationalMobile ticketing is coming to Madrid
SPAIN: Bus operator EMT Madrid plans to launch a 12-month mobile ticketing pilot on its Airport Express bus route from the first quarter of 2019. The ticketing app will be based on Masabi’s Justride software platform and will use Mastercard payment technology. Santander will act as the acquiring bank ...
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NewsDigital freight train pioneers automated brake tests
FRANCE: In a presentation at the Alpine Rail Optimisation conference in Wien on November 8 Director of Wagon Management at SNCF Fret Nicolas Czernecki confirmed that the operator had become the first railway in Europe to implement automated brake testing on commercial freight trains. Under a pilot programme for ...
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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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Metro Report InternationalPowerful LED lights to illuminate Elizabeth Line stations
UK: Office lighting specialist Future Designs has designed and supplied three types of bespoke lighting units to illuminate the passenger areas of stations on the underground section of London’s future Elizabeth Line. The lighting concept for the station concourse, escalator and platform areas aims to emphasise the spatial envelope rather ...
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Metro Report InternationalAustralian automated transport inquiry begins
AUSTRALIA: The Infrastructure, Transport & Cities Committee of the House of Representatives has commenced an inquiry into automated mass transit. Submissions are open until December 7. The inquiry focuses on developments in automation and new energy sources such as electricity and hydrogen. ‘International experience of automated metro systems ...