Traction & rolling stock news – Page 2
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Metro Report InternationalIași tram contract signed
ROMANIA: The city of Iași has signed a 168m lei contract for Turkish company Bozankaya to supply 18 low-floor trams, co-financed by the National Recovery & Resilience Plan. They 22 m long unidirectional trams will have a capacity of 164 passengers including 45 seated. The first ...
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NewsCN to test diesel-battery hybrid main line locomotive
CANADA: CN has purchased a hybrid diesel-battery main line locomotive from Progress Rail, which it intends to use to assess the opportunity for retrofitting a portion of its fleet. The ‘plug-in’ hybrid mainline locomotive, which CN describes as ‘a first of its kind in North America’, ...
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NewsLogistics company orders locos to enter Uruguayan rail market
URUGUAY: Logistics company Grupo RAS has ordered three Wabtec C23EMP diesel locomotives to support its plans to enter the Uruguayan railway market. Wabtec will manufacture the locomotives at its Contagem plant in Brazil for delivery by late 2025. The C23EMP is designed for low axleload operations, ...
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NewsBulgarian operator buys DB coaches
BULGARIA: National passenger operator BDZ-Putnicheski Prevozi has bought 76 second-hand coaches from Germany’s Deutsche Bahn for use on services from Sofia to Varna, Burgas and Ruse. The €15·7m contract signed on March 29 covers 60 second class open saloon coaches, six second class cars for passengers ...
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NewsFirst C-Series EMU enters service in Perth
AUSTRALIA: The first Alstom C-Series electric multiple-unit has entered service on the Perth suburban network’s Joondalup and Mandurah lines. More than 10 000 people entered a competition to win around 150 tickets for the inaugural ride on April 7, ahead of start of regular operation the following day.
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NewsFirst Mireo Plus B battery-electric multiple-units enter service
GERMANY: An initial four Siemens Mobility Mireo Plus B battery-electric multiple-units entered passenger service on Netz 8 Ortenau routes in Baden-Württemberg on April 8. ‘We are writing a new chapter in railway history’, said the Land‘s transport minister Winfried Hermann. ’Trains operating in the Ortenau region ...
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Metro Report InternationalBucurești tram contract finally awarded
ROMANIA: Electroputere VFU Pașcani is to supply 40 low-floor trams to București, after national arbitration body CNSC ordered the disputed contract to be awarded. The contract worth an estimated 300m lei was originally to have been awarded in 2020, but the budget was insufficient and concerns ...
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NewsNext-generation Multi-Purpose Vehicle on test
SWEDEN: Railcare is testing its second-generation Multi-Purpose Vehicle, which has been developed with ABB and can both operate and charge its batteries via overhead electrification. ‘Combining electric power with the possibility of switching to battery power is an advantage on sites where there is no overhead ...
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Rail Business UKFreightliner to explore synthetic locomotive fuel
UK: Freightliner and synthetic fuel developer Zero Petroleum have announced a partnership which aims to achieve fossil-free locomotive operation by 2040 and overall net zero by 2050. They are also looking at non-road mobile machinery and other vehicles. Zero has developed proprietary Fischer-Tropsch process technology to ...
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In depthComment: Multilateral initiatives still matter
Globalisation is facing a challenge in the railway industry as countries prioritise domestic production of trains. Nick Kingsley explores the drawbacks of this approach and the continued importance of international co-operation.
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NewsLineas seeks FAME with biofuel locomotive
BELGIUM: Lineas has unveiled a FAME locomotive, powered by fatty acid methyl ester biofuel produced from non-food raw materials such as used cooking oil. Lineas said this offers a readily available alternative to diesel, and has been used in marine engines but not yet in locomotives. ...
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NewsLocos ordered for Poland – France corridor
EUROPE: Polish company CLIP Intermodal has awarded Alstom a contract to supply 13 third-generation Traxx multi-system electric locomotives approved for use in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria and Poland. Sławomir Cyza, Managing Director of Alstom in Poland, Ukraine & the Baltic States, said the order announced ...
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Rail Business UKCrossCountry gets more Voyagers as refurbishment plan agreed
UK: CrossCountry has selected Alstom as preferred bidder to refurbish its fleet of Voyager DMUs over a broadly two-year period as part of an investment package aimed at increasing capacity on its network by up to 25%. The national long-distance operator also announced on March 25 ...
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Metro Report InternationalSacramento orders more low-floor LRVs
USA: Sacramento Regional Transit District has ordered a further nine S700 low-floor light rail vehicles from Siemens Mobility, as part of a fleet renewal and capacity enhancement programme.
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Metro Report InternationalCastor tram on test
RUSSIA: A Type 71-639 Castor tram developed by UKVZ has started dynamic testing in Chelyabinsk. At 25·75 m long and 2 500 mm wide, the Castor is the shortest three-section tram currently available for the Russian market. The six-axle 1 524 mm gauge vehicle has a ...
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Metro Report InternationalDolderbahn rack railcar unveiled
SWITZERLAND: Stadler has delivered the first of two railcars which it is supplying to re-equip the Dolderbahn rack railway in Zürich.
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Rail Business UKZephir shunters to replace Class 08 locos at steel works
UK: Leasing company Porterbrook has bought three Zephir LOK 16.300 depot shunters which will be leased to GB Railfreight for use at the Celsa Steel works in Cardiff. The LOK 16.300 is intended as a more sustainable option than the Class 08 diesel shunting locomotives currently ...
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NewsStadler to supply inter-city EMUs to GySEV
HUNGARY: Hungarian-Austrian cross-border operator GySEV has signed a contract for Stadler to supply nine inter-city electric multiple-units with an option for four more. The EMUs are intended for use on the Sopron – Győr – Budapest and Szombathely – Győr routes and would also be certified ...
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NewsSBB tests automated shunting without possessions
SWITZERLAND: SBB and Alstom have carried out a series of trials using a remotely controlled shunting locomotive on tracks that remained open for normal operations. As part of the research trials, 24 locomotive drivers operated a shunter in the marshalling yard at Zürich-Mülligen from a control ...
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Metro Report InternationalIzmit plans first metro line as tram network grows
TURKEY: Plans to build a 26·8 km metro line in Kocaeli were announced by Turkey’s Minister of Transport & Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu on March 20, ahead of local elections scheduled for March 31. Speaking at the inauguration of a 3·1 km tram line in Izmit, the ...