Traction & rolling stock news – Page 211
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NewsVTG acquires AAE to expand wagon leasing fleet
EUROPE: German wagon leasing and logistics company VTG AG announced on September 29 that it had agreed terms to acquire Swiss leasing company Ahaus Alstätter Eisenbahn Holding AG, in order to strengthen its position as the ‘largest private wagon hire company in Europe’. Subject to approval by the competition authorities, ...
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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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NewsWorld rolling stock market September 2014
Australia: The Perth train maintenance contract held by the EDI Rail Bombardier JV has been modified to include 22 additional three-car B Series EMUs to be delivered from 2016. The variation is worth A$40m over 5½ years, with an option for 7½ more years. Austria: ÖBB has awarded Siemens ...
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NewsVossloh hands over 100th G6 locomotive
INNOTRANS: Handing over its 100th Type G6 shunting locomotive, Vossloh’s CEO Hans Schabert announced that the company expects to be able to deliver locomotives within six months from next year. To this end, he announced that Vossloh is building a new locomotive factory at Kiel-Suchsdorf, which will enable the ...
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NewsMitsubishi wins first order from DB
GERMANY: On September 25 Mitsubishi Electric Corp of Japan announced its first order from DB, covering the supply of IGBT power modules to replace GTO modules in the drives of 46 ICE2 high speed trainsets. Deliveries will follow the approval of the first two upgraded trainsets, with sales of €22m ...
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NewsSuburban Talgo train design proposal
INNOTRANS: Patentes Talgo has unveiled a proposal for suburban and regional trainsets based on the Talgo concept of short, lightweight cars with independent wheels. The proposed train has a Bo’2’2’2’Bo wheel arrangement and would be suitable for 1 435, 1 520 or 1 668 mm gauges. A formation just ...
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NewsSeeing Machines to be tested on EMD locomotives
INNOTRANS: Seeing Machines announced an agreement for its driver fatigue and distraction monitoring technology to be tested on Electro-Motive Diesel locomotives on September 24. This is designed to intervene in the event of a driver experiencing ‘microsleep’ or being distracted. The technology is used on large mining vehicles supplied ...
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NewsRENFE to order 30 high speed trainsets
SPAIN: Development Minister Ana Pastor announced at the opening of InnoTrans on September 23 that national operator RENFE would order 30 more high speed trains over the next four years. Orders for a further 10 gauge-convertible trainsets would also be placed, she said. Pastor assured the Spanish railway supply industry ...
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NewsDB announces Pesa Link firm order
GERMANY: Unveiling the prototype Pesa Link diesel multiple-unit ordered under a framework agreement for 470 trainsets signed at the previous InnoTrans, on September 24 DB Board Member for Rail Technology Dr-Ing Heike Hanagarth announced an order for a further 26 trains. The deal was inked at a colourful ceremony by ...
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NewsFerromex and Ferrosur order EMD SD70ACe
MEXICO: Electro-Motive Diesel of the USA is to supply 19 SD70ACe locomotives to freight operator Ferromex and 15 of the same type to its sister company Ferrosur, EMD’s parent Progress Rail Services announced on September 24. The locomotives are due to enter service by June 2015 under contracts which both ...
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NewsHelsinki exercises second Flirt option
FINLAND: Helsinki train procurement body Junakalusto exercised an option for 34 Stadler Flirt electric multiple-units on September 24. This is the second option on the order for 32 trainsets placed in 2006, and is worth €200m. Deliveries are due between the start of 2016 and spring 2017, with the ...
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NewsFuel cells to power regional trainsets
GERMANY: Alstom Transport hopes to have 40 fuel cell-powered regional trains in commercial service on regional lines in Germany by 2020 under an accord signed at the InnoTrans trade show in Berlin on September 24. Under the letters of intent signed between Alstom, the Länder of Niedersachsen, ...
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NewsPermanent magnet motors
CHINA: CSR has developed permanent magnet traction motors for two applications. The TQ-600 synchronous motor has been used on a build of trains for the Shanghai – Kunming high speed line. Rated at 600 kW at a speed of 4 200 rev/min, the motor has a high power density of ...
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NewsMetrans takes delivery of Traxx locomotives
EUROPE: The Metrans rail freight subsidiary of the Hamburger Hafen & Logistik port and logistics group is taking delivery of 20 Bombardier Traxx F140 MS multi-system electric locomotives. These will primarily be used to haul freight from Hamburg and Bremerhaven to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, and also ...
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NewsRift Valley Railways commissions GE locomotives
KENYA: Rift Valley Railways held a ceremony on September 18 to mark the commissioning of the first three of 20 second-hand GE B23-7 locomotives which have been acquired from the USA at a cost of US$25m and converted from standard to metre gauge. The Kenya – Uganda railway concessionaire ...
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NewsHitachi Class 800 trainsets begin testing in Japan
UK: The first of three pre-series Class 800 intercity trainsets ordered under the Department for Transport’s Intercity Express Programme has begun low-speed running trials on the test track at Hitachi’s Kasado factory in Japan. The first of the three bi-mode sets is expected to arrive in Britain early next ...
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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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NewsSiemens to build Florida inter-city trains
USA: Private passenger promoter All Aboard Florida has selected Siemens to supply trainsets for its proposed Miami – Orlando inter-city service using the Florida East Coast Railway, the two companies announced on September 11. Siemens is to supply 200 km/h Charger diesel locomotives and ‘modern single-level inter-city passenger cars’. These ...
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NewsTrenitalia DMU on test
ITALY: Trenitalia has begun testing the first of 40 ATR220 Atribo diesel multiple-units which the national passenger operator ordered from Pesa in December 2013 at cost of €139·6m. Commissioning is scheduled for completion by the end of the year, with the 130 km/h air-conditioned DMUs to be deployed on services ...
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NewsNedTrain opens Utrecht technical centre
NETHERLANDS: The NedTrain rolling stock maintenance subsidiary of national passenger operator NS officially opened the first of four ‘technical centres’ on September 8. Located close to Utrecht Centraal station, the technical centre will undertake rolling stock repairs including pantograph, couplers and window replacement. The main building was designed and built ...