Latest news – Page 1242
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NewsDB Regio wins Swedish contract
SWEDEN: Östgötland transport authority ÖstgötaTrafiken has selected DB Regio Sverige to operate local services for 10 years from December 12 2010, with an option for a four-year extension. Five new Coradia Lirex X61 EMUs are due to enter service with the 2010 timetable change, permitting the operation of a ...
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NewsNews in Brief
Following a review of 46 lightly-used routes Hungary's Transport Minister Péter Hónig has announced the withdrawal of passenger services from 33 lines totalling 1000 km from the December timetable change. The move is expect to save HF7bn. The lines will be retained for freight. ADIF and RFF have formed ...
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NewsRail freight fuel efficiency up 22% since 1990
USA: The Federal Railroad Administration released a study on November 19 showing a 22% improvement in rail freight fuel efficiency between 1990 and 2006. The Comparative Evaluation of Rail & Truck Fuel Efficiency on Competitive Corridors study by ICF International says reasons for increased efficiency include the acquisition of ...
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NewsSiemens to supply Caracas Cabeltren electronics
VENEZUELA: Siemens Industry Solutions has won an order to supply Doppelmayr Cable Car with drive, power and control equipment for the 2·3 km Cabletren Bolivariano cable-hauled shuttle being built to link two Caracas metro stations. Due to open at the end of 2011, the automated peoplemover will link Petare ...
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NewsBombardier preferred for double-deck EMU deal
FRANCE: SNCF confirmed on November 18 that it had selected Bombardier Transportation as preferred bidder for the supply of up to 860 high-capacity double-deck electric multiple-units for regional services. Negotiations are underway with a view to the contract being signed in February 2010. Designated Porteurs a Haute Densité, the ...
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NewsGE and CSR announce engine joint venture
CHINA: A joint venture to build and maintain Evolution Series locomotive engines was announced by GE Transportation and CSR Qishuyan Locomotive on November 17, the day after the US firm announced a deal to supply its Chinese partner with parts for a further 300 HXN5 China Mainline Locomotives. The ...
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NewsFirst Class 380 car on test
UK: Siemens Mobility's Krefeld-Uerdingen plant in Germany has begun testing the first vehicle from the fleet of 22 three-car and 16 four-car Desiro electric multiple-units being built for ScotRail. Developed from the Desiro UK family, Class 380 has lightweight aluminium bodyshells with a bolt-on steel structure at the front ...
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NewsFinnish Flirt enters service
FINLAND: The first of 32 Stadler Flirt electric multiple-units ordered for commuter services in Helsinki and southern Finland went into regular traffic on November 18. The previous week two units had been formally handed over to national railway VR after a year-long test phase. The second is currently being ...
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NewsGulf Railway could start next year
MIDDLE EAST: The Gulf Co-operation Council remains optimistic that a 1940 route-km regional network could be operational by 2017. Despite concerns that the ambitious railway network linking the six states in the Gulf Co-operation Council could be delayed by the global economic downturn, officials are insistent that ...
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NewsCasablanca chooses Citadis trams
MOROCCO: Casablanca tramway development company Casa Transports has selected Alstom Citadis trams for the 29 km Y-shaped network which is due to open in December 2012. The agreement announced on November 17 is worth €120m and covers the supply of 74 trams and 15 years of maintenance. Options for ...
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NewsMinneapolis commuter rail and LRT extension open
USA: Northstar commuter rail services between Big Lake and Target Field in downtown Minneapolis were launched on November 14, with celebrations at the six stations. Free rides were offered, with most of the tickets distributed by lottery. Revenue operations on the 64 km route began on November 16, with ...
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NewsAl Sufouh tram styling suits Dubai scene
UAE: Design is a key element of many projects in Dubai, not least the Al Sufouh tramway for which a mock-up car has been unveiled. The diamond-shaped front ends of the 11 Alstom Citadis 402 trams for Phase I will be dark in colour, providing a contrast to the ...
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NewsCrowds flock to ride extended Gold Line
USA: An estimated 75 000 people got free rides on November 15 during the opening celebration for a 9·7 km extension of the Gold Line from Union Station to East Los Angeles. The public launch followed a formal opening ceremony for the East Side extension on the previous day. No ...
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NewsPuy-de-Dôme rack railway trains ordered
FRANCE: Stadler Rail has announced a SFr25m order to supply four articulated electric multiple-units for the 5·3 km rack railway which SNC-Lavalin is building on the Puy-de-Dôme in the Massif Central. The vehicles will be based on units which the Swiss train builder has supplied for FGC’s ...
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NewsInvestigations continue at the critical interface
INTERNATIONAL: ‘We cannot ignore the management of the interface’, insisted Semih Kalay of TTCI. Addressing delegates at the Contact Mechanics 2009 conference in Firenze, he pointed out that a better understanding of the complex forces at play in the contact patch between wheel and rail translated directly into maintenance and ...
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NewsContracts November 2009
Germany: Siemens Mobility is to install its MSR32 control system to cover 88 tracks at DB Netz’s Maschen hump yard near Hamb urg by mid-2013. Norway: Thales has selected BelAir Networks to provide wi-fi infrastructure for the Bergen tram line which opens next year. Poland: A consortium led ...
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NewsDelhi Metro reaches Noida
INDIA: The 13·1 km 10-station branch of Delhi Metro Line 3 from Yamuna Bank to Noida City Centre was inaugurated on November 12, and entered commercial service at 06.00 the following day. Two ceremonies were held to mark the occasion, which extends the metro beyond Delhi’s borders for the first ...
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NewsBombardier hands over first ALP-46A
USA: The first of 36 type ALP-46A electric locomotives being built for New Jersey Transit was ceremonially handed over at Bombardier Transportation's Kassel plant in Germany on November 12. The ALP-46A locomotives were ordered at cost of US$317m as a follow-on from 29 ALP-46 locomotives which have been in ...
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NewsHuge train orders in China
CHINA: The Ministry of Railways has placed three orders for a total of 280 high speed trainsets and 400 freight locomotives. Knorr-Bremse is to supply subsystems worth €500m for one of the high speed contracts in the company's largest ever order. China Northern signed a 40·8bn yuan contract on ...
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NewsSouth Gobi coal line construction contract
MONGOLIA: Energy Resources LLC has awarded Leighton Asia a US$338m contract to design, build and maintain for four years a 225 km coal railway in the South Gobi region. The line will carry coking coal from Ukhaa Khudag, where Leighton Asia has a six -year mining contract, to the ...