Latest news – Page 1349
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News
SNCF poised for more orders
PLANS to order two major fleets of passenger rolling stock are being finalised by SNCF. One order will be up to 500 multi-purpose trainsets suitable for regional and suburban services. Denis Martin, Senior Manager at SNCF’s Rolling Stock Department, said on October 9 at the launch of Bombardier's dual-mode dual-voltage ...
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Wagon maker insolvent
GERMAN wagon manufacturer WBN Waggonbau Niesky GmbH declared insolvency on October 17, citing liquidity problems from the increased costs of wheelsets rather than a lack of work. Employing 250 people at a 170-year old rolling stock and engineering plant at Niesky in Sachsen, the business was bought from Bombardier on ...
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Train builder Stadler keeps growing
STADLER Rail Group Chief Executive and majority shareholder Peter Spuhler cut the first sod on the site of a new office building in Bussnang on September 17, marking the start of work on a new headquarters which will be completed by April next year. Larger offices are needed to accommodate ...
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Narrow gauge stock roll out
SLOVAKIAN manufacturer ZOS Vrútky has rolled out the first Class 4680 driving car and trailer for push-pull operation on Austrian Federal Railways' 760 mm gauge Pinzgaubahn between Zell am Zee and Krimml. Three driving cars and two trailers were ordered in 2005, while Zillertalbahn ordered three driving cars and ...
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Barcelona 'rail bridge' to take on airlines
SPANISH national operator Renfe has unveiled plans to create a 'rail bridge' with the completion of high speed infrastructure between Madrid and Barcelona, basing its commercial strategy on that employed by airline Iberia currently offering an intensive service between the two cities. From December 21 rail passengers will be able ...
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Unfinished reforms frustrate Central and Eastern Europe operators
GOVERNMENT representatives from EU member states in Central and Eastern Europe were thin on the ground at Terrapinn's CEE Rail 2007 conference in Budapest on October 15-18. This was a pity, as several speakers drew attention to the collective failure of CEE governments to put the finances of their national ...
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Graz tenders follow trams
GRAZ operator GVB placed a €97m order for 45 low-floor trams with Stadler last month. The five-section standard-gauge Variobahn cars will be delivered from 2009 to 2015. In October Transport Minister Kristina Edlinger-Ploder announced that the Land would fund up to 25% of the €140m cost of 19 trainsets ...
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Spanish rail spend increasing
INVESTMENT and support for the national rail network from the Spanish government will total €8·15bn in 2008, up 5% on 2007 and representing 41% of total spending on transport. Renfe is to receive €1035m, of which €545m will be operating subsidy for suburban passenger operations. Investment in ...
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World Speed Survey 2007 update
Sir - I was very interested to read your latest World Speed Survey (RG 9.07 p555), but I would like to make a small correction to the German entry. As you report, the fastest journey times are achieved on the Köln - Rhein/Main Neubaustrecke. However, the exact distance between Frankfurt ...
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EWS joins DB to create a European network
THE EUROPEAN Union's Directorate-General for Competition was this month expected to approve the purchase by Deutsche Bahn AG of all the shares in EWS Holdings, the UK's biggest rail freight operator. On September 19, EWS Chief Executive Keith Heller explained to a Rail Freight Group meeting in Oxford that his ...
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Signalling suppliers merge
ALSTOM and Balfour Beatty announced the official launch of a 50:50 joint venture to undertake signalling projects in the UK and Ireland on October 10. Signalling Solutions Ltd takes over contracts worth £76m from Alstom Transport Information Solutions and Balfour Beatty Rail Projects which have come together to form the ...
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Sidetrack
Following a formal inauguration ceremony on October 1, East Japan Railway opened its new railway museum in Saitama to the public on October 14, the 135th anniversary of the opening of the first railway in the country. Created to mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of JR East, it ...
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People in the news
Govia has named the senior executive team for London Midland, which is to operate the UK's new West Midlands franchise from November 11. Steve Banaghan is Managing Director; Andy Thomas, Operations Director; Julian Edwards, Finance Director; Alex Hynes, Commercial Director; John Barlass, Engineering Director; Mike Haigh, Business Integration Director; Rachel ...
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Grenoble jigsaw complete
MARKING the culmination of two decades of expansion, Grenoble inaugurated Line D of its light rail network on October 6. The 2·6 km line serving four new stations is effectively a branch of Line C, with trams running from the interchange with Line B at Les Taillées to a ...
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Valencia T6 in service
THE FIRST section of orbital light rail route T6 opened in the Spanish city of Valencia on September 27, comprising a 9·2 km route from Tossal del Rei to Marítim-Serrería. New construction includes a 2·4 km branch with four stations from Tossal del Rei to Primat Reig on Line T4, ...
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First passengers on Beijing Line 5
AN INTEGRAL part of the city's efforts to reduce traffic congestion ahead of the Olympic Games in 2008, Beijing Metro Line 5 opened for revenue service on October 7. The 27·6 km line runs from Taipingzhuang in the north to Songjiazhuang in the south, where an interchange is planned ...
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Delhi metro contract awards
DELHI Metro Rail Corp has awarded further contracts for the extension of the Indian capital's metro (RG 1.07 p27). Last month a consortium headed by Alpine announced a €139·3m contract to bore twin 2·2 km tunnels for the 3·7km first phase of the planned 19km link to Indira ...
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NewsQR to expand coal haulage
MAJOR INVESTMENT in Queensland's 1067 mm gauge coal network has been authorised by the state government. QR announced on October 11 that it will spend A$650m on 40 locomotives and 1190 wagons that will be delivered by 2010. QR's Acting CEO Stephen Cantwell said that this first stage of ...