News – Page 132
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NewsAutonomous shunting loco copes with the unexpected
NETHERLANDS: Alstom, infrastructure manager ProRail and Belgian freight operator Lineas have completed testing of an automated shunting locomotive near Breda. The Lineas diesel-hydraulic locomotive was fitted with Alstom’s automatic train operation system supporting Grade of Automation 4 unattended starting, movement and stopping. ...
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NewsSète – Paris rail motorway launched
FRANCE: A rolling motorway service has been launched to carry unaccompanied lorry trailers between the Mediterranean port of Sète near Montpellier and Valenton to the southeast of Paris. The service has been developed by the government with the aim of reducing road traffic, and is targeted ...
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In depthComment: Transport back on the climate agenda
The recent COP27 climate summit in Egypt received a broadly underwhelming response, but for the rail and public transport sectors at least, there were signs of hope that the mobility transition is edging back on to the global climate agenda after being largely absent at COP26 in Glasgow last year.
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NewsDiesel-battery multiple-units enter service in Napoli
ITALY: The first two diesel-battery multiple-units that Stadler has supplied for Campania regional operator EAV entered service on the Napoli – Piedimonte Matese line on November 24. EAV ordered five Stadler diesel-battery multiple-units in May 2019 at a cost of €35m plus ...
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NewsRail Data Marketplace to simplify access to information
UK: The Rail Delivery Group has awarded Tata Consultancy Services a contract to develop and operate a Rail Data Marketplace bringing fragmented information into one place to make it easier to create apps and digital services. The RDM will provide technology companies with a framework to ...
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NewsCalifornia high speed rail programme management contract awarded
USA: California High-Speed Rail Authority has selected an AECOM-Fluor joint venture to provide programme management support for its planned Los Angeles – San Francisco corridor, where construction of the initial 270 km section between Merced and Bakersfield is already underway in California’s Central Valley. The Program ...
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NewsIarnród Éireann battery-electric train order approved
IRELAND: National railway Iarnród Éireann has been given the go-ahead to place a firm order for a further 18 five-car Alstom battery-electric multiple-units as part of the DART+ programme to expand Dublin commuter services. The order was approved by the cabinet on November 29 and is ...
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NewsCRRC delivers coaches to Pakistan
PAKISTAN: CRRC Tangshan has delivered a batch of 46 broad-gauge long-distance coaches for Pakistan Railways. CRRC Tangshan was awarded a Rs31bn contract in November 2021 to supply 230 long-distance coaches and spare parts to Pakistan Railways. Arriving in Karachi by ship on ...
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Rail Business UKHolistic design concepts rethink train interiors for sustainability
UK: PriestmanGoode has unveiled Green Carriage, a collection of train interior design concepts developed to ’push boundaries for greener systems and processes across the entire interior, rethinking what a future interior can be’. The transport design consultancy’s ‘reductive, modular and circular’ approach takes a holistic view ...
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NewsInclusive Trains aims to improve employability of people with learning disabilities
SPAIN: An Inclusive Trains initiative to improve the employability of people with learning disabilities is being launched by specialist training body Fundación Juan XXIII with backing from the Alstom Foundation. A course starting in January will provide training to help people into jobs such as providing ...
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NewsFunding to address the impact of climate change on rail
CANADA: Transport Canada has issued the first call for proposals under the Climate Change & Adaptation to Extreme Weather Infrastructure initiative. Funding of up to C$10·5m is available in the next year to increase rail’s resilience to extreme weather events, repair damage resulting from such events ...
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NewsCommuter trains to combine Finnish design with Swiss engineering
FINLAND: National operator VR has awarded Stadler a €250m contract to supply 20 electric multiple-units for entry into service on commuter routes from spring 2026, with options for 50 more and full maintenance. VR’s three priorities when tendering the contract were energy efficiency, a proven track ...
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NewsDB Netz and DB Station&Service become InfraGO
GERMANY: The federal government is planning to complete the merger of DB Netz AG and DB Station&Service AG by January 1 2024, when the merged business will become known as InfraGO. More details of the government’s plans for restructuring the two Deutsche Bahn businesses emerged on ...
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NewsNovel interior layout in next-generation Paris RER fleet
FRANCE: Paris regional transport authority Ile-de-France-Mobilités and Alstom unveiled the first RER NG EMU at Valenciennes Petite-Forêt on November 22.
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NewsStadler relocates Flirt production from Belarus to Poland
POLAND: Stadler Rail has switched the production of Flirt multiple-units being built for Azerbaijan Railways from its Fanipol plant in Belarus to Siedlce in Poland. National railway ADY ordered four Flirt DMUs and six EMUs in November 2019. These were due to be assembled at the ...
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NewsFCAB orders hydrogen locomotive
CHILE: The Ferrocarril de Antofagasta transport subsidiary of mining company Antofagasta has ordered a hydrogen fuelled locomotive from CRRC Qishuyan and AHTECH. The metre-gauge locomotive is expected to enter service in the second half of 2024. It will be powered using green hydrogen. FCAB said it ...
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NewsChinese panoramic rack train rolled out
CHINA: CRRC Ziyang has unveiled a rack trainset for a 129 km metre-gauge railway being built to link Dujiangyan with a panda reserve and the Mount Siguniang scenic tourist area in Sichuan province. The four-car 1·5 kV DC electric multiple-unit which was rolled out on November ...
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NewsExport boost expected from Mongolia – China railway opening
MONGOLIA: Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene has officially opened the 226·9 km railway from Zuunbayan to Khangi on the Chinese border, saying it will form ‘Mongolia’s new gateway for transporting mining export products competitively to the global marketplace’. The 1 520 mm gauge line interchanges with a ...
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NewsTransnet Freight Rail looks at alternative traction energy options
SOUTH AFRICA: Transnet Freight Rail is seeking industry feedback on how affordable renewable electricity could be integrated into its traction power supplies to improve energy security and efficiency and reduce the railway’s environmental impact Any changes would need to take into account the scale of the ...