News – Page 207
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NewsPrototype autonomous battery-powered wagon aims to help rail compete with trucks
USA: Technology company Intramotev is developing a prototype self-powered autonomous wagon, which it hopes can make rail freight more competitive over distances of up to 1 500 km.
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NewsILSA signs 30-year maintenance deal
SPAIN: High speed open access operator ILSA has agreed a 30-year train maintenance contract with Hitachi Rail. The full service deal worth €737m runs from 2022, when ILSA plans to commence operations on the Madrid – Barcelona route, until 2052. The company’s fleet of ETR1000 trainsets, ...
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NewsAkiem invests to drive down French locomotive maintenance costs
FRANCE: ‘We are constantly seeing that the French rolling stock maintenance market is far less dynamic and competitive than elsewhere in Europe’, said Akiem CEO Fabien Rochefort when the leasing company confirmed plans to build a €10m locomotive workshop at Ostricourt in Hauts-de-France. To be located ...
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NewsFerrovienord orders 50 more double-deck EMUs
ITALY: Lombardia regional operator Ferrovienord has signed a €451·9m firm order for Hitachi Rail to supply 40 five-car and 10 four-car Caravaggio double-deck regional electric multiple-units. Equipped for 3 kV DC operation, the 160 km/h EMUs are to be delivered from Hitachi Rail’s factories in Reggio ...
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NewsProvincial grant expands Canadian Pacific hydrogen locomotive project
CANADA: Canadian Pacific has been awarded a C$15m grant from Emissions Reduction Alberta to expand the scope of its hydrogen locomotive programme, the railway announced on November 1.
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In depthNew Zealand: Funding boost drives rail revitalisation
Climate change concerns and a desire to encourage modal shift have unlocked government funding for rail, enabling KiwiRail to address a legacy of under-investment and build a stronger future.
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Rail Business UKRail’s growth agenda evaporates as Treasury takes control
UK: Having spoken to a range of senior figures across the industry in recent weeks, almost all on condition of anonymity, Rail Business UK can confirm widespread concern that significant investment spending is coming to an end after three decades of growth in rail use, with potentially significant implications for the future of the network.
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NewsICE1 fleet to get traction converter upgrade
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn has awarded ABB a contract to supply Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor traction converters for the refurbishment of a further 76 ICE1 high speed train power cars. The IBGTs will replacing existing power electronics from the 1990s, extending the vehicles’ operating lives for at ...
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NewsRhomberg Sersa buys Balfour Beatty’s US track business
USA: Rhomberg Sersa Rail Group has acquired Balfour Beatty’s Track Solutions business and rebranded it as Rhomberg Sersa North America. The company provides inspection, ballast cleaning and subgrade management services and equipment to private and public customers including NJ Transit, MTA, BNSF and Amtrak. It operates ...
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NewsStadler delivers 200 km/h Kiss to Serbia
SERBIA: President Aleksandar Vučić has attended the handover of the first of three 200 km/h Stadler Kiss double-deck electric multiple-units to national passenger operator Srbija Voz. The Ministry of Construction, Transport & Infrastructure called tenders for the EMUs on February 9 ...
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NewsCross River Rail train contract tendered
AUSTRALIA: The Queensland government has called tenders for the supply of 65 electric multiple-units to expand Brisbane’s suburban fleet and operate the Cross River Rail link which is now under construction for opening in 2025. Bids are due by early 2022, with the winning bidder expected ...
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Rail Business UKIsle of Wight’s Island Line reopens following £26m modernisation
UK: The Isle of Wight’s Island Line reopened on November 1, following a £26m renewal programme including the introduction of a replacement fleet of electric multiple-units rebuilt from former London Underground trains. ‘We are so excited to welcome our customers back onboard having completed the ...
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NewsHigh speed train maintenance contract awarded
CHINA: China Railway Guangzhou Bureau Group has awarded the Bombardier Sifang (Qingdao) Transportation joint venture two contracts totalling 382m yuan to undertake the heavy maintenance of 592 high speed train cars. The contract covers A3 maintenance of key parts and components for 34 CRH1A and CRH1B ...
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NewsBrussels – Amsterdam – Berlin – Praha night train capacity allocated
EUROPE: European Sleeper has been awarded track access for its planned Brussels – Amsterdam – Berlin – Praha overnight train, the promoters confirmed on November 1. The Dutch night train start-up co-operative plans to announce a launch date and final timetable for the service ‘in the ...
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Metro Report InternationalGubernatorial visit marks progress on New York’s $11bn East Side Access programme
USA: Governor of New York State Kathy Hochul was among the first dignitaries to travel by rail into Long Island Rail Road’s deep-level platforms being built beneath New York’s Grand Central Terminal, arriving on a special train on October 31.
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NewsBiotrén fleet enters service
CHILE: The fleet of Chinese-built electric multiple-units to operate Fesur’s Biotrén and Corto Laja regional services was officially launched into revenue service by President Sebastián Piñera on October 26. The event in Concepción was also attended by Minister of Transport & Communications ...
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NewsMalaysian-built locomotives ready for delivery to Tanzania
TANZANIA: The first batch of H10 Series diesel locomotives developed by Malaysian company SMH Rail for the African freight market is now ready to be handed over to Tanzania Railways Corp, the company announced on November 1. ‘We are proud to handover the first batch of ...
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NewsCP and KCS file merger application with STB
NORTH AMERICA: Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern have formally filed a merger application with the US Surface Transportation Board, setting out their aim of establishing a single network linking the USA, Mexico and Canada before the end of 2022.
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In depthComment: Automated reality
Automation of main line trains is slowly becoming a commercial reality, having been long established in the urban rail sector. However, mass adoption of driverless technology on mixed traffic railways still seems a long way off, with interim technology such as C-DAS offering many benefits in the meantime.
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