News – Page 253
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NewsFrench ERTMS installation financing
FRANCE: Infrastructure manager SNCF Réseau has secured more than €31m in grants from the European Commission’s Innovation & Networks Executive Agency and a similar sum in debt financing from Caisse des Dépôts to finance the installation of ERTMS equipment on 252 passenger vehicles and freight locomotives. ...
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NewsFrench night train network renaissance
FRANCE: Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djébbari has said his ambition is ‘to have about 10 overnight train services in 2030’. Speaking to Le Parisien after visiting the technicentre at Périgueux with SNCF President Jean-Pierre Farandou to see the first of 60 couchette coaches that are being refurbished, ...
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NewsAutomation of rural branch line trains to be studied
GERMANY: A study into the potential automation of rural passenger train services has been awarded funding, with a branch line in Oberfranken selected for testing.
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NewsSri Lanka plans local production of rolling stock
SRI LANKA: The cabinet has approved the Ministry of Transport’s proposal to seek an investor to solve its shortage of coaches by manufacturing them locally. Involving the private sector in the production of an initial 100 coaches is seen as a solution to meeting a short-term ...
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NewsSportswear from Japan to the UK by rail and sea
INTERNATIONAL: Operator Russian Railways and shipper Maersk have operated a first container train carrying Japanese goods bound for the UK along the Trans-Siberian route between Vostochny and St Petersburg. The train carried 40 40 ft containers of sportswear and equipment which had been transported by sea ...
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NewsThree step plan to improve Australian rail services
AUSTRALIA: The Australian Railway Association has published a report commissioned from Arup which sets out a three-step plan to provide faster, more reliable and more frequent rail services through upgrades to the existing network and the creation of dedicated fast lines. The ...
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NewsSteepest rack railway launches modernisation programme
SWITZERLAND: The world’s steepest rack railway is to introduce new rolling stock and modernise its stations to enable an increase in services. Pilatus Bahnen has ordered eight passenger railcars and a freight vehicle for its 800 mm gauge line, which uses the Locher rack system to ...
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Rail Business UKHigh speed line contractor to deploy social distancing helmets
UK: High Speed 2 central area civil works contractor EKFB has awarded PLINX a contract to supply 1 500 helmet-mounted devices designed to help maintain social distancing at work sites during the coronavirus pandemic. The devices use wireless technology to monitor how close workers are to ...
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NewsRailpool to acquire maintenance company Ajax Loktechnik
GERMANY: Leasing company Railpool is to take over Hamburg-based locomotive maintenance company Ajax Loktechnik with effect from March 1. Railpool said Ajax Loktechnik would bring expertise in flexible mobile servicing and heavy maintenance, as well as a second workshop in the important freight hub of Hamburg. ...
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Rail Business UKEgis makes acquisition in ‘strategic and developing’ UK rail sector
UK: French engineering group Egis says it has realised its ambition of becoming a key player in the UK rail and infrastructure market, following the acquisition of a majority shareholding in CPMS TOPCO and its operational arm Collaborative Project Management Services Ltd. Egis has been involved ...
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NewsSerbia calls tenders for 200 km/h EMUs
SERBIA: The Ministry of Construction, Transport & Infrastructure has called tenders for the supply of three 200 km/h electric trainsets for use on the Beograd - Novi Sad - Subotica route. The trainsets are required to be around 100 m long with a minimum of 300 ...
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NewsEuroDual electro-diesel locos delivered
GERMANY: The Retrack freight operating subsidiary of VTG Rail Logistics has taken delivery of two Stadler EuroDual electro-diesel locomotives, ordered under a long-term leasing contract for up to four locomotives which it signed with European Loc Pool last year. The EuroDual locos are rated at 2·8 ...
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Rail Business UKPassenger Experience and Economics, Policy & Operations rail research centres planned
UK: The UK Rail Research & Innovation Network has called on academic institutions to express interest in establishing two centres of excellence. The Inclusive Passenger Experience centre would focus on topics such as inclusive design, digital connectivity, future passenger preferences, and demand and performance metrics. The ...
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NewsVR FleetCare selects software for growth in a competitive market
FINLAND: The national railway group’s rolling stock maintenance company VR FleetCare is to standardise on the Infor CloudSuite Industrial Enterprise software platform, which will be implemented by Infor’s local partner Midport Scandinavia. It will be rolled out to 1 000 users, replacing a legacy system with ...
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NewsSilva Logistic System ready to launch
POLAND: Kronospan group company Silva Logistic System has obtained a licence to operate its own rail freight services, and staff training is underway with a view to running its first trains this month. Silva LS has obtained more than 38m złoty of EU co-funding to support ...
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NewsUGL wins NSW rail network management contract
AUSTRLIA: The New South Wales government has named UGL as the winner of a A$1·5bn contract to operate and maintain the Country Regional Network on behalf of Transport for NSW for 10 years from January 2022. The CRN comprises almost 2 400 km of operational rail ...
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NewsERFA calls for reduction in freight access charges to help meet EU targets
EUROPE: The European Rail Freight Association has welcomed reductions in track access charges in Austria, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, and called for further waiving or reductions of charges in other EU member states. ERFA said it was ‘of utmost importance that ambitious measures are ...
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NewsTurning passenger counts into actionable data
SPAIN: CAF has developed a vehicle occupancy data management platform which enables rail operators to track the number of passengers per train, coach, location, time and service, and to analyse historical data to forecast passenger demand more accurately. The number of passengers can be estimated from ...
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Rail Business UKRail Academy interactive training portal rolled out
UK: The Institution of Railway Operators has completed the phased launch of Rail Academy, a ‘one-stop’ online training platform providing remote learning courses for operating staff of varying experience and skill levels.