News – Page 303
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NewsStadler CEO steps down over strategic differences
STADLER: Stadler Group CEO Dr Thomas Ahlburg has left by mutual agreement with the board, owing to ‘different views’ regarding strategic and organisational development, the company announced on May 21. Executive Chairman Peter Spuhler has returned to his previous role of Group CEO on an interim basis ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
VTG AG has completed a €2·9bn refinancing of VTG Group’s capital structure, including committed credit lines to fund the continuing investment plans. ‘The BBB issuer credit rating from S&P, the extension of funding tenor and the reduction of funding costs in the depths of the Covid-19 crisis ...
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NewsTracklaying starts on southern Xinjiang rail link
CHINA: Tracklaying has started on the Ruoqiang – Hotan railway across the southern part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. This will complete a planned railway loop circling the Takliman Desert.
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NewsKiwiRail orders lifting jacks
NEW ZEALAND: KiwiRail has ordered eight 30-tonne lifting jacks from Mechan for installation at its Wellington and Dunedin depots. Mechan worked with KiwiRail to customise one of its standard designs. The companies have a longstanding relationship, Mechan having supplied an initial set of jacks to Wellington in ...
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NewsLaunch customer for Zagro’s powerful E-MAXI XXL battery shunting vehicle
SHUNTER: Zagro has extended its range of battery-powered road-rail shunting vehicles with the E-MAXI XXL, the largest in the series. The launch follows the unveiling of a prototype at InnoTrans 2018, and subsequent development to meet specific customer requirements. The first three are being supplied to India. ...
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Rail Business UKOld Oak Common HS2 station approved
UK: The planning application for what HS2 Ltd says will be ‘the largest new railway station ever built in the UK’ was approved on May 19 by Old Oak & Park Royal Development Corp, which is leading regeneration of the former railway and industrial site at ...
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NewsBaden-Württemberg seeks ‘interim arrangement’ with Go-Ahead
GERMANY: The Transport Ministry in the Land of Baden-Württemberg has agreed with UK-based private operator Go-Ahead that assistance with running services on the 180 km Frankenbahn linking Stuttgart with Würzburg via Heilbronn should be sought temporarily from another company. Two diagrams on this route were allocated to ...
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NewsIndian Railways’ freight ‘revolution’ as first Alstom electric locomotive enters service
INDIA: The first of 800 Alstom Prima T8 electric locomotives ordered by Indian Railways has entered commercial service following certification. ‘Powerful and capable of high speed, the locomotive is a significant addition to the Indian Railways’, said Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal when WAG12 loco 60027 hauled ...
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NewsRoad trailers carried from Germany to Lithuania by rail
EUROPE: What the partners say was the first train to carry semi-trailers by rail in the Baltic States has been operated, transporting 22 from the Kaldenkirchen Intermodal Terminal near Germany’s border with the Netherlands to Sestokai on the 1 435 mm gauge line in southwest Lithuania ...
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NewsMore Tren Maya construction contracts awarded
MEXICO: On May 15, the national tourism fund Fonatur awarded a consortium of Construcciones Urales, GAMI Ingeniería e Instalaciones and AZVI the third construction contract for the planned Tren Maya network, covering the 172 km from Calkiní to Izamal in Tabasco, with a bid of 10·2bn pesos. Work is expected ...
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NewsJoint call to facilitate cross-border rail freight
INTERNATIONAL: The World Customs Organization, the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail and the Organisation for Co-operation Between Railways have jointly called for better co-ordination between customs administrations, transport authorities and the rail sector to facilitate the operation of cross-border supply chains and help mitigate ...
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NewsOver 500 trainsets to replace Swiss regional fleets
SBB Stadler Flirt. SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways, Thurbo and RegionAlps have jointly called tenders for the supply of 194 single-deck regional trainsets of a ‘tried and tested platform already in use in a European country’. The order worth up to SFr1∙5bn which was announced on May 18 ...
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NewsHydrogen fuel cell train trials completed
GERMANY: Alstom has announced the formal completion of trial operation of two pre-series Coradia iLint hydrogen fuel cell multiple-units. The units entered passenger service with Eisenbahnen und Verkehrsbetriebe Elbe-Weser in September 2018, since when they have successfully completed 530 days and more than 180 000 km of ...
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NewsElectronic Ticket Control Database enters service
INTERNATIONAL: A centralised system for the real-time exchange of ticket control information has been launched to enable rail ticket issuers and carriers around the world to increase their electronic ticketing capabilities and prevent fraud. The Electronic Ticket Control Database has been developed by not-for-profit European rail industry ...
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NewsIsrael Railways accelerates station enhancement works during lockdown
ISRAEL: In addition to accelerating major infrastructure projects and undertaking track and rolling stock maintenance, Israel Railways has used the opportunity presented by the suspension of passenger services during national Covid-19 lockdown measures to undertake planned enhancement works at 40 stations. The works ...
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NewsGreenbrier GIMSA Joint Venture agreement amended
MEXICO: As part of its response to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, The Greenbrier Companies has amended its 50:50 joint venture agreement with Grupo Industrial Monclova, the manufacturing partner at the Greenbrier GIMSA wagon plant in Monclova, Mexico. Both partners will receive additional revenue and dividends ...
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NewsTurkish government designates PSO services
TURKEY: The government has designated 61 routes or service groups as eligible for Public Service Obligation support, under an amendment to Clause 8 of the railway liberalisation legislation which came into force in May 2013. A presidential decree which took effect on April 8 amended the liberalisation ...
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NewsMore modernisation work to start on Douro Valley line
Douro Valley Pinhao (Photos: Luis Almeida) PORTUGAL: Infraestruturas de Portugal is to modernise a further section of the Douro Valley line after receiving notice to proceed from both the finance and infrastructure ministries. The scenic route links Porto with Pocinho, a distance ...
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NewsClimate change question in REMSA’s 2020 scholarship application
USA: The Railway Engineers Maintenance Suppliers Association has made climate change the focus of its 2020 scholarship programme, for which applications close on May 29. Applicants are being asked to draft an essay addressing ‘in what ways can the freight rail industry can benefit our environment? Do ...
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NewsETCS tested in Galicia as high speed corridor nears completion
SPAIN: A series of high speed test runs using ETCS Level 2 were made over the 111 km section of high speed line between Zamora and Pedralba de la Pradería in Galicia on May 15-19. A Class 112 electric trainset made a series of trips under simulated ...