News – Page 314
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NewsSNCF deploys hospital TGV
FRANCE: SNCF has started transporting Covid-19 patients using a TGV Duplex trainset that has been has adapted as a mobile hospital unit. It is being used to evacuate recuperating patients from hot spot areas where the hospitals are saturated to regions which have spare capacity in their ...
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NewsBrightline suspends services
USA: Miami to West Palm Beach inter-city train operator Brightline temporarily suspended its services on March 25. The private-sector operator said the decision had been taken to help slow the spread of the coronavirus to a rate which healthcare systems can cope with, ‘and with the ...
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NewsVossloh wins Etihad Rail track contract
UAE: Rail fastenings and turnouts for Package 2A of the Etihad Rail network are to be supplied by Vossloh, under a contract awarded by the joint venture responsible for the 139 km Ruwais – Ghuweifat line. The contract to build this section was awarded in March 2019 ...
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NewsTransitio opts for Civity Nordic
SWEDEN: Local authority owned rolling stock leasing company AB Transitio has announced its intention to procure 30 EMUs from CAF for use on regional services in southern Sweden, with an option for a further 34 sets. The trains are due to be ordered within an existing contract; ...
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NewsMałopolska railway development study commissioned
POLAND: Małopolska voivodship has awarded a 1·8m złoty contract to a consortium of Infra CD and Instytut Kolejnictwa to look at options for the development of the region’s rail network. The study will investigate the potential for enhancing passenger services on existing lines, as well as the ...
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NewsLatvian railway electrification project on hold
LATVIA: National railway group LDz has put its electrification programme on hold. It said a decrease in freight volumes which began in the first half of 2019 is forecast to continue, and it would not be able to balance its budget in 2020 without additional government funding. ...
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NewsABB awarded Trafikverket framework agreement
Source: SJ/Stefan Nilsson SWEDEN: Trafikverket has awarded ABB a two-year extendable framework contract covering the supply of more than 400 Relion RER670 intelligent electronic devices. These will protect the infrastructure manager’s 15 kV 16·7 Hz overhead electrification equipment including transmission lines, transformers and catenary at around 50 ...
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Rail Business UKEast Coast resignalling partners appointed
UK: Network Rail has selected Siemens Mobility and Atkins as its partners for the programme to roll out ETCS Level 2 train control and traffic management on the southern section of the East Coast Main Line.
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NewsBruce Evans
It is with sadness that we report that Bruce Evans, our correspondent and contributor in South Africa, died on March 19.
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Rail Business UKTracsis acquires ticketing software specialist iBlocks
UK: Transport software company Tracsis plc has acquired smart ticketing, back office and automated delay repay specialist iBlocks. Tracsis said the acquisition would support its objective of strengthening its rail product portfolio in areas where it can offer a unique market proposition. The company would gain access ...
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NewsEuropean Commission approves public financing of Fehmarn Belt fixed link
EUROPE: The European Commission has concluded that Denmark’s public financing model for the Fehmarn Belt rail and road tunnel to Germany is compatible with EU state aid rules. The Commission had approved the model in July 2015, but ferry companies Scandlines and Stena Line subsequently appealed. In ...
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NewsTOAZ orders high-capacity fertiliser wagons
RUSSIA: Chemical producer Togliattiazot has ordered 200 mineral fertiliser hopper wagons from United Wagon Co, with deliveries from the Tikhvin plant anticipated by the end of May. UWC said this was the customer’s first order for wagons built to the latest generation of designs. The Type 19-9549-03 ...
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NewsHakone Tozan replaces funicular trainsets
JAPAN: Hakone Tozan Railway launched its fifth generation of rolling stock for its 1·2 km funicular line into revenue service on March 20, having unveiled the two new trains on March 18.
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NewsUK train operators offered management contracts or nationalisation
UK: The Department for Transport has given the franchised passenger train operators it is responsible for the opportunity to move to temporary management contracts. On March 23 DfT said it would temporarily suspend existing franchise agreements and transfer all revenue and cost risk to the government for ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
CFL Cargo Deutschland has begun purchasing certified green electricity supplied by Stadtwerke Tübingen GmbH from wind and hydro sources for the 3 250 block trains it operates in Germany each year. To minimise health risks associated with the coronavirus, Canadian Pacific Railway’s annual ...
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NewsMBTA to roll out Violet Edge across commuter rail fleet
tn_us-MBTA_commuter_train.jpg USA: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is to deploy Wi-Tronix’s Violet Edge technology across the fleet of diesel locomotives used on Boston commuter rail services. The agreement builds on projects undertaken with the supplier on some of the fleet since 2015. The internet of things platform will ...
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Rail Business UKSteelworks locomotive order
UK: Clayton Equipment has agreed a contract to supply a further two Hybrid+ CBD90 battery-diesel locomotives to Tata Steel’s Port Talbot steelworks, taking the total order to five. The CBD90 is a 90 tonne Bo-Bo locomotive are powered by a EU Stage V compliant diesel engine, and ...
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Metro Report InternationalSeoul GTX Line A train contract awarded
SOUTH KOREA: The SG Rail special purpose company formed to design, finance and build Line A of the Great Train Express network of commuter lines around Seoul has awarded Hyundai Rotem a 345bn won contract to supply 15 trainsets by 2024. The eight-car trains to be built ...
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NewsDr Josef Theurer
AUSTRIA: Dr Josef Theurer, founder and long-standing CEO of track maintenance machine manufacturer Plasser & Theurer, died on March 19 at the age of 91. Dr Theurer established Plasser & Theurer with Franz Plasser in 1953 and built up the business over the following six decades, to ...
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Rail Business UKRail services to be reduced to match demand and provide resilience
UK: The government and rail sector have agreed a plan for the gradual reduction of train services to reflect lower passenger demand as people stop unnecessary travel and decrease non-essential social contact in line with advice to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. Under plans to ...