News – Page 329
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NewsShift2Rail invites 2020 research proposals
EUROPE: Within the framework of its Annual Work Plan, the Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking issued its 2020 call for proposals on January 7, covering research and innovation projects with a total value of €146·6m. Applications are due by April 21. The call covers 19 topics, of which eight ...
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NewsHigh speed rail wins market share
ITALY: Evidence that high speed rail competes effectively against air was presented to Terrapinn’s World Rail Festival in Amsterdam by Serafino Lo Piano, Head of Sales, Long-Distance Rail, at Trenitalia. Since the launch of the Frecciarossa brand 10 years ago, he said, rail’s share of the market ...
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NewsAuditors warn of Rail Baltica cost and timescale risks
EUROPE: Procedures for managing the Rail Baltica project are mostly in place but inefficiencies and a lack of change and risk management systems mean the project could exceed its agreed budget and timeline, according to a report issued jointly by the national audit bodies of Estonia, ...
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Rail Business UKAvanti West Coast Pendolino refurbishment and maintenance contract awarded
UK: Operator Avanti West Coast and leasing company Angel Trains have awarded Alstom a £642m, seven-year contract to overhaul and maintain the 56 Class 390 Pendolino tilting trainsets which entered service on the West Coast Main Line from 2003. Alstom said the £127m refurbishment element of the ...
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Rail Business UKORR publishes final determination of High Speed 1 costs
UK: The Office of Rail & Road has published its periodic review of Channel Tunnel Rail Link concessionaire HS1 Ltd’s charges and maintenance plans for the five years starting on April 1 2020. HS1 Ltd has a 30-year concession to manage the 108 km high speed line ...
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NewsADIF orders three more infrastructure monitoring trains
SPAIN: National infrastructure manager ADIF has selected Stadler and MerMec for a €74·5m contract to supply and commission three infrastructure monitoring trains and to undertake their maintenance for a period of five years.
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Metro Report InternationalPlzeň expands tram network
CZECH REPUBLIC: Plzeň transport authority PMDP has opened the first tramway extension in the city for almost 30 years, with the inauguration on December 16 of a 1·4 km extension of Line 4 to the Borská Pole industrial zone. Line 4 is the city’s busiest, linking Lochotín, ...
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NewsTriesteRailPort project allocated European funding
ITALY: The TriesteRailPort project to enhance rail facilities at the Port of Trieste is to be financed with a €39m loan signed by the European Investment Bank on December 20 as well as €6·5m from the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility. Trieste handles more than 10% of Italy’s ...
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NewsMÁV-Start places final order under Kiss EMU framework agreement
HUNGARY: National passenger operator MÁV-Start has formally signed a contract for Stadler to supply a further 21 six-car Kiss double-deck electric multiple-units for delivery by the end of 2022, the manufacturer confirmed on January 7. The €313m firm order which has been finalised following the confirmation ...
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NewsFirst of 30 Prima M4 locomotives delivered to ONCF
MOROCCO: National railway ONCF has taken delivery of the first of 30 Alstom Prima M4 locomotives which are being supplied under a €130m contract announced in February 2018. The 3 kV DC electric locomotives have a nominal power of 5·5 MW, operating speed of 160 km/h and ...
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Metro Report InternationalHamburg automated metro financing agreed
GERMANY: Confirmation of a grant to finance construction of the first driverless metro line in Hamburg has been formally handed over to operator Hamburger Hochbahn by the city’s government. Subject to the completion of planning procedures, construction of line U5 is expected to ...
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NewsPension investor takes stake in Alpha Trains
EUROPE: Arcus European Infrastructure Fund 1 has sold its 41·1% stake in rolling stock leasing company Alpha Trains to Dutch investment group APG. Alpha Trains has a portfolio of 363 locomotives and 432 trainsets leased to operators in 17 countries including Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the ...
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Metro Report InternationalBeijing Capital International Airport peoplemover to be upgraded
CHINA: A consortium of CRRC Puzhen Bombardier Transportation Systems and Bombardier NUG Signalling Solutions Co has been awarded a 215m yuan contract to upgrade the automated peoplemover at Beijing Capital International Airport. This includes upgrading 18 existing Bombardier Innovia APM 100 cars and supplying an additional nine ...
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NewsGenesee & Wyoming acquisition completed
INTERNATIONAL: The US$8·4bn acquisition of freight railway group Genesee & Wyoming by affiliates of New York and Toronto listed global investor Brookfield Infrastructure and Singapore’s foreign reserves investor GIC has been completed. The US$112 per share deal had been announced in July. ‘This transaction is an excellent ...
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Rail Business UKStakeholders respond to Lord Berkeley’s High Speed 2 dissenting report
UK: Lord Tony Berkeley published a dissenting report into the High Speed 2 project on January 5, calling it ‘the wrong and expensive solution’ to providing better north–south inter-city services and improving services in the Midlands and North of England. He was Deputy Chair of the review ...
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Metro Report InternationalShibuya station shift sorted
JAPAN: Tokyo Metro’s Ginza Line services began using a new station at Shibuya on January 3, following the successful completion of a six-day blockade to realign the tracks and connect up the new platforms.
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Metro Report InternationalOpen standards launched to provide transport account interoperability
UK: The Open Transport Initiative has launched Open Transport API specifications designed to support the development of Mobility-as-a-Service initiatives by enabling customers to access data held in separate accounts with multiple transport operators and agencies. The standards, which were formally launched on January 3, have been developed ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Trial operation of a double-stack container train on the 306 km Rewari – Madar section of Indian’s Western Dedicated Freight Corridor was undertaken on December 27. Trials are being undertaken with prototype BLCS-A and BLCS-B double-stack container wagons with 25 tonne axleloads which have been developed ...
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NewsChuanshan port freight line opens
CHINA: The Chuanshan port freight line near Ningbo in Zhejiang province opened on December 26, running 29·3 km from Daqi station to Zhongzhai via Chuanshangang. The 31·5 km line to Beilun has also been electrified as part of the 4·1bn yuan project. Freight traffic on the Chuanshangang ...