News – Page 366
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NewsStudy considers how to assess ‘green’ investment in rail
EUROPE: The European Commission has published a study into criteria used to classify railway assets and activities as environmentally sustainable, and to provide insights into potential ‘greenwashing’. This is intended to facilitate the rail sector’s access to ‘green’ bonds, which the Commission believes could be used to finance a ...
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NewsSurge arrester to save roof-top space
COMPONENTS: TE Connectivity has introduced the RSTI 68 surge arrester which is designed to be mounted directly on the transformer, saving space on a train roof. The company said roof space is at a particular premium on double-deck trains, and having cleaner rooftop profiles also improves aerodynamics, especially at higher ...
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NewsETCS Level 2 commissioned on Valladolid – León line
SPAIN: Alstom’s Atlas ETCS Level 2 equipment has been commissioned on the 163 km Valladolid – León high speed line, which opened in September 2015. ETCS and GSM-R have been rolled out as part of a signalling, train control and telecoms upgrading programme which is being undertaken by a ...
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NewsEU to fund Latvian electrification programme
LATVIA: The EU’s Cohesion Fund is to provide €318·5m to support the electrification of the main east–west corridor and the replacement of diesel locomotives. Only around 14% of Latvia’s 1 860 km network is currently electrified, well below the EU average of 55%, with electric traction currently only used ...
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NewsRegioJet to strengthen overnight trains
EUROPE: RegioJet has bought 18 couchette cars from Deutsche Bahn, which it intends to use to lengthen its night trains on the Praha – Košice route to up to 18 vehicles with a capacity of up to 1 000 passengers per train. The fleet expansion follows a successful ...
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Rail Business UKTrac Rail Transposer machines delivered
PLANT: The first four of 10 Trac Rail Transposer rail handling machines have been delivered to McCulloch Rail by Unipart Rail, seven months after the order. The TRT was developed by McCulloch Rail and manufactured by Unipart Rail in Crewe. It is designed to significantly reduce the time taken to ...
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NewsPoint machine built for winter on the steppe
KAZAKHSTAN: In co-operation with national railway KTZ, the KazElektroPrivod equally-owned joint venture of Alstom and SOP Trade has completed a six-month test of a P80 point machine on a turnout designed by Prommashkomplekt and installed at Shiderty station. The locally-manufactured P80 has a design life of 20 years and is ...
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NewsPrima H4 pre-series locos on test with SBB
SWITZERLAND: A pre-series batch of five Prima H4 shunting locomotives has now been delivered to SBB for a year of in-service trials. Designated Aem940 by SBB, the locomotives will be used mainly at marshalling yards and for engineering possessions. In line with SBB’s fleet rationalisation efforts, the four-axle loco is ...
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NewsIkea furnishing for BDZ sleeping cars
BULGARIA: As part of its onboard advertising programme, national operator BDZ has worked with furniture and household goods company Ikea to fit sleeping cars with ‘colourful accessories giving the compartments home comforts and an additional summer mood’. The cars with Ikea furnishings are now operating on services from the capital ...
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NewsIowa Northern Railway orders integrated PTC package
USA: Iowa Northern Railway has awarded Wabtec a contract to provide integrated I-ETMS Positive Train Control, LDRS-V digital video recording and data transfer and analytics capabilities across its entire locomotive fleet by late 2020. The order announced on July 10 is the first such contract won by Wabtec since its ...
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NewsBulgaria launches fleet renewal plan ahead of market liberalisation
test1 BULGARIA: National operator BDZ needs to focus on service quality, sustainability and long-term performance in order to ‘convince the public that it is developing in an upward trend’ and remain the state’s main passenger service provider when the market is liberalised in 2024, Minister of ...
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NewsSBB halts court battle with BLS
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has asked the Federal Administrative Court to suspend its appeal lodged in July 2018 against the decision by the Federal Office of Transport to allocate two routes in the national long-distance passenger service concession to BLS. The Bern – Biel and Bern – Burgdorf – Olten ...
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NewsEagle Railcar Services buys wagon workshops
USA: Eagle Railcar Services has agreed to acquire five wagon workshops along with around 400 employees from Rescar. This will take Eagle Railcar Services’ network to 10 sites employing almost 1 200 full-time staff, and according to the company will make it the largest full-service provider of wagon repair and ...
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News‘Drone train’ completes first trial
FRANCE: National operator SNCF has successfully tested a remotely-controlled train over a distance of 4 km in the Paris suburbs. Representing a key stage in SNCF’s programme to develop automated operations, the ‘drone train’ ran from Villeneuve-Saint-Georges to Juvisy and was driven from a control centre established at Vigneux-sur-Seine. Describing ...
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NewsEliwana mine and railway project launched
AUSTRALIA: Fortescue Metals Group held a ceremony on July 5 to officially launch construction of its Eliwana mine and railway in Western Australia. The US$1·275bn project includes the construction of 143 km of railway to connect the Western Hub mining area to the Solomon Hub on the existing 620 km ...
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Rail Business UKVirgin Trains rolls-out app to keep everyone informed
UK: Inter-city operator Virgin Trains has provided its staff with a mobile app which is designed to enable them to supply passengers with more timely and accurate information during service disruption. Back on Track was custom developed for Virgin Trains by UP3 and ServiceNow, but the operator told a launch ...
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NewsWheel boots approved
WHEEL PROTECTION: Protective boots designed to protect wheel treads and flanges while bogies and wheelsets are in transport or storage have been officially endorsed by UIC and included in its latest shipping guidelines. Developed by Swiss manufacturer Rex Articoli Tecnici, the moulded boots are intended as a reusable alternative to ...
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NewsMobility+ brings the last mile to InnoTrans 2020
INNOTRANS: A new addition to the Public Transport section of the InnoTrans 2020 trade fair in Berlin will be Mobility+, an area of the exhibition focusing on the increasingly important ‘last mile’ of passengers’ journeys. Mobility+ will provide exhibitors with the opportunity to highlight shared mobility including electric scooters, ...