News – Page 406
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NewsRevised Colombo light rail plan approved
SRI LANKA: The government has approved a revised plan for a light rail line to be built in Colombo, and plans to sign a loan agreement with Japan International Cooperation Agency. The 17 km line with 16 stops would link Colombo Fort Multimodal Transport Hub with Malabe. Work is ...
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NewsRail expansion at Hamburg container terminal
GERMANY: Hamburger Hafen & Logistik has completed a project to expand the rail facilities at its Container Terminal Burchardkai in the Port of Hamburg. Work to increase capacity of HHLA’s largest container facility by 25% to 850 000 TEU/year has included the installation two additional tracks and two Kocks Ardelt ...
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NewsHitachi completes Ansaldo STS takeover
ITALY: Trading in Ansaldo STS shares is to be suspended on January 28-29, and the shares will be delisted from the Italian stock exchange with effect from January 30, the company announced on January 21. The move marks the completion of the takeover the international signalling group by Hitachi Rail ...
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Rail Business UKHeathrow Express EMU fleet contract awarded
UK: Leasing company Porterbrook has awarded Bombardier Transportation an £11m contract to modify 12 Class 387 Electrostar electric multiple-units for use on the Heathrow Express shuttle service between London Paddington and the airport. Last year the airport owner outsourced the operation of the non-franchised premium service to GWR under a ...
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NewsTokyo Metro offers free food to reduce overcrowding
JAPAN: Tokyo Metro is offering passengers free food as an incentive to travel outside the morning peak in a trial that aims to reduce overcrowding. Passengers travelling from stations between Toyo-Katsutadai on the Toyo Rapid Railway Line and Monzen-Nakacho on the Tozai Line are eligible for the two-week trial, ...
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NewsBattery trolleybuses ordered for Saint-Etienne
FRANCE: Solaris Bus & Coach is to supply 22 battery trolleybuses to Saint-Etienne, the manufacturer announced on January 17. The €17m order includes options for two more vehicles, and is Solaris’ first trolleybus order for the French market. Škoda will supply the drive system for the 12 m long ...
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NewsExpanding the railway legal framework in southeast Asia
ASIA: The Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail and the United Nations Economic & Social Commission for Asia & the Pacific have signed a five-year memorandum of understanding to co-operate to develop rail transport in Asia, particularly southeast Asia where most states are not signatories to the COTIF uniform ...
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NewsPortuguese incumbent awarded public service contract
PORTUGAL: The government has formally awarded national passenger operator CP a public service contract running for 10 years from the start of this year, with an option to extend it by five more. This sets out how the government will compensate the operator for loss-making services to be provided under ...
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Metro Report InternationalLucknow Metro begins using automatic train operation
INDIA: Lucknow Metro trains began running in attended automatic train operation mode on January 21. Trains have been running under manual driving with automatic train protection since the initial 8·5 km Transport Nagar – Charbagh section of the north–south line opened in September 2017. The train operators now give a ...
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NewsMore trains and better security in SNCF-PACA agreement
FRANCE: SNCF President Guillaume Pepy and the President of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Renaud Muselier, signed a co-operation agreement on January 17 covering the development of regional passenger services in 2019-23. The improvement plan covers the remaining period within SNCF’s current agreement to operate local passenger trains. The contract to operate TER ...
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NewsRailRunner Europe files for insolvency
GERMANY: RailRunner Europe GmbH has filed for insolvency, with the bankruptcy court of Hamburg appointing Dr Susanne Riedemann of specialist law firm Prof Dr Pannen Rechtsanwälte as preliminary insolvency administrator on January 18. The RailRunner Europe management said they intend to reorganise and restructure the company. The European subsidiary ...
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NewsDMUs delivered for freight line’s passenger launch
GERMANY: Local freight railway Bentheimer Eisenbahn has taken delivery of the first two of the five Alstom Coradia Lint 41 diesel multiple-units which it has ordered to enable the reintroduction of passenger services on the 30 km Bad Bentheim – Nordhorn – Neuenhaus route. Passenger services had been replaced by ...
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NewsSBB Cargo stands alone
SWITZERLAND: The ‘gradual separation’ of freight activities from the national railway operator has taken a further step, with SBB Cargo AG being managed as an independent company within the SBB Group since the start of the year. This is intended to pave the way for the introduction of third-party participation ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Slovenian national freight operator SŽ-Tovorni has placed a €9·1m order for sole bidder CZ Loko to supply four EffiShunter 1000 diesel locomotives with CAT C32 895 kW engines for use at the Port of Koper. Australian operator Aurizon has taken delivery of 96 hopper wagons of 98 tonne capacity which ...
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NewsITxPT standard helps Pilotfish enter the rail IT market
NETHERLANDS: Swedish company Pilotfish is to work with German firm IVU Traffic Technologies to supply its vehicle gateway units and a back-office system for the 18 new Stadler WINK and 51 refurbished GTW diesel multiple-units which Arriva is to operate on regional routes in Friesland and Groningen under the Noordelijke ...
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NewsSNCF rolls out GIRO scheduling software
FRANCE: SNCF is to deploy GIRO’s Hastus integrated scheduling and operations software to replace the existing tools which are used to manage staff and rolling stock on its network of high speed services. The software will cover around 380 trains, 5 000 drivers and onboard staff and 9 000 employees ...
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NewsSerbian infrastructure contracts signed during Putin visit
SERBIA: Further agreements for Russian Railways to support the modernisation of the Serbian rail network were signed when Russia’s President Putin visited Beograd on January 17. Representatives of the two governments signed a memorandum for the joint implementation of infrastructure maintenance activities, while Infrastruktura Železnice Srbije and RZD International signed ...
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NewsBelarus orders more Flirts
BELARUS: Stadler announced on January 17 that it had received an order from Belarussian national railway BC for a further 10 Flirt trainsets. The 1 520 mm gauge, five-car Flirt EMUs will be delivered in 2020, joining an existing fleet of 18 trainsets supplied in various batches since 2010. ...
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NewsDB Cargo signs 100 locomotive framework deal
GERMANY: DB Cargo and Siemens Mobility announced the signing of a framework agreement covering up to 100 Vectron electric locomotives on January 18, with a firm order for an initial 40 to be delivered between February 2019 and June 2020 for use on cross-border freight services. The 160 km/h, 6·4 ...
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NewsSlovakian passenger service reinstated
SLOVAKIA: Passenger services on regional Line 153 running 74 km south from Zvolen to Šahy on the Hungarian border were reinstated by national operator ZSSK with effect from January 2. Services had been withdrawn in February 2003 owing to low ridership. The revived service is aimed at students and ...