News – Page 470
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NewsTransmashholding and Hitachi form joint venture
RUSSIA: Transmashholding and Hitachi signed an agreement on May 21 to form a joint venture to manufacture traction inverters for the CIS market. Transmashholding will own 51% of the 375m rouble capital and Hitachi 49%. The joint venture is expected to produce up to 200 inverters a year at ...
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Metro Report InternationalKeolisAmey to develop South Wales Metro
UK: The ‘Core Valleys’ rail network radiating from Cardiff will be ‘developed’ by KeolisAmey under the South Wales Metro programme, after the company was named as preferred bidder to ‘operate and develop the Wales & Borders rail service’ on May 23. Bidders were asked to submit proposals to provide ...
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Rail Business UKKeolisAmey selected as Operating & Development Partner in Wales
UK: In a written statement issued on May 23, the Welsh government’s Cabinet Secretary for Economy & Transport Ken Skates announced the award of a contract for KeolisAmey to ‘operate and develop the Wales & Borders rail service and the South Wales Metro’. The contract will begin on June 4 ...
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NewsWunderline looks beyond replacement of the Friesen Bridge
EUROPE: Irreparable damage caused to the Friesen Bridge over the River Ems when it was hit by a freight ship in in December 2015 has disrupted the EU-backed Wunderline project’s ambitions to boost traffic on the regional railway corridor running east from Groningen in the northern Netherlands to Leer, Oldenburg ...
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Rail Business UKA ride on TransPennine Express Nova 3 coaches
UK: Railway Gazette went to the Velim test circuit in the Czech Republic for a ride on a set of the Mark 5A locomotive-hauled coaches being built by Spanish company CAF for TransPennine Express inter-city services across the north of England. The push-pull trainsets financed by Beacon Rail will ...
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Rail Business UKUniversity alliance to promote high speed rail
INTERNATIONAL: The International Union of Railways has moved to strengthen its nascent network of academic institutions which are intended to work together to promote the development of high speed rail. UIC first announced plans for its alliance of universities at the World Congress on High Speed Rail in Tokyo in ...
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NewsSKM Warszawa signs Pesa Elf2 order
POLAND: Suburban operator SKM Warszawa signed a contract with Pesa on May 21 for the supply of up to 21 Elf2 electric multiple-units. Deliveries of the base order of eight five-car and five four-car trainsets are due to be completed within two years. The contract is worth 310·5m złoty ...
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NewsSKM Warszawa signs Pesa Elf2 order
POLAND: Suburban rail operator SKM Warszawa signed a contract with Pesa on May 21 for the supply of up to 21 Elf2 electric multiple-units. Deliveries of the base order of eight five-car and five four-car trainsets are due to be completed within two years. The contract is worth 310·5m ...
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NewsTrenitalia signs Sicily operating contract
ITALY: Sicily regional President Sebastiano Musumeci and Trenitalia CEO Orazio Iacono signed an operating contract on May 17. This is the first operating agreement since the transfer of responsibility for rail transport to the region. The 10-year contract is worth €1·2bn and includes infrastructure enhancements, new rolling stock, increased ...
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NewsSpanish regulation in breach of EU rules, Commission says
SPAIN: The European Commission has sent a letter of formal notice to Spain saying it has failed to correctly transpose Directive 2012/34/EU establishing a single European railway area. The Commission said on May 17 that it believes that Spain’s regulatory framework is in breach of provisions of the directive concerning ...
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Metro Report InternationalLondon tram enhancements included in Growth Fund
UK: Transport for London is to finance around one-third of the cost of double-tracking the Elmers End branch of the tram network, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan announced on May 21. TfL is to provide £3·3m from its Growth Fund towards the estimated £9m estimated project cost. In addition ...
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NewsHigh speed line tunnel breakthrough in China
CHINA: Boring on the Qifengshan tunnel was completed on May 16. China Railway No 5 Engineering Group was responsible for boring the 5·2 km tunnel in Fangcheng county in Henan province, which forms part of the 818 km Zhengzhou – Wanzhou high speed line. The 118bn yuan project to ...
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Rail Business UKGreater Anglia electro-diesels under construction
UK: Swiss manufacturer Stadler is producing a total of 58 Flirt UK electric and electro-diesel multiple-units for use by Greater Anglia. The order placed in August 2016 as part of a programme to completely renew the Greater Anglia fleet includes 24 four-car and 14 three-car electro-diesel units which will ...
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NewsCelebrations as Brightline trains reach Miami
USA: A weekend of celebrations entitled ‘Welcome to the 305!’, referencing the city’s historic telephone code, marked the launch of Brightline inter-city services to Miami on May 19. Brightline’s first public trains ran in January over the 74 km between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale. The extension to Miami ...
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NewsWabtec to merge with GE Transportation
INDUSTRY: Wabtec Corp has entered into a definitive agreement to merge with GE Transportation, the companies announced on May 21. The transaction is expected to close in early 2019, subject to approval by Wabtec shareholders, and regulatory authorities, making Wabtec ‘a global leader in the rail equipment, software and services ...
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NewsŠkoda becomes sole owner of Transtech
FINLAND: Škoda Transportation Group signed an agreement to purchase the remaining shares in Transtech on May 21. With the purchase of the 25% stake from Sinituote Oy, Škoda becomes the 100% owner of the Finnish rolling stock manufacturer. In 2015 Škoda Transportation Group acquired 75% of Transtech from investment ...
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NewsKazan orders more Uraltransmash trams
RUSSIA: Kazan transport agency Metroelectrotrans has signed contract with trading company Fobos-TS for the supply of 20 Uraltransmash 71-407 trams. Deliveries are due to be completed by the end of August. The 340m rouble order includes a 160m rouble contribution from the government’s programme of federal funding to stimulate ...
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NewsLagos – Kano standard gauge contract signed
NIGERIA: China Civil Engineering Construction Corp is to complete the long-planned 1 435 mm gauge railway linking Lagos and Kano, under a U$6·68bn contract signed in Abuja on May 15. During the signing ceremony Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi said the line should be completed in two to three years, ‘depending ...
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NewsHeathrow Connect out as TfL Rail comes in
UK: MTR Crossrail started operating stopping services between Paddington and Heathrow Airport under the TfL Rail brand on May 20. These are due to become part of the Elizabeth Line in December. TfL has taken over services to Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 and Terminal 4 from Great Western ...
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Rail Business UKProviding ‘pertinent, targeted and predictive’ information to operating staff
UK: ‘If it works for CrossCountry it will work for any operator’, the inter-city operator’s Duty Control Manager Matthew Reeves told Railway Gazette International at the unveiling of Arrakis, a software suite which technology company Nexus Alpha has developed with the aim of transforming the quality of communications between train ...