News – Page 489
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NewsBern tram project funding approved
SWITZERLAND: Voters in Bern have approved the canton’s financial contribution towards the construction of a new tram line to Ostermundigen. The planned 4·2 km line with 12 stops would link Viktoriaplatz in the centre of Bern with Ostermundigen in the east. This would replace most of the existing bus ...
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NewsPleven orders more Škoda trolleybuses
BULGARIA: Škoda Electric announced on February 27 that it had been selected to supply 14 trolleybuses to Pleven. The vehicles will be equipped with batteries to enable off-wire operation, and will augment the 40 trolleybuses that Škoda had previously supplied to the city.
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NewsDoha Msheireb Downtown tramway to open this year
QATAR: A 2 km circular tramway is under construction in Doha’s Msheireb Downtown area with opening planned for September. The tramway will serve a ‘smart city’ which is being developed at cost of US$5·5bn by the Qatar Foundation’s Msheireb Properties business with the aim of reviving Doha’s ...
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NewsAmtrak awarded five-year MARC Penn Line contract
USA: Maryland Department of Transportation MTA has awarded Amtrak a five-year contract to continue to operate MARC Penn Line commuter services on a 124 km route between Washington, DC, and Perryville, Maryland. Amtrak said it had faced ‘strong competitors with excellent reputations’ during the tendering process, and had won the ...
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NewsMoscow Central Diameter rolling stock supplier selected
RUSSIA: Central Suburban Passenger Co selected sole bidder Tver Carriage Works for the contract to supply rolling stock to operate on Moscow Central Diameters on March 5. Central PPK was previously selected to operate service on the RER-style network being developed to link the existing radial rail routes into ...
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NewsMoscow Central Diameter rolling stock supplier selected
RUSSIA: Central Suburban Passenger Co selected sole bidder Tver Carriage Works for a contract to supply rolling stock to operate on Moscow Central Diameter routes on March 5. Central PPK was previously selected to operate services on the RER-style network which is being developed to link existing radial rail ...
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NewsNapier – Wairoa reopening to handle ‘Wall of Wood’
NEW ZEALAND: Timber trains are expected to resume running by the end of this year on part of KiwiRail’s mothballed Napier – Gisborne line in the east of North Island, the operator announced on February 26. The line has been out of use for the past six years, but KiwiRail ...
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NewsCN Chief Executive leaves
CANADA: The board of Canadian National Railway announced on March 5 that President & CEO Luc Jobin would be leaving the company with immediate effect. He had succeeded Claude Mongeau as President & CEO on July 1 2016, having previously been Chief Financial Officer. Jean-Jacques Ruest has been appointed Interim ...
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NewsÖBB presents first Vectron under 200-loco framework
AUSTRIA: The first of 30 Class 1293 Siemens Vectron locomotives ordered by Austrian Federal Railways was formally unveiled at Wien Praterstern station on March 5. In January 2017 ÖBB awarded Siemens a framework contract to supply its Rail Cargo Group freight business with up to 100 AC locomotives, 50 AC ...
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NewsLEO Express plans major expansion
EUROPE: Czech open access operator LEO Express has announced a significant expansion of its services this year, as part of its ambitions to become a major player in the Central European market. On April 1 a thrice-weekly service is scheduled to start between Praha and Kraków, a route which LEO ...
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NewsSydney to get second airport rail link
AUSTRALIA: The federal and New South Wales state governments have agreed to build a rail link to serve the planned Western Sydney Airport at Badgerys Creek, which is expected to open in 2026. Launching the Western Sydney City Deal on March 4, Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull and NSW Premier Gladys ...
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NewsAtlantia buys Goldman Sachs stake in Channel Tunnel concessionaire
EUROPE: Italian infrastructure investor Atlantia announced on March 2 that it had agreed to acquire the 15·49% of the share capital and 26·66% of the voting rights in Channel Tunnel concessionaire Getlink held by Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners investment vehicle Aero 1 Global & International. Atlantia would pay €12·40 per ...
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NewsPesa finds outside investor
PESA: Rolling stock manufacturer Pesa confirmed on March 2 that it would enter into exclusive negotiations for the Polish development fund PFR to take a stake in the company. In recent months Pesa has been hit by cash flow problems arising from the early termination of ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Canadian Pacific Railway has launched its CP TempPro service for transporting products requiring strict temperature control. Port of Tilbury London Ltd is seeking expressions of interest in the design and construction of facilities including new and relocated rail lines on the site of a former power station. Novotrans is ...
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NewsChannel Tunnel interconnector installation train completed
EUROPE: Clayton Equipment Ltd has designed, built and commissioned for Balfour Beatty a 500 m long construction train that will be used to install high-voltage cabling in the Channel Tunnel, under the ElecLink project to provide an electrical connector between the national grids of France and the UK. Existing main ...
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NewsKaliningrad – Moscow piggyback trial
RUSSIA: A lorry trailer has been transported from Kaliningrad to Moscow on a domestically-produced wagon as a part of a trial to assess the viability of cross-border piggyback operation. The trial aimed to verify that a regular piggyback service would be practical on the route, where loads must undergo customs ...
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News
First Coradia trainset in Africa enters service
ALGERIA: Minister of Public Works & Transport Abdelghani Zalene attended a ceremony on March 2 to open buildings at Alger’s Agha station and mark the entry into service of national railway SNTF’s first Alstom Coradia Polyvalent electro-diesel multiple-unit. Public services between Alger and Oran were scheduled to start the following ...
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NewsSmartron freight locomotive launched
GERMANY: Siemens has launched the Smartron electric locomotive, a version of its successful Vectron modular locomotive family which is intended to provide German freight operators with faster delivery times and a lower price through the use of a standard configuration. Smartron offers ‘one standard version, one standard contract, one standard ...
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NewsETC to prepare Rail Baltica operational plans
EUROPE: Rail Baltica project promoter RB Rail has awarded ETC Transport Consultants a contract to prepare short, medium and long-term operational plans for the future standard gauge line linking the Baltic States. The plans are intended to take into account physical, technical, human and organisational factors, with the aim of ...
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Metro Report InternationalSiemens to supply signalling for driverless metro extension in Singapore
SINGAPORE: Siemens has been selected to supply CBTC signalling for the Downtown Line extension to Sungei Bedok, the company announced on March 2. The €90m contract includes the installation of platform screen doors at the two stations. The 2·2 km extension of the driverless line is planned to open ...