News – Page 497
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NewsVirgin Trains directly awarded new InterCity West Coast franchise
UK: The directly awarded franchise which will see incumbent Virgin Trains continue to operate InterCity West Coast passenger services until the start of the West Coast Partnership contract has now been agreed, Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling announced on February 5. ICWC services have been operated by the ...
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NewsSouth Moravia tenders passenger services
CZECH REPUBLIC: The South Moravia regional government has launched a competitive tendering process to select the future operator of all subsidised train services in the region, which surrounds the country’s second city of Brno. The five-year contract would start on January 1 2020, when the current 10-year deal with national ...
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NewsUP optimistic in 2018 forecasts
USA: Union Pacific is ‘optimistic that the economy will favour a number of our market segments, leading to another year of positive volume growth’, said Lance Fritz, Chairman, President & CEO, announcing the company’s 2017 results on January 25. UP reported net income of $10·7bn for the year, an increase ...
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NewsBNSF announces $3·3bn capital plan
USA: BNSF is planning to invest $3·3bn under its 2018 capital plan unveiled on January 31. This the same level of spending as 2017, and brings the total investment to more than $60bn since 2000. Within the total figure, $2·4bn has been allocated for maintenance and renewal of both infrastructure ...
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NewsIași receives ex-Mülheim trams
ROMANIA: CTP Iași has taken delivery of four second-hand M6D trams from Mülheim an der Ruhr. The trams were ordered along with seven M8C vehicles from Essen, one of which has already arrived in Iași. Following tests, all 11 trams are to enter passenger service on Iași’s 1 000 ...
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NewsSiemens to open £8m UK bogie service centre
UK: Siemens is investing £8m to develop a bogie servicing centre at one of its existing sites in Lincoln. The facility is expected to have around 20 staff when it opens in June, increasing to employ around 40 technicians by the end of 2019. The site will initially focus on ...
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NewsCapacity enhancement at hubs is spending priority, says infrastructure council
FRANCE: Enhancing capacity at key rail hubs is one of several priority measures outlined by the Conseil d’Orientation des Infrastructures on February 1. The council was established in September 2017 by Transport Secretary Elisabeth Borne, and its work builds on the conclusions of the Mobilité 21 commission issued in 2014. ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
ČD Cargo is seeking to award a framework contract for the supply of up to 55 locomotives suitable for international operation, enabling it to replace many of its older locos. The framework would cover up to 50 multi-system electric locos plus five diesels, with initial firm orders for 10 electric ...
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NewsNew line to Nitra proposed
SLOVAKIA: The Ministry of Transport and infrastructure manager ŽSR are studying the feasibility of building what would be the country’s first significant new rail line in more than three decades. The proposed 19·6 km link between Horné Krškany and Trnovec nad Váhom would considerably reduce the distance from Nitra to ...
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NewsRussian Railways orders EMUs
RUSSIA: Transmahsholding subsidiary Demikhovsky Engineering Plant has signed a 5bn rouble contract to supply 22 four-car Class EP3D electric multiple-units to Russian Railways from February. Four of the 25 kV 50 Hz units are to be allocated to Privolzhskaya Railway’s for use in Volgograd, and 18 to Severo-Kavkazskaya Railway for ...
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NewsTest running begins on St Petersburg fast tram route
RUSSIA: Test running on the fast tram route being developed in St Petersburg began on January 31. Stadler Minsk has so far delivered nine trams of the 23 that it is supplying under a contract signed in 2016. These are currently being kept in a provisional depot at Khasanskaya ...
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NewsHS2 station design and development partners announced
UK: The design and development partners selected to undertake detailed design for the ‘landmark’ Birmingham Curzon Street, Birmingham Interchange and Old Oak Common stations and the rebuilding of London Euston station were announced by High Speed 2 project promoter HS2 Ltd on February 2. They are: Birmingham Curzon Street: WSP ...
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NewsIndian budget trebles railway investment
INDIA: A major increase in Indian Railways’ capital expenditure to Rs1 485bn in the 2018-19 financial year was announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley as part of the national budget unveiled on February 1. This is almost three times the Rs540m allocated for capital works in 2013-14. Jaitley said improvements ...
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Metro Report InternationalTracklaying starts on Manchester’s Trafford Park tram extension
UK: Tracklaying on the Trafford Park extension of the Manchester Metrolink light rail network began on February 1 at Parkway Circle. Civil works on the 5·5 km mostly segregated route with six stops began in late 2016 and is being undertaken by the MPact Thales consortium of Laing O’Rourke, ...
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NewsAcid tank wagon offers 'radically improved performance'
RUSSIA: United Wagon Co has delivered the first of 30 tank wagons of a new design developed to carry to carry highly corrosive concentrated nitric acid for fertiliser producer Uralchem. The Type 15-6901 wagons designed by UWC’s All-Union Research & Development Centre for Transportation Technology have a tank volume of ...
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NewsHaramain High Speed Rail opening date in jeopardy
SAUDI ARABIA: The planned launch in March of commercial services on the Haramain high speed line between Makkah and Madinah is in doubt following further delays in completing three of the line’s five stations. Announcing on January 30 that he would be visiting Saudi Arabia in the near future to ...
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News
Low emission hand dryer designed for train toilets
DRYER: A hand dryer which has been specifically designed for train toilets and meets the latest standards for electrical performance while reducing energy consumption has been developed by Sanitaryware Supplies Co’s bespoke design service, working with TBM Rail and Stream Hygiene. According to SSC Managing Director Andy Dukelow, this is ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
CZ Loko has completed its acquisition of rolling stock maintenance and repair company Letohradské Strojírny, which has 40 staff and two workshops. CZ Loko had held a 77% stake since 2014. The former LS site at Letohrad will now concentrate on maintenance, while Žamberk will remain as the centre of ...
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NewsInter-city EMU procurement approved
DENMARK: Proposals to order a fleet of 150 electric multiple-units have been approved by the Danish parliament, Transport Minister Ole Birk Olesen announced on February 1. These would replace DSB’s troubled AnsaldoBreda IC4 DMUs which are all due to be phased out from 2024 and the older ABB-built IC3 units ...
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Metro Report InternationalSardinia transport funding approved
ITALY: Sardinia regional government approved the allocation of €117·6m from EU funds for four public transport projects on January 23. The proposals must now be approved by the country’s Ministry of Infrastructure & Transport. The largest investment would be €60·1m to build a light rail line in Cagliari from ...