News – Page 508
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
The European Commission announced on December 8 that the final discussions for the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement had concluded. The Commission said the EPA ‘guarantees EU companies access to the large procurement markets of Japan in 48 large cities, and removes obstacles to procurement in the economically ...
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NewsHardbrücke tram extension opens in Zürich
SWITZERLAND: A 700 m extension of the Zürich tram network from Hardplatz to Schiffbau opened on December 8, with one intermediate stop at Hardbrücke. Construction started in May 2015. The cost was met through SFr45·4m from the federal government, SFr76·4m from Canton Zürich and SFr7·8m from the city. SFr28·4m ...
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NewsBombardier to supply Aventra EMUs to c2c
UK: Leasing company Porterbook has awarded Bombardier Transportation a £105m contract to supply six 10-car Aventra 160 km/h electric multiple-units for the c2c rail franchise, and provide eight years of maintenance and support services from their introduction in 2021 until November 2029. The deal ‘demonstrates our focus on long-term investments ...
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NewsSt Petersburg tenders for second fast tram PPP
RUSSIA: The city of St Petersburg is tendering for a PPP concession to build and operate a fast tram line that would serve two of the city’s satellite towns. The route would run from Kupchino station on metro Line 2 to Shushary and Slavyanka. The winning bidder would invest ...
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NewsWabtec awarded Santos yard control contract
BRAZIL: Freight operator RUMO has awarded Wabtec Corp a US$5m contract to design, install and commission a train management and dispatching system to improve safety and efficiency at its yard serving the port of Santos. The scope includes signalling and interlocking integration and staff training. Completion is planned the end ...
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NewsFrankfurt electric bus order placed
GERMANY: Solaris Bus & Coach has signed a contract with operator In der City Bus Frankfurt am Main for the supply of five electric buses. To be delivered in mid-2018, each of the Urbino 12 buses will be equipped with 240 kWh batteries that will drive two motors. Medcom ...
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NewsUK railway news round-up
Passenger services began using Manchester’s Ordsall Chord on December 10. ‘This is a historic day for the north and for rail travel in the UK because Manchester’s three main stations are linked for the first time‘, said Rail Minister Paul Maynard. ‘The Ordsall Chord will help to support faster, more ...
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NewsMore Tunis RER funding
TUNISIA: The European Investment Bank has agreed a funding package worth €83m to support the acquisition of rolling stock and development of infrastructure for the Tunis RER programme. The funding has been agreed between EIB, the Tunisian government and state railway SNCFT, and covers lines D and E of the ...
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NewsYekaterinburg tram extension opens
RUSSIA: A 2 km extension of the Yekaterinburg tram network opened on December 11. The new route runs along Ulitsa Tatishcheva between Ulitsa Moskovskaya and Ulitsa Krasnouuralskaya. It is being used by tram routes 2 and 18.
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NewsNîmes – Montpellier bypass carries first freight
FRANCE: A pair of Class 27000 Alstom Prima dual-voltage freight locomotives hauled the first commercial freight train over the Contournement Nîmes – Montpellier on December 10. The 60 km bypass line has been built by contractor Oc’Via under a 25-year concession starting in 2012. Test trains were diagrammed over the ...
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NewsBasel gains third cross-border tram route
SWITZERLAND: Basel tram operator BVB opened a 3 km extension of Route 3 into France on December 9. Revenue services on the new section started the following day. The extension to Gare de Saint-Louis has four stops. It cost SFr54m, with an additional SFr33m for the construction of station ...
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NewsCrack found in Shinkansen trainset bogie
JAPAN: The Japan Transport Safety Board has begun an investigation following the discovery of a crack in a West Japan Railway N700 trainset bogie, in what is the first incident affecting a high speed train to be designated as ‘serious’ under a classification system established by the government in 2001. ...
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NewsMacron joins Abidjan metro groundbreaking
CÔTE D’IVOIRE: Construction work on the Abidjan metro project was formally inaugurated on November 30 by President Alassane Ouattara and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron with a ceremony at the site of the future Treichville station. Visiting the region for an Africa-Europe summit, Macron said the urban rail service ...
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NewsSNCF relaunches web distribution portal as oui.sncf
FRANCE: Described as ‘a new shop window’, the voyages-sncf.com website was rebranded as ‘oui.sncf’ on December 6. The rebranding marks the third and final pillar in SNCF’s revamp of its passenger operations, which has also seen its TGV business marketed under the premium Inoui brand and the low-cost offering Ouigo. ...
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NewsHyundai Rotem wins train orders for two Istanbul metro projects
TURKEY: Hyundai Rotem announced on December 5 that it had signed a 156·5bn won contract to supply rolling stock for two Istanbul metro lines. Hyundai Rotem is to supply 10 four-car driverless trainsets for Line M8, which is being built between Bostancı and Dudullu on the Asian side of ...
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NewsRussia adopts piggyback wagon standards
RUSSIA: The Ministry of Transport has approved technical standards for the piggyback transport of lorries, trailers and cars by rail, including the adoption of a standard floor height of 1 100 mm above the rail head. The regulations follow trials which Federal Freight Co undertook on the Moscow – Novosibirsk ...
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NewsKraków cut-off line opens
POLAND: Passenger services began using a recently-completed elevated chord linking Kraków’s Zabłocie and Krzemionki stations with the December 10 timetable change. The chord removes the need for trains from Kraków Główny to Zakopane, Skawina and Oświęcim to reverse at Płaszów station, reducing journey times by up to 20 min while ...
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NewsNorfolk Southern opens replacement Portageville Bridge
USA: Norfolk Southern has opened the new Portageville Bridge, a 294 m long steel arch span across the 72 m deep Genesee River gorge in Letchworth State Park on its Southern Tier Line in New York state. The structure replaces an iron truss bridge built by the Erie Railroad in ...
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NewsGE to install Trip Optimizer on KTZ Evolution locomotive fleet
KAZAKHSTAN: National railway KTZ’s freight business has signed an agreement to deploy GE’s Trip Optimizer efficiency system on its fleet of TE33A Evolution Series diesel locomotives. The agreement announced on December 11 builds on a memorandum of understanding signed in June under which KTZ and GE Transportation agreed to explore ...
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NewsInnsbruck tramway extended
AUSTRIA: Passenger services on a 3 km Y-shaped western extension of Innsbruck’s metre-gauge tram network were launched on December 10, following inauguration celebrations five days earlier. The extension runs from the former terminus at Höttinger Au to Peerhofsiedlung, with a branch to Technik West which has been built as the ...