News – Page 509
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NewsVivarail to open production facility in County Durham
UK: Next month Vivarail is to open a plant on the Spectrum Business Park at Seaham in County Durham where it will assemble powerpacks and wiring looms for the D Train multiple-units which it plans to produce using bodyshells and bogies from withdrawn London Underground D78 trainsets. Vivarail is investing ...
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Metro Report InternationalRevenue operations begin on first section of Luxembourg tramway
LUXEMBOURG: The first section of the city of Luxembourg’s 16 km tramway opened for public service on December 10, with free travel offered until the end of January. The starter section covers 8 km between Luxexpo and Pafendall-Rout Bréck in the Kirchberg district, serving six intermediate stops. The full route ...
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NewsICE4 enters regular service
GERMANY: After nearly 12 months of trials in commercial service on the Hamburg – München route, Deutsche Bahn has put the first of its fleet of ICE4 trainsets into regular operation. From the timetable change on December 10 five Class 412 trainsets were introduced on services from Hamburg to München ...
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NewsDublin’s Cross City tram extension opens
IRELAND: Guests including Taoiseach Leo Varadkar attended celebrations on December 9 marking the opening of the Luas Cross City extension of Dublin’s light rail Green Line. The €368m project to build the 5·9 km extension north from St Stephen’s Green to Broombridge with 13 stops was given the go-ahead in ...
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Metro Report InternationalACTN consortium to complete Cuenca tramway works
ECUADOR: A consortium of Alstom, Compagnie International de Maintenance and the NGE Group joint venture of NGE Contracting and TSO has been selected to complete the civil works on the starter light rail line in Cuenca. Planning for a modern tramway in the mountainous southern city began in 2011 with ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
China Railway Express Co has launched a parcels delivery service using space on Fuxing high speed trainsets operating on the Beijing – Shanghai Passenger-Dedicated Line. Alstom's Belfort site has completed work on the first of 30 Akiem BB36000 locomotives which are to receive mid-life overhauls under two contracts. 'This first ...
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NewsHupac orders Chinese wagons
SWITZERLAND: Hupac and CRRC International have signed a two-year contract for CRRC Shandong to manufacture flat wagons for the intermodal freight operator and obtain Swiss wagon registration and EU certification for the designs. After the signing ceremony last month, the companies held talks on co-operation in the intermodal sector as ...
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NewsBeograd depot upgrade loan signed
SERBIA: The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development is providing national passenger operator JSC Srbija Voz with loans totalling €47m to finance the upgrading and expansion of Zemun depot on the outskirts of Beograd. The site is to become the operator’s main maintenance facility, and the only one equipped to ...
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NewsMerkel inaugurates München - Berlin Unity Project 8
GERMANY: Special trains from München and Nürnberg, celebrations in multiple cities and a spectacular arrival in Berlin Hauptbahnhof marked the inauguration on December 8 of the railway known as German Unity Project VDE8. Commemorative events had been staged in Nürnberg, Erfurt, Leipzig and Wittenberg to mark the formal opening of ...
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NewsUS-built Estonian GE locomotive rebuilt
ESTONIA: Freight operator EVR Cargo has begun testing the first of its GE-built C30-7Ai Co-Co diesel-electric locomotives to be extensively rebuilt at its Tapa workshops. The modernisation of the 19 locomotives is being undertaken in collaboration with Czech supplier CZ Loko. Designated as Type C30-M, the modernised locomotive is ...
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NewsTraxx Africa handed over in Durban
SOUTH AFRICA: Bombardier Transportation and Transnet Freight Rail celebrated the handover of the first of 240 Traxx Africa electric locomotives with a ceremony at Transnet Engineering’s assembly plant in Durban on December 7. Ordered by Transnet Freight Rail in March 2014 at a cost of R15bn, the 240 multi-system locomotives ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
The Ukrainian government announced on December 4 that it expects to formalise by the end of the year a strategic partnership with GE Transportation for the implementation of a US$1bn seven-year Ukrainian Railways rolling stock renewal programme. The first stage would include the supply of 30 locomotives with domestically-produced components ...
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News15 recommendations in Croydon Tramlink derailment report
UK: The Rail Accident Investigation Branch made 15 recommendations to improve safety on December 7 when it published its report into the overturning of a tram at Sandilands in Croydon, south London on November 9 2016. RAIB found that the Bombardier CR4000 tram had been travelling at 73 km/h ...
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NewsQatar metro and light rail operating contract awarded
QATAR: Public transport authority Qatar Rail has awarded the RKH Qitarat joint venture between a consortium of RATP Dev and Keolis (49%) and local construction, property and trading business Hamad Group (51%) a contract to operate and maintain the Doha metro and Lusail light rail networks. The contract awarded on ...
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NewsXi’an – Chengdu high speed railway opened throughout
CHINA: Revenue services on the 511 km Xi’an – Jiangyou section of the 663 km Xi’an – Chengdu Passenger-Dedicated Line began on December 6, with the first train leaving Xi’an at 08:22. The maximum operating speed on the line is 250 km/h. The 153 km first phase between Chengdu and ...
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Metro Report InternationalShatin – Central project faces 23% cost increase
CHINA: Following a detailed review of the estimated cost-to-complete of the main construction works for Hong Kong’s Shatin – Central Link project, MTR Corp announced on December 6 that it had increased its estimate by 23% to HK$87·3bn. MTR Corp had previously said that ‘continuing challenges posed by external factors ...
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NewsUK railway news round-up
A regulated fares increase of 3·6% based on July RPI will take effect on January 2. In Scotland, selected regulated peak fares including Anytime and season tickets are set to RPI, and 1% below RPI for regulated Off-Peak fares. In Wales, regulated fares are capped at RPI until at least ...
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NewsNGR EMUs ready to enter service in Brisbane
AUSTRALIA: The first of 75 New Generation Rollingstock trainsets being built by Bombardier for the Brisbane suburban network are expected to begin carrying passengers on December 11, Queensland Rail Chief Executive Officer Nick Easy confirmed on December 6. With 70% of Queensland’s population growth expected in the South-East region, the ...
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NewsBaghdad and Basra urban rail memorandum signed by Alstom
IRAQ: A memorandum of understanding for the development of urban rail projects in Baghdad and Basra has been signed by the Iraqi government and Alstom as part of a Franco-Iraqi inter-governmental meeting. A 20 km elevated light rail line is proposed for Baghdad, which would link Mustansiriyah, ...
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NewsLatvia's cabinet backs electrification financing proposal
LATVIA: The cabinet has accepted a Ministry of Transport report setting out how the first phase of the electrification programme envisaged under the national development plan for 2014–20 can be undertaken without requiring funding from the state budget. The first phase covers 25 kV 50 Hz electrification of the routes ...