News – Page 510
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Metro Report InternationalLondon Underground depot construction contract awarded
UK: A joint venture of Morgan Sindall and BeMo Tunnelling has been awarded a £20m contract to design and build a workshop for London Underground’s Train Modification Unit. The facility at the Acton Works site in west London will undertake rolling stock refurbishment projects, starting with the Central Line fleet ...
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NewsMetrans orders more Traxx locomotives
GERMANY: Metrans has ordered 10 more Bombardier Transportation Traxx F140MS locomotives for delivery in the first quarter of 2018 The intermodal subsidiary of Hamburger Hafen & Logistik AG currently has a fleet of 50 mainline and 17 shunting locomotives. ‘With more of our own locomotives at our disposal, we ...
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NewsAngel Trains raises £1·1bn to support ‘appetite to compete’
UK: Rolling stock leasing company Angel Trains Group announced on December 6 that it had secured £835m of new funding to refinance the procurement of 665 Bombardier Transportation Aventra electric multiple-unit cars that will be leased to Abellio for use on the East Anglia franchise from 2019. It said the ...
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Metro Report InternationalSmallest tramway gets longer
GERMANY: What claims to be Germany’s smallest tramway grew by 440 m to reach a total of 2·9 km on December 1, with the opening of a one-stop extension from Vogelwiese to Salztor in Naumburg. The extension returns trams to a further section of what was once a circular route ...
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NewsSNCF orders prototype EMU and tram-train traction transformers
FRANCE: National railway SNCF has awarded Mitsubishi Electric Corp a contract to supply prototype traction transformers for Z2N double-deck electric multiple-units used on Paris commuter services and Siemens Avanto tram-trains operating on route T4. The order follows on from Mitsubishi Electric becoming the first Japanese company to be certified by ...
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NewsHelsinki and Bombardier agree Variotram settlement
FINLAND: Helsinki transport authority HKL and Bombardier Transportation have reached an agreement which will see the 40 Variotrams withdrawn from service in the Finnish capital by the end of 2018. The Variotrams were delivered by Adtranz (later Bombardier Transportation) in 1998-2003, but the track profiles and operating conditions on Helsinki’s ...
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NewsNew South Wales fleet replacement advances
AUSTRALIA: Three consortia have been shortlisted for the contract to replace the NSW TrainLink regional rail fleet of XPT, Endeavour and Xplorer trains, the New South Wales state government has announced. The bidders are: Regional Futures, led by Downer; Bombardier Consortium; Momentum Trains, led by CAF. Transport for NSW ...
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NewsKoleje Śląskie operating contract extended
POLAND: Śląskie voivodship has awarded in-house train operator Koleje Śląskie a five-year extension to its contract to provide local passenger services. In 2015 the voivodship awarded KŚ a contract running for 10 years from January 1 2016, with the five-year extension to December 2030 being subject to investment in new ...
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NewsSankt Pölten freight bypass inaugurated
AUSTRIA: A 24·7 km freight bypass around the city of Sankt Pölten was inaugurated with a ceremony on December 1, ahead of the planned start of revenue services on December 10. The bypass has been built as part of the wider project to upgrade the Wien – Salzburg Westbahn main ...
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NewsFerrovia Circumetnea orders more Vulcano DMUs
ITALY: Ferrovia Circumetnea has ordered an additional two-car Vulcano diesel multiple-unit from Newag, and expects to place a firm order for three more once financing is secured. The four 950 mm gauge DMUs would cost a total of €14·9m. In Decemer 2013 FCE and Newag finalised a €14·8m contract for ...
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NewsLille metro gates to cut fare evasion
FRANCE: The Lille metropolitan authority has begun a €60m programme to install ticket gates at all 60 stations on the city’s metro network. The first gates came into use at Gare Lille Europe on November 30. During the course of 2018 it is planned to commission gates ...
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NewsUber and Citymapper become UITP members
INTERNATIONAL: App-based services Uber and Citymapper are among the first members to join the International Association of Public Transport’s Digital Platforms category, UITP announced on December 4. UITP has created the new membership category specifically for online platforms that facilitate access to transport services on a business-to-business, business-to-customer or ...
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NewsIran orders Hyundai Rotem diesel multiple-units
IRAN: A €720m contract for Hyundai Rotem and Iran Rail Industries Development Co to supply 150 three-car diesel multiple-units to national railway RAI was signed on December 2. Hyundai Rotem will produce 150 cars at its plant at Changwon in South Korea, with the remaining 300 to be assembled locally ...
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NewsSolaris Tram wins Kraków order as Pesa pulls out of tender
POLAND: MPK Kraków announced on November 30 that it is to sign a framework contract for the supply of up to 50 trams with a consortium of Solaris and Stadler, after Pesa withdrew its bid. MPK Kraków selected Pesa as preferred bidder for the contract on August 8. Pesa’s ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Wagon leasing company VTG Rail UK is working with software company 3Squared to develop ProActive Maintenance, a web-based maintenance management system to replace paper-based processes. ‘From tracking wheelset wear to following component failure trends, we hope to be able to streamline our maintenance’, said Sam Hunt, PAM Project Manager at ...
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NewsCN implements visual identification system at headquarters
CANADA: Infynia Security has deployed FST Biometrics' In Motion Identification facial recognition technology and Automatic Systems’ SmartLane turnstiles at CN’s Montréal headquarters, including all perimeter access points and the entrance to the corporate child daycare centre. The system covers 3 000 employees, contractors and visitors to the headquarters, identifying registered ...
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NewsSFS develops silicone sponge for rail industry seals
SILICONE SPONGE: SFS Manufacturing Group has developed a silicone sponge meeting the latest European rail industry fire, smoke and toxicity specifications. Typical uses include door and roof seals, enclosure seals, HVAC seals and gaskets, anti-vibration seals and gaskets for lighting on trains, platforms and tunnels. Fire retardant silicone in solid ...
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NewsNTV confirms Italo Evo debut
ITALY: High speed open access operator Nuovo Transporto Viaggiatori announced on November 29 that the first four of its fleet of 17 italo Evo trainsets will officially enter service on December 7, just before the start of the winter timetable three days later. The announcement was made at a presentation ...
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NewsBorder link to open in January
EUROPE: The much-delayed cross-border link between Stabio in Switzerland and Varese in Italy forming part of the Ferrovia Mendrisio – Varese project will open for public services on January 7. In an initial step on December 10 cross-border operator for Ticino and Lombardia TILO will extend Route S40 between ...
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NewsGrinders offer higher output at lower cost
UK: Network Rail has taken delivery of three rail grinding trains supplied by Loram at a cost of £36m. Delivering 35% more output than the older machines they are replacing, the new grinders are expected to cost £1 000 less per shift to operate and will offer improved crew welfare ...