News – Page 522
-
NewsUK training hubs open
UK: Secretary of State for Education Justine Greening officially opened the Doncaster campus of the National College for High Speed Rail on October 9, with its partner facility in Birmingham opening on October 16. The largest of five new national colleges being created by the government ‘to ensure British workers ...
-
NewsLoco upgrade aims to save the power consumption of a town
SWITZERLAND: A Re460 electric locomotive which has been fitted with IGBT traction converters as part of a mid-life refurbishment programme was presented at Swiss Federal Railways’ Yverdon-les-Bains workshops on October 17. The 119 Re460 locomotives form the backbone of SBB’s long-distance passenger locomotive fleet. Delivered by SLM and ABB in ...
-
NewsNagpur metro test running starts with leased train
INDIA: Project promoter Maharashtra Metro Rail Corp has begun test running on a 3·5 km at-grade section of the future Nagpur metro Line 1, using the first of two Hyundai Rotem trainsets which it has leased from Hyderabad ahead of the arrival of its own fleet of ...
-
NewsLocoTech opens modernised maintenance depot
RUSSIA: LocoTech inaugurated a modernised rolling stock maintenance facility in Komsomolsk-na-Amur on the Baikal-Amur Magistral route on October 4. The former Russian Railways depot was transferred to the LocoTech through a PPP agreement under which the company has modernised the site in return for a 40-year locomotive and rolling ...
-
Metro Report InternationalWork begins on new Hamburg U-Bahn workshop
GERMANY: Hamburg Transport Senator Frank Horch and Hamburger Hochbahn Technical Director Jens-Günter Lang laid the foundation stone for a new workshop on October 12. Due to open in early 2019, the €44m facility is being built east of the U2 and U4 line between Legienstraße and Billstedt stations. It ...
-
NewsTalgo developing plans for UK rolling stock factory
UK: Spanish rolling stock manufacturer Talgo has confirmed that it is developing plans to open a factory in the UK with a ‘fully localised supply chain’, to support its strategy of gaining a foothold in the British and Irish rolling stock manufacturing and overhaul markets. Talgo President Carlos de Palacio ...
-
NewsOlomouc orders EVO1 trams
CZECH REPUBLIC: Operator DP Olomouc signed a KC212·6m contract on October 4 for the supply of eight EVO1 trams. Krnovské Opravny a Strojírny will supply its single-section low-floor EVO1 model, produced under the Alliance TW Team that also includes Pragoimex and VKV Praha. Three of the unidirectional vehicles ...
-
NewsPortal Bridge renewal launched
USA: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Amtrak Board Chairman Tony Coscia marked the start of work on the long-planned replacement of the Portal Bridge with a groundbreaking ceremony on October 13. The 110-year old two-track swing bridge over the Hackensack River between Kearny and Seacaucus has long been a ...
-
Metro Report InternationalTransport for London plans new Overground stations
UK: Transport for London has begun a five-week public consultation on plans to build stations at Hythe Road and Old Oak Common Lane in west London. ‘These two potential new London Overground stations would improve connectivity to High Speed 2 and support the regeneration at Old Oak and Park Royal’, ...
-
NewsMoscow – Troitsk tram line approved
RUSSIA: Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin approved a tram line linking the city’s metro network to the satellite town of Troitsk on October 12. The 17·8 km route would link the town of 40 000, which lies 37 km southwest of the centre of Moscow, with Prokshino metro station, which ...
-
NewsBombardier and CAF win West Midlands train contracts
UK: Bombardier Transportation and CAF have been selected to supply rolling stock for the next West Midlands franchise, the West Midlands Trains Ltd consortium of Abellio, East Japan Railway and Mitsui & Co announced on October 17. Totalling 413 vehicles, the orders are worth £680m, with financing being led by ...
-
NewsTeething troubles as IEP trainsets enter revenue service
UK: All did not go to plan when the first of the Hitachi Class 800 trainsets ordered under the Department for Transport’s £5·7bn Intercity Express Programme entered passenger service with Great Western Railway on October 16. Industry guests gathered at Bristol Temple Meads station for the inaugural service, the 06.00 ...
-
NewsStadler breaks ground on Utah factory
USA: A groundbreaking ceremony took place on October 13 for Stadler’s rolling stock factory in Salt Lake City. The $50m final assembly plant is being built near Salt Lake City airport and has a link to the Denver – San Francisco line. The modular factory is designed to accommodate ...
-
NewsÖBB coach tender back on track
AUSTRIA: Tendering for a fleet of coaches for daytime and overnight inter-city services for national operator ÖBB is to resume following withdrawal of an objection by Siemens. The company had complained in August about changes to the specification for a framework contract that included an initial tranche of 200 km/h ...
-
NewsTampere tram order finalised
FINLAND: Škoda Transportation subsidiary Transtech announced details of its tram order for Tampere on October 16. The firm order for 19 ForCity Smart Artic trams is worth €104m, and the framework contract includes options for up to 46 more vehicles, which would be delivered in three tranches. ...
-
NewsPolish service approved as LEO Express aims to develop a central European network
EUROPE: Czech open access operator LEO Express expects to announce the launch date for its planned Praha – Ostrava – Katowice – Kraków open access service in the near future, after Polish regulator UTK completed the certification process and granted train paths on October 13. Daily services would leave ...
-
NewsŠkoda to supply trams to Sofia
BULGARIA: Škoda Transportation has won a contract to supply 13 trams to Sofia, the manufacturer announced on October 13. Škoda’s first tram order from Bulgaria is worth KC610m, which includes spare parts and staff training. The operator is financing the purchase through EU funds. Škoda will supply its ...
-
NewsKaliningrad – Lithuania border station commissioned
RUSSIA: Border facilities for passengers and freight crossing between Kaliningrad oblast and Kybartai in Lithuania were commissioned at Chernyshevskoye in the east of the Russian exclave on October 2. Border formalities were previously undertaken 10 km west in Nesterov. Construction of the 1·9bn rouble facility started in 2005, and the ...
-
NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Canadian Pacific has reached an exclusive agreement to use Bluegrass Farms' intermodal terminal in Jeffersonville, Ohio to serve the Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton markets. The farm consortium will continue to own the facility, and operate it on behalf of the railway company. CP has also come to an agreement with ...
-
NewsFatigue crack detection system developed
UK: A prototype system for identifying fatigue cracks at switches and crossings has been developed by TWI Ltd with funding from RSSB and Network Rail. Based on technology used for the long-range testing of pipelines, it uses a low frequency ultrasonic method which is less affected by the cast ...