News – Page 550
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NewsSouth Eastern franchise bidders announced
UK: The Department for Transport announced the shortlisted bidders for the next South Eastern passenger franchise on June 22. They are: South Eastern Holdings Ltd (NS’s Abellio Transport Group, East Japan Railway and Mitsui & Co); London & South East Passenger Rail Services Ltd (Govia 65:35 joint venture of Go-Ahead ...
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NewsUK railway news round-up
The first of 22 five-car and 14 nine-car Hitachi AT300 Class 802 electro-diesel trainsets ordered by leasing company Eversholt Rail for Great Western Railway services from London Paddington to Devon and Cornwall arrived at the port of Southampton from Japan on June 17. The Intercity Express Train is designed to ...
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Metro Report InternationalLondon transport strategy targets zero emissions by 2050
UK: Mayor of London Sadiq Khan published his first draft transport strategy on June 21. It is open for public consultation until October 2. Noting that the city’s population is set to expand from 8·7 million to 10·5 million over the next 25 years, the document sets a target ...
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NewsPerpetuum enters Chinese rail market
CHINA: Remote conditioning monitoring specialist Perpetuum has signed a memorandum of understanding for China High Speed Railway Technology Co subsidiary Beijing Sheenline Group Co to support its entry into the Chinese market. The agreement announced on June 21 includes wheelset, bogie and track monitoring, along with design and commissioning advice. ...
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NewsRail sector responds to the Queen's Speech
UK: The rail sector responds to the Queen's Speech given at the state opening of parliament on June 21, which outlined the government's policies and proposed legislative programme for the new parliamentary session. [View the story "Rail sector responds to the Queen's Speech 2017" on Storify]
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NewsEBRD agrees €290m loan for Egyptian locomotive order
EGYPT: A €290m loan agreement to support Egyptian National Railways’ planned acquisition of up to 100 diesel locomotives through a supply and maintenance contract was signed by the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development on June 19. EBRD said the acquisition of new locomotives maintained by a private-sector partner would ...
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NewsElectric buses enter service in Differdange
LUXEMBOURG: The first series-built fully electric buses in Differdange have entered service. Volvo has supplied four of its 7900 Electric buses to operator Sales-Lentz. These will be used on four routes of between 8 km and 9·5 km. Charging takes place every 25 min at the termini, with two ...
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NewsPort rail access funding
SPAIN: A series of agreements that will see state-owned port authorities fund rail infrastructure upgrades were signed by ADIF on June 6. The total cost of the projects is €45∙5m, of which €11∙5m is being provided by the European Regional Development Fund via ADIF. The largest single project is a ...
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NewsCRRC to supply commuter coaches to Montréal
CANADA: CRRC Tangshan has been awarded a contract to supply 24 double-deck hauled coaches to operate on commuter services serving Montréal. The coaches are to be deployed on the Deux-Montagnes line, ahead of the opening of the Réseau Électrique Métropolitain light metro. The coaches are also expected to replace ...
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NewsBombardier to supply 750 EMU cars for South Western franchise
UK: FirstGroup and MTR Corp have awarded Bombardier Transportation a £895m contract supply 90 five-car and 10-car Aventra electric multiple-units for the next South Western franchise. The contract announced on June 20 covers a total of 750 cars which are to be built at Bombardier’s Derby plant. The EMUs are ...
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NewsHigh-capacity grain hoppers delivered
RUSSIA: United Wagon Co is supplying Sberbank Leasing with 100 grain hopper wagons of a new high-capacity design. The high-axleload wagons have a capacity of 76∙5 tonnes and 120 m3, which is 26 m3 more than standard grain wagons. They are designed for 800 000 km or eight years ...
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NewsBangalore metro Phase 1 completed
INDIA: Phase 1 of the Bangalore metro was completed on June 17 with the inauguration of the southern section of the Green Line. Passenger services started the following day. The 12 km extension from Sampige Road to Yelachenahalli takes the north-south Green Line to 24·2 km. Interchange with the ...
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NewsAlliance drops Pendolino plan as Southampton paths identified
UK: Open access passenger service promoter Alliance Rail Holdings has dropped plans to procure Alstom Pendolino trainsets for its proposed London Euston – Blackpool North service. The Arriva subsidiary reports that it is now discussing with leasing company Eversholt the use of Class 91 locomotives and MkIV coaches which are ...
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NewsIzmit tramway opens
TURKEY: Governor of Kocaeli province İbrahim Karaosmanoğlu inaugurated the Akçaray tram line in Izmit on June 17. The 7·4 km route with 11 stops links Sekapark in the west with Otogar in the east via the city’s railway station. The end-to-end journey time is 24 min. Gülermak acted ...
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NewsFuel cells to be studied as alternative to Toronto electrification
CANADA: Ontario is to study the feasibility of using of hydrogen fuel cells ‘as an alternative to conventional overhead wires’ for the planned electrification of GO Rail and UP Express routes in the Toronto region. According to the province’s Ministry of Transportation, recent advances in the use of hydrogen fuel ...
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News
GE signs 'holistic' agreement to supply 100 locos to Egypt
EGYPT: The Ministry of Transport and Egyptian National Railways have signed a US$575m letter of intent for GE to supply 100 Evolution Series mixed-traffic locomotives. Training of more than 275 staff and the provision of 15 years of support and spare parts for the state railway’s existing and future GE ...
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NewsKochi metro opens
INDIA: Revenue services on the first phase of the Kochi metro started on June 19, two days after an official inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The 13 km section from Aluva to Palarivattom forms the northern part of what will eventually be a 25·6 km route from Aluva in ...
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NewsTuas West Extension opens in Singapore
SINGAPORE: The Tuas West Extension opened to passengers on June 18. The 7·5 km western extension of the East-West Line runs above ground from Joo Koon to Tuas Link. Four stations have been added to the metro network. Land Transport Authority expects that these will together serve 100 000 ...
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NewsTwo lines open in China
CHINA: Trial services on the 40·7 km Ningbo – Yuyao Intercity Railway in Zhejiang province began on June 10. Services are operated by a fleet of eight-car CRH6F Cinova trainsets supplied by CRRC Nanjing Puzhen. These operate at a maximum speed of 160 km/h and have a high capacity of ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Green Cargo has developed 25 m long wagons to accommodate the increase in the length of standard turnouts from 16 to 24 m. This will support Vossloh Nordic Switch Systems’ aim of increasing rail’s share of its track component delivery activities to 20% this year and more in the future. ...