News – Page 606
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NewsBanks finance wagons
EUROPE: KfW IPEX-Bank and DVB Bank have agreed to finance the purchase of up to 1 335 freight wagons by leasing company Touax Rail Ltd’s Irish-registered single-purpose company TX Rail Finance 4. The two banks will contribute equally to the long-term financing, which is worth more than €54m with a ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
Austrian non-contact measurement technology company Nextsense has opened a US office in Atlanta. The Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund has received expressions of interest in the purchase of rolling stock maintenance business EESSTY from Italy’s FS Group and Škoda Transportation. The deadline for the submission of binding offers is ...
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NewsMTU inaugurates Cape Town engine plant
SOUTH AFRICA: A ceremony on October 27 marked the inauguration of MTU’s redesigned plant in Cape Town following a €3m modernisation designed to enable the Rolls Royce business to localise diesel engine manufacturing. The plant will be used to assemble, test and commission around 200 of the 232 Series 4000 ...
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NewsTransPennine Express coach production begins
UK: Production of 66 push-pull coaches for use by TransPennine Express began at rolling stock manufacturer CAF’s factory at Beasain in Spain on October 27. CAF is to deliver 13 five-car push-pull trainsets from 2018, plus one spare driving vehicle. Designated Mark 5A, the coaches will initially be used between ...
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NewsFokstrot tram deliveries to Moscow resume
RUSSIA: Deliveries of Pesa Fokstrot trams to Moscow resumed on October 25, when 10 trams were shipped from Pesa’s factory in Bydgoszcz to the Russian capital. Operator Mosgortans signed a contract in 2013 for 120 Fokstrot trams to be supplied by Pesa in co-operation with Uraltransmash. Following the steep ...
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NewsAmsted to buy Faiveley’s US brake business as part of Wabtec settlement
USA: The Department of Justice announced on October 26 that in order to alleviate its concerns about Wabtec’s proposed US$1·8bn acquisition of Faiveley Transport it would require Wabtec to entirely divest Faiveley Transport North America’s wagon brakes business to a single independent buyer. Wabtec has proposed that ...
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NewsAlstom awarded Breisgau EMU contract
GERMANY: DB Regio has awarded Alstom a contract worth more than €130m for the supply of 24 Coradia Continental regional electric multiple-units. These are to be used from December 2019 on Breisgau-Ost-West services around Freiburg. DB Regio is to operate these services under a contract awarded by the Land of ...
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NewsGrandi Stazioni loses Praha concession
CZECH REPUBLIC: Italian station development venture Grandi Stazioni, owned 60% by FS Group and 40% by the Eurostazioni consortium, has lost its 30-year lease of Praha Hlavní station, after failing to complete the renovation of the historic building by the contractual deadline of October 16. GS was awarded a ...
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NewsRatos sells EuroMaint Rail
SWEDEN: Private equity company Ratos has signed an agreement to sell its 100% stake in rolling stock maintenance business EuroMaint Rail to SSVP, a mid-market private equity fund advised by Orlando Management which invests in companies that it believes are underperforming but have ‘a healthy core’. The SKr650m deal announced ...
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NewsAb Ovo to supply Eurasian freight planning software
CHINA: Business software developer Ab Ovo signed a contract on October 26 to provide Shanghai-based logistics company Railink International with a service planning and ‘track and trace’ container management package. This will be used on Railink’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ routes from China to destinations in Mongolia, Russia, Central Asia ...
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NewsKTZ launches train wi-fi pilot project
KAZAKHSTAN: InfiNet Wireless has provided national railway KTZ with a wireless broadband network as part of a pilot project covering passenger trains, maintenance vehicles and stations on the 226 km route from Astana to Shchuchinsk. Low cost and robustness were priorities, and the network uses small wireless devices fitted to ...
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NewsSevern Tunnel electrification installation completed
UK: The 7 km Severn Tunnel reopened on October 22 following a six-week closure to install 25 kV 50 Hz electrification equipment. The project required a total of 18 000 person-days of work. Around 14 km of Furrer+Frey rigid overhead conductor rail was installed, supported by 1 648 drop ...
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NewsRENFE restructures freight business
SPAIN: National operator Renfe has announced a restructuring of its freight business, aiming to transform Renfe Mercancías to ensure its ‘economic, financial and operational viability’. Latterly advising the President of Renfe on freight strategy, experienced railway manager Abelardo Carrillo has been appointed as Director General of the restructured operation. With ...
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NewsTerms of Wabtec acquisition of Faiveley Transport modified
INTERNATIONAL: The terms for Wabtec’s planned acquisition of Faiveley Transport which had been agreed on October 6 2015 have been modified, the two companies and the Faiveley family announced on October 25. Completion of the deal is expected by the end of the year, subject to regulatory clearance in the ...
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NewsAlstom to deliver 30 metro trainsets to Lyon
FRANCE: Lyon transport authority Sytral has awarded Alstom a €140m contract to supply 30 trainsets for the Lyon metro. The order announced on October 26 includes options for up to 18 more trains. The rolling stock has been ordered as part of Sytral’s Future Metro 2020 programme, which aims ...
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NewsSafeguarding the competitiveness of light rail
With the rise of non-rail ‘electro-mobility’ and new approaches to urban transport such as car sharing and taxi apps, light rail and trams are facing increased competition. Where should the rail supply industry put its focus to ensure the attractiveness and competitiveness of light rail vehicles?
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Metro Report InternationalCrenshaw/LAX tunnel progress
USA: Excavation of one of the twin tunnels for the Crenshaw/LAX light rail line in Los Angeles was completed on October 20, when tunnel boring machine Harriet broke through at the site of the future Leimert Park station. The Herrenknecht earth pressure balance TBM was lowered into Crenshaw/Expo station ...
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NewsDB and Siemens launch predictive maintenance pilot
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn and Siemens have launched a 12-month pilot project to provide data to support predictive maintenance of the Class 407 Velaro D high speed train fleet. Data received from moving Velaro D trainsets will be systematically analysed at the Siemens Mobility Data Services Centre in München, complementing diagnostic ...
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NewsSamarkand receives trams
UZBEKISTAN: Preliminary works for the construction of a tram line in Samarkand began on October 16 with the removal of grassed median strips on some roads. The 8 km first phase of the route would connect the city’s main railway station with Sat-Tepo and is due to enter service ...
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NewsNational Express pulls out of Nürnberg S-Bahn bidding
GERMANY: National Express Group announced on October 25 that it had withdrawn its winning bids for two parallel 12-year contracts to operate Nürnberg S-Bahn services from December 2018. The UK-based transport group said it had informed Bayern railway agency BEG that ‘it is no longer in the interest of ...