News – Page 671
-
NewsFRA awards level crossing upgrading grants
USA: The Federal Railroad Administration has awarded nearly $10m in grants for nine projects to increase the safety of level crossings on routes used by oil trains. ‘Today's grants will upgrade the warning systems at critical crossings and close others where crude oil and other energy products are transported’, said ...
-
NewsBudapest suburban line ownership change
HUNGARY: Budapest Mayor István Tarlós and Minister of National Development Miklós Seszták have agreed that national rail operator MÁV is to take over operation of all HÉV suburban lines that run beyond the city boundary. This will follow the government taking over all operating costs of these lines, currently financed ...
-
NewsProfit up as VTG opens ‘new chapter’
EUROPE: ‘VTG opened a completely new chapter in 2015’, said Chief Executive Heiko Fischer when presenting preliminary results on February 23. In 2015 the integration of AAE had been successfully completed, all VTG divisions developed their business, processes and structures were simplified and comprehensive refinancing benefited from low interest rates, ...
-
NewsNewrest wins SNCF catering supply contract
FRANCE: Newrest announced on February 22 that its subsidiary Facilit’Rail had been awarded a contract by SNCF to provide logistics for on-train catering on TGV, iDTGV and Intercités services, as well as the Alleo high speed joint venture with DB. Running for ‘just over’ four years, according Newrest, the contract ...
-
NewsWabtec Corp announces record results
WABTEC: ‘We finished 2015 with a strong performance and are positioned for record results again in 2016, even as we face challenges in some of our key markets’, said President & CEO Raymond T Betler when presenting Wabtec Corp’s annual results on February 18. ‘We have responded to these challenges ...
-
NewsUnited Wagon Co output up 28%
RUSSIA: Increased production capacity and larger order volumes saw United Wagon Co manufacture a total of 12 400 wagons in 2015, a 28% increase on 2014’s total. Production in Q4 2015 reached 3 900 wagons, up 43% on the same period the previous year. The group obtained certification for six ...
-
NewsCSX adjusts to declining coal traffic
USA: CSX has announced measures to match its ‘structural resources’ with an ongoing decline in coal traffic volumes and predicted future shifts in demand. Coal revenues have declined by $1·4bn over the past four years, and Chief Financial Officer Frank Lonegro told the Barclays Industrial Select Conference in Miami on ...
-
NewsFeature articles in the March 2016 issue of Metro Report International
Articles in the March 2016 issue of Metro Report International. Comment Rolling Stock Fleet General Manager Richard Keefe explains MTR Corp's asset life assurance strategy News Review Round-up of world metro, light rail and tram news City digest Canberra consortium appointed, London rail proposals, Moscow EMUs ordered, Palermo trams inaugurated, ...
-
NewsChina sets out urban transport guidelines
CHINA: The Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council issued guidelines and targets for urban development and management on February 21, following the Central Urban Work Conference at the end of last year. The document is a response to the problems caused by rapid urbanisation in ...
-
NewsFinch West LRT requests for proposals issued
CANADA: Infrastructure Ontario and Toronto regional transport agency Metrolinx have issued requests for proposals to the three consortia which have been shortlisted for the contract to design, build, finance and maintain the Finch West Light Rail Transit project. Proposals are to be submitted later this year. IO envisages that preliminary ...
-
NewsNairobi plans light rail network
KENYA: Work on a light rail network in Nairobi is due to start by June, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced on February 19. The first phase would link the existing railway station with the future terminus of the standard gauge line under construction between Nairobi and Mombasa. Further phases would ...
-
NewsRobots on test at Paris stations
FRANCE: A robot luggage trolley and two types of cleaning machine are being tested in Paris by SNCF’s station management business Gares & Connexions. The motorised luggage carrier has sensors which enable it to automatically follow the route taken by staff who are assisting less-mobile passengers at Paris Est. ...
-
NewsWork starts on Kolkata airport metro link
INDIA: On February 21 Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu launched construction of an extension of the Kolkata metro to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Dum Dum. The 6·9 km underground route would start from the current northern terminus of the North-South Line at Noapara and run northeast ...
-
NewsWehrhahn tram tunnel opens in Düsseldorf
GERMANY: Düsseldorf Lord Mayor Thomas Geisel officially launched services through the Wehrhahn tram tunnel at 12.30 on February 20. Regular passenger services began the following day. The 3·4 km route links Bilk in the south with Wehrhahn in the northeast through the centre of Düsseldorf. The line has six ...
-
NewsPremium fleet envisaged under TET revival plan
FRANCE: Setting out the first progress update in the government’s ‘road map’ to reviving France’s conventional long-distance passenger trains, Transport Secretary Alain Vidalies confirmed on February 19 that the ‘rolling stock fleet for these trains would be entirely renewed by 2025’. Suggesting that a major factor in the decline in ...
-
NewsWorld rail infrastructure market February 2016
Algeria: A consortium of Colas Rail and Kou G C is to build two extensions of the Alger metro under contracts worth €117m and €51m. Australia: Queensland has awarded Golding Contractors a civil works contract for the A$163m double-tracking of the 8·2 km Coomera – Helensvale section of the ...
-
NewsWorld rail market February 2016
Austria: WestBahn has used market-opening rules to begin buying traction electricity from EnergieAllianz Austria. Canada: Siscog is to supply timetable and fleet planning software to VIA. France: A consortium of Santerne, DTI Group and Cibest is to supply passenger information systems for the Marseille metro fleet. Each train ...
-
NewsKončar KEV DMU enters service
CROATIA: Passenger operator HŽ PP’s first Končar KEV Class 7023 diesel multiple-unit entered revenue service on February 15, operating on the route between Zagreb, Varaždin and Kotoriba. The three-car articulated DMU is 58·5 m long. It has 151 fixed and nine folding seats, two wheelchair spaces, space for two bicycles ...
-
NewsCalifornia targets high speed service to Silicon Valley by 2025
USA: Issuing its Draft Business Plan for 2016 on February 18, the California High Speed Rail Authority set a target date for launching revenue-earning services between ‘Silicon Valley and Central Valley’ by 2025. With construction work now underway along an alignment covering approximately 160 km in the state’s Central Valley, ...
-
NewsTesting begins on Bratislava dual-gauge tram extension
SLOVAKIA: Testing on a dual-gauge extension of Bratislava’s tram network began on February 16. Operator Dopravný podnik Bratislava expects passenger services to start in March or April. Running south from Šafárikovo námestie, the new route is the only one in the city to cross the Danube, using the 460 ...