News – Page 687
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NewsWellington chooses suburban rail operator
NEW ZEALAND: Greater Wellington Regional Council announced the selection of a joint venture between Transdev and Hyundai Rotem as preferred bidder for a contract to operate the capital’s suburban rail services on December 17. Formal award is planned for March. A Keolis Downer-KiwiRail joint venture and Serco had also ...
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NewsKampala light rail agreement signed
UGANDA: The government has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese government for the construction of a light rail network in Kampala. To be built by China Civil Engineering Construction Corp, the first phase would cost US$440m to build and would extend for 35 km on an elevated ...
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NewsQingdao metro opens
CHINA: The first metro line in Qingdao opened for trial passenger operation at 11.00 on December 16. Services on Line 3 operate between 06.30 and 21.30 using six six-car trainsets. The 12 km northern section of Line 3 links Qingdao North railway station with Shungshan in the city centre. ...
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NewsWaldenburgbahn to be regauged
SWITZERLAND: Plans to convert the 13·1 km Waldenburgbahn from 750 mm to 1 000 mm gauge by 2022 were approved by Basel’s construction and planning commission last month. The single-track line from Liestal to Waldenburg opened in 1880 and was electrified at 1·5 kV DC in 1953. It is ...
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NewsNASA selects Abellio to operate services
GERMANY: Sachsen-Anhalt transport authority NASA has selected Abellio Rail Mitteldeutschland to operate Dieselnetz Sachsen-Anhalt passenger services for 14 years from December 2018. NASA is procuring the services on behalf of the Länder of Sachsen-Anhalt, Thüringen and the greater Braunschweig region. The preferred bidder was named on December 14, with ...
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NewsBEG confirms National Express as Nürnberg S-Bahn operator
GERMANY: Bayern railway authority BEG confirmed the National Express Rail GmbH subsidiary of UK-based National Express Group as the winner of the two Nürnberg S-Bahn operating contracts on December 15, after reviewing bids following an appeal by incumbent DB Regio which had blocked the award of the contracts. Subject ...
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NewsChinese consortium to complete Malaysian electric spine
MALAYSIA: Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai announced on December 11 that the contract for electrification and double-tracking of the Gemas – Johor Bahru route is to be awarded to a consortium led by China Railways Corp.Lai said that the award of the contract would accelerate the programme to enable a ...
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NewsHessische Landesbahn orders 30 EMUs
GERMANY: Alstom announced on December 15 that it had been awarded a €160m contract to supply 30 Coradia Continental electric multiple-units to Hessische Landesbahn. Alstom said these would be the first Coradia Continental units to meet the Locomotives & Passenger Rolling Stock Technical Specification for Interoperability. The order covers ...
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NewsTesting starts on Bangkok’s Purple Line
THAILAND: On December 14 concessionaire Bangkok Metro Public Co started test running on the first section of the Purple Line in Bangkok, in the presence of Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha. The 23 km elevated route linking Bang Yai in northwest Bangkok to Tao Pun in the city centre ...
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NewsTrenitalia among 11 recipients of UK ‘franchising passports’
UK: The Department for Transport announced on December 15 that 11 transport companies had been awarded Pre-Qualification Questionnaire Passports, which have been designed to make it easier and quicker to bid for passenger franchises by removing the need to for potential bidders to complete 'resource-intensive' sections of the pre-qualification questionnaire ...
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NewsNuclear Decommissioning Authority orders flask wagons
UK: The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has awarded Nottinghamshire-based wagon builder WH Davis Ltd a contract to supply five new-generation nuclear flask carriers for use on the national rail network. The new vehicles are intended to replace the existing Type FNA flask carriers, and the NDA requires them be certified in ...
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NewsHamburg S-Bahn trains take shape
GERMANY: The first of six pre-series dual-system EMUs for suburban operator S-Bahn Hamburg GmbH is expected to begin dynamic testing before the end of the year, according to manufacturer Bombardier.The trains are being assembled at Bombardier’s Hennigsdorf plant north of Berlin under a €327m contract placed by S-Bahn Hamburg’s parent ...
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NewsStadler selects Utah for rolling stock assembly plant
USA: Stadler Rail’s US subsidiary has selected North Salt Lake, Utah as the location of a temporary rolling stock assembly plant, the state Governor’s Office of Economic Development announced on December 10. It is also being considered for the site of a permanent factory which Stadler is to develop under ...
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NewsFreiburg expands its tram network
GERMANY: The latest expansion of the metre-gauge tram network in Freiburg was inaugurated on December 11 with a 1·6 km branch from Robert-Koch-Straße to the Technical Faculty of Universität Freiburg. Serving four stops, trams on this section of Route 4 run every 10 min. Construction began in 2013 and ...
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NewsKöln opens next section of light rail tunnel
GERMANY: The third phase of the Nord-Süd Stadtbahn project in Köln was inaugurated on December 12 at a ceremony attended by around 450 invited guests. Regular services began the following day. The 2·4 km section forms a branch off Route 16 at Schönhauser Straße, running north to Bonner Wall, ...
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NewsIndia and Japan sign high speed rail memorandum
INDIA: Memoranda of understanding for the possible development of a Mumbai – Ahmedabad high speed line using Japanese technology as well as technical co-operation in the rail sector were signed by the governments of India and Japan on December 11-12, during an official visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. ...
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NewsDr Bernd Bohr
Heinz Hermann Thiele is to step down as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Knorr-Bremse in March next year. He will be succeeded by Dr Bernd Bohr (photo), who until 2013 was Chairman of the Automotive Group at Robert Bosch GmbH.
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NewsAustralia runs 1 250 m long grain train
AUSTRALIA: Southern Shorthaul Railroad and the Australian Rail Track Corp have co-operated to run what they say is the longest export grain train in the country’s history. At 1 250 m long, the five-loco, 73-wagon train is more than twice the length of regular grain trains on the line. ...
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NewsRail industry news in brief - December 2015
The timetable change on December 13 will see SNCF extend its network of Ouigo low-cost TGV services to Tourcoing, Nantes, Rennes, Le Mans, Angers , TGV Haute Picardie, Roissy Aéroport CDG 2 and Massy TGV. The port of Lübeck’s European Cargo Logistics and Green Cargo have agreed to co-operate ...
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NewsHopper wagon contract signed
RUSSIA: United Wagon Co has signed an agreement with fertiliser producer Uralkali to supply 400 hopper wagons from its Tikhvin factory. The Type 19-9870 cars will have an axleload of 25 tonnes and can carry up to 76·5 tonnes. A two-stage coating also improves protection from load damage. ...