News – Page 693
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NewsFrance announces security checks for international rail passengers
FRANCE: Equipment to enable passengers and their luggage to be scanned prior to boarding Thalys services in Paris and Lille is to be installed before December 20, Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development & Energy Ségolène Royal has announced. During an interview with radio station France Inter, the minister ...
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NewsVoters approve Limmattalbahn
SWITZERLAND: Funding which will enable the construction of the Limmattalbahn was approved by voters in Zürich Canton on November 22. Turnout was 40%, with 64·5% of voters in favour. Zürich is to provide SFr510m for construction of the line and a further SFr136m for changes to the road network. ...
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NewsTransnet signs R12bn loan to fund loco programme
SOUTH AFRICA: State-owned freight operator Transnet signed a R12bn club loan with five financial institutions on November 23, saying the agreements confirmed ‘buoyant investor appetite’. This completes the majority of the funding required for Transnet’s programme to acquire 1 064 locomotives from four manufacturers. Transnet has raised R12bn in the ...
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NewsLyon orders more Citadis trams
FRANCE: Lyon transport authority Sytral has ordered seven additional Citadis trams from Alstom. The order announced on November 24 is an option on a €33m contract signed in 2011 for 10 trams, and is worth €20m. The 100% low-floor trams will be the same as those already in operation ...
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NewsChicago underground 4G progresses
USA: Chicago Transit Authority has completed the installation of 4G wireless coverage on the underground sections of its Blue Line. Coverage on the underground sections of the Red Line is expected by the end of the year. The $32·5m project to upgrade the network began earlier this year. It ...
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NewsMetropolitan Line Extension funding agreed
UK: The funding package for the Metropolitan Line Extension project has been finalised, London Underground announced on November 23. Construction is now expected to start next year, with completion due in 2020. Previously known as the Croxley Rail Link, the project has until now been managed by Hertfordshire County ...
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NewsPrasarana develops its international portfolio
THAILAND: Kuala Lumpur transport agency Prasarana is to provide technical support to the Purple Line metro project in Bangkok by sending six drivers and five controllers from operating subsidiary Rapid Rail to Bangkok for four months. The request for assistance on the site integration test came from the Marubeni-Toshiba ...
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NewsEthiopia – Djibouti railway carries first freight
AFRICA: The first freight train to operate on the new standard gauge railway between Djibouti and Addis Ababa arrived at a temporary unloading facility in Merebe Mermersa, 112 km south of Ethiopia's capital, on November 21.Construction of the railway has not yet been completed, but freight services have been launched ...
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NewsBangalore inaugurates second section of Purple Line
INDIA: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah flagged off an inaugural train on the second section of Bangalore’s Namma Metro Purple Line on November 16. Passenger services started on November 18. Known as Reach 2, the 6·8 km elevated route with six stations runs from Mysore Road to Magadi Road. It ...
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NewsWorld rail market November 2015
France: RATP has awarded Faiveley Transport and Eiffage Energie Ferroviaire a €15m contract to supply platform screen doors for the four stations on the Paris metro Line 14 northern extension to Mairie de Saint-Ouen. Kazakhstan: Grandi Stazioni is to assist Vokzal Service in the modernisation of Astana, Almaty-1 and ...
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NewsWorld rolling stock market November 2015
Brazil: Nexans is supplying power, data and control cables for 32 trams which Alstom is building for Rio de Janeiro. Bulgaria: Sofia Metropoliten has awarded a contract to a Siemens-Newag consortium for the supply of 20 three-car trains for Line 3. Delivery is due within 36 months. The deal ...
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NewsFirst tram-train heads for Sheffield
UK: The first of seven Citylink vehicles for the Sheffield – Rotherham tram-train pilot project left Vossloh España’s factory near Valencia on November 18. Expected to leave the port of Santander on November 23, it is due to arrive in Southampton on November 28 before making the final leg of ...
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NewsEurostar e320 enters service
EUROPE: The first of Eurostar’s 17 Siemens-built Velaro e320 trainsets began operating in limited commercial service on November 20, having been authorised for passenger operation through the Channel Tunnel the previous day. According to Eurostar, ‘we received the final piece of safety authorisation earlier than expected’, allowing the company to ...
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NewsMichael Clausecker
Michael Clausecker, formerly Chairman of Bombardier Deutschland, has been appointed CEO of Düsseldorf light rail operator Rheinbahn AG. He will take over in March, succeeding Dirk Biesenbach.
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NewsODEG wins Netz Spree-Neiße operating contract
GERMANY: Following an open tender conducted by transport authority VBB, on November 19 the Land of Brandenburg and Oberlausitz-Niederschlesien transport auithority ZVON announced that incumbent Ostdeutsche Eisenbahn had been selected to operate Netz Spree-Neiße services for 12 years from December 2018. The contract covers the operation of 1·9 million train-km/year ...
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NewsManfred Rudhart
DB Regio CEO Manfred Rudhart is to replace David Martin as CEO of DB subsidiary Arriva when he steps down at the end of the year.
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NewsHenrik Hololei
Former Deputy Secretary General of the European Commission Henrik Hololei has been appointed DG Move Director-General, replacing João Aguiar Machado who became Director-General for Maritime Affairs & Fisheries in June.
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NewsS Mookerjee
Former Director General of the National Academy of Indian Railways S Mookerjee has replaced Rajalakshmi Ravi Kumar as Financial Commissioner of Indian Railways.
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NewsTfL Commissioner named
Mayor of London Boris Johnson and the TfL board have confirmed the appointment of Mike Brown as Commissioner of Transport for London, following an international recruitment and selection process. Formerly Managing Director of London Underground & Rail at TfL, he had been Interim Commissioner since July following the departure of ...