All News articles – Page 55
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NewsFirst Allegro train shipped to Finland
EUROPE: The first of four Alstom Pendolino tilting trainsets ordered for 'Allegro' services between Helsinki and St Petersburg is due to arrive in Finland this month, having been shipped from the Italian port of Vado Ligure on December 30. The 220 km/h Pendolinos are being built at Alstom's Savigliano plant. ...
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NewsWuhan – Guangzhou line opens at 380 km/h
CHINA: Revenue services on the Wuhan – Guangzhou passenger-dedicated line began running on December 26, cutting the journey time between the capitals of Hubei and Guangdong provinces to under 3 h, compared with 10 h 30 min via the 1 068 km conventional route. The inaugural trains left the new ...
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NewsMoving TGVs remotely
FRANCE: SNCF has put into service an automated shunting robot to manoeuvre trainsets on and off the underfloor wheel lathe at its TGV maintenance depot in Lyon, which opened earlier this year. A second unit has also been installed in one of its Paris TGV depots. Developed by Windhoff, the ...
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NewsKnorr-Bremse buys simulator firm
AUSTRALIA: Knorr-Bremse acquired rail driving simulator manufacturer Sydac on December 16, saying the purchase forms part of a strategy of targeted acquisitions to strengthen its position in a number of markets. It is the fourth acquisition by Knorr-Bremse Rail Vehicle Systems in 2009, following from precision machining firm De Zan ...
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NewsSiemens signs Russian Olympic train order
RUSSIA: Russian Railways has awarded Siemens Mobility the contract to supply 160 km/h Desiro regional electric multiple-units for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. They will enter service on the Tuapse - Adler route from autumn 2013, and will be used to transport athletes and spectators to the ...
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NewsNews in Brief
On December 11 Unife and UIC signed an agreement to jointly publish Technical Recommendations which will form voluntary standards applicable to European rolling stock. Russia will become the 44th member of OTIF with effect from February 1. The Cotif convention governing international rail transport will initially apply between the port ...
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NewsPlanning on the go
POLAND: Staff on Polish inter-city trains can now provide passengers with journey information using HaCon's Hafas Mobile Professional software installed on Casio IT-3100 devices by TK Telekom. Enquiries are entered using a keyboard or with a stylus on the touch-screen, enabling Polish characters to be entered into a fault-tolerant station ...
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NewsWeight is time
UK: A five-piece steel guard was originally fitted to Bombardier Voyager diesel-electric multiple-units operating in the UK to protect the Cummins engines from flying stones. However, these guards required five people to lift during maintenance, and distortion and metal fatigue meant they could not be refitted. As a result, ...
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NewsLNVG orders Lint DMUs
GERMANY: Alstom Transport announced a €75m order to supply Niedersachsen transport authority LNVG with a further 28 Coradia Lint diesel mul tiple-units on December 17. The two-car units are to be built at Salzgitter and will enter traffic on regional services in December 2011. They will have space for ...
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NewsTransitio orders more Contessas
SWEDEN: Rolling stock leasing company AB Transitio announced on December 23 that it had ordered a further 11 three-car Contessa EMUs from Bombardier Transportation at a cost of €96m, with an option for a further five. To be leased by three regional authorities, Lanstrafiken Kronoberg, Kalmar Lans Trafik and Hallandstrafiken, ...
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NewsStuttgart S-Bahn changes
GERMANY: After 18 months of construction, the extension of Stuttgart S-Bahn route S1 from Plochingen to Kirchheim unter Teck entered service on December 13, as rail timetable changes took effect across Europe. The €32·5m project involved electrification of the section between Wendlingen and Kirchheim and upgrading of track and signalling ...
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NewsChinese wagons could be built in Poland
POLAND: PKP Cargo has announced plans for a joint venture with China Northern which would assemble railway wagons at a site in Szczecin. A feasibility study will be completed within three months, Daniel Ryczek, PKP Cargo's director of International Affairs, said on December 10. If this finds that assembly ...
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NewsVossloh acquires rail services business
GERMANY: Vossloh announced a deal to acquire three rail logistics, welding and preventative maintenance companies on December 14. The LOG Logistikgesellschaft Gleisbau and ISB Instandhaltungssysteme Bahn subsidiaries of Contrack Group and the rail service business of Stahlberg Roensch Group will become a new Vossloh Rail Services business unit within Vossloh ...
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NewsDouble-decker debut
CANADA: The first trainset composed of double-deck cars made its inaugural trip on Montréal's Mont-Saint-Hilaire commuter line on November 23. The Québec government awarded a C$386m contract for 160 coaches to Bombardier Transportation in December 2007, and the first unit was unveiled at Bombardier's La Pocatière plant on August 21. ...
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NewsRussian's Sapsan high speed trains enter service
RUSSIA: ‘This is not just a train and these are not just carriages, this is a different life, different technology, a different means of transport’, said Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin before joining passengers on the first Sapsan high speed train service from Moscow to St Petersburg ...
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NewsCommission to review Eurostar failures
EUROPE: The Eurostar board announced on December 21 that it had commissioned an independent review of the train failures which brought its cross-Channel rail services to a halt on the night of December 18-19. Responding to a demand by French transport minister Dominique Bussereau, Eurostar said the review would ...
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NewsSBB Cargo stays independent
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has abandoned plans to team up with another operator in an attempt to strengthen its freight business. Announcing this on December 17, SBB said that SBB Cargo will continue to operate independently, although it will look for opportunities to co-operate with other organisations to develop international ...
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NewsGE and Transnet sign 100-locomotive deal
SOUTH AFRICA: GE Transportation announced the signing of a contract with Transnet Ltd to supply Transnet freight Rail with 100 C30ACi freight locomotives on December 18. Deliveries are scheduled for 2011-12. The manufacturer says they will be the first diesel-electric locomotives with AC traction equipment in sub-Saharan Africa. They are ...
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NewsSersa Group buys Total track
CANADA: Sersa Group has acquired a 68% stake in Ontario-based Total Track, which undertakes track construction and maintenance work in Ontario and Québec. The companies have previously co-operated on various projects, and Swiss-based Sersa Group said it believes the acquisition 'is an important milestone for its further development in ...
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NewsPortuguese high speed contract awarded
PORTUGAL: On December 12 the Ministry of Public Works, Transport & Communications announced that the Elos consortium had been awarded a 40-year concession to build, finance and maintain the first section of the high speed line between Lisboa and the Spanish frontier, the 165 km between Poceirão and the border ...