All News articles – Page 60
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NewsEurostar prepares for competition
EUROPE: 'Hopefully very soon, we will be a single Eurostar train operating company' in the UK, France and Belgium', Eurostar Chief Executive Richard Brown told the UK's Railway Study Association on October 14. 'At the moment, actually, in France I have no authority, I have no accountability. I ...
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NewsPortland buys more RDCs
USA: Portland operator TriMet has purchased two additional DMU cars to provide backup for its existing four cars, whose reliability has been unpredictable on the 23·7 km Wilsonville-Beaverton Westside Express Service. Instead of new vehicles to match those manufactured by now-defunct Colorado Railcar, the transit agency has acquired a ...
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NewsThrough services vital for high-speed success
EUROPE: Eurostar's share of the rail+air market from London to Paris, Brussels and Lille is now nearly 85%, Commercial Director Nick Mercer told a Railway Forum seminar in London on October 15, and even on routes with 4 h journey times other Railteam members 'take more than 50% market share'. ...
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NewsLithuanian Railways hosts fire rescue exercise
LITHUANIA: Following the signing of a co-operation agreement earlier this year, Lithuanian Railways and the Vilnius Fire & Rescue Service hosted their first emergency training exercise on October 22. Guests included representatives of the Transport & Communications Ministry and the State Railway Inspectorate. The objective was to improve the ...
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NewsAlstom out of Thameslink bidding
UK: Alstom Transport was informed late on October 22 that its bid to supply the new Thameslink EMU fleet had been eliminated from the final stage of the contest. This leaves Bombardier Transportation and Siemens Mobility in the running for the major order to be placed by the Department for ...
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NewsEU allocates TEN-T infrastructure funds
EUROPE: The European Commission announced the first projects which are to receive a total of €500m of infrastructure grants under the Trans-European Transport Network programme on October 21. The TEN-T programme aims to build missing transport links in Europe and remove bottlenecks. The funding was originally to be spread ...
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NewsFinal section of Kashmir Valley railway inaugurated
INDIA: Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh flagged off a train from Anantnag to Quazigund to inaugurate the final 18 km of the railway through the Kashmir Valley on October 28. The currently isolated line will eventually be joined to the Indian rail network at Udhampur, providing an all -weather ...
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NewsUIC endorses Open Telematics standards
EUROPE: The IT Study Group at the International Union of Railways' Freight Forum has decided to adopt the standards being developed for rail freight applications by the Open Telematics Alliance, which will form the basis of a new UIC leaflet on recommended practice. Meeting in Paris on October 13, ...
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NewsRegions confirm €7bn framework TER contract
FRANCE: A framework contract for the supply of up to 1 000 low-floor trainsets to operate regional services was signed in Paris on October 27 by SNCF President Guillaume Pepy and the President of Alstom Transport Philippe Mellier. Within the overall package, orders were confirmed for an initial build of ...
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NewsBangkok Airport Rail Link handover imminent
With trials of Bangkok's Airport Rail Link continuing on a daily basis, Railway Gazette International's Urban Editor Jane Pearce took a ride on an Airport Express train to Suvarnabhumi Airport on October 22.
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NewsKatowice airport link design underway
POLAND: A consortium of Pöyry and DB International has begun detailed design for a rail link between central Katowice and the city's international airport at Pyrzowice. The design phase runs to May 2011, with Pöyry's share of the contract awarded by rail infrastructure manager PKP PLK at the end ...
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NewsLow prices force change at Strukton Rail
NETHERLANDS: 'Prices in the market for renewals are under great pressure', said Strukton Rail on October 19, announcing a reorganisation under which the company's four regions will be reduced to two. Around 350 jobs are to go across the country, and Strukton has started negotiations with its staff and ...
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NewsVossloh buys Global Rail Systems
USA: Vossloh acquired a majority stake in Texas-based Global Rail Systems with effect from October 16. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the existing management will remain in place. The automation, level crossing and control equipment company is intended to complement Vossloh's other US businesses, Vossloh Track Material, Cleveland ...
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NewsMantena awarded Coradia Nordic maintenance
SWEDEN: Alstom Transport has awarded Norwegian train maintenance company Mantena a seven-year contract worth €22m to maintain the 49 Coradia Nordic electric multiple-units which will be delivered to Skånetrafiken from next month. Under the contract announced on October 22 Alstom will supply Mantena with spare parts for the units, ...
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NewsPrivate coal line gets go-ahead
INDONESIA: On October 21 state-owned coal miner PTBA announced it had received government approval for a 307 km railway which will link its Banko Tengah mine in South Sumatra with a port at Srengsem in Lampung province. To be used solely by PTBA, the railway will have a capacity of ...
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NewsLocos ordered for fewer and more efficient trains
CANADA: Orders for a total of 70 diesel-electric locomotives were announced by Canadian National on October 21. GE Transportation is to supply 35 ES44DC locomotives of 4 400 hp from the fourth quarter of 2010, while EMD will provide 35 SD70M-2s of 4 350 hp from January 2011. ...
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News€10bn rail spend for 2010
SPAIN: Investment in new rolling stock as well as the infrastructure of the national network is set to total €10·2bn next year, according to the Ministry of Development's draft budget. Appearing before a parliamentary committee on October 6, Secretary of State for Transport Concepción Gutiérrez said the ministry was ...
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NewsRail associations to develop common positions
EUROPE: On October 19 three industry associations announced an agreement to develop common positions on technical issues in support of the activities of the EU's European Railway Agency. The European Rail Infrastructure Managers (EIM), the Community of European Railway & Infrastructure Companies (CER) and the International Union of Railways ...
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NewsLOTOS Kolej orders Traxx locomotives
POLAND: The LOTOS Kolej transport subsidiary of oil and gas group LOTOS signed a €18·6m order for six Bombardier Transportation diesel-electric freight locomotives on October 14. The 2 400 kW Traxx locomotives will be built at Kassel using bodyshells from Wroclaw and bogies from Siegen. Deliveries start in ...
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NewsTGV Sud Est refurbishment deal
FRANCE: SNCF has selected Compin Group to supply interior fittings for the refurbishment of its original fleet of TGV Sud Est trainsets. Under a contract signed on October 6, the interiors specialist will supply complete kits for 60 trains, with options for a further 47. Each trainset has two power ...