All News articles – Page 8
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NewsFirst crowd-sourced Stadler EMU arrives in Bern
SWITZERLAND: Metre-gauge inter-urban operator Regionalverkehr Bern-Solothurn took delivery of the first of 14 Worbla EMUs at its Worblaufen depot north of Bern on August 7. RBS ordered the trains from Stadler in May 2016 under a contract worth SFr134m including spares. The highly customised design was influenced by ideas ...
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NewsNJ Transit to invest more as PTC pressure prompts service cuts
USA: On August 8 New Jersey Transit announced that it would be spending $3·8bn in the 2019 financial year as the commuter railroad seeks to address an urgent shortfall in investment. NJT is one of the largest commuter rail operations in the USA, running an extensive network of services which ...
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NewsAlpine impasse as political infighting threatens Lyon – Torino base tunnel
ANALYSIS: Conte says no, but Salvini says yes. This sums up the Italian media’s view of the conflict at the heart of the new ‘yellow and green’ government in Roma over the future of the Lyon – Torino trans-Alpine railway, writes Christian Scasso. A coalition of the radical Five Star ...
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NewsUS policymakers seek to restrict procurement from Chinese suppliers
USA: In the clearest sign yet that US policymakers are seeking to clamp down on Chinese involvement in the transport sector, the Senate on July 31 formally adopted measures which would see a one-year ban on any procurement from Chinese state-owned companies using Federal Transit Administration funding. The ban is ...
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NewsRussian passenger fleet renewal continues
RUSSIA: National railway RZD has updated the details of its passenger rolling stock procurement for 2018. Pavel Burtsev, Head of Passenger Transport at RZD, told Railway Gazette in July that a total of 686 vehicles would be acquired for long-distance traffic. These would comprise 611 single-deck hauled coaches (589 couchette ...
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NewsWorld rail market - July 2018
Germany: IVU Traffic Technologies is to supply fleet management and ticketing software to central Sachsen transport association VMS. India: Nippon Signal is to supply an automatic fare collection system for the Ahmedabad metro project. Poland: On Track Innovations has been awarded a US$155 000 multi-year contract to provide ...
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NewsMorocco’s Al Boraq high speed service to launch by year end
MOROCCO: Africa’s first high speed railway is now expected to open for traffic by the end of the year as commissioning trials continue. LGV Maroc comprises a 183 km high speed line between Tanger and Kénitra which is being built for operation at up to 320 km/h, as well as ...
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NewsSNCF confirms TGV of the Future order
FRANCE: SNCF Mobilités confirmed an order for Alstom to supply 100 high speed trainsets under the TGV of the Future programme at a board meeting on July 26. Branded Avelia Horizon by Alstom, the double-deck trains will be acquired at a cost of €25m per trainset, which SNCF says ...
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NewsFans take to the rails as RZD reports World Cup success
RUSSIA: According to statistics released by Russian Railways, no fewer than 319 000 football fans were carried on the national railway’s special free passenger trains during the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The ‘cluster’ approach adopted by Russia to group football venues in the west of the country favoured rail ...
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NewsÖBB chooses Siemens to build day and night fleets
AUSTRIA: National operator ÖBB has picked Siemens Mobility as the supplier of a fleet of inter-city rolling stock. Bids closed on June 29, and ÖBB said on July 20 that it had concluded its evaluation of the tenders, allowing the preferred bidder to be named. The deal is subject to ...
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NewsEnvironmental approval paves way for Linha do Oeste upgrading
PORTUGAL: National environment agency APA has approved plans for the modernisation of part of the Linha do Oeste which links Lisboa with Louriçal and Figueira da Foz. Being undertaken as part of the government’s Ferrovia 2020 investment programme, the upgrading covers the 87 route-km between Meleças on the Lisboa suburban ...
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NewsFranco-Belgian passenger services to be enhanced from December
EUROPE: Amid concern from policymakers and rail advocates about the extent and quality of cross-border passenger services in Europe, SNCB is to reintroduce conventional services linking Charleroi and Mons with Maubeuge and Aulnoye in France from the December timetable change. Direct inter-city trains had linked Paris with the Wallonie region ...
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NewsRooftop running in Paris-Nord expansion plan
FRANCE: The refurbishment and expansion of Paris-Nord station took a step forward on July 9 when the management board of SNCF Mobilités selected Ceetrus as preferred partner for exclusive negotiation with Ceetrus to undertake the programme. Ceetrus is the commercial property arm of retail group Auchan, and SNCF said that ...
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NewsFrançois Davenne calls for new vision at UIC
INTERNATIONAL: Currently Secretary General of the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail, François Davenne has been selected as the next Director General of the International Union of Railways. Appointed at the 92nd UIC General Assembly in Madrid on July 4, he will join UIC in January 2019, initially ...
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NewsWorld rail market - June 2018
Europe: Rail Baltica promoter RB Rail has awarded Atkins a €389 496 contract to identify the ‘optimum’ infrastructure management model. France: Teleste is to supply information screens and a data transmission platform for 30 trainsets that Alstom is building for Lyon metro lines B and D. Germany: PSI ...
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NewsConnecticut regional passenger service launched
USA: Connecticut Governor Daniel Malloy joined federal, state, and local officials on June 16 to mark the launch of CTrail commuter rail services along a 100 km route linking New Haven and Hartford in Connecticut with Springfield, Massachusetts. The line is shared with Amtrak services, and the national passenger ...
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NewsBourgogne-Franche-Comté agrees operating contract with SNCF
FRANCE: A target of 22% growth in TER ridership has been set by the région of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté as part of an operating agreement with SNCF Mobilités running until 2026. The contract with the incumbent operator was announced by the regional authority on May 25, although it applies retrospectively from January ...
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NewsMinisters urge that Rastatt lessons are learnt
EUROPE: Transport ministers have issued a Declaration calling for rapid implementation of measures to mitigate the effects of a major incident such as the seven-week closure last August of the Rhein Valley main line between Basel and Karlsruhe in Germany following a tunnel collapse beneath the alignment at Rastatt. The ...
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NewsKuala Lumpur – Singapore high speed project faces cancellation
ASIA: Recently elected Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad vowed on May 28 to cancel the Kuala Lumpur – Singapore high speed rail project, with the Chinese-backed East Coast Rail Link also set to be dropped. Mahathir told local media that a number of major projects would come under immediate review ...
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NewsTest running begins on European Marmaray alignment
TURKEY: An inaugural diesel test train operated along part of the European section of Istanbul’s 77 km Marmaray cross-city suburban corridor on May 23. Transport Minister Ahmet Arslan was onboard the diesel locomotive that ran between Halkalı and Kazlıçeşme, a distance of 20 km. This forms part of the route ...