All News articles – Page 9
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NewsSBB and Trenitalia to step up cross-border services
EUROPE: Swiss and Italian national operators SBB and Trenitalia signed an agreement on May 22 to increase the number of cross-border inter-city services. In an initial step the 2020 timetable will include an extra Basel – Milano service via Bern, giving four trains a day in each direction, with a ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
From June 1, Russia's FESCO Transportation Group is to offer a transit time of 15 days between Busan and Moscow, an improvement on the 21-23 days currently offered. The acceleration has largely been achieved by reducing transhipment time at the port of Vladivostok and by faster transit times on the ...
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NewsWorld rail market - May 2018
Europe: Sqills is providing its S3 Passenger sales, distribution and reservation suite for Eurostar. Director Bart van Munster said this would offer ‘interesting’ new interfaces with ticketing and reservation systems from the UK’s Association of Train Operating Companies, air global distribution systems and SNCF’s PAO API. Wavestone is providing project ...
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NewsOperators oppose long-distance concession plans
SWITZERLAND: Regional operator BLS is contesting the plans announced in April by the Federal Office for Transport (BAV) for the 10-year concession to run long-distance passenger services from December 2019. Under the proposals national operator SBB would run all Intercity routes and most of the so-called Basic Network, but the ...
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News
Beskyd tunnel completed
UKRAINE: Celebrations on May 24 marked the formal completion of the Beskyd tunnel construction project, enabling the first revenue-earning trains to pass through it the following day. The 1 822 m long tunnel has been built to alleviate a single-track bottleneck on the Lviv – Chop section of pan-European Corridor ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
New Jersey-based supplier of rolling stock and braking components Strato Inc has signed an agreement for GBS Railroad & Mining Services to promote and distribute its products for the rail sector in Australia and New Zealand. Systems and engineering technology consultancy Frazer-Nash has formed a new Transport & Infrastructure business ...
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NewsGraphene supercapacitor DMU fleet takes shape
MALAYSIA: The first of 13 Class 61 inter-regional diesel multiple-units for services along Malaysia’s east coast corridor has been largely completed at CRRC Zhuzhou’s plant in China. CRRC is producing two of the trains in Zhuzhou before transferring production of the remaining 11 to a local assembly plant in Perak ...
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Rail Business UKUK railway news round-up
On May 23 the Department for Transport said that ‘tackling poor performance’ at the Northern franchise was its ‘top priority’. A combination of factors, stemming largely from delays to Network Rail electrification work in northwest England, has caused a surge in delays and cancellations as Northern struggled to train drivers ...
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NewsLehrte MegaHub construction launched
GERMANY: Work to build the automated MegaHub intermodal terminal at Lehrte, about 20 km east of Hannover, was formally launched on May 15. Speaking at a midday ceremony, Parliamentary Secretary of State in the Federal Ministry for Transport & Digital Infrastructure Enak Ferlemann said that the start of work for ...
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Rail Business UKKeolisAmey selected as Operating & Development Partner in Wales
UK: In a written statement issued on May 23, the Welsh government’s Cabinet Secretary for Economy & Transport Ken Skates announced the award of a contract for KeolisAmey to ‘operate and develop the Wales & Borders rail service and the South Wales Metro’. The contract will begin on June 4 ...
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Rail Business UKUniversity alliance to promote high speed rail
INTERNATIONAL: The International Union of Railways has moved to strengthen its nascent network of academic institutions which are intended to work together to promote the development of high speed rail. UIC first announced plans for its alliance of universities at the World Congress on High Speed Rail in Tokyo in ...
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NewsCelebrations as Brightline trains reach Miami
USA: A weekend of celebrations entitled ‘Welcome to the 305!’, referencing the city’s historic telephone code, marked the launch of Brightline inter-city services to Miami on May 19. Brightline’s first public trains ran in January over the 74 km between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale. The extension to Miami ...
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Rail Business UKGovernment terminates Virgin Trains East Coast franchise
UK: The current InterCity East Coast franchise held by a joint venture of Stagecoach Group (90%) and Virgin Holdings (10%) will be terminated on June 24, Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling informed the House of Commons on May 16. From that date, DOHL, a government-owned ‘operator of last ...
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NewsCompetition is key as high speed rail keeps growing
Global ridership has surged by 40% in the three years since UIC last staged its World Congress on High Speed Rail. Yet operators and policymakers must work hard to keep the rail mode ahead as competition grows both in and for the market. Benjámin Zelki reports from the latest summit ...
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NewsBologna – Firenze route modernisation to start this year
ITALY: Work will begin in October to modernise the 80 km direttissima between Bologna and Prato, north of Firenze. The fast line between the two cities was inaugurated in 1934 and forms part of pan-European Corridor V. Since December 2009, express passenger services between Bologna and Firenze have mostly been ...
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NewsIP targets Algarve electrification by 2020
PORTUGAL: National infrastructure manager Infraestruturas de Portugal has proposed electrification at 25 kV 50 Hz of the railway along the country’s south coast under the auspices of the Algarve Regional Co-ordination & Development Commission. The €57·9m project would cover electrification of the 45 km between Tunes and Lagos, and the ...
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NewsCambodia reinstates Sisophon – Battambang railway
CAMBODIA: The reopening of a further 69 km of main line railway was celebrated on April 29 when an inaugural train ran from Sisophon to Battambang carrying Transport Minister Sun Chanthol. The reopening of this section of the country’s northern main line between Phnom Penh and the Thai border marks ...
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NewsAmtrak should focus on medium-distance corridors, says Anderson
USA: Amtrak should focus on its medium-distance operations and prioritise investment in a network of corridors across the country of between 200 km and 1 000 km, where the greatest ridership can be achieved, believes its new Chief Executive Richard Anderson. Outlining his vision for the future of the ...
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NewsUK railway news round-up
FirstGroup and joint venture partner Trenitalia have decided to withdraw from the East Midlands franchise competition, in order to focus on bidding for the West Coast Partnership franchise. ‘This is an exciting opportunity to be the first operator of High Speed 2, as well as to run conventional West Coast ...
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NewsEuskotren planning high speed commuter services
SPAIN: Basque regional operator Euskotren is planning to launch high speed commuter trains over the 1 435 mm gauge ‘Basque Y’ high speed network linking San Sebastián, Gasteiz-Vitoría and Bilbao. Speaking on the sidelines of the World Metro & Light Rail Congress in Bilbao on April 19, Euskotren Chief Executive ...