Passenger rail industry news
Latest news from the passenger railway industry, including intercity, regional and commuter transport.
Virgin plans return to rail as an open access operator
UK: Virgin Group has applied to the Office of Rail & Road for train paths which would enable it to return to the rail network as an open access operator.
Control centre opening marks latest stage in Paris RER modernisation
FRANCE: Paris transport operator RATP and national railway SNCF have transferred the management of RER Line A to a new control centre.
FirstGroup’s Lumo seeks to launch Rochdale – London open access service
UK: FirstGroup has applied to operate Rochdale – London open access passenger trains, more than 20 years after a short-lived through service ran between the two destinations.
Eurostar plans to acquire 50 ‘fully interoperable’ trains
EUROPE: International high speed train operator Eurostar says it is ‘preparing to invest’ in up to 50 high speed trainsets, which would be fully interoperable ’across five countries and beyond’.
Oxygène next-generation French inter-city train unveiled
FRANCE: National passenger operator SNCF Voyageurs and manufacturer CAF have unveiled the first of the Z26700 Oxygène inter-city trainsets which will replace Corail locomotive-hauled coaches on 200 km/h inter-city serves on conventional lines.
Scenic Plus coach refurbished for New Zealand tourist train service
NEW ZEALAND: National railway KiwiRail’s tourist train business Great Journeys New Zealand has unveiled a coach which has been refurbished to provide a premium ‘immersive travel experience’ on the 223 km TranzAlpine coast-to-coast service between Greymouth and Christchurch.
RegioJet orders Škoda EMUs
Virtual reality to help people use public transport
DB Regio orders EMUs with ski holders
Improvements to railway serving car-free village near completion
Alberta to develop passenger rail master plan
Chizhou – Huangshan high speed line opens
Retailers says competition can improve train ticketing
Paris RER Line E reaches Nanterre
Train operator obtains Communication Accessible accreditation
Accessibility Advisory Panel outlines priority issues for disabled passengers
Xi’an – Almaty passenger train planned
Train operators launch joint innovation programme
Japanese DMUs find second homes in Thailand and Cambodia
Chinese trainsets arrive in Europe
Operator of last resort holds key to Labour’s rail renationalisation aspiration
Irish national transport ticketing contract awarded
Regional governments keen to keep Deutschland-Ticket
Cross-border train services stepped up