All open access articles – Page 6
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NewsRegioJet’s train to Croatia is a sell-out summer success
EUROPE: Open access operator RegioJet’s summer service linking the Czech Republic and Slovakia with Croatia’s Adriatic coast carried more than 60 000 passengers on 120 trains during its first season of operation. RegioJet announced the summer-only overnight service on June 1, and 30 000 tickets had been ...
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NewsOuigo España sets date to launch Falbalá
SPAIN: High speed open access services between Madrid and Barcelona under the Falbalá brand are now expected to be launched on March 15 2021. The launch had originally been planned for December this year, but was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Announcing the new date on September ...
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Rail Business UKGrand Central drops plans for Blackpool – London open access service
Rail Business UK understands that after months of work exploring all options, it had become clear that the service would not be financially viable until at least 2024.
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NewsRegioJet takes on MÁV-Start by offering intra-Hungarian fares
RegioJet’s Hungarian service links Budapest with Wien twice daily. HUNGARY: RegioJet has begun selling tickets for journeys within Hungary on its Praha – Wien – Budapest services, becoming the first private operator to challenge incumbent MÁV-Start on domestic journeys. On August 26 the open access operator began ...
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NewsILSA high speed trains ordered
SPAIN: Trenitalia has signed an €797m contract for a partnership of Hitachi Rail (60%) and Bombardier Transportation (40%) to supply 23 ETR1000 high speed trainsets for use by Intermodalidad de Levante, the future Spanish open access operator which is owned by the Italian national operator (45%) and ...
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NewsILSA-Trenitalia aims to launch Spanish high speed service from March 2022
Photo: Christophe Masse Trenitalia is planning to launch high speed services in both France and Spain; some testing of its Frecciarossa 1000 trainsets has already been undertaken in France. SPAIN: The ILSA-Trenitalia joint venture has pinpointed March 1 2022 as the start date for its Spanish open ...
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Rail Business UKHull Trains announces date for service restart
UK: Open access operator Hull Trains has announced plans to restart its East Yorkshire to London inter-city services during August. As a non-franchised operator Hull Trains must survive on a purely commercial basis. It did not qualify for the emergency support which the Department of Transport has ...
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NewsPraha – Wien – Budapest train aims to undercut ‘nonsense prices’ of state operators
EUROPE: Open access operator RegioJet is to launch a twice daily Praha – Brno – Wien – Budapest service on July 31, by extending some of its existing Praha – Wien services. ‘We are coming to another route with our vision to significantly reduce the cost ...
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NewsIndependent operators raise night train competition concerns
EUROPE: Private open access operators RegioJet and RDC have seen higher than expected demand for the overnight services they launched this month, and Snälltåget has set out plans for expansion. However, the ALLRAIL association of independent passenger operators has expressed concern that incumbent state railways may come ...
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NewsRegioJet launches train to Croatia so ‘everyone can afford a holiday’
EUROPE: Czech open access operator RegioJet’s first overnight train from Praha to Rijeka arrived in the Croatian port city on July 1. The seasonal service is to run three times a week until July 11, daily until the end of August, and then thrice weekly until ...
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Rail Business UK‘Now is the right moment to act’ Grand Central says as it announces restart date
UK: ‘We’ve tracked our path forward, we believe now is the right moment to act, for our passengers, our staff and for the business’, Grand Central Managing Director Richard McClean told Rail Business UK on July 1 when the company announced plans for a ‘measured’ restart of ...
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Rail Business UKEast Coast Trains Class 803 production begins
UK: Production of the five Class 803 trainsets which FirstGroup subsidiary East Coast Trains has ordered for its future London to Edinburgh open access service is underway at Hitachi Rail’s Newton Aycliffe factory.
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NewsAlpen-Sylt Nachtexpress links the Alps and the North Sea
EUROPE: RDC Deutschland has opened bookings for the Alpen-Sylt Nachtexpress, a seasonal overnight train between the German North Sea island of Sylt and Salzburg in Austria which will launch on July 4. ‘We believe in the successful renaissance of night trains in Europe’, said Managing Director Dr ...
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Rail Business UKUnion calls for government support for open access operators
UK: The RMT trade union has written to the Secretary of State for Transport calling on the government to intervene to support open access operators Hull Trains and Grand Central. Unlike franchised operators, the open access companies which are owned by FirstGroup and Arriva have not received ...
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NewsRegioJet prepares to launch Praha – Przemyśl service
EUROPE: Independent operator RegioJet has taken delivery of another nine 160 km/h air-conditioned couchette cars from DB. Formerly used on CityNightLine trains, the Type Bvcmz coaches which arrived in late April follow 18 similar vehicles which were acquired in 2019. After they have been refurbished, RegioJet plans ...
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Rail Business UKEdinburgh – London open access service takes shape
UK: With the first of five Hitachi-built trainsets delivered to the UK for fitting out, FirstGroup has appointed the leadership team for its low-cost open access service between Edinburgh and London, which is scheduled to start running from October 2021. Helen Wylde has been appointed as Managing ...
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NewsWestbahn and ÖBB awarded public service contracts to secure operations during the pandemic
AUSTRIA: Both Austrian Federal Railways and open access competitor Westbahn have been awarded emergency public service obligation contracts to ensure the continued operation of Wien – Salzburg trains during the coronavirus pandemic, in a move which the ALLRAIL association of new market entrants said should provide a ...
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NewsFlixTrain halts plans to launch open access service in France
FRANCE: FlixMobility GmbH has decided to postpone indefinitely its plans to launch open access passenger train services on five inter-city routes in France. The company had announced in June last year that FlixTrain-branded services would run on four French domestic routes, as well as between Paris and ...
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Rail Business UKGrand Central follows Hull Trains in suspending open access services
UK: Open access operator Grand Central temporarily suspended all services from the end of April 3, as coronavirus restrictions continue to affect its passenger numbers. The London King’s Cross to Sunderland and Bradford operator said it anticipated that the ‘necessary but temporary’ measure would last for an ...
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Rail Business UKGrand Central commits to revised timetable, but Blackpool launch likely to be delayed
UK: Asked whether Grand Central was planning to follow the other East Coast Main Line open access operator Hull Trains in temporarily stopping operations because of the coronavirus pandemic, Grand Central Managing Director Richard McClean told Rail Business UK on March 30 ‘we remain committed to providing ...