All open access articles – Page 7
-
Rail Business UKHull Trains suspends services ‘to protect long-term future of business’
UK: Open access operator Hull Trains announced on March 29 that was temporarily suspending services with effect from midnight, in a move which it said aimed to ‘safeguard the future of the business’ in the ‘unprecedented circumstances’ of the coronavirus pandemic. Arrangements have been made for tickets ...
-
Rail Business UKGrand Central prepares to launch London – Blackpool services
Source: DB Cargo UK UK: The first of five Class 90 electric locomotives to receive open access passenger operator Grand Central’s branding has been unveiled ahead of the launch of London Euston – Blackpool North services this spring. Four of the 175 km/h locomotives hired from DB ...
-
Rail Business UKGrand Central completes £9m fleet refurbishment
UK: Arriva TrainCare’s Eastleigh site has completed a £9m two-year programme to undertake the mid-life refurbishment of 10 Alstom Class 180 Adelante inter-city DMUs for open access operator Grand Central. The trains have had a full interior refresh, with new seats with ...
-
Rail Business UKTake a virtual tour of Hull Trains before booking a ticket
UK: Hull Trains has added a virtual tour of its new Hitachi Class 802 Paragon trainsets on its website, enabling passengers to ‘walk through’ standard and first class facilities before booking a ticket. ‘We discovered that many people want to know what to expect before travelling, especially ...
-
NewsLeo Express to operate trains to Wrocław
EUROPE: Czech open access operator Leo Express signed an agreement with Polish regional operator Koleje Dolnośląskie on December 5 to run services between Praha and Wrocław, starting on December 20. Leo Express plans to run three trains a week from Praha and two a week in the ...
-
NewsLeo Express goes multimodal
CZECH REPUBLIC: Leo Express has launched a pilot first and last mile service by partnering with peer-to-peer car sharing company HoppyGo. The open access operator has become a minority shareholder in HoppyGo and expects to expand the service to destinations in Poland next year.
-
Rail Business UKEast Coast Trains open access recruitment underway
UK: FirstGroup subsidiary East Coast Trains Ltd is recruiting a management team for the launch of its planned London – Edinburgh open access services by May 2021. Appointments are expected to be announced early next year, Steve Montgomery, Managing Director of FirstGroup’s First Rail division, told Rail ...
-
Rail Business UKParagon fleet supports Hull Trains’ ambition to be the ‘greatest train operator’
UK: ‘My vision is that Hull Trains will be the greatest train operator in the UK’, Managing Director Louise Cheeseman told Railway Gazette International at the unveiling of the open access operator’s first Hitachi AT300 trainset on November 25. ‘Other operators will come and look at ...
-
NewsStadler beats CRRC to win Westbahn fleet replacement
AUSTRIA: A contract for the supply and maintenance of a fleet of 15 six-car Kiss double-deck electric multiple-units was signed on October 29 by Stadler, Wien – Salzburg open access operator Westbahn and leasing company Austrian Train Finance. The order is worth just under €300m, with delivery ...
-
In depthItaly: Transformation at Italo-NTV
These are important lessons to be learned from the remarkable business turnaround achieved by Italy’s high speed open access operator Italo-NTV in the last five years.
-
NewsCourt annuls directly awarded ÖBB operating contract
AUSTRIA: The Federal Administrative Court in Wien on October 3 annulled the direct award to ÖBB of a 15-year contract to operate passenger services in eastern Austria from December 2019. The court’s decision was welcomed in a statement issued by open access operator Westbahn, which had lodged ...
-
NewsLeo Express takes delivery of CRRC EMU
CZECH REPUBLIC: The first of three Sirius electric-multiple-units being built for Leo Express has arrived in the Czech Republic, having been shipped from China via the port of Bremen. Tailor made for the open access operator by CRRC Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive, the multi-system EMU ...
-
NewsRegioJet to launch Praha – Wien – Budapest service
EUROPE: Czech open access operator RegioJet has announced plans to launch a long-distance passenger service on the Praha – Wien – Budapest route from June 2020. There would be two trains each way per day, operated as extensions of the Praha – Brno – Wien services which have been running ...
-
NewsFlixTrain raises funding for expansion
INTERNATIONAL: FlixMobility has completed a Series F funding round co-led by growth equity firms TCV and Permira, with long-time investor HV Holtzbrinck Ventures also participating through a joint investment with the European Investment Bank. In the rail sector, the company plans to use the equity raised to support the growth ...
-
NewsFlixTrain seeks to enter French passenger market
FRANCE: FlixMobility GmbH has lodged an application with rail regulator Arafer to launch five inter-city routes from January 1 2021. The FlixTrain-branded services would cover four domestic routes as well as one international route. The proposed services are seven return trains per day between Paris Nord and Brussels Nord ...
-
NewsLeo Express unveils its Chinese EMUs
CZECH REPUBLIC: The three multi-system electric multiple-units being built for open access operator Leo Express by Chinese manufacturer CRRC Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive are nearing completion and on course for delivery in the second half of the year, the operator confirmed on June 3. The inter-city EMUs are due to undergo ...
-
NewsLeo Express looks to Ukraine as Polish service increased
EUROPE: Czech rail and coach operator Leo Express is to increase its weekends-only Praha – Kraków open access rail service to run daily between June 28 and September 2, with a connecting coach link to Lviv in Ukraine. ‘People in Poland love Leo Express’, said CEO Peter Köhler on May ...
-
NewsFlixTrain ready to launch Berlin – Köln route
GERMANY: Open access inter-city operator FlixMobility has opened ticket bookings for its third daytime FlixTrain route, with daily services between Berlin and Köln expected to begin on May 23. Single fares are available from €9·99. Journey times of between 5 h and 6 h will be around 3 h quicker ...
-
NewsProtectionism dilutes the competitive dynamic
COMMENT: Are incumbent state operators expanding their low-cost high speed offer to try and keep new entrants out of a liberalised inter-city market, and how might this fit with European competition policy, asks Railway Gazette Managing Editor Nick Kingsley.
-
NewsLeo Express wins regional contract
CZECH REPUBLIC: The Pardubice region has selected Leo Express to run subsidised services on the 024 Ústí nad Orlicí–Mlýnický Dvůr and 025 Dolní Lipka – Hanušovice routes currently operated by ČD. Leo Express’s first subsidised public service contract is to run for 10 years from December 2019. It plans ...