Passenger rail news – Page 107
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NewsDB and ODEG awarded operating contracts
GERMANY: On behalf of the Länder of Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg–Vorpommern and Sachsen-Anhalt, Berlin-Brandenburg transport authority VBB has awarded the four Netzes Elbe-Spree regional passenger train operating contracts to DB Regio Nordost and ODEG. The contracts covering 17 routes will run for 12 years from December 2022. The international tender specified ...
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Rail Business UKScotRail gets second performance warning
UK: Citing poor customer satisfaction figures, Transport Scotland issued a Remedial Plan notice to ScotRail on February 8. This is the operator’s second warning in quick succession, following a Remedial Notice issued on December 24 because of poor operational performance, during November and December. According to Transport Scotland, ScotRail had ...
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Rail Business UKConsultation on expanding pay-as-you-go ticketing in southeast England
UK: The Department for Transport has begun public consultation on the possible roll out of ‘pay-as-you-go’ smart ticketing in the region surrounding Greater London. It is envisaged that this would be more convenient for passengers, and reduce differences in fares paid by people by people with different working and travel ...
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NewsDigital payment launched on Guangzhou – Shenzhen line
CHINA: Guangshen Railway Co says it is the first inter-city operator in China to introduce digital payment for travel on its services, which link Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The system uses Alipay’s e-wallet payment technology. Users register on the Alipay app, and generate a QR code which is scanned on ...
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NewsAmtrak plans to serve Long Island as Metro-North seeks Penn access
USA: Amtrak announced on February 5 that it had reached agreement with the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority covering two enhancements to passenger services. The first is a long-standing proposal to allow MTA Metro-North to use Amtrak infrastructure to reach Penn Station in Manhattan, while the second envisages investment to ...
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NewsSydney Trains fleet to grow
AUSTRALIA: The New South Wales Government is to ‘fast-track’ the delivery of a further 17 Waratah Series 2 double-deck electric multiple-units to accommodate growing demand across the Sydney Trains network, Minister for Transport & Infrastructure Andrew Constance announced on February 6. The additional EMUs are scheduled to be delivered ...
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NewsHS2 announces London station construction partners
UK: The preferred bidders for the Construction Partner contracts to build High Speed 2’s two London stations were announced by project promoter HS2 Ltd on February 6. A joint venture of Mace and Dragados has been selected to undertake the rebuilding of the London Euston terminus, while the Old ...
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NewsČD to test battery-equipped EMUs
CZECH REPUBLIC: National passenger operator ČD and Škoda Transportation are to retrofit two Class 650 RegioPanter electric multiple-units with battery packs to enable operation on non-electrified tracks. The two units will be tested on regional services around Brno from late 2019. The lithium-titanate batteries and a BMS control unit ...
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NewsDB orders Talgo 230 inter-city trainsets
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn has selected Talgo to supply a new generation of push-pull trainsets to operate long-distance inter-city and international services, the national operator announced on February 5. Following an international tender, DB Fernverkehr has awarded Talgo a framework contract for up to 100 trainsets, placing a firm order for ...
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NewsFyra V250 trainset on test in Italy
ITALY: Trenitalia has begun test running with one of the 17 AnsaldoBreda V250 trainsets which it acquired cheaply following their short and troubled life on Fyra services in the Netherlands and Belgium. The first test run left Milano Centrale for Bologna Centrale at 20:30 on February 4. The trainsets are ...
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NewsLittle change in Indian railway results
INDIA: With parliamentary elections due to be held in around three months, the national budget presented on February 1 offered little prospect of significant steps being taken to address the structural deficiencies afflicting the national railway, reports Raghu Dayal. Presented by Railways Minister Piyush Goyal in the absence of ...
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NewsEl-Qantas tunnel to cut east-west journey times
ALGERIA: Trains have started running through the El-Qantas tunnel, which has been built as part of an ongoing programme to upgrade the Alger – Oran main line for faster speeds. Under construction since 2011, the 7·3 km twin-bore tunnel has been built for railway infrastructure authority ANESRIF by China Railway ...
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NewsProject company to support Finnish rail reforms
FINLAND: New line development, transparent access to infrastructure services and the provision of rolling stock for on-rail competition are to be facilitated by a state-owned special purpose company to be formed under plans unveiled by Minister of Transport & Communications Anne Berner on February 1. The Cabinet Committee on Economic ...
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NewsPT Inka exports coaches to Bangladesh
BANGLADESH:· The first 15 of 250 coaches which Bangladesh Railway has ordered from Indonesian rolling stock manufacturer PT Inka were shipped from the Port of Tanjung Perak in Surabaya on January 20. The US$101m order placed in 2017 with financing from Indonesia Eximbank includes 50 coaches for BR’s 1 676 ...
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NewsPesa Link DMUs presented in Frankfurt
GERMANY: Pesa officially presented the first Link diesel multiple-units for use on Dreieichbahn services around Frankfurt to Deutsche Bahn at Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof on January 31, ahead of their planned entry into passenger service on February 2. In March 2014 DB awarded Pesa a contract to supply two two-car and ...
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NewsExtra Stuttgart S-Bahn EMUs will support ATO project
GERMANY: The Stuttgart regional government has approved the purchase of 58 four-car Class 430 electric multiple-units and the installation of ETCS Level 2 and automatic train operation on the entire S-Bahn fleet. Trains from the €421·8m order are to be delivered by 2022. The Land of Baden-Württemberg is providing ...
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NewsGo-Ahead orders 56 EMUs for Augsburg services
GERMANY: Go-Ahead has awarded Siemens Mobility a contract to supply 56 electric multiple-units for use on services around Augsburg from the December 2022 timetable change. The €400m order announced on January 31 covers 44 three-car Mireo single-deck EMUs and 12 five-car Desiro HC partly double-deck EMUs. The double-deck EMUs will ...
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Rail Business UKRail at heart of £70bn northern England investment plan
UK: A transport investment programme worth up to £70bn over the next three decades was unveiled by Transport for the North on January 31. Rail spending features prominently in the multi-modal plan, which is intended to support the creation of around 850 000 jobs and deliver economic benefits worth around ...
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NewsVirgin Trains USA launches IPO
USA: Private sector inter-city rail project promoter Virgin Trains USA announced an initial public offering of 28·3 million shares of common stock on January 30. The expected price is between $17 and $19 per share. The shares are to be listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. Prior to the ...
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NewsRed look for refurbished TGV-Lyria Euroduplex
EUROPE: Franco-Swiss high speed operator TGV-Lyria has unveiled the first of 15 multi-system Euroduplex trainsets which are destined to operate all Lyria services from the December 15 2019 timetable change. Being repainted into a predominantly red livery at the PSA works in Rouen, at a rate of two or three ...