Passenger rail news – Page 114
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NewsBluetooth beacon competition to enhance stations
FRANCE: SNCF’s stations business Gares & Connexions has launched an innovation competition branded Open Beacon aimed at enhancing the accessibility of and service offering at major stations. The term ‘open beacon’ refers to Gares & Connexions’ plan to install Bluetooth geolocation tags in more than 300 stations across the country. ...
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NewsRack trains ordered for Tatra Electric Railway
SLOVAKIA: National operator ZSSK has awarded Stadler a contract to supply five 1·5 kV DC electric multiple-units and an electro-diesel locomotive for the 35 km metre-gauge Tatra Electric Railway network, which has a section of rack operation. Delivery is scheduled for 2022. Announcing the order on October 17, Stadler ...
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NewsShift2Rail announces 2018 grants
EUROPE: Shift2Rail is to provide up to €77·3m of co-funding for 19 research and innovation projects with a total value of €152·6m, the joint undertaking announced on October 17. The funding to be awarded under the 2018 Call for Proposals brings the cumulative spending on railway research to €490m, which ...
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NewsGo-Ahead wins Norway’s first rail tender
NORWAY: Go-Ahead Norge has been selected as the winner of the Lot 1 Sør passenger train operating contract, the first to be tendered by national railway authority Jernbanedirektoratet. The contract announced on October 17 will run for eight years from December 15 2019, with an optional two-year extension. It covers ...
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NewsVIA Rail dining cars to be refurbished
CANADA: National passenger operator VIA Rail has awarded Rail GD a C$16·4m contract to refurbish four dining cars for use on the trans-continental The Canadian service. The stainless steel vehicles were originally built in the 1950s, and VIA Rail said the refurbishment would extend their useful life ‘by a few ...
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Rail Business UKCross Country direct award option left open
UK: The Department for Transport has published a prior information notice which would enable it to directly award a contract for the operation of Cross Country services for a maximum of 60 months from the end of Arriva’s current contract in October 2019. Arriva originally won the Cross Country franchise ...
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Rail Business UKStudy to look at adapting Bordeaux station to handle London trains
EUROPE: The four infrastructure managers responsible for the high speed lines between London and Bordeaux have agreed to study the feasibility of adapting Bordeaux Saint-Jean station to handle international passengers traveling to and from the UK. SNCF Réseau, Eurotunnel, Lisea and HS1 said the October 10 agreement was a key ...
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Rail Business UKWales & Borders to offer the ‘best passenger rail service in the UK’
UK: The KeolisAmey joint venture took over from Arriva Trains Wales as the operator of Wales & Borders services with the start of the new franchise on October 14. The 15-year Operations & Development Partner contract was awarded by the devolved Welsh Government’s Transport for Wales agency, and is ...
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NewsCourt instructs PRASA to apply safety rules
SOUTH AFRICA: Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa must comply with the safety requirements set by the Railway Safety Regulator under a ruling made by the North Gauteng High Court on October 11. An initial court ruling on October 5 had lifted the suspension of PRASA’s operating licence imposed on ...
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NewsPRASA on the brink as court defers safety shutdown
SOUTH AFRICA: The future of the 2 300 route-km network operated by Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa is in grave doubt amid a spiralling safety crisis that has seen the national rail regulator request suspension of the operator’s licence. The Rail Safety Regulator suspended PRASA’s right to operate on ...
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NewsHyundai Rotem wins further Bangladesh loco contract
BANGLADESH: Hyundai Rotem announced on October 11 that it had won a US$239m order to supply 70 diesel-electric locomotives for Bangladesh Railway. Production at Rotem’s Changwon plant in South Korea is due to begin in 2020, with deliveries due by 2023. The 19 m long, 2 200 hp locos ...
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NewsRENFE and ADIF to support Texas Central high speed service
USA: On October 10 high speed project promoter Texas Central announced that it had selected Spanish national operator RENFE and infrastructure manager ADIF as ‘strategic partners’ for the 386 km high speed line between Houston and Dallas. The Spanish partners were one of five bidders, Texas Central said. ‘RENFE is ...
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NewsCPPK orders more Ivolga EMUs from TMH
RUSSIA: On October 4, Central Suburban Passenger Co signed a contract with Transmashholding subsidiary Tver Carriage Works for the supply of a further 15 seven-car Ivolga EMUs. The value of the contract is 11bn roubles and marks a follow-on order for the design after CPPK ordered 24 six-car trainsets in ...
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NewsAppenzeller Bahnen’s Durchmesserlinie project completed
SWITZERLAND: The Durchmesserlinie project to enable through running between Appenzeller Bahnen’s metre-gauge Trogen and Appenzell routes was officially inaugurated on October 6. Revenue services on the realigned St Gallen – Trogen route began the following day using Tango light rail vehicles supplied by Stadler. The work included construction of ...
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Rail Business UKPassenger assistance app on test
UK: A mobile app enabling passengers with disability to get assistance during their journeys is being tested by Greater Anglia, London Northwestern Railway, West Midlands Railway and South Western Railway ahead of a planned national launch next year. Developed by Transreport in collaboration with disability organisations including Scope, RNIB, Disability ...
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News€50m plan to link Paris stations as an ‘integrated hub’
FRANCE: Transport authority Île-de-France Mobilités has outlined a 10-point package running until 2024 to rehabilitate the urban realm around Nord and Est stations in Paris, as well as improving access between them. The €50m programme is intended to enhance the walking routes between the two stations, which using existing streets ...
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Rail Business UKScotRail HSTs ready to enter service
UK: ScotRail will put its first refurbished diesel HST sets into revenue service between Aberdeen and Edinburgh on October 15, the operator announced during a VIP preview run on October 10. Full deployment is expected to follow from the December 9 timetable change. Branded Inter7City, the 26 upgraded HST sets ...
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NewsWellington infrastructure spending funded
NEW ZEALAND: A NZ$196m package of improvements to the Wellington regional rail network was announced by Transport Minister Phil Twyford on October 9. NZ Transport Agency funding of NZ$193m is being provided through the National Land Transport Fund to support infrastructure renewals and capacity enhancement under two business cases put ...
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Rail Business UKHS2 unveils Birmingham station concepts
UK: Proposals for two new high speed stations in the West Midlands were unveiled by HS2 Ltd on October 9 as part of a public engagement programme. HS2 is seeking feedback on the designs before formal submissions for planning approval are lodged with Birmingham City Council and Solihull Metropolitan ...
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NewsSNCB updates Hasselt workshops
BELGIUM: An extension to the SNCB rolling stock workshops at Hasselt was formally opened on October 8, with a ceremony attended by CEO Sophie Dutordoir, the new Managing Director of SNCB Technics Gerd de Vos, Governor of Limburg Herman Reynders and the Mayor of Hasselt Nadja Vananroye. Under development since ...