Passenger rail news – Page 115
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Rail Business UKTrainPal smartphone app offers split ticketing options
UK: A smartphone booking app which calculates split ticketing options has been launched by Ctrip, the parent company of flight booking platform Skyscanner. The intricacies of the UK ticketing system mean it is sometimes possible for passengers to save money by booking separate tickets for different sections of a through ...
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Rail Business UKNorthern unveils CAF multiple-units to bring a 'step-change in quality'
UK: The first CAF Class 195 diesel multiple-unit and Class 331 electric multiple-unit for the Northern franchise were officially unveiled by operator Arriva Rail North’s Managing Director David Brown and Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry at Alstom’s Edge Hill depot in Liverpool on October 4. The 25 two-car and 30 ...
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NewsFirst section of Moscow – Kazan high speed line to open in 2024
RUSSIA: A construction agreement covering the first section of the Moscow – Kazan high speed line was announced by RZD First Deputy Director Alexander Misharin at the ProMotion 1520 conference in Sochi on October 2. The agreement calls for work to start next year on a 301 km alignment between ...
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NewsPassenger service reinstated
URUGUAY: Regular passenger services from Montevideo to Pando and Sudriers were reinstated on October 1, having been withdraw in May 2012. The service initially runs once a day, towards Montevideo in the morning and retuning in the evening. A second round trip is to be added in November, and a ...
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NewsFour-storey Bangkok Bang Sue station takes shape
THAILAND: Construction of a new passenger hub for Bangkok is around 70% complete and on course for opening towards the end of 2020, according to municipal officials. Bang Sue Grand Station will be a four-storey structure covering 300 000 m2 and would replace Hua Lamphong as the city’s principal main ...
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NewsFlixTrain: ‘We want to make sustainable mobility accessible to everyone’
Having grown from a tech startup to an international coach company in just five years, FlixMobility has now entered the rail market. The e-commerce platform seeks to become a multimodal provider of sustainable transport, CEO & Co-Founder André Schwämmlein tells Railway Gazette International
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NewsDB expands international ticket purchase options
EUROPE: Deutsche Bahn has expanded the range of cross-border and foreign rail tickets which can be booked through its website and mobile app. Passengers can now book travel on SNCF and Thalys services, and Eurostar is to be added from October 8. Until now only selected connections were offered ...
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NewsPacific Surfliner Charger locomotive unveiled
USA: The first Siemens Charger locomotive for Pacific Surfliner services between San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles and San Diego was officially unveiled by Amtrak and Caltrans at Los Angeles Union station on October 1. Caltrans has ordered a total of 22 Charger locomotives, using about $100m of state, federal and ...
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NewsArriva wins Praha suburban rail operating contract
CZECH REPUBLIC: Praha transport authority ROPID has selected DB’s Czech subsidiary Arriva Vlaky to operate suburban train services on route S41 between Roztoky u Prahy and Hostivař via Holešovice and Libeň. Arriva’s first subsidised train operating contract in the Czech Republic will initially run for three years from the December ...
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NewsHigh speed trainsets to be delivered within three months
CHINA: China Railway Corp has awarded Bombardier Sifang (Qingdao) Transportation a 2·2bn yuan contract to supply 10 CR400AF high speed trainsets within three months. The contract for five eight-car and five 16-car 350 km/h trainsets was awarded to the 50:50 joint venture of Bombardier Transportation and CRRC Sifang at ...
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NewsVestfoldbanen double-tracking inaugurated
NORWAY: Bane NOR’s ongoing reconstruction of the Oslo – Drammen – Skien Vestfoldbanen inter-city route reached another milestone on September 28, when the 22·5 km Larvik – Porsgrunn cut-off was formally opened by new Transport Minister Jon Georg Dale with a ceremony at Larvik. In use for revenue services since ...
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NewsAllianz acquires stake in NTV-Italo
ITALY: German insurance company Allianz has acquired an 11·5% stake in high speed open access operator NTV-Italo from Global Infrastructure Partners. Allianz is now the second largest stakeholder after GIP, ahead of co-founders Luca Cordero di Montezemolo and Gianni Punzo, Isabella Seragnoli, Flavio Cattaneo, Alberto Bombassei and Fund Peninsula.
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NewsMore ICE4s ordered as DB spends €1bn on inter-city fleet
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn ratified a decision to order more ICE4 inter-city trainsets for €700m at its supervisory board meeting in Berlin on September 26. DB Fernverkehr expects to order a further 18 seven-car trainsets from a Siemens-led consortium as an option on the 119 trains already planned for delivery by ...
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NewsA1 fast line to Jerusalem opens
ISRAEL: Passenger services on the A1 fast line between Ben Gurion Airport and Jerusalem began with a low-key launch on September 25. Travel is initially being offered free of charge, but must be pre-booked. At present only one of the two tracks is in use and electrified at 25 kV ...
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NewsEgyptian National Railways orders 1 300 coaches
EGYPT: A five-year contract worth more than €1bn covering the supply of 1 300 coaches was signed by Egyptian National Railways and the Transmashholding-Hungary Kft consortium on September 25. The agreement covers five types of coach: Third class with forced ventilation (500); Third class, with air-conditioning (500); Second class, with ...
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NewsKing inaugurates Haramain High Speed Rail
SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Arabia became the latest country to launch high speed services on September 25, when the Haramain High Speed Rail line linking Makkah, Jeddah and Madinah was formally inaugurated by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. The ceremony in Jeddah was also attended by the three regional governors ...
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Rail Business UKGrayling demands 'root and branch' review of UK railway
UK: A comprehensive review of the rail sector was announced by Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling on September 20. Responding to concerns over the passenger franchising model following the collapse of the Inter-City East Coast franchise, delays and cost over-runs with Network Rail’s investment programme, and operational problems ...
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NewsRefit agreed as French night trains reprieved again
FRANCE: Transport Minister Élisabeth Borne has authorised a €30m injection of funding to revitalise the country’s two remaining overnight trains which link Paris with Briançon in the Hautes-Alpes region and Latour-de-Carol in Pyrénées-Orientales with a portion for Rodez. Seeking to allay suggestions that the heavily subsidised services would be withdrawn, ...
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NewsGo-Ahead signs Flirt EMU order
GERMANY: Go-Ahead has awarded Stadler a contract to supply 22 four-car Flirt 3 electric multiple-units for use on the E-Netz Allgäu services on the München – Memmingen – Lindau route which it is to operate on behalf of the Länder of Baden-Württemberg and Bayern from December 2021. The 160 km/h ...
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NewsHong Kong high speed line opens
CHINA: Revenue services on the 26 km Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou – Shenzhen – Hong Kong high speed line began on September 23, when MTR Corp’s first Vibrant Express departed at 07.00 carrying around 500 passengers to Shenzhen Bei. Connecting Hong Kong to the extensive Chinese national high ...