Passenger rail news – Page 118
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Rail Business UKMarston Vale D-Train contract signed
UK: The contract for the supply of three two-car Class 230 D-Train diesel-multiple-units for the Marston Vale line between Bedford and Bletchley has been formally signed, manufacturer Vivarail announced on August 22. Testing is expected to begin in the next few weeks, and entry into service is planned for December. ...
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NewsDutch network ‘almost full’, ProRail warns
NETHERLANDS: The Dutch main line network is ‘almost full’, ProRail warned on August 20. The national infrastructure manager issued the stark assessment in its annual update on proposed path allocations for 2019. ProRail said it was ‘running up against the limits’ of its 7 300 track-km network, pointing out that ...
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NewsMernda extension completed
AUSTRALIA: A public open day on August 19 marked the official completion of an 8 km extension of Melbourne’s South Morang Line to Mernda, with around 6 000 local residents invited to sample a shuttle service on the route. Regular services are due to begin running with the introduction of ...
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Rail Business UKAccessibility advisers help improve Flirt UK trains
UK: Greater Anglia recently took a wheelchair-using passenger, a blind person and a visually impaired person plus his guide dog to Stadler’s factory at Bussnang in Switzerland to test prototype ramps for the future Flirt UK multiple-unit fleet. During a previous visit, the group had suggested a number of ...
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NewsDouble-deck EMU order approved
HUNGARY: The government has given the go-ahead for MÁV-Start to exercise an option for Stadler to supply a further eight Kiss double-deck electric multiple-units. The HF39bn order approved on August 13 is to be funded from EU sources. It is to be placed under a framework agreement signed by the ...
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NewsÖBB signs 700-coach framework agreement
AUSTRIA: Austrian Federal Railways and Siemens Mobility have signed a five-year framework agreement for the supply of up to 700 coaches with a potential total value of €1·5bn, with an option to extend the agreement beyond 2023. ÖBB has placed an initial firm order for eight nine-car rakes to replace ...
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NewsDB deploys heat protection film in heatwave
GERMANY: In response to the ongoing heatwave, DB Regio is applying heat protection film to the windows of Type DBuz non-air-conditioned double-deck coaches used on the Frankenbahn route between Stuttgart and Würzburg. It is hoped that this will reduce the onboard temperatures by 4°C. Passengers on the Frankenbahn, Stuttgart ...
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NewsEifel-Bördebahn contract awarded
GERMANY: Local transport authority NVR has awarded incumbent and sole bidder Rurtalbahn GmbH a contract to continue to operate Eifel-Bördebahn service RB28. The passenger service on the 30 km route between Düren and Euskirchen in Nordrhein-Westfalen currently operates on weekends and public holidays only, totalling around 28 000 train-km/year. ...
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NewsMoscow commuter EMU order
RUSSIA: Moscow commuter operator Central Suburban Passenger Co has awarded Transmashholding’s Demikhovsky Engineering Plant a contract to supply 10 Type EP2D electric multiple-units by the end of the year This follows from an order for 10 units delivered earlier this year for use on the routes from Moscow’s Kursk, Riga ...
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NewsSprinter Lighttrain returns to service following accessibility upgrade
NETHERLANDS: National passenger operator NS has returned to service the first of its 131 Sprinter Lighttrain electric multiple-units which are being refurbished and ungraded to meet modern accessibility standards. An initial three refurbished SLT units will operate in service until the end of the year to gather passenger feedback on ...
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Rail Business UKWales & Borders electric train order confirmed
UK: Stadler Rail has been confirmed as preferred bidder to supply a total of 71 trainsets for use on the next Wales & Borders franchise from 2022. The Swiss company is to supply 36 three-car Citylink tram-train vehicles for use on South Wales Metro services from Cardiff to Treherbert, ...
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NewsČD modernises catering fleet
CZECH REPUBLIC: National operator ČD is to produce 27 Type Armpee bistro cars by modernising existing WRmee816, WRmee814 and ARmpee832 dining cars. The work is to be undertaken by ČD subsidiary DPOV in two phases, with nine vehicles to be rebuilt in 2018-19 and 18 in 2020-21. The design developed ...
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NewsStation modernisation programme agreed
GERMANY: Framework agreements for the construction of seven new stations and the modernisation of 41 others over the next seven years were signed by DB Station&Service and Schleswig-Holstein transport authority Nah.SH on August 1. New stations are planned at Bad Oldesloe-Ost, Eckernförde Süd, Lübeck-Moisling, Preetz Krankenhaus, Preetz Nord, Raisdorf Ostseepark ...
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NewsFirst crowd-sourced Stadler EMU arrives in Bern
SWITZERLAND: Metre-gauge inter-urban operator Regionalverkehr Bern-Solothurn took delivery of the first of 14 Worbla EMUs at its Worblaufen depot north of Bern on August 7. RBS ordered the trains from Stadler in May 2016 under a contract worth SFr134m including spares. The highly customised design was influenced by ideas ...
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NewsNJ Transit to invest more as PTC pressure prompts service cuts
USA: On August 8 New Jersey Transit announced that it would be spending $3·8bn in the 2019 financial year as the commuter railroad seeks to address an urgent shortfall in investment. NJT is one of the largest commuter rail operations in the USA, running an extensive network of services which ...
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NewsUS policymakers seek to restrict procurement from Chinese suppliers
USA: In the clearest sign yet that US policymakers are seeking to clamp down on Chinese involvement in the transport sector, the Senate on July 31 formally adopted measures which would see a one-year ban on any procurement from Chinese state-owned companies using Federal Transit Administration funding. The ban is ...
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NewsPesa to supply more DMUs to Trenitalia
ITALY: National passenger operator Trenitalia has exercised an option to buy 14 ATR220 three-car diesel multiple-units from Polish supplier Pesa for 200m złoty. Deliveries are due in September 2019. The order is part of a framework contract signed in December 2013 for a base order of 40 ATR220 DMUs, with ...
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NewsValle d’Aosta operating contract awarded
ITALY: The Valle d’Aosta Autonomous Region has selected incumbent Trenitalia as the winner of the next contract to operate its regional passenger services between Aosta, Ivrea and Torino. Trenitalia said it beat second-ranked Arriva to win the contract, which was awarded on the basis of the most economically advantageous offer. ...
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NewsGo-Ahead wins E-Netz Allgäu operating contract
GERMANY: Bayern railway authority BEG and Baden-Württemberg’s Ministry of Transport have jointly selected Go-Ahead as the winner of the E-Netz Allgäu operating contract. The contract award announced on August 3 following a European tender covers the operation of around 2·6 million train-km/year on the München – Buchloe – Memmingen – ...
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NewsLEO Express announces Lint DMU fleet
CZECH REPUBLIC: LEO Express announced on August 2 that it had secured a portfolio of 15 Alstom Lint diesel multiple-units for use from December 2019 or earlier on routes which it hopes to operate under public service contracts with local authorities. LEO Express said it was in negotiations to agree ...