Passenger rail news – Page 127
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NewsHopes rise on Gateway tunnel funding despite Trump opposition
USA: Hopes of progress in the Gateway Programme to build new tunnels between New York and New Jersey were raised on March 22 when $650m of federal funding was directed to Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. The Gateway Programme covers a series of enhancements worth approximately $30bn to the busiest section ...
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NewsFlixTrain launches on Hamburg – Köln route
GERMANY: FlixMobility’s first FlixTrain open access passenger service left Hamburg’s Altona station for Köln on the morning of March 23. Services run from Thursday to Tuesday, with market-based prices starting at a headline fare of €9·99. FlixMobility has launched FlixTrain to build on its FlixBus long-distance coach network, using a ...
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NewsFrench government to order 100 ‘TGVs of the future’
FRANCE: Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has said that the government is to place a firm order with Alstom ‘by the end of June’ for 100 TGV trainsets. He was addressing a press conference on March 22 to update progress on the merger of Siemens Mobility and Alstom. These would ...
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NewsSzczecin suburban expansion funded
POLAND: The EU has agreed to meet 85% of the cost of a 741m złoty project to increase passenger services around the city of Szczecin. The project includes upgrading the lines radiating from Szczecin towards Stardard, Gryfino, Gileniów airport, Swinoujście and Police to accommodate an increase in services, and the ...
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NewsThameslink first with ATO over ETCS
UK: Working with Network Rail and Siemens,commuter operator Govia Thameslink Railway has successfully operated its first passenger-carrying train using ATO over ETCS Level 2. On March 17 a southbound eight-car Thameslink train to Three Bridges operated automatically through the cross-city core between St Pancras, Farringdon, City Thameslink and London Blackfriars, ...
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NewsShift2Rail launches fuel cell research
EUROPE: Recognising growing interest around the world in the use of fuel cells and hydrogen as an alternative to railway electrification, the Shift2Rail joint undertaking announced on March 19 that it had decided to commission research into the technology. Noting that ‘electrifying the transport system is a major priority to ...
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NewsD-Train to target US transit market
USA: Next year could see the deployment of Vivarail D-Train diesel multiple-units in North America, under proposals being developed by Railroad Development Corp. RDC Chairman Henry Posner III told Railway Gazette that the remanufactured London Underground trainsets offered a unique opportunity to test the market for urban rail services in ...
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NewsRegional corridor studies to go ahead
AUSTRALIA: The federal government has selected three projects for development under the Faster Rail Prospectus announced as part of the 2017 budget. The aim of the programme is to develop proposals for faster rail services between major cities and their surrounding regions, to support ‘continued economic success’. The budget allocates ...
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NewsItalian booking technology for c2c
UK: London commuter operator c2c is working with developer IBM to bring the Italian state railway group’s PICO multi-channel and medium-independent ticket retailing technology to the UK market this year, Trenitalia UK Chairman & Managing Director Ernesto Sicilia told the Transport Ticketing Global 2018 conference. PICO enables passengers to purchase ...
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NewsBuenos Aires RER to be built through a PPP
ARGENTINA: The government intends to use a public-private partnership model for the project to create an RER network in Buenos Aires, it announced at a presentation for potential investors held on March 13. Minister of Finances Luis Caputo explained that a PPP would allow the government to pay off ...
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NewsCRRC trains enter service on Kuala Lumpur airport link
MALAYSIA: The first three of the six electric multiple-units which Express Rail Link ordered from CRRC Changchun to increase capacity on the 1 435 mm gauge Kuala Lumpur International Airport rail link have entered service, after being officially unveiled by Minister of Transport Liow Tiong Lai on March 13. ERL ...
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NewsCzech railbuses provide Polish inter-city connection
POLAND: SKPL Cargo is working with PKP Intercity to operate two Jasło – Zagórz return services per day from March 11 until September 1 using Class 810 railbuses acquired from the Czech Republic. Connections are provided in Jasło with long-distance trains to Gdynia operated by PKP Intercity, which is funding ...
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NewsTransdev receives safety approval for French passenger market
FRANCE: Transdev announced on March 12 that its train operating subsidiary CFTA had received a certificate of railway safety. This is a prerequisite for Transdev to enter the main line passenger market as a competitor to national railway SNCF. CFTA already operates two rural passenger services in Bretagne, through a ...
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NewsDSB selects Siemens to supply electric locomotives
DENMARK: National passenger operators DSB has selected Siemens for a contract to supply 26 electric locomotives for entry into service from 2021, with an option for a further 18. Siemens will have overall responsibility for maintenance for 10 years, and an option for further five years. The decision announced on ...
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NewsMOB orders dual-gauge Golden Pass fleet
SWITZERLAND: Montreux-Oberland Bahn has ordered a fleet of 20 gauge-changing coaches to operate through services between Montreux and Interlaken. To be marketed as GoldenPass Express, the service is due to be launched by MOB and its partner BLS from the timetable change in December 2020. To be built by Stadler, ...
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NewsMexican DMUs ordered to work Phnom Penh airport rail link
CAMBODIA: Revenue services on the new rail link to Phnom Penh International Airport are expected to begin running with effect from the Khmer New Year on April 10, Hoeurn Somnieng, deputy director of the cabinet at the Ministry of Public Works & Transport announced on March 2. Test running has ...
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NewsZSSK awards EMU contract
SLOVAKIA: National passenger operator ZSSK has awarded a consortium of Škoda Vagónka and ŽOS Trnava a €160m contract to supply 25 dual-voltage electric multiple-units for use on regional services around Žilina. Stadler had also bid for the contract. The EMUs will be based on Škoda’s RegioPanter family. The order covers ...
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NewsThameslink Programme nears completion as final EMU rolls out
UK: The last of 115 Class 700 electric multiple-units for the Thameslink route was rolled out at Siemens’ Krefeld factory in Germany on March 8. In 2013 the Department for Transport awarded the Cross-London Trains consortium led by Siemens a £1·6bn contract to supply 60 eight-car and 55 12-car ...
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NewsInter-city coach order placed
POLAND: Long-distance operator PKP Intercity has signed a contract with Poznań-based FPS H Cegielski for the design and manufacture of up to 81 TSI-compliant coaches for operation at 200 km/h. FPS had been announced at the end of last year as sole bidder for the tender issued in June 2017; ...
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NewsHull Trains Managing Director steps down
UK: Will Dunnett has resigned as Managing Director of Hull Trains, in a move which the East Yorkshire to London open access inter-city operator said was unrelated to the extensive and ongoing disruption after its DMU fleet suffered damage during the recent ‘Beast from the East’ bad ...