Passenger rail news – Page 136
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NewsKaliningrad – Lithuania border station commissioned
RUSSIA: Border facilities for passengers and freight crossing between Kaliningrad oblast and Kybartai in Lithuania were commissioned at Chernyshevskoye in the east of the Russian exclave on October 2. Border formalities were previously undertaken 10 km west in Nesterov. Construction of the 1·9bn rouble facility started in 2005, and the ...
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NewsNorwegian passenger service tendering underway
NORWAY: Invitations to tender for the Lot 1 Sør passenger train operating contract were issued to prequalified bidders by Jernbanedirektoratet on October 12, when the national railway agency also announced plans for further competitive tendering. The Lot 1 Sør contract covers inter-city services on the Sørlandet line to Stavanger, Jær ...
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NewsProduction of next-generation Acela Express fleet underway
USA: Production of the bodyshells and principal components for the Avelia Liberty high speed trainsets ordered for Amtrak’s premium Acela Express service has begun at Alstom’s Hornell factory in New York state, the manufacturer has confirmed. The fleet is expected to enter service in 2021-22. Alstom displayed a ...
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NewsTrainline increases international options
TICKETS: Trainline announced on October 5 that it had added a further 11 websites to its portfolio, along with Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Czech, European and Brazilian Portuguese, Polish and Mandarin Chinese options to take the number of languages offered to 14. Prices are now offered in a further 15 ...
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NewsDB Regio selected for Dieselnetz Ulm contract
GERMANY: Following a European tender, Bayern railway authority BEG has selected incumbent DB Regio to operate Dieselnetz Ulm passenger services from December 2020 until December 2032. The contract covers regional services on the Ulm – Memmingen (– Buxheim) and Ulm – Weißenhorn routes which are to be operated using new ...
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NewsInfotainment available on Shatabdi Express service
INDIA: Digital services company Trolex|Aporta is to supply its Juxta closed-network infotainment package for Northern Railway’s New Delhi – Habibganj Shatabdi Express services. Passengers will be able to stream entertainment and news directly to mobile devices using a secure local wi-fi network, without buffering and without needing a connection ...
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NewsAir Nostrum applies to operate Madrid — Montpellier open access service
EUROPE: Via its subsidiary Intermodalidad de Levante SA, airline Air Nostrum has applied to Spanish competition authority CNMC to operate a high speed open access service between Madrid and Montpellier in France from October 5 2018. Departures from Madrid would be at 07.45 and 15.30, with services leaving Montpellier at ...
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NewsAlstom unveils passenger locomotive for Azerbaijan Railways
AZERBAIJAN: The first of 10 Prima M4 electric passenger locomotives for national railway ADY was unveiled at Alstom’s Belfort factory in France on October 9. Speaking at the unveiling, ADY Deputy Chairman Hijran Valehov said important steps were being taken to modernise the operator’s locomotive fleet. Alstom is building the ...
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NewsWales & Borders franchise invitations to tender issued
UK: The Welsh Government invited shortlisted bidders Abellio Rail Cymru, Arriva Rail Wales, KeolisAmey and MTR Corp (Cymru) Ltd to submit final tenders for the next Wales & Borders passenger franchise on September 28. The franchise is scheduled to start in October 2018. The current franchise held by Arriva Trains ...
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NewsLanzhou – Chongqing mixed traffic artery completed
CHINA: The Minxian – Lanzhou railway was opened on September 29, completing a 862 km north–south artery between Lanzhou and Chongqing. Designed for 200 km/h passenger and 160 km/h freight services, the completion of the line has shortned the route between the two cities by about 650 km and ...
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NewsAlstom unveils Coradia Stream modular EMU designs for NS and Trenitalia
EUROPE: Alstom unveiled the latest member of its Coradia electric multiple-unit family on October 2, when it presented full-size mock-ups of the Coradia Stream EMUs to be supplied to the Netherlands and Italy. Coradia Stream is intended as a versatile and modular TSI-compliant platform for 160 km/h regional and 200 ...
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NewsDB Netz reopens main line through Rastatt
GERMANY: Following a hiatus of around seven weeks, trains began running through the town of Rastatt on the Rhein Valley main line between Karlsruhe and Basel at 01.00 on October 2.The busy freight and passenger artery had been blocked since August 12, when a tunnel beneath the alignment collapsed. The ...
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NewsTrenitalia orders wheelchair lifts
ITALY: Rolling stock components supplier Nabtesco Oclap has awarded the Caroil System subsidiary of Mobility Networks Group a contract to supply approximately 300 automatic and manual wheelchair lifts for use by national train operator Trenitalia. Caroil has also announced that it is seeking synergies through ‘aligning its core manufacturing processes’ ...
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NewsChanges to EU rail passenger rights regulation proposed
EUROPE: A proposal to revise Regulation 1371/2007 on rail passengers’ rights was published by the European Commission on September 28. This must now be examined and adopted by the European Parliament and Council before entering into force. The Commission said its aim was to update the rules to better protect ...
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News1 500 EMU cars for Buenos Aires
ARGENTINA: The federal government announced on September 26 the start of tendering for what it describes as the largest rolling stock order ever to be placed for the Buenos Aires commuter network, covering the supply of 1 500 EMU cars or 169 trainsets plus maintenance over 10 years in five ...
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NewsLoan funds more Incofer rolling stock
COSTA RICA: President Luis Guillermo Solís has announced that state railway Incofer is to purchase an additional eight trainsets for 52m colones towards the end of this year, using a loan from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration. Modernising the railway network would, according to Solís, enable Costa Rica ...
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NewsElectro-diesel multiple-unit to be developed for regional routes
POLAND: A letter of intent for the development, construction and testing of a prototype electro-diesel multiple-unit was signed on September 19 by regional train operator PolRegio, investment and leasing company Polski Tabor Szynowy and rolling stock manufacturer Fabryka Pojazdów Szynowych H Cegielski, which will co-operate on the project with the ...
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NewsSpain publishes international open access criteria
SPAIN: National competition authority CNMC has published the criteria that will be used to asses applications to operate international open access passenger services to and from Spain, which would also be permitted to carry domestic passengers in competition with state operator RENFE. Pending the transposition of the European Union’s Fourth ...
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NewsRefurbished Pendolino returns to service
CZECH REPUBLIC: The first of national operator ČD’s Pendolino trainsets to be refurbished returned to passenger service on September 25, two days after unveiled in Bohumín as part of the national Railway Day celebrations. It is currently being deployed on the Praha – Košice route. All seven of the Class ...
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NewsSJ to order Snabbtåg high speed train fleet
SWEDEN: National passenger operator SJ is to call tenders for the supply of 30 high speed trains suitable for 250 km/h operation. The procurement has been under discussion for some time, and a final go-ahead for the project was given at the company’s board meeting on September 21. According to ...