Passenger rail news – Page 141
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NewsWork begins to electrify Caltrain
USA: California Governor Jerry Brown was among those present at a ceremony at Millbrae station on June 21 to mark the start of work on the Caltrain Electrification Project. ‘Today marks the beginning of a faster, cleaner, better Caltrain, a Caltrain that will allow tens of thousands of people ...
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NewsBeacon Rail buys Voyager DEMU fleet
UK: Beacon Rail Leasing has expanded its UK rolling stock portfolio with the purchase of the Bombardier Class 220 and Class 221 Voyager diesel-electric multiple-unit fleets from subsidiaries of Lloyds Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland. The 352 vehicles are formed into 78 four and five-car sets, of which 58 ...
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NewsDMUs delivered ahead of Nordjyske Jernbaner expansion
DENMARK: Nordjyske Jernbaner has taken delivery of 13 Alstom Coradia Lint diesel multiple-units which are expected to enter service this autumn to support an expansion of services. The locally-owned railway company operates the 18 km Hjørring – Hirtshals and 40 km Frederikshavn – Skagen lines in northern Jylland, and ...
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NewsAbellio signs Bernburg – Magdeburg contract
GERMANY: A contract for the operation of Bernburg – Calbe (Saale) – Schönebeck – Magdeburg regional passenger service RB48 was signed on July 21 by Sachsen-Anhalt Transport Minister Thomas Webel and Chairman of Abellio Rail Mitteldeutschland Dr Roman Müller. The contract has been awarded as an option on the ...
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NewsUK railway news round-up
The Department for Transport has extended Govia’s current London Midland franchise from October 15 to December 10 under the existing terms. DfT has an option for a further extension to February 4 which it can exercise by August 18. The Govia joint venture of Go-Ahead and Keolis and the West ...
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NewsRegiobahn to operated expanded S28 route
GERMANY: Rhein-Ruhr transport authority VRR is to award incumbent Regiobahn a contract to operate the expanded S-Bahn service S28 for 15 years from December 2021. Regiobahn was founded in 1992 and is owned by a group of local authorities on the Kaarster See – Neuss – Düsseldorf – Erkrath Nord ...
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NewsStadler awarded Syntus EMU maintenance contract
NETHERLANDS: On July 18 Syntus formally awarded Stadler Service Nederland a 15-year contract to undertake all aspects of maintenance for 16 Flirt electric multiple-units which are currently being tested ahead of entry into service between Zwolle, Kampen and Enschede from December 2017. The nine three-car and seven four-car 1·5 kV ...
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NewsBEG to award transitional Augsburg contract
GERMANY: Bayern railway authority BEG has announced its intention to award incumbent Transdev subsidiary Bayerische Regiobahn a contract to continue operating Dieselnetz Augsburg II passenger services from the end of the current contract in December 2019 until December 2021. The contract covers the operation of 3 million train-km/year using Alstom ...
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NewsBi-mode trains in prospect as HS2 northern routes confirmed
UK: Transport Secretary Chris Grayling issued a Command Paper on July 17 confirming the planned routes for the northern sections of High Speed 2, which would link London and Birmingham with Leeds and Manchester, including connections to the existing East Coast and West Coast main lines.The ‘majority’ of the route ...
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NewsAbellio takes full ownership of WestfalenBahn as market gets more competitive
GERMANY: The Abellio GmbH German subsidiary of Dutch state passenger train operator NS has reached an agreement to acquire the stakes in Westfalenbahn which are currently held by municipal partners moBiel, Mindener Kreisbahnen and Verkehrsbetriebe Extertal. The transaction announced on July 18 is subject to regulatory approval, and terms were ...
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NewsClass 319 Flex electro-diesel multiple-units for Wales
UK: The Welsh Government is to provide £1·9m and operator Arriva Trains Wales £1m to lease five Class 319 Flex electro-diesel multiple-units for use on the Wales & Borders franchise from 2018 until at least 2021. First announced by Porterbrook Leasing and Northern franchise operator Arriva in December 2016, the ...
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NewsGovia Thameslink Railway renews ticket sales system
UK: Govia Thameslink Railway is to replace its current desktop ticketing issuing system with Worldline’s @Station mobile point-of-sale technology. Announcing the contract on July 6, Worldline said @Station would provide the operator with ability to 'queue bust' and to cross-sell and upsell both Rail Settlement Plan and non-RSP products. Roll-out ...
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NewsEnvironmental survey marks Northeast Corridor progress
USA: The Federal Railroad Administration on July 12 released a Record of Decision marking completion of a Tier 1 environmental review of the Northeast Corridor under the National Environmental Policy Act.This establishes a long-term planning framework for the 735 km corridor linking Boston with Washington DC, along which a series ...
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NewsBattery energy recovery and biodiesel in Arriva operating contract
NETHERLANDS: The provinces of Groningen and Friesland named incumbent Arriva as the winner of the next contract to operate their regional passenger rail services on July 11. The contract will run for 15 years from December 13 2020 and is worth €1·6bn. The contract covers fast and stopping services ...
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NewsEurostar passengers to be able to watch virtual fish under the Channel
EUROPE: Cross-Channel high speed train operator Eurostar is to offer passengers an ‘immersive and unprecedented’ on-board virtual reality experience this summer. Primarily aimed at children and accessed through the on-train entertainment system using a smart device or via headsets which will be available onboard, Eurostar Odyssey will create a virtual ...
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NewsFinal Brazilian-built EMU for PRASA completed
SOUTH AFRICA: Alstom Brazil’s Lapa factory has completed the last of 20 X'Ttrapolis Mega electric multiple-units for Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa. PRASA placed a R51bn order for 600 of the six-car 1 067 mm gauge EMUs in 2013, with 20 to be supplied from Brazil and the remaining ...
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NewsBaoji – Lanzhou opening completes high speed corridor to western China
CHINA: The 401 km high speed line between Baoji in Shaanxi province and Lanzhou in Gansu province opened on July 9, following a period of test running which had begun in May. The latest section of the national high speed network links the existing high speed line from eastern China ...
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NewsPrime Minister inaugurates Stockholm Citybanan
SWEDEN: Revenue services began operating through the new Stockholm Citybanan tunnels at 05.00 on July 10, following formal inauguration by Prime Minister Stefan Löfven the previous day. He was joined for the ceremonies at Odenplan by Minister of Infrastructure Anna Johansson, Trafikverket Director General Lena Erixon and the head of ...
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NewsBelgrano Sur heads for Constitución
ARGENTINA: On July 6 the Ministry of Transport announced the start of work on a new elevated alignment for the 1 000 mm gauge Belgrano Sur commuter route in Buenos Aires. Running for 5∙6 km, it will enable Belgrano services to run into the Plaza Constitución terminus of the 1 ...
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NewsNorthern’s Pacer replacement multiple-units under construction
UK: The first of the Civity UK multiple-units ordered for Arriva’s Northern franchise in northern England are now under construction at CAF’s factories at Irun and Zaragoza in Spain. The 25 two-car and 30 three-car Class 195 diesel multiple-units and 31 three-car and 12 four-car 25 kV 50 Hz Class ...