Passenger rail news – Page 151
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NewsCoradia Liner enters service
FRANCE: SNCF’s first Alstom Coradia Liner V160 electro-diesel multiple-units entered passenger service on the Paris – Troyes – Belfort route on February 6. SNCF placed a €346m order for 34 six-car Coradia Liners in October 2013. Part of Alstom’s Coradia Polyvalent family, they are intended to replace locomotive-hauled stock on ...
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NewsEurostar lounge seeks 'the spirit of a Parisian apartment'
FRANCE: Eurostar opened its relocated Business Premier lounge at Paris-Nord on February 4. Accessed after passengers pass through an expanded security and passport control area, the lounge is intended to offer a ‘stylish, comfortable environment for both working and relaxing’. The facility on the top floor of the original 19th ...
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NewsEngines ordered for Civity UK DMUs
UK: Rolls-Royce’s MTU business is to supply 140 Series 1800 PowerPacks for use on the 55 Civity UK diesel multiple-units which Spanish rolling stock manufacturer CAF is building for use on Arriva’s Northern franchise. Announcing the order on February 3, Rolls-Royce said the 390 kW PowerPacks would have 6H 1800 ...
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NewsReforms aim to ‘blow the dust off’ UK rail ticketing system
UK: A complete overhaul of the structure of Great Britain’s fares system is being planned by the Rail Delivery Group, with the aim of reflecting changes in the way passengers now travel and enabling bidders for future franchises to put forward more innovative ideas for ticketing. ...
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NewsKenya – Uganda construction timescale agreed
AFRICA: Meeting in Nairobi on February 2, ministers from Kenya and Uganda agreed a ‘synchronised’ timescale for construction of the 1 435 mm gauge railway planned to link the two countries. Signed by Uganda’s Finance Minister Matla Kasila, Kenya’s Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich and Transport & Urban Development Secretary James ...
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NewsTrain operators to test 'radical fare changes'
UK: 'Radical changes' to fares which are intended to 'guarantee customers simpler fares and the best possible deal every time they travel' are to be tested following an agreement between train operators and the government, the Rail Delivery Group confirmed on February 1. There will be three elements to ...
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NewsRailway flotations envisaged in Indian budget
INDIA: Plans to float off several Indian Railway subsidiaries including construction arm IRCON, Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corp and Indian Railway Finance Corp were announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the national budget on February 1. He said shares in the IR Public Sector Enterprises would ‘soon’ be ...
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NewsHoosier State returns to Amtrak fold
USA: Amtrak is to resume providing rolling stock for the Hoosier State inter-city train between Chicago and Indianapolis with effect from March 1, the Indiana Department of Transportation announced on January 30. Serving intermediate stops at Crawfordsville, Dyer, Lafayette and Rensselaer, the state-sponsored train operates four days per week each ...
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NewsŠkoda double-deck push-pull set for DB on test
GERMANY: The first of six double-deck push-pull trainsets being built by Škoda Transportation for Deutsche Bahn is undergoing trials at the Velim test circuit in the Czech Republic. Entry into service is not now expected before December 2017. The trainset is initially formed of four coaches, although it will operate ...
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NewsNarrow gauge coaches modernised
GEORGIA: A programme to refurbish locomotive-hauled coaches used on Georgian Railway’s 900 mm gauge Borjomi – Bakuriani line is to be expanded to cope with an increase in ridership on the 37 km route. Two pairs of PV-900 coaches were modernised at the Tbilisi rolling stock works during 2016, but ...
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NewsTwo new EMU fleets as DB Regio selected for Rheintal contract
GERMANY: The selection of DB Regio as preferred bidder to operate Rheintal passenger services for 12½ years from June 2020 was announced by the Land of Baden-Württemberg on January 26. Award of the contract is subject to the 10-day regulatory standstill period. The so-called Netz 4 routes had been tendered ...
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NewsTendering starts for Bogotá — Belencito
COLOMBIA: National infrastructure agency ANI has begun tendering for a contract worth up to 720m pesos to operate the 257 km Bogotá — Belencito route. Proposals are due to be submitted by 10.00 on February 7. Bidders are expected to include Dracol Líneas Férreas which has operated the 914 mm ...
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NewsTGVmax offers unlimited travel for less than a car-share
FRANCE: A new online ticketing product offering passengers aged 16 to 27 unlimited travel on long-distance services for €79 a month was announced by SNCF on January 23. TGVmax will be available on 94% of TGV and Intercités services and on every day of the year, with the exception of ...
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NewsRancagua Express carries first passengers
CHILE: State railway EFE began trial operation of its new commuter service between Santiago and Rancagua on January 24. During the initial phase, there are three departures from the capital during the morning peak, and one at 20.45 on Fridays. There are departures from Rancagua at 07.20, 10.00 and 19.30. ...
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NewsTrenitalia joins FirstGroup to bid for UK franchises
UK: Two weeks after the Italian state railway group entered the UK rail market by agreeing to acquire the Essex Thameside franchise from National Express, FS Italiane subsidiary Trenitalia UK announced on January 24 that it was joining FirstGroup to bid for the East Midlands franchise and the forthcoming West ...
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NewsSBB launches multi-modal trip planning apps
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has launched SBB Reiseplaner apps for iOS and Android, providing a door-to-door trip planner based on HaCon’s Hafas platform which includes multi-modal public transport connections, car sharing provider Mobility, private cars and private or hired bikes along as well as car and cycle parking. The user ...
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NewsHitachi shows how Trenitalia’s Rock will roll
ITALY: A mock-up of one of the driving cars from the double-deck regional electric multiple-units which Hitachi Rail Italy is to supply to Trenitalia was unveiled at the manufacturer’s Pistoia plant on January 20. In August 2016 Trenitalia awarded Hitachi a €333m firm order for 39 five-car Caravaggio high-capacity double-deck ...
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NewsProcurement of High Speed 2 trains begins
UK: The process to procure rolling stock for High Speed 2 was initiated on January 20, when the Department for Transport issued a periodic indicative notice regarding the acquisition of up to 60 trainsets. The formal call for tenders is planned for 2018, with the contract worth an estimated £2·75bn ...
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NewsTrenitalia awarded 10-year inter-city contract
ITALY: A 10-year ‘universal service contract’ for Trenitalia to operate socially-desirable day and night inter-city services was signed on January 19. Awarded jointly by the Ministry of Infrastructure & Transport and the Ministry of Economy & Finance, the contract is backdated to January 1 and runs to December 31 2026. ...
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NewsFS signs deal to buy Greek national train operator
GREECE: The share purchase agreement for Italian state railway group Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane to buy 100% of Greek national passenger and freight train operator Trainose was signed on January 18. Privatisation agency Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund had named FS as preferred bidder on July 14 2016. Russian Railways ...