Passenger rail news – Page 158
-
NewsHull Trains rolls-out KeTech onboard information screens
UK: ‘Hull Trains passengers are now the most well informed on the UK rail network’, claims Mike Dixon, Technical Manager at KeTech which has supplied its Keinform500 onboard information screens for the open access operator’s fleet of Alstom diesel multiple-units. The fleet-wide roll-out follows a successful trial ...
-
NewsAlpha Trains buys multiple-unit fleets
GERMANY: Leasing company Alpha Trains Luxembourg has acquired 89 regional multiple-units from Société Générale subsidiaries Société Anonyme de Crédit à l’Industrie Française and SNC Vindelica. The transaction covers three fleets of multiple-units which are operated by Transdev subsidiaries: 18 three-car and 17 five-car Alstom Coradia Continental EMUs used by NordWestBahn ...
-
NewsEuropean Commission adopts new rules to widen access to rail infrastructure
EUROPE: New rules designed to create fairer conditions for access to rail infrastructure were adopted by the European Commission on April 7, and will come into force on December 1. The Commission is concerned that EU rail markets are currently ‘characterised’ by dominant operators which may have close ties with ...
-
NewsEast Japan Railway on West Midlands franchise shortlist
UK: Three bidders have been shortlisted for the next West Midlands passenger franchise, the Department for Transport announced on April 7. DfT is expected to issue the invitation to tender in July, with bids to be submitted in November. It expects to award the contract in June 2017, ready for ...
-
NewsCummins QSK95 achieves Tier 4 certification
USA: Cummins received Tier 4 certification for its QSK95 diesel engine from the Environmental Protection Agency on March 31, ‘making it the first single prime power engine’ certified by EPA as meeting the Tier 4 emissions standards for use on locomotives. According to Cummins, the 3 281 kW QSK95 has ...
-
NewsNew-generation Stockholm commuter EMU inaugurated
SWEDEN: Stockholm County Council’s transport authority Stockholms Läns Landsting and Alstom inaugurated the first Coradia Nordic X60B commuter electric multiple-unit at Stockholm Central on April 4. SLL ordered 46 six-car electric multiple-units in June 2012 for €440m under a framework agreement signed in 2002. Deliveries from Alstom’s Salzgitter plant ...
-
NewsAir-conditioned EMU arrives in Mumbai
INDIA: The first air-conditioned electric multiple-unit built for Mumbai suburban services by the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai was delivered to Central Railway’s Kurla depot on April 5. Following inspections, the 12-car 25 kV 50 Hz EMU is to be tested on the Thane – Panvel route by ICF, Central ...
-
NewsIndia launches first 160 km/h ‘semi high speed’ train
INDIA: What the ministry describes as India’s ‘first semi-high speed train’ was launched by Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu on April 5. The Gatimaan Express between Delhi’s Hazrat Nizamuddin station and Agra Cantonment is now the fastest train India, running at up to 160 km/h to give a journey time ...
-
NewsSchuman – Josaphat tunnel enters service
BELGIUM: Local passenger trains began using the 1 250 m Schuman – Josaphat tunnel at 05.50 on April 4, marking the next step in the development of the Brussels Regional Express network. The link had been expected to open with the December 2015 timetable change, but this was postponed pending ...
-
NewsSchafbergBahn rack locomotive delivered
AUSTRIA: Stadler Rail has delivered a second diesel locomotive for the metre-gauge SchafbergBahn, ready for the start of the April to October operating season on Austria’s steepest rack railway which climbs 1 190 m to the summit of the 1 783 m Schafberg. Locomotive Vz32 was ordered to handle increased ...
-
NewsAbellio orders DMUs with electric bike charging sockets
GERMANY: Alstom announced on April 1 that Abellio Rail Mitteldeutschland had placed a €170m firm order for 52 Coradia Lint 41 regional diesel multiple-units, the largest contract for the type to be placed by a single customer. The DMUs are to be manufactured at Alstom’s Salzgitter plant. They will ...
-
NewsNewag signs Małopolska EMU contract
POLAND: Małopolskie voivodship signed a 300m złoty contract with Newag for the supply of 12 electric multiple-units on March 30. The Nowy Sącz based supplier beat Pesa to win the contract, which includes options for up to four more trainsets. The first six EMUs from Newag’s Impuls family are ...
-
NewsHitachi awarded TransPennine Express multiple-unit contract
UK: First TransPennine Express Ltd has awarded Hitachi Rail Europe and leasing company Angel Trains a contract to supply 19 five-car AT300 electro-diesel multiple units for use on the TransPennine Express franchise in northern England from December 2019. The contract was announced on March 31, the day before the new ...
-
NewsBotswana Railways coaches delivered
BOTSWANA: The first 22 of 37 coaches which Botswana Railways ordered from South Africa’s Transnet Engineering were delivered to Gaborone by rail in late March, and the rest are scheduled to arrive by May. The coaches are being produced at Transnet’s Koedoespoort and Salt River plants, with Transnet outsourcing ‘a ...
-
NewsRDC strengthens German business ahead of Sylt launch
GERMANY: US-based international railway group Railroad Development Corp has announced a restructuring and management appointments at its German subsidiary RDC Deutschland GmbH with effect from April 1, ahead of the planned launch of the Autozug Sylt service car-carrying service. RDC’s German activities will comprise holding company RDC Deutschland GmbH ...
-
NewsAlstom awarded Trentino multiple-unit contract
ITALY: Trenitalia has awarded Alstom a contract to supply a further six Coradia Meridian electric multiple-units for use on regional services in Trentino. The firm order announced on March 25 has been placed under a 2012 framework agreement, and deliveries are scheduled to start at the end of 2016. ...
-
NewsHokkaido Shinkansen inaugurated
JAPAN: High speed services reached Japan’s third main island on March 26, with the inauguration of the first phase of the Hokkaido Shinkansen. Connecting Shin-Aomori in Honshu with Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto in the south of Hokkaido, the 149 km line uses mixed-gauge tracks in the 54 km Seikan Tunnel under the Tsugaru ...
-
NewsVirtual ticket office on test in Essen
GERMANY: A ‘virtual walk-up ticket office’ which combines a self-service ticket machine with a video link to a call centre is being tested at Essen Hauptbahnhof by city transport operator EVAG and Cubic Transportation Systems. NextAgent offers the functionality of a staffed ticket office, according to Cubic. The video ...
-
NewsDB retains Hessen operating contract
GERMANY: Following a European tender, Nordhessen transport authority NVV in partnership with its Rhein-Main and Westfalen-Lippe counterparts has selected incumbent DB RegioNetz's Kurhessenbahn for the next contract to operate Nordwesthessennetz passenger services. The new contract runs for 15 years from December 10 2017 and covers the operation of 2·5 million ...
-
NewsSuccessful year for Arriva
ARRIVA: Deutsche Bahn’s non-German regional passenger transport business Arriva has reported a 7·8% increase in revenue to €4 843m for the year to December 31 2015, with EBITDA up 5·4% to €525m. More than 2·2 billion passenger-journeys were carried by the company. ‘Arriva’s proven strategy continues to be successful, as ...