Passenger rail news – Page 168
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NewsCourt orders review of Nürnberg S-Bahn contract award
GERMANY: On September 17 the Higher Regional Court in München instructed Bayern railway authority BEG to undertake a review of the planned award of two Nürnberg S-Bahn operating contracts to National Express Rail. On February 2 BEG had named the German subsidiary of UK-based National Express Group as its preferred ...
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NewsNew East Midlands direct award franchise agreed
UK: The Department for Transport and incumbent operator Stagecoach Group announced the agreement of a new directly-awarded East Midlands franchise on September 16. The current franchise covering inter-city services on the Midland Main Line and regional services across the East Midlands has been operated by Stagecoach subsidiary East Midlands Trains ...
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NewsQuality improvements in new Rurtalbahn contract
GERMANY: Following the first competitive tender for the route, on September 9 transport authority Nahverkehr Rheinland selected incumbent Rurtalbahn GmbH for a contract to operate hourly local passenger service RB21 on the 26 km Düren – Linnich northern branch of the Rurtalbahn network for four years from 2016. The ...
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NewsCommuter prognosticator avoids delays which haven’t happened yet
SWEDEN: Mathematician Wilhelm Landerholm of Queue AB and Stockholm commuter train operator Stockholmståg have developed an algorithm which can be used to forecast potential delays, helping network control staff to make decisions which will minimise the potential impact and also prevent ripple effects before they would have occurred. Real-time feeds ...
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NewsDfT seeks ideas to secure Island Line’s future
UK: The Department for Transport announced on September 11 that it would undertake public consultation on proposals to secure the future of the 13·5 km isolated line on the Isle of Wight by turning it into ‘a separate and self-sustaining business’ during the life of the next South Western franchise, ...
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NewsMerseyrail EMU fleet to be replaced
UK: Liverpool regional transport authority Merseytravel is to procure a new fleet of electric multiple-units to replace the 59 three-car Class 507 and 508 EMUs used on Merseyrail services which are now approaching 40 years old. The higher availability and improved reliability of modern EMUs is expected to enabling a ...
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NewsSun International to revitalise The Blue Train
SOUTH AFRICA: Following an open tender, national freight operator Transnet has selected tourism, leisure and gaming group Sun International to develop and implement a marketing strategy for The Blue Train luxury train service. The agreement with Sun International was signed on September 8 and will run for up to ...
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NewsPassenger trains return to the Scottish borders
UK: The first public passenger trains for 46 years ran between Edinburgh and Tweedbank on September 6, when revenue services began over the 48 route-km Borders Railway. The launch of revenue service comes amid a week of celebrations marking the reopening of approximately a third of the former Edinburgh – ...
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NewsOuigo to expand as SNCF rethinks low-cost services
FRANCE: Ouigo low-cost TGV services are to be expanded to a further eight stations in the north and west of the country in 2016, SNCF announced on September 3. Faced with increasing competition from the liberalisation of long-distance bus services and the growth of ride-sharing, SNCF has unveiled a new ...
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NewsHull Trains to order Hitachi electro-diesel trainsets
UK: East Yorkshire to London open access inter-city operator Hull Trains announced a £68m plan to order five Hitachi electro-diesel multiple-units on September 3. These would enter service in 2020, subject to the successful completion of negotiations with infrastructure manager Network Rail and regulator ORR for a ...
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NewsRefurbished ScotRail DMU rolled out
UK: The first of 40 Class 158 diesel multiple-units to be refurbished at Knorr-Bremse RailServices' Springburn facility was unveiled by ScotRail on September 1. The £14m modernisation of the units built in 1989-92 includes seating improvements, better lighting, modern carpets, improved accessibility, new CCTV, automated passenger-counting systems and at-seat power ...
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NewsChina Railway Corp orders Zefiro380 high speed trains
CHINA: China Railway Corp has ordered a further 15 eight-car CRH380D high speed trainsets from Bombardier Sifang (Qingdao) Transportation for 2·4bn yuan. Announcing the order on September 2, the BST joint venture of Bombardier and CSR Sifang Rolling Stock Co said it had begun delivering an initial batch of 70 ...
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NewsPomeranian Metropolitan Railway opens
POLAND: Revenue services on the Pomorska Kolej Metropolitalna line serving Gdańsk airport began on September 1, following inauguration celebrations including steam-hauled trains on August 30. The new line is owned by PKM, a dedicated company established by Pomorskie voivodship. Branching from the existing network at Gdańsk Wrzeszcz, it uses ...
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NewsDB Regio retains Euregiobahn contract
GERMANY: Transport authority Nahverkehr Rheinland announced on August 27 that incumbent DB Regio had submitted the most economically advantageous bid for the next contract to operate RB20 Euregiobahn services. Radiating out from Aachen to Stolberg, Düren, Herzogenrath and Alsdorf in Germany and Heerlen in the Netherlands, the service carries around ...
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NewsGermany studies feasibility of a national clockface timetable
GERMANY: A detailed study of the feasibility of introducing of a national clock-face timetable based a 30 min and 60 min cycle of long distance trains with optimised connections has been published. The study was commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Transport from the IGES Institut and TU Braunschweig, with ...
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NewsSprinter Lighttrain upgrade contract awarded
NETHERLANDS: The consortium of Bombardier and Siemens which supplied NS Reizigers’ fleet of 131 Sprinter Lighttrain electric multiple-units has been awarded a contract to install toilets and fit slide-out steps to improve accessibility by mid-2021. The modifications were not foreseen when first orders for the EMUs were placed in 2005, ...
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NewsFreight line passenger revival
GERMANY: Local freight railway Bentheimer Eisenbahn has called tenders for a contract to provide planning and engineering services for the reintroduction of passenger services on the 30 km Bad Bentheim – Neuenhaus line in Niedersachsen. Passenger trains on the route were replaced by railway-operated bus services in 1974. The ...
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NewsBudapest – Esztergom line reopens after modernisation
HUNGARY: National passenger operator MÁV-Start restarted services on the modernised Budapest – Esztergom line on August 20. Renovation of the 53 km route lasted more than three years and cost HF44·5bn, of which 85% was funded from EU sources. Electrification is around 18 months behind schedule and is expected ...
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NewsFunding to upgrade Ottawa – Montréal passenger service
CANADA: The national government has announced an additional C$102m of funding for VIA Rail in 2015-17 to support upgrading works on the Ottawa – Montréal route. This includes work to enable VIA Rail’s Renaissance coaches to be used on the route instead of older rolling stock, thereby enhancing accessibility; track ...
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NewsDublin commuter line upgrade launched
IRELAND: Work on a €13·7m project to upgrade the 4·4 km line through the Phoenix Park Tunnel in Dublin was officially launched by Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Paschal Donohoe on August 18. From autumn 2016 commuter services from Kildare west of Dublin will be able to use the ...