Passenger rail news – Page 176
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NewsLGV Est Phase 2 completed
FRANCE: On March 31 SNCF President Guillaume Pepy joined SNCF Réseau President Jacques Rapoport and other dignitaries as the last rail was welded to mark the completion of construction work on Phase 2 of LGV Est, the high speed line between Paris and Strasbourg. Work on Phase 2, covering the ...
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NewsLevel crossings to go as Harderwijk rebuilding approved
NETHERLANDS: Infrastructure manager ProRail has confirmed that the station at Harderwijk is to be rebuilt by the end of 2016, under an accord signed with national passenger operator NS, the town council and Gelderland province on March 26. As well as improving passenger facilities, the reconstruction will eliminate two level ...
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NewsPrototype EMU on test
RUSSIA: The first of two prototype EG2Tv electric multiple-units developed by Transmashholding’s Tver Carriage Works has arrived at the Shcherbinka test circuit near Moscow, where it is to undergo certification trials ready for potential series production. TMH is developing the EG2Tv as the basis for a new generation of EMUs ...
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NewsAutomatic EMU inspection system in new maintenance contract
UK: National Express Group has awarded Bombardier Transportation a contract to maintain the 74 Bombardier Class 357 Electrostar EMUs operated under the Essex Thameside franchise, which is branded c2c. The current franchise began in November 2014 and runs for 15 years. Bombardier’s contract was announced on March 30. It runs ...
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NewsSerco to sell Great Southern Rail
AUSTRALIA: Serco Group plc has agreed to sell its Great Southern Rail business to Sydney-based private equity firm Allegro Funds for an enterprise value and cash consideration of £2·5m. GSR operates tourist-focused passenger services including The Ghan, Indian Pacific and Overland, and Serco said a review undertaken last year ...
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NewsMetrolinx awards depot PPP contract
CANADA: Provincial investment agency Infrastructure Ontario and Toronto transport authority Metrolinx announced on March 27 that they had awarded a C$860m contract to the Plenary Infrastructure ERMF consortium to design, build, finance and maintain the GO Transit East Rail Maintenance Facility in Whitby under a 30-year concession. According to Metrolinx, ...
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News€1·7bn Rhein-Ruhr-Express EMU order awarded
GERMANY: A ‘record-breaking’ order for Siemens to supply and maintain a fleet of 82 electric multiple-units for the Rhein-Ruhr-Express network was officially awarded on March 26 by a group of local transport authorities in the Rhein-Ruhr region. The company had been selected in February as preferred bidder ...
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NewsTranstech to supply more double-deckers
FINLAND: National operator VR has selected Transtech Oy as preferred bidder for a €90m contract to supply 27 double-deck coaches in 2016-17. The order covers a further 10 Edm double-deck sleeping cars and 17 Edo driving cars, similar to vehicles that the Finnish rolling stock manufacturer has previously supplied to ...
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NewsDomestic DMUs for Belgrano Norte
ARGENTINA: On March 25 Minister of the Interior & Transport Florencio Randazzo unveiled the first of 20 Alerce diesel multiple-units that are to be deployed on the 1 000 mm gauge Belgrano Norte commuter route between Buenos Aires and Villa Rosa. According to Randazzo, 90% of the components for the ...
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NewsMeinerzhagen - Brügge reopening agreed
GERMANY: The WestfalenLippe transport authority has signed an agreement for DB Regio NRW to reinstate passenger services on the 15 km Meinerzhagen – Brügge line from the December 2017 timetable change. The agreement runs until 2033 and covers the operation of an additional 250 000 train-km/year. DB Regio plans ...
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NewsTrain leasing agency approved
GERMANY: In an effort to encourage competition for passenger operating contracts, on March 12 Baden-Württemberg’s parliament passed a law creating an agency which will procure rolling stock for lease to train operators. Land Transport Minister Winfried Hermann said that independent operators bidding to run local services are offered less favourable ...
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NewsIndian high speed rail study bids called
INDIA: The Ministry of Railways has invited bids to undertake feasibility studies for the development of high speed lines in three corridors, at an estimated cost of Rs300m. Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu made clear when announcing the railway budget and five-year action plan in February that his priority was ...
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NewsMTR launches open access inter-city service
SWEDEN: Head-to-head competition came to the 455 km Stockholm – Göteborg corridor on March 21 when open access operator MTR Express launched commercial services. Initially operating around 50 trains per week, rising to 90 from August, MTR Express is offering an end-to-end journey time of 3 h 19 min with ...
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NewsFlytoget orders CAF Oaris trainsets
NORWAY: Oslo Gardermoen airport rail link operator Flytoget has awarded CAF a €120m contract to supply eight four-car Oaris trainsets, along with spare parts and technical support. The new electric multiple-units are scheduled to enter services from early 2018, supplementing Flytoget’s current fleet of 16 Adtranz EMUs on services between ...
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NewsFirst Great Western plans AT300s to Cornwall
UK: Two fleets of new trains and potentially a third will be introduced on the Great Western network over the next four years under the terms of a direct-award franchise announced by Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin on March 23. These would boost capacity on the network by ...
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NewsEmission-free trains to support railway reopening
GERMANY: A letter of intent was signed on March 19 between Alstom Transport and the municipality of Calw in the Land of Baden-Württemberg paving the way for emission-free fuel cell trainsets to operate on the so-called Hermann-Hesse line from 2018. Closed to revenue-earning traffic in 1988, the Calw – Weil ...
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NewsTGV relaunch planned
FRANCE: Voyages SNCF Director Rachel Picard has outlined the strategy that the national operator is to implement with the aim of making the TGV once again the preferred mode of transport, in the face of rising competition that includes ride-sharing. At the same time, cost savings averaging €80m a year ...
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NewsDB to reconquer the long-distance market
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn revealed details of an ambitious programme to regain lost business in the long-distance passenger market through expansion of its ICE and IC networks on March 18. The move follows an unprecedented surge in long-distance coach travel since market deregulation in 2013. Faster and more frequent trains serving ...
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NewsInfrastructure renationalisation begins
ARGENTINA: On March 18 Minister of the Interior & Transport Florencio Randazzo announced that the bill to return the national rail network to state control had begun its progress through the legislature. A new ‘mother’ company, Ferrocarriles Argentinos, would be created to manage access to the network, absorbing federal operating ...
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NewsSpeed increase on the Tokaido Shinkansen
JAPAN: Central Japan Railway increased the maximum speed of its premium services between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka from 270 to 285 km/h with effect from March 14, cutting journey times by 3 min for 29 of its 37 Nozomi trains each day. The fastest timing over the 515·4 km route ...