Passenger rail news – Page 196
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NewsICF rolls out Mumbai suburban EMU
INDIA: The first of 72 new 12-car electric multiple-units being procured by Mumbai Railway Vikas Corp for Central and Western Railway suburban services has been officially unveiled at the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai. Following the launch on October 1, the prototype unit is expected to undergo test running in ...
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NewsPRASA and Alstom sign R51bn EMU contract
SOUTH AFRICA: Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa and the Alstom-led Gibela joint venture signed a R51bn contract for the supply of 3 600 electric multiple-unit cars on October 14. These will form 600 trainsets to be delivered in 2015-25. In addition, Gibela will provide technical support and spare ...
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NewsInput needed to secure stations
EUROPE: Funded under the European Union’s FP7 research programme, the Secure Station project is seeking input via an online survey from transport users as part of its study to develop improved guidelines for the design of major transport hubs. Secure Station is seeking to reduce the risk of all types ...
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NewsDB wins contract as Abellio pulls out
GERMANY: Preferred bidder Abellio has withdrawn its bid for the Mitteldeutsche S-Bahn II contract, which will now be awarded to DB Regio instead. The Länder of Sachsen-Anhalt and Brandenburg had selected Abellio for the €1·1bn contract in March, but DB appealed and bids were re-evaluated. When the contract had not ...
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NewsMetrolinx orders Tier 4 MotivePower locomotives
CANADA: Greater Toronto transport authority Metrolinx has signed a US$63m contract for MotivePower to supply 10 diesel-electric locomotives for use on commuter services from 2016. Each locomotive is to be fitted with two engines meeting Tier 4 emissions standards, providing redundancy of major systems and the option to save fuel ...
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NewsFirst Great Western awarded new franchise
UK: On October 3 the Department for Transport announced it had awarded incumbent First Great Western a new 23-month franchise to operate passenger services between London, southwest England and Wales. The agreement includes the roll out of free wi-fi for passengers, with priority given to long-distance routes, and local funding ...
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NewsSNCF orders electro-diesel inter-city trainsets
FRANCE: National operator SNCF has awarded Alstom a €346m contract to supply 34 Coradia Liner electro-diesel multiple-units. These will replace locomotive-hauled stock on trains d'équilibre du territoire inter-city services on the conventional network from December 2015. Alstom said the Coradia Liner would be 'half-way between' TER regional express trains and ...
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NewsGovernment approves RENFE restructuring
SPAIN: Plans to restructure RENFE as four companies responsible for passenger operations, freight, rolling stock maintenance and train leasing were approved by the Spanish cabinet on September 27, having previously been approved by the RENFE board. The four new companies will be structured as 100%-owned subsidiaries of holding company RENFE ...
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NewsEurostar and Keolis announce joint bid for East Coast franchise
UK: Keolis and Eurostar International announced their intention to launch a joint bid for the InterCity East Coast franchise September 30. The contract to operate services from London to Leeds, Newcastle and Edinburgh is scheduled to be awarded in October 2014 and commence in February 2015. Keolis would be the ...
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NewsEurostar confirms launch of London – Amsterdam services in December 2016
EUROPE: Eurostar, the Dutch government and Dutch national passenger operator NS have signed an agreement for the launch of direct services between London and Amsterdam Centraal in December 2016. This forms part of a programme to enhance services on HSL-Zuid which was announced by State Secretary for Infrastructure & ...
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NewsChinese DMUs for Buenos Aires commuters
ARGENTINA: Continuing his official visit to China, Minister of the Interior & Transport Florencio Randazzo announced on September 25 that CNR is to supply 27 three-car DMUs for the Belgrano Sur commuter network in Buenos Aires. With contract signature expected within two weeks, deliveries are due to take place in ...
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NewsArriva launches pilot Czech passenger service at its own risk
CZECH REPUBLIC: After a year of planning, on September 23 DB subsidiary Arriva Vlaky launched an unsubsidised passenger service on the 26 km Praha Masarykovo - Kralupy nad Vltavou route, competing at its own risk against national passenger operator CD. There are initially eight return semi-fast trains a day, calling ...
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NewsIDB funds Roca electrification
ARGENTINA: Under a US$1⋅2bn conditional credit line being provided over 10 years to the improve commuter services in Buenos Aires, the Inter-American Development bank has approved an initial loan of $300m to the federal government towards a $500m project to upgrade and electrify the 52⋅6 km route on the Roca ...
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Network Rail submits Manchester chord plans
UK: Infrastructure manager Network Rail submitted its application for legal powers to build a short chord in Manchester to provide additional capacity for cross-city services on September 17. Straddling the border between Manchester itself and the neighbouring city of Salford, the 1·5 km south-to-east Ordsall Chord is intended to allow ...
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NewsNew York MTA places framework order for commuter EMUs
USA: New York MTA has placed a framework order worth $1·8bn with Kawasaki Rail Car for the supply of up to 676 multi-system commuter rail EMU cars. Designated M-9, the trains would be designed for use by MTA’s two suburban operations, Metro-North which runs north into Connecticut from New York’s ...
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NewsThree expressions of interest in Greek rail privatisation
GREECE: Three expressions of interest in the purchase of a 100% stake in national train operator Trainose were submitted by the September 16 deadline, the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund privatisation agency has announced. The companies involved were not disclosed by HRADF, but local media has named them as French ...
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NewsMayor unveils first Auckland EMU
NEW ZEALAND: The first of 57 three-car EMUs being built by CAF for the Auckland suburban network was unveiled by the city’s mayor Len Brown at the new Wiri depot on September 12. He was joined at the event by Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee, Auckland Transport Chairman Lester Levy and ...
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NewsMulti-faced approach is key to maximising rail capacity
INTERNATIONAL: Making best use of capacity on key corridors requires all stakeholders to work together, and address the issue from a ‘systems’ perspective, according to Stefan Wendel, Programme Director for European rail freight Corridor 1 linking Rotterdam and Genova. Speaking in the Railway Gazette TV interactive debate The Capacity Challenge ...
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NewsZSSK orders ŽOS Vrútky DMUs
SLOVAKIA: National passenger operator ZSSK has ordered 20 three-car DMUs from ŽOS Vrútky for €77⋅9m. Due for delivery in 2014-15, they are to be deployed on regional services around Bratislava and Košice, including the Nitra - Leopoldov, Košice - Kechnec and Humenné - Kapušany - Prešov routes. The new low-floor ...
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NewsWork starts on Ostrava airport link
CZECH REPUBLIC: A ceremony was held on September 9 to mark the start of construction on a 2⋅9 km route from Sedlnice to Leoš Janáček Airport outside Ostrava. Due for completion in 2014, the single-track electrified line is being built by Eurovia CS. The first airport link on the SZDC ...