Passenger rail news – Page 204
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NewsFyra halted by ice build-up
EUROPE: All Fyra International trains between Amsterdam and Brussels were suspended on January 17, after Belgium’s national safety authority DVIS withdrew permission for the AnsaldoBreda-built V250 trainsets to carry passengers. Three of the nine trainsets delivered so far had been damaged by a build-up of ice and snow under the ...
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NewsAmtrak and California join forces on high speed fleet procurement
USA: Amtrak and the California High Speed Rail Authority held a joint event at Washington Union station on January 17 to issue a joint Request for Information with a view to the procurement of a common fleet of high speed trains. The partnership agreement is intended to ...
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NewsRZD sells stake in suburban rail operator
RUSSIA: Moscow Passenger Co paid 780m roubles to beat off one other bidder for a 25% minus three shares stake in Central Suburban Passenger Company which was auctioned by Russian Railways on December 21 2012. Central PPK is Russia's largest suburban operator, operating in 10 regions. It carries around 1·3 ...
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NewsCoaches handed over in Dushanbe
TAJIKISTAN: A ceremony in Dushanbe on December 25 marked the formal handover of national railway Rohee Ohani Tojikiston's first new coaches since the country's independence more than 20 years ago. The 15 coaches including a restaurant car were ordered from Ukrainian manufacturer Kriukov Car Building Works. Similar to vehicles previously ...
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NewsRail franchising 'not fundamentally flawed', Brown review finds
UK: The Department for Transport published the Brown Review of the Rail Franchising Programme on January 10, the second of two independent inquiries launched in the wake of the collapse of the Inter-City West Coast refranchising process in October last year. Authored by Eurostar Chairman Richard Brown, the report was ...
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NewsHigh speed line opens between Barcelona and Figueres
SPAIN: The Prince of Asturias joined Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, President of the Catalunya regional government Artur Mas and Development Minister Ana Pastor on January 8 to officially open the completed high speed line between Barcelona Sants and Figueres Vilafant. Revenue services were due to start the following day. RENFE ...
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NewsGerman operating contracts awarded
GERMANY: Bayern transport agency Bayerische Eisenbahngesellschaft and Rhein-Main transport authority RMV have selected DB Regio for a contract to operate hourly Main-Spessart services between Frankfurt, Aschaffenburg and Würzburg for 12 years from December 13 2015. Trains will continue on to Schweinfurt and Bamberg every 2 h. DB Regio plans to ...
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NewsMore Flirts for Belarus
BELARUS: Last month Belarusian Railways signed a firm order for Stadler Bussnang to supply a further six Flirt electric multiple-units in 2013-14. The five-car EMUs are intended for regional routes and will offer greater comfort and more luggage space than the units which Stadler has delivered for Minsk suburban services. ...
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NewsAbellio orders Talent 2 electric multiple-units
GERMANY: Bombardier Transportation's Hennigsdorf plant is to supply 20 three-car and 15 five-car Talent 2 electric multiple-units to Abellio Rail NRW under a €172m contract announced on December 31. The EMUs are to be deployed on Saale-Thüringen-Südharz services which Abellio is to operate from December 2015 under a 15-year contract ...
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NewsPakistan Railways signs Night Coach Express PPP agreement
PAKISTAN: A public-private partnership agreement for Shalimar Group to manage an overnight Lahore - Karachi passenger service was signed by Pakistan Railways on December 26. The Night Coach Express is scheduled to start in early January, with Shalimar Group managing commercial aspects of the service and PR responsible for ...
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NewsBeijing - Guangzhou high speed line completed
CHINA: Through high speed trains began operating between Beijing and Guangzhou on December 26, with the completion of the 663 km Beijing – Shijiazhuang – Zhengzhou Passenger-Dedicated Line. Coming exactly three years after the inauguration of the Wuhan – Guangzhou PDL on December 26 2009, and three months after ...
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NewsCinova EMU to serve Pearl River Delta
CHINA: A new design of 200 km/h EMU designed for short-distance inter-city operations has been rolled out by CSR Sifang, and is expected to enter service on routes in the Pearl River Delta area of southern China during 2013. Officially designated as class CRH6, and branded ‘Cinova’, the new EMU ...
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NewsIraqi Republic Railways orders Chinese DMUs
IRAQ: A US$115m contract for Chinese firm Dongfang Electric Corp to supply Iraqi Republic Railways with 10 diesel multiple-units was signed in Baghdad on December 15. The first two units are scheduled to be delivered within a year. IRR said the 160 km/h trainsets would be modern, sophisticated and built ...
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NewsNew and refurbished trains for Hessische Landesbahn
GERMANY: Hessische Landesbahn has awarded Alstom contracts totalling €40m for the supply of seven new Coradia Lint diesel multiple-units and the modernisation of 25 existing trainsets. The DMUs are to be deployed on Eifel-Westerwald-Sieg regional services which HLB is to operate under a 15-year contract starting in August 2015. ...
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NewsMariazellerbahn commissions a stairway to heaven
AUSTRIA: More than 2500 people attended celebrations at the Mariazellerbahn's Laubenbachmühle depot on December 16 to mark the unveiling of the first of nine low-floor electric multiple-units which Stadler Rail is supplying for Austria's longest narrow gauge railway. Bishop of St Pölten Klaus Küng and Superintendent of the Evangelical Church ...
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NewsAlstom wins Coradia Continental train order
GERMANY: On December 18 Alstom announced contracts worth more than €100m to supply and maintain 20 Coradia Continental electric multiple-units, which from December 2015 are to be deployed on Elektronetz Niedersachsen Ost regional services from Hannover to Wolfsburg and Wolfsburg to Hildesheim via Braunschweig. There is an option for a ...
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NewsLublin airport rail link opens
POLAND: Rail services from Lublin to Lublin (Swidnik) Airport station began on December 17. This follows completion of a 2·2 km branch from Swidnik station, which was built by PRK Expol with KZA Lublin responsible for signalling and PKP Energetyka for electrification. The new airport has been developed from ...
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NewsTest runs start under Barcelona
SPAIN: RENFE began using the new tunnel between Sants and La Sagrera in Barcelona on December 17, as it commenced test running with Class 103 trainsets on the high speed line between Sants, Girona and Figueres Vilafant. Taking place between 08.00 and 18.00, the test runs are also being used ...
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NewsRail Technical Strategy launched
UK: A 30-year vision for the evolution of railway technology was outlined on December 13 with the publication in London of the 2012 Rail Technical Strategy. Unlike the 2007 version which had been prepared by the Department for Transport, the document has been developed by the pan-industry Technical Leadership Strategy ...
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NewsElektriraudtee unveils first diesel Flirt
ESTONIA: The first diesel version of Stadler Rail's Flirt family of multiple-units was unveiled by Tallinn passenger operator Elektriraudtee on December 13. Elektriraudtee signed two contracts with Stadler for new trains in August 2010. An order for 12 three-car and six four-car electric multiple-units is worth €80m, of which 85% ...