Passenger rail news – Page 209
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NewsFirstGroup awarded Inter-City West Coast franchise
UK: First West Coast Ltd has been selected to operate inter-city services on the West Coast Main Line between London, Birmingham, Manchester and Scotland for up to 15 years, Transport Minister Theresa Villiers announced on August 15. Running for 13 years and 4 months from December 9 2012, with an ...
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NewsMotivePower signs contract for first Tier 4 passenger locos
CANADA: Greater Toronto transport authority Metrolinx has signed a US$45m contract for MotivePower to repower 11 of its diesel locomotives with twin Cummins QSK60 engines. The MPXpress locomotives were built by MotivePower about five years ago for use on commuter services. After repowering, they will be the first North American ...
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NewsKeolis buys NS stake in Syntus
NETHERLANDS: An agreement for Keolis to purchase the 50% stake in Syntus which is currently held by joint venture partner NS was announced on August 6. Keolis and NS had confirmed in June that local bus and train operator Syntus was 'temporarily experiencing financial difficulties', causing customers and staff to ...
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NewsSBB orders eight New Pendolino tilting trains
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has placed a firm order for eight more New Pendolino tilting trains, Alstom announced on August 2. They are scheduled to be delivered in 2015, replacing ETR470 trainsets on international services from Genève and Zürich to Milano. The SFr275m order is an option on a contract ...
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NewsCzech Railways gets more accessible
CZECH REPUBLIC: National passenger operator CD has begun testing a coach which has been refurbished by Slovak company ŽOS Trnava and made more accessible to passengers with disabilities. The air-conditioned coach has four six-seat compartments and a 12-seat open area. The refurbishment included installing a wheelchair lift and an accessible ...
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NewsDouble-deck sleeping car on test in Russia
RUSSIA: Transmashholding's Tver Carriage Works has completed the first phase of acceptance testing with a newly-developed Type 61-4472 double-deck sleeping and crew car. Designed to carry 50 passengers, the coach has a compartment with wheelchair access and secure storage. In December 2010 Russian Railways awarded Tver Carriage Works a ...
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NewsAll Aboard Florida appoints station planners
USA: Florida East Coast Industries has appointed architects to plan the stations for its proposed 'All Aboard Florida' inter-city service between Miami and Orlando. The $1bn plan for a privately-owned, operated and maintained passenger service using FECI lines and new construction was announced in March, with a target launch ...
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NewsPesa DMU brings international standards to local service
KAZAKHSTAN: National railway KTZ has deployed a diesel multiple-unit supplied by Polish manufacturer Pesa on a daily return working between Turkestan and Shymkent. The new unit is intended to bring 'international standards' of passenger comfort to 19 minor stations where long-distance trains do not stop. Similar to the ...
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NewsCapita Symonds to develop passenger counts database
UK: The Department for Transport has awarded Capita Symonds a £1·9m contract to develop and manage a Rail Passenger Counts Database. This will collate and report data from train operators, providing an insight into usage and identifying trends to enable expenditure to be targeted more effectively. Counts will initially ...
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NewsVladivostok airport rail link opens
RUSSIA: Airport shuttle operator Aeroexpress launched a passenger service between Vladivostok and the city's international airport at Knevichi on July 20. The project has involved the construction of a 4 km link to a new station at the airport, as well as upgrading existing track, electrification equipment and stations. ...
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NewsAgility Trains signs Intercity Express Programme contract
UK: Signing of the Intercity Express Programme contract to supply and maintain the next generation of 200 km/h inter-city trains was announced by the Department for Transport and Agility Trains on July 25. The overall package is valued at £4·5bn. Financial close has been reached for IEP Phase 1, which ...
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NewsSalzburger Lokalbahn goes low-floor
AUSTRIA: Salzburger Lokalbahn has unveiled the first of its ET40 two-car electric multiple-units to be rebuilt with the insertion of a low-floor centre car. The low-floor section is 350 mm above rail level, making the articulated vehicles more accessible to passengers with reduce mobility. There will be two wheelchair spaces, ...
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NewsPlovdiv – Svilengrad integrated control centre opens
BULGARIA: A centralised traffic control centre has been opened in Plovdiv, marking the latest stage in the long-running modernisation of the main line to Svilengrad, close to the Turkish border. At an inauguration ceremony on July 10, Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski said the dispatch facility was the ...
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NewsWuhan - Yichang Passenger-Dedicated Line opens
CHINA: A 293 km Passenger-Dedicated Line between Wuhan and Yichang in Hubei Province opened on July 1. The Hanyi Railway was built by China Railway 12th Bureau Group, with work getting underway in 2008. There are eight stations, and trains run at up to 200 km/h, with a fastest journey ...
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NewsCalifornia vote approves high speed funding
USA: Following a highly-charged debate, California’s state legislature voted on July 6 to allocate the funding needed to start construction of the state’s planned high speed line between Los Angeles and San Francisco, which is currently costed at $68bn. The senate voted 21-16 to approve a bill authorising the state ...
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NewsNS seeks next-generation Sprinter
NETHERLANDS: Bidders have been invited to prequalify for a contract to supply single-deck EMUs for national passenger operator NS. The base order would be for vehicles ‘with a total capacity of approximately 10 000 to 20 000 seats’, with deliveries commencing between October 2016 and October 2017. The next-generation Sprinter ...
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NewsStations for mobile workers
NETHERLANDS: Serviced office company Regus and Dutch national passenger operator NS have opened their first station2station business lounge at Amersfoort station, and are planning to develop a total of 13 drop-in office facilities at inter-city stations by the end of the year. The lounges provide access to office facilities including ...
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NewsSwiss start work on fourth control centre
SWITZERLAND: The foundation stone for SBB’s new Central Region control centre at Olten was officially laid on July 5, although preparatory work has been underway since last October. The ceremony was attended by Bruno Stehrenberger, Head of Operations at SBB Infrastruktur, the city’s mayor Ernst Zingg and canton Solothurn’s Director ...
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NewsWi-fi is latest upgrade for SWT Desiro fleet
UK: A £3·2m programme to install wireless internet on the 45 five-car Class 444 Siemens Desiro EMUs operated by South West Trains was announced on July 4. As well as enabling passengers to access the internet and e-mail on the move, wi-fi will enable real-time monitoring of on-train equipment and, ...
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NewsHKX prepares to take on DB
GERMANY: Open access operator Hamburg-Köln Express expects to launch revenue services between the two cities on July 23, having opened its ticket sales channels on July 4. HKX will initially operate one train per day from Monday to Wednesday in competition with Deutsche Bahn, serving six intermediate ...