Passenger rail news – Page 212
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NewsTenders called for US passenger cars
USA: US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced on April 20 that manufacturers had been invited to bid for a contract worth $551m to supply 130 double-deck cars for Amtrak services, under ‘a groundbreaking multi-state effort to jointly purchase standardised rail equipment’. With funding from the Federal Railroad Administration’s High Speed ...
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NewsZaragoza Goya station opens
SPAIN: Development Minister Ana Pastor officially opened the new station at Zaragoza Goya on April 3. The station has been built at a cost of €44m and is served by the RENFE suburban route from Casetas to Miraflores. Regional services to Castejón de Ebro, Arcos de Jalón, Huesca and Lleida ...
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NewsNTV prepares to launch
ITALY: With just one week to go before the launch of its first commercial services on April 28, open access operator NTV ran its first preview trips carrying press and VIPs between Roma and Napoli on April 20. The run gave invited guests an opportunity to sample the AGV trainsets ...
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NewsJakarta - Bandung fast line study
INDONESIA: A Japanese consortium is to undertake a pre-feasibility study into a proposed 144 route-km fast passenger line between Jakarta and Bandung for opening by 2018. Following a co-operation agreement between the Indonesian government and the Japanese Ministry of Land, Transportation & Tourism, the study will be ...
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NewsFirst passengers ride Auckland's Manukau Rail Link
NEW ZEALAND: Passenger services on Auckland's first new rail route for 82 years began on April 15, following a preview day with station tours, train rides, face painting, music and celebrity sausage sizzle on April 14. An inaugural train carrying the Mayor of Auckland had broken a ribbon at Manukau ...
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NewsGySEV orders Flirts for upgraded line
HUNGARY: GySEV has ordered four Flirt electric multiple-units from Stadler Bussnang to accommodate growing ridership on the recently upgraded Sopron - Szombathely - Szentgotthárd route in western Hungary. The European Union's Cohesion Fund is meeting 85% of the €20·3m cost of the contract which was signed on April 13. The ...
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NewsSBB calls tenders for Gotthard high speed trains
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has invited tenders for the supply of 29 high speed trains to operate north-south domestic and international services, at an estimated cost of more than SFr800m. Due for delivery from the end of 2017, the trains are intended to cope with an anticipated doubling of traffic ...
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NewsGood performance to be rewarded
FRANCE: Paris transport operator RATP faces tougher performance targets under a four-year contract agreed in March with STIF, the organising and funding authority for the Ile de France region. Reflecting demand for more punctual and reliable services, the contract specifies performance levels for the RER and metro with a bonus-penalty ...
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NewsCAF wins Latvian train contract
LATVIA: National passenger operator Pasazieru Vilciens has ordered 34 electric and seven diesel-electric multiple-units from Spanish rolling stock manufacturer CAF. The contract signed on April 2 is worth 144m lats, however a 30-year maintenance deal takes the total value to €400m, which according to CAF is the largest rolling ...
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NewsWabtec converts Mk III coaches
UK: Wabtec Rail Scotland is converting 15 Mk III catering vehicles owned by leasing firm Angel Trains into standard class cars under a project to add capacity to First Great Western's HST inter-city trainsets. The catering vehicles require extensive work, including stripping out existing interiors and kitchen equipment, treating corrosion ...
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NewsDB places three orders for EMUs
GERMANY: DB has awarded Alstom, Bombardier and Stadler firm orders for the supply of electric multiple-units within the terms of a series of existing framework agreements. On April 3 DB Regio announced orders for EMUs which are to be used from 2014 on services operated under contract in Nordrhein-Westfalen. Stadler ...
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NewsSNCF orders 40 Euroduplex sets
FRANCE: SNCF has exercised an option for a further 40 third-generation Duplex high speed trainsets from Alstom Transport under a framework agreed in June 2007. SNCF is already taking delivery of 55 of the 320 km/h multi-system double-deck trainsets, branded Euroduplex by Alstom. The first entered traffic in December 2011 ...
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NewsSJ to replace DSB in Göteborg
SWEDEN: An agreement has been reached for Swedish national passenger operator SJ to succeed DSB Väst as operator of Göteborg local and regional services from May 1, DSB announced on March 30. The Danish national operator's contract with local transport authority Västtrafik was intended to run to 2018. However DSB ...
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NewsItalo to launch on April 28
ITALY: Open access high speed trains will begun running between Napoli and Milano on April 28, operator NTV confirmed on March 30. The company says its investment of €1bn will offer passengers ‘the first choice of who they travel with’ over the country’s high speed network. NTV will initially start ...
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NewsChinese EMU enters service in Rio de Janeiro
BRAZIL: The first of 30 electric multiple-units which CNR Changchun is supplying for Rio de Janeiro suburban services was officially launched by Carlos José Cunha, President of operating concessionaire SuperVia, state Deputy Governor Luiz Fernando Pezão and Secretary of Transport Julio Lopes on March 20. 'The first journey on a ...
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NewsArriva Danmark signs new Vestbanen contract
DENMARK: Arriva Danmark has signed a contract to operate passenger services on the Varde - Nørre Nebel branch in western Jylland for a further six years. The 38 km route is owned by the local authority through its railway company Vestbanen, and has been operated by Arriva under contract ...
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NewsUK franchise pre-qualified bidders announced
UK: The pre-qualified bidders for the Great Western, Thameslink and Essex Thameside passenger rail franchises were announced by the Department for Transport on March 29. Absent from the lists was Spanish national operator RENFE, which had reportedly been seeking to enter the UK market. Great Western First Great Western ...
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NewsAll Aboard Florida plan announced
USA: Florida East Coast Industries Inc has announced that it is to produce an 'investment grade' ridership study for a $1bn privately owned, operated and maintained inter-city passenger service carrying business travellers and tourists between Miami and Orlando. Revealing outline plans for All Aboard Florida on March 22, property and ...
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NewsGoogle's virtual Rhätische Bahn goes live
SWITZERLAND: Panoramic images of Rhätische Bahn's 122 km Albula and Bernina lines between Thusis and Tirano are now available on Google Street View. Martin Sturzenegger, Head of Sales & Marketing at RhB, said the virtual train ride will help promote the railway as an experience for tourists before, during and ...
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NewsOntario to sell Northland rail businesses
CANADA: The government of Ontario announced on March 23 that it is to 'wind down' the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, an agency established in 1902 which operates a 1 100 km rail network in the north of the province. A transition board has been appointed to divest ONTC's 'commercially valuable' ...