Passenger rail news – Page 216
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NewsArriva acquires open access operator Grand Central
UK: Arriva plc confirmed on November 4 it that it had acquired open access operator Grand Central Railway for an undisclosed price. Launched in late 2007, Grand Central runs inter-city passenger services from Sunderland and Bradford to London, with around 700 000 passenger-journeys a year. It is to 'remain a ...
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NewsGrowth & the Capacity Challenge: now available to watch on demand
RAILWAY GAZETTE TV: With demand for passenger and freight movement by rail projected to rise significantly over the coming 20 years, infrastructure managers and train operators across Europe are facing the challenge of squeezing extra capacity from busy networks and building new lines despite financial constraints. Railway Gazette International held ...
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NewsMarmaray railway upgrading contract awarded
TURKEY: The Transport Ministry’s Directorate of Railways, Harbours & Airports Construction, DLH, has confirmed the award of contract CR3 for the Marmaray Project in Istanbul. This covers reconstruction of the existing lines which will feed the cross-Bosporus immersed tube tunnel now being fitted out and installation of signalling and automatic ...
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NewsCalifornian high speed plans revised
USA: The California High Speed Rail Authority launched a revised ‘draft business plan’ for its proposed 832 km Phase I of a 400 km/h network connecting San Francisco with Anaheim and Los Angeles. In announcing what it described as a ‘foundation for an economically-viable high speed rail system’, CHSRA has ...
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NewsStation counter-terrorism guideline study launched
EUROPE: The EU-backed Secure Station project has been launched with the aim of producing guidelines to assist station managers, designers and the construction industry in making transport hubs safer and more resilient to terrorist attacks. The three-year project is being undertaken by a group of organisations led by Spanish defence ...
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NewsJeolla upgrade completed
SOUTH KOREA: President Lee Myung-bak joined the celebrations in Yeosu on October 5 to mark the completion of double-tracking and electrification work on KR’s Jeolla line between Iksan and Yeosu. Upgrading of the 180 km route for 180 km/h operation has been brought forward to enable Korail to run ...
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NewsSlaskie goes it alone
POLAND: A new passenger operator was launched on October 1 when Koleje Slaskie began Czestochowa - Katowice - Gliwice local services, plus a weekend train to Wisla. KS is owned by Slaskie voivodship, which was unhappy at its share of the subsidy for Polish regional train operator PR increasing from ...
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NewsWest Coast franchise extended
UK: On October 27 the Department for Transport announced an eight-month extension of the franchise to operate InterCity West Coast services which is held by Virgin Trains. Virgin Trains is a joint venture of Virgin Group and Stagecoach, and its franchise will now run to December 9 2012, rather ...
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NewsPPP model to fund Moscow – St Petersburg high speed line
RUSSIA: The Russian government has confirmed its support for a public-private partnership backed by Russian Railways to construct a 658 km high speed line between Moscow and St Petersburg. Speaking in London on October 20, Denis Muratov, Chief Executive of RZD’s high speed rail agency Skorostnye Magistrali, ...
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NewsAbellio awarded Greater Anglia franchise
UK: The Department for Transport named Abellio Greater Anglia Ltd as the winner of the Greater Anglia (Short) passenger train operating franchise on October 20. Following the required procurement standstill period, the Nederlandse Spoorwegen subsidiary will be formally appointed on November 1. The short franchise runs for ...
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NewsIndia to increase LHB coach production
INDIA: Indian Railways plans to switch its entire coach production to the LHB design by the end of the 2012-17 five year plan, according to Minister of State for Railways KH Muniyappa. Approval has been given for upgrading the Kapurthala Rail Coach Factory and the Integral Coach Factory in ...
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NewsMadrid - Barcelona at 310 km/h with ETCS Level 2
SPAIN: The journey times of four high speed services between Madrid and Barcelona are to be cut to 2 h 30 min from October 24, following the commissioning of ETCS Level 2 signalling between Madrid and Lleida. Commissioning between Lleida and Barcelona is scheduled for December, when more services will ...
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NewsIR launches air-conditioned double-deck stock
INDIA: The first Indian Railways double-deck rolling stock to feature air-conditioning was officially launched by Minister of Railways Dinesh Trivedi at Howrah station on October 1. The Ministry of Railways said the successful development of an air-conditioned version of the double-deck stock by the Research Development & Standard Organisation and ...
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NewsProgressive Pesa pushes into new markets
POLAND: Rolling stock supplier Pesa Bydgoszcz has won a contract to build a self-propelled infrastructure inspection vehicle for use by Russian Railways. The deal was signed at the Trako trade fair in Gdansk on October 12 by Pesa’s President & Director General Tomas Zaboklicki and RZD Vice-President Valentin Gapanovich. Zabolicki ...
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NewsDB Regio wins Dieselnetz Nordthüringen tender
GERMANY: The Land of Thüringen's transport ministry awarded DB Regio the Dieselnetz Nordthüringen passenger operating contract on October 7, saying the bid was selected on the basis of quality and efficiency. Running for 12 years from December 2013, the contract covers the operation of 2·6 million train-km/year on routes ...
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NewsThello brings open access to France
EUROPE: From October 17 customers will be able to book berths on the first open-access passenger service to operate on the French network, an overnight train from Paris to Venezia that is to be introduced on December 11 by the Thello joint venture of Veolia Transdev and Trenitalia. Announcing the ...
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NewsFederal funding to upgrade Chicago – Detroit
USA: Federal Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced on October 5 the award of a US$196·5m grant to Michigan Department of Transportation for track and signalling improvements on the Kalamazoo – Dearborn section of the Chicago – Detroit line, which are intended to cut Amtrak journey times between the two cities ...
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NewsRishon Le-Ziyyon West line opens
ISRAEL: Revenue services began running on the new suburban line between Tel Aviv Ha'agana and Rishon Le-Ziyyon Moshe Dayan on September 26, after industrial action over plans to outsource rolling stock maintenance disrupted the formal inauguration scheduled for the previous day. Transport Minister Yisrael Katz and ISR General Manager Boaz ...
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NewsC4Ks start running to Larne
UK: Northern Ireland’s Transport Minister Danny Kennedy joined the celebrations on October 3 to mark the entry into service on the Belfast – Larne route of the first of Translink’s new Class 4000 DMUs. The 20 three-car units are being supplied by CAF under the operator’s £150m New Trains Programme, ...
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NewsEMD to produce passenger demonstrator loco
USA: Electro-Motive Diesel announced the development of a 200 km/h ‘next generation’ diesel passenger locomotive for the North American market at APTA Expo 2011 in New Orleans on October 3. The design is being produced on a speculative basis, and a prototype is to be rolled out during 2014. The ...