Passenger rail news – Page 221
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NewsDB and Siemens sign ICx contract
GERMANY: A multi-billion euro contract for the supply of up to 300 high-speed trains was signed by DB Chief Executive Dr Rüdiger Grübe and Siemens AG CEO Peter Löscher in a ceremony on May 9. The event took place at DB’s Potsdam training centre – the former Kaiserbahnhof – and ...
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NewsEuropean Commission adopts TAP TSI timetable and fare standards
EUROPE: On May 5 the European Commission formally adopted the Telematics Applications for Passenger Services Technical Specifications for Interoperability, designed to ensure key timetable and ticketing information can be exchanged between EU rail companies and ticket vendors (RG 1.11 p61). TAP TSI requires the provision of computerised fare and timetable ...
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NewsEDI Rail-Bombardier selected for train maintenance contract
AUSTRALIA: The government of Western Australia has named EDI Rail-Bombardier Transportation (Maintenance) Pty Ltd as preferred bidder for a contract to maintain and clean Public Transport Authority's entire fleet of 1 067 mm gauge diesel and electric multiple-units. The contract covers 239 units and will replace the current arrangement whereby ...
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NewsBusiness leaders push for faster liberalisation
FRANCE: Business leaders in Nord-Pas de Calais have expressed frustration at the slow rate of progress in expanding the European high speed rail network. Speaking to Railway Gazette International on May 3, Thierry Mabille de Poncheville, Managing Director of the Lille business promotion agency APIM, said that he was ‘very ...
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NewsSecond cross-city line goes ahead
GERMANY: Preliminary works for construction of a second S-Bahn cross-city line in München are to start this year. This follows signature of an agreement on April 8 to fund the €1·77bn project which is due for completion in 2017 in time for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, should München be ...
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NewsLombardia regional operator Trenord launched with €250m train tender
ITALY: The Trenitalia-LeNord joint venture created to run regional passenger services in Lombardia was officially branded as Trenord on April 29, marking the end of the 'experimental' phase which has seen the Lombardia division of national passenger operator Trenitalia merged with the LeNord services of long-established regional operator FNM. The ...
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NewsLoco order takes Trenitalia E464 fleet to 688
ITALY: Trenitalia has placed a €128m firm order for a further 50 Class E464 electric locomotives, Bombardier Transportation announced on April 27. To be delivered in 2012-13 as an option on a 2009 contract for 100 locomotives, they take Trenitalia's total E464 order to 688 locomotives, of which 570 are ...
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NewsFirstGroup to pull out of troubled DSBFirst joint venture
DENMARK: FirstGroup has confirmed that it is to sell its 30% stake in the DSBFirst joint venture which has contracts to operate passenger trains in Denmark and southern Sweden. State-owned passenger operator DSB announced the resignation of the FirstGroup members on the boards of DSBFirst Danmark A/S and DSBFirst Aps ...
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NewsDeutsche Bahn agrees ICx train order with Siemens
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn has reached agreement with Siemens to order up to 300 ICx trainsets. Approved at an extraordinary meeting of the DB board in Frankfurt on April 21, the deal is due to be signed after a 14-day 'waiting and information period', at which point DB plans to place ...
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NewsNational plan to put cities 90 min apart
SOUTH KOREA: The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs has published plans for national network of high speed and upgraded lines which would put the most of the major cities within 90 min travel time of each other by 2020. The second national railway plan published on April 3 ...
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News£200m package to ease Cardiff bottleneck
UK: Network Rail unveiled a £200m three-year plan to alleviate the congested double-track bottleneck through Cardiff on April 12. Local passenger traffic is growing at 8% a year, and the opportunity to increase capacity arises because the area is being resignalled and electrification of local commuter lines is planned. The ...
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NewsDB Regio orders multi-engine Traxx diesel locomotives
GERMANY: DB Regio has awarded Bombardier Transportation a framework contract for the supply of up to 200 Traxx DE Multi-Engine locomotives, which will have four small diesel engines in place of one large prime mover. The nine-year agreement announced on April 18 is worth €600m, and includes a €62m firm ...
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NewsNTV in alliance to take on Ferrovie dello Stato
ITALY: Budding high speed operator Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori has set up an alliance with other private sector and open access companies in a bid to increase their influence in the face of what they see as intransigence by state-owned Ferrovie dello Stato. Called the Forum del Trasporto Ferroviario, the alliance ...
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NewsTrain fares cut to save energy
SPAIN: Under a national energy-saving plan approved by the cabinet last month, fares on RENFE suburban and medium-distance services are to be cut by 5% to encourage greater use of public transport. The Ministry of Development expects this to result in 22 million fewer car journeys into major ...
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NewsItalian narrow gauge operator orders Stadler trains
ITALY: Ferrovie Appulo Lucane has ordered nine Stadler diesel multiple-units for its 183 km network of 950 mm gauge lines in Puglia and Basilicata. Stadler will deliver four three-car and five two-car units between February and June 2013 under the €43·8m contract signed on March 29. To be ...
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NewsCD orders Pesa regional mutiple-units
CZECH REPUBLIC: Polish rolling stock supplier Pesa Bydgoszcz has signed its first contract in the Czech Republic, a KC1·99bn order to supply national passenger operator CD with 31 two-car diesel multiple-units for regional services. The EU is meeting 40% of the overall cost of the contract signed on March 17, ...
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NewsHSTs are good to 2035
UK: An IMechE seminar on February 21 considered recent work undertaken to establish the long-term mechanical and electrical integrity of the Mk III coaches used in the 200 km/h IC125 diesel high speed trains. Developments were detailed in presentations by senior engineers from operators First Great Western and East ...
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NewsPRASA to order 6 000 vehicles under fleet renewal plan
SOUTH AFRICA: Details of a R97bn large-scale rolling stock renewal plan were set out when Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa held an industry day on April 5 to gauge interest from potential suppliers and financiers. There is an 'urgent' need for new trains to replace life-expired vehicles based on ...
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NewsNortheast Corridor tops bidding for US high speed funding
USA: There has been overwhelming demand for a share of the $2·4bn of federal high speed rail funding rejected by the Governor of Florida, according to US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. He said on April 6 that 90 applications totalling more than $10bn had been received from 24 states, ...
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NewsFyra shuttles run through to Breda
NETHERLANDS: NS Hispeed finally began running Fyra services between Amsterdam and Breda on April 4, when the interim locomotive-hauled shuttle was extended from Rotterdam to Breda. Operating at half-hourly intervals, the trains take 67 min from Amsterdam Centraal to Breda, including intermediate stops at Schiphol Airport and Rotterdam Centraal. The ...