Passenger rail news – Page 234
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NewsJoint venture to revive DMU manufacturing
USA: A joint venture company has been established to restart production of diesel multiple-units to the designs of the former Colorado Railcar, which ceased operations in 2008. Colorado Railcar's assets were acquired by Value Recovery Group to form US Railcar LLC, which will now restart production through the US ...
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NewsSiberia across your screen
RUSSIA: Google and Russian Railways have launched a ‘virtual’ Trans-Siberian journey from Moscow to Vladivostok. Anyone with a broadband internet connection will be able to make a 'journey' along the route starting from any city or station without leaving home. Video footage totalling around 150 h was shot through a ...
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NewsCrash investigations underway in Brussels
BELGIUM: Domestic and international train services into Brussels Midi remain severely disrupted as investigations continue into the cause of the fatal train crash at Buizingen during the morning rush hour on February 15. The worst railway accident in Belgium for more than 50 years killed 18 people, including one of ...
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NewsAmtrak plans fleet renewal programme
USA: As part of its annual budget submission to Congress, national passenger operator Amtrak published its long-term fleet renewal strategy on February 15, envisaging total expenditure of around US$23bn over the next 30 years. With the average vehicle age now exceeding 25 years, Amtrak President Joseph Boardman says ‘the need ...
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NewsChinese firm's European bid unsuccessful
POLAND: Warszawa regional operator Koleje Mazowieckie announced that Bombardier Transportation had been selected to supply 11 electric locomotives on February 12, beating low bidder CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive. Bombardier's bid to supply Traxx locomotives for €41m undercut Siemens Mobility's offer of €44m. CSR Zhuzhou had been the lowest bidder at ...
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NewsLow-floor train to boost Lausanne suburban capacity
SWITZERLAND: Invited guests rode on the first of six RBe 4/8 electric multiple-units being built for the metre-gauge Lausanne-Echallens-Bercher railway on February 17, just 14 months after Stadler Rail was awarded the SFr41m contract to supply them. They will enter passenger service from May. Over the past 10 years traffic ...
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NewsRussia to announce high speed line plan
RUSSIA: Next month Russian Railways will unveil detailed proposals for a 'European standard' high speed line, RZD Vice-President Avtandil Gorgiladze told the EurasiaRail 2010 conference in Istanbul on February 10. The Siemens Velaro RUS trains which have been operating Sapsan services between Moscow and St Petersburg since December were designed ...
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NewsEurostar accepts multiple failings
EUROPE: The findings of the independent review commissioned to look into the collapse of Eurostar cross-Channel services during the severe snowstorms on December 18-19 were announced in London on February 12. Following pressure from the French transport minister Dominique Bussereau, Eurostar had asked former GNER Chief Executive ...
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NewsKTX-II ready to enter service
SOUTH KOREA: Following a successful passenger-carrying preview run with its first KTX-II high speed trainset, Korail announced on February 10 that the trains will enter revenue service on March 2. Tickets for the new services are due to go on sale from February 23. The state-owned operator plans to introduce ...
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NewsHigh speed line opens to the west
CHINA: The first Passenger-Dedicated Line between central and western China opened on February 6, with 456 km of new high speed line cutting the 505 km journey between Zhengzhou in Henan province and Xi'an in Shaanxi from around 6 h to less than 2 h. Construction was launched in September ...
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NewsLimerick – Galway reopens in March
IRELAND: Iarnród Eíreann confirmed on February 8 that passenger services on the Western Rail Corridor between Limerick and Galway line will resume on March 30, following an inauguration ceremony on the previous day. Through services between the two west coast cities were withdrawn more than 30 years ago, although a ...
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NewsMachu Picchu railway rebuilding begins
PERU: Engineers from Ferrocarril Transandino have begun repairs to the 914 mm gauge railway between Cusco and Machu Picchu which was cut by landslides after exceptional rain on January 23. No trains have run on the 42 km section between Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu since then, but on February 3 ...
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NewsCrossing removed
AUSTRALIA: On January 11 Metro Trains Melbourne services began calling at the new Nunawading station which has been relocated as part of the A$140m Springvale Road Separation project to eliminate one of the busiest level crossings in Melbourne. The track has been lowered 8 m and a road bridge built ...
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NewsFirst GE locomotives arrive in Nigeria
NIGERIA: The first five of 25 GE Transportation diesel locomotives have been delivered to Nigerian Railway Corp, the supplier announced on February 5. The rest will arrive in the second half of the year. The order for the C25 EMPD locomotives to haul both freight and passenger trains was placed ...
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NewsTilting trains for Sardinia
ITALY: The Sardinia region has awarded its first rolling stock order, with CAF of Spain to supply up to eight diesel multiple-units equipped with the SIBI tilt system. Worth €58m according to the region, the contract covers the supply of five units and maintenance for a period of five ...
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NewsSena Line trains return to Moatize
MOZAMBIQUE: The first train in more than two decades reached Moatize in the Tete province of western Mozambique on January 30. The train was received by members of the provincial and district governments and a large crowd of local residents. Moatize District Administrator Adelino Andissene said that the rehabilitated Sena ...
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NewsMoscow airport rail passengers take off
RUSSIA: Business class seating will be introduced on the shuttle trains to Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport this month, under an improvement programme which has seen traffic at airport rail link operator Aeroexpress grow by 4% to 6·8 million passenger-journeys over the past year, despite a 6% drop in airport passengers and ...
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NewsTargeted adverts to support free train wi-fi
WI-FI: 'Transport operators want to attract more people to use train and bus services, and offering free wi-fi during a journey is compelling proposition', according to Dave Palmer of Icomera, which has launched a service offering train operators a path for switching from paid to advertising-supported onboard wi-fi services. MoovManage ...
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NewsWork starts on Stuttgart 21
GERMANY. Federal Transport Minister Dr Peter Ramsauer and Deutsche Bahn Chairman Dr Rüdiger Grube officiated at an event on February 2 launching the huge Stuttgart 21 project. Together with Baden-Württemburg Ministerpräsident Günther Oettinger, Mayor of Stuttgart Dr Wolfgang Schuster and Director of the Verband Region Stuttgart Jeannette Wopperer, they ...
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NewsVesuvio Est high speed station approved
ITALY: Infrastructure manager RFI announced on January 22 that it had selected the Italian-Belgian group Phlippe Samyn & Partners to design and build the proposed Vesuvio Est high speed station on the Napoli - Salerno route. To be financed entirely with European funding, the new station is expected to ...