Passenger rail news – Page 239
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NewsLow cost coaches developed by RCF Kapurthala
INDIA: RCF Kapurthala has developed a range of stainless steel coaches which it says are 40% cheaper than the previous designs offered under a 2001 technology transfer agreement with LHB. The high cost of stainless steel cars has previously limited their use to the main Shatabdi and Rajdhani Express services. ...
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NewsRail industry has cause for optimism, survey suggests
GLOBAL: A survey of 961 respondents across the rail, aviation and shipping industries by law firm Norton Rose has indicated that the rail industry is best placed to withstand the impact of the recession. Norton Rose launched its report detailing the results, entitled The Way Ahead for Transport, at ...
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NewsAdonis builds momentum at UK’s High Speed Rail Summit
UK: Fresh from visits to China and South Korea where he had been looking at high speed rail developments, Secretary of State for Transport Lord Andrew Adonis told an audience of around 250 delegates at the HSR Summit in London on September 9 that the issue of high speed rail ...
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NewsCab signalling to bring 200 km/h to Poland
POLAND: The CMK fast line linking Warszawa with Silesia is to be equipped with ETCS Level 1 under a 50·1m zloty contract signed by infrastructure manager PKP PLK and Thales Rail Signalling Solutions on August 29. The work is being funded by PKP PLK and the state, but as ...
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NewsNS Hispeed launches HSL-Zuid services
NETHERLANDS: NS Hispeed launched Amsterdam - Rotterdam passenger services over HSL-Zuid on September 7, following a formal inauguration by the Dutch Transport Minister Camiel Eurlings and the mayors of Amsterdam, Haarlemmermeer and Rotterdam the previous day. The interim service comprises 17 weekday return trips, with Bombardier Traxx electric locomotives ...
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NewsCisalpino II in service at last
EUROPE: While Dutch and Danish engineers continue to wrestle with the V250 and IC4 trainsets respectively, another challenging procurement saga appears to be drawing to a close. With a palpable sense of relief, the Cisalpino joint venture operator announced on July 20 that the first of its Class 610 tilting ...
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NewsFirst of 160 double-deck cars for Montréal unveiled
CANADA: The first of 160 double-deck coaches being built for Montréal's commuter network was unveiled at Bombardier's La Pocatière plant on August 21. The ceremony was attended by Julie Boulet, Québec's Minister of Transport; Claude Béchard, Minister and member of the Québec National Assembly for the district; and Joel ...
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NewsDSB becomes Sweden's second largest operator
SWEDEN: Västra Götaland county transport authority Västtrafik has selected the DSBFirst Väst joint venture of Danish state railway DSB (70%) and UK company FirstGroup (30%) to operate Göteborg commuter and regional rail services from December 2010. DSBFirst took over Øresund services between Denmark and Sweden in January, and the ...
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NewsSheremetyevo airport trains get closer to central Moscow
RUSSIA: The rail link to Sheremetyevo airport was extended to start from the more central Moscow Belorusskaya station on August 28. Trains run every half-hour from 05.30 to 01.00. The journey takes 35 min with a stop at Savylovaky, which had been the city terminus since the service was ...
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NewsNetwork Rail recommends high speed line to northwest and Scotland
UK: A vision of journey times from London of just 2 h 16 min to Glasgow, 1 h 06 min to Manchester and 46 min to Birmingham was painted by Network Rail Chief Executive Iain Coucher on August 26, when he unveiled the findings of a study by the infrastructure ...
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NewsEurobahn signs operating contract
GERMANY: On August 19 Eurorail signed a contract to operate Maas -Rhein-Lippe-Netz Regional-Express services from December 13. The Keolis subsidiary had been selected to operated the services in 2007, through an international tendering process managed by the Rhein-Ruhr and Ruhr-Lippe transport authorities. The contract covers the operation of ...
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NewsConceptual designs for North-South passenger trains
SAUDI ARABIA: Interfleet Technology has completed initial designs for passenger trainsets to run on the future North-South Railway. The 200 km/h trainsets will have diesel-electric locomotives at each end, and must cope with sandstorms and temperatures of 50°C in the Great An-Nafud Desert. Executive, business and economy class accommodation ...
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NewsLess waste
SEATS: Four coaches used on KiwiRail’s Tranzmetro services in Wellington have been refurbished using an engineered leather derived from intimately rewoven tannery by-products. It is supplied as a continuous roll, which manufacturer E-Leather Ltd says has a 5% cutting wastage compared to up to 40% for traditional hides. ...
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NewsMoroccan Prima II sets off
MOROCCO: The first two Alstom Prima II locomotives ordered by national railway ONCFM have left Alstom's Belfort factory in France. Locomotive 1401 has gone to the Wegberg-Wildenrath test centre in Germany for trials, while 1402 arrived at the Belgian port of Antwerpen on August 18 ready to embark for ...
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NewsVR Group restructures in the face of market changes
FINLAND: National railway operating company VR Group announced a major corporate restructuring on August 20, as a response to the economic recession and 'sudden and partially permanent changes' in the markets it serves, particularly in the forest products sector. Freight traffic in the first six months of 2009 was 30% ...
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NewsFaster to Extremadura
SPAIN: Tenders are to be called in the last quarter of this year for the construction of a gauge-changing facility at Brazatortas-Veredas, enabling trains from Mérida and Badajoz to use the high speed line from Córdoba to reach Madrid. The work is expected to take 10 months ...
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NewsLa Réunion picks tram-train concessionaire
FRANCE: The regional council in La Réunion selected the Tram'Tiss consortium as preferred bidder for the PPP concession to develop the Indian Ocean island's ambitious interurban tram-train route on August 13. Led by Bouygues, Bombardier and Veolia, the consortium also includes Colas, local architects and financial partners such as ...
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NewsFinal Class 395 docks in Southampton
UK: The ship carrying the last of 29 Hitachi Class 395 electric multiple-units for High Speed 1 domestic services arrived in the Port of Southampton on August 16. The trainset was delivered from Japan to the UK onboard Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics' roll-on, roll-off ship MV Tamesis, travelling 20 600 ...
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NewsTaiwan high speed rail refinancing agreed
TAIWAN: When it opened in May 2007, the Taipei - Kaohsiung route was hailed as ‘the world’s first privately-funded high speed line’, but Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp has been finding times tough. Whilst traffic has risen steadily to an average of 87 000 passengers/day for the first half of ...
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NewsSkoda wins Slovak push-pull orders
SLOVAKIA: National operator ZSSK has awarded Skoda Transportation the first export order for the 109E locomotive design which was unveiled last year. As well as two locomotives, the Czech firm will also supply 10 three-car double-deck push-pull trainsets and modernise 10 existing electric locomotives for Slovakia. Contracts totalling €83m ...