Passenger rail news – Page 249
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NewsStudy to look at Berlin - Moscow Talgo service
RUSSIA: RZD and Patentes Talgo have signed a memorandum of intent to study the feasibility of using Talgo VII gauge-changing rolling stock on hotel train services between Moscow and Berlin. RZD will provide forecasts of future passenger volumes and the economic benefits of improved services between Moscow, Minsk and ...
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NewsBeNEX wins second Bayern contract
GERMANY: BeNEX has announced the award of its second passenger operating contract in Bayern this year, with the section of the partnership of Hamburger Hochbahn and Babcock & Brown to opertate Dieselnetz Oberfranken services from mid-2011 to 2023. The contract covers 4·5 million train-km a year. 'This success is ...
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NewsOpen access operator to take on ÖBB
AUSTRIA: Plans to run passenger services in competition with Austrian Federal Railways were unveiled in Wien on October 16. Starting in 2011, trains would run hourly between Wien and Salzburg, with Bratislava and München to follow if they are successful. The project is the brainchild of industrialist Hans-Peter Haselsteiner ...
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NewsCross-city high speed contract
SPAIN: Infrastructure authority ADIF has awarded a joint venture of Dragados, FCC, Copisa and Tecsa a €206m contract to build the third underground route connecting Atocha and Chamartín stations in Madrid, comprising two 1 435 mm gauge tracks for use by high speed services. The 7·3 km route will run ...
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NewsWinterised wider Flirt
FINLAND: The first 1 524 mm gauge EMU to be built by Stadler was rolled out at the Bussnang plant in Switzerland on October 7. The four-car Flirt is part of a €190m order for 32 units placed in August 2006 by Pääkaupunkiseudun Junakalusto, a body formed by state railway ...
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NewsDesiro design is evolving
UK: Siemens rolled out the first of 37 Class 350/2 Desiro EMUs for train operator London Midland in a ceremony at the Wildenrath test centre in Germany on October 8. The use of an existing design has allowed first unit to be completed within 15 months of the contract ...
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NewsRailpool enters passenger stock market
DENMARK: The Railpool joint venture of HSH Nordbank and KfW IPEX-Bank has entered the passenger rolling stock leasing market with a €75m order for 45 Bombardier double-deck coaches which will be leased to Danish state railway DSB. 'It is the business goal of Railpool GmbH to become a major ...
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NewsLakeshore East upgrade
CANADA: GO Transit has completed a C$69·5m upgrade of its Lakeshore East rail line to reduce congestion and delays which have plagued services between Toronto Union station and Oshawa. A third track has been laid between Danforth and Scarborough to increase capacity. Platforms at Eglinton, Scarborough and Danforth have been ...
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NewsPepy takes a stake in NTV
ITALY: Open access passenger operator NTV has selected SNCF as its 'industrial partner' to support its launch of domestic high speed trains in 2011. NTV Chairman Luca di Montezemolo and SNCF President Guillaume Pepy announced in Roma that they had signed an deal under which the French national railway will ...
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NewsNSW moves to abolish RailCorp
AUSTRALIA: The Labor administration in New South Wales has decided to abolish RailCorp and return the state’s rail nework to government control. Premier Nathan Rees said on October 8 that legislation would be introduced into the next session of Parliament to abolish the corporation’s management board and convert the organisation ...
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NewsSix bids to build Polish high speed fleet
POLAND: Six companies had expressed interest in the tender to supply a fleet of 250 km/h inter-city EMUs to PKP Intercity, when the deadline for prequalification closed on October 2. PKP is looking to order 20 trainsets at an estimated cost of €400m. The six bidders are: CAF of Spain, ...
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NewsAlstom and Transmash bid for double-deckers
RUSSIA: Alstom Transport and Transmashholding have signed a memorandum of understanding to launch a strategic partnership, and agreed to set up a specialist joint venture company to deliver double-deck coaches for the Russian market. As well as providing for technical co-operation between the two firms, the MoU includes an option ...
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NewsFRA bans mobile phone use
USA: The Federal Railroad Admonistration issued an Emergency Order on October 2 prohibiting railroad crew members from using any private electronic communications devices in locomotive or control cabs. The order followed the release of preliminary information from the National Transportation Safety Board the previous day which indicated that the Metrolink ...
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Cheaper HVAC
HEAT PUMP: Train operators in central and northern Europe could save €1000 per coach per year in heating and cooling costs by using heap pumps, according to Faiveley. A compressor and two copper coils containing refrigerant extract heat from the outside air to heat the carriage interior. In warmer weather ...
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NewsTrans-Pennine trains get greener
UK: A second tranche of energy efficiency measures has been implemented by TransPennine Express and Siemens to reduce further the carbon footprint of the Desiro DMUs operating regional and inter-city services across northern England and Scotland.
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NewsTHSRC extends market pricing
TAIWAN: Chief Executive of Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp Dr Ou Chin-Der announced on October 2 that the operator would be introducing two new off-peak ticket types with effect from November 1, expanding the range of fares available on the 345 km high speed line between Taipei and Kaohsiung. The ...
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NewsState aid study
EUROPE: The European Commission is to determine whether public service contracts concluded between the Ministry of Transport and national railway DSB for the periods 2000-04 and 2005-14 amount to state aid. Many DSB services are operated on the basis of public service contracts agreed without tendering. DSB is required ...
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NewsFlat pack arrives
UCW: Assembly began last month of the first Gautrain vehicle to be produced at Union Carriage & Wagon’s plant at Nigel in South Africa. 'Flat pack' kits of parts for 81 of the 96 coaches on order for Gautrain are being shipped from Bombardier’s Derby plant in the UK, taking ...
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Metrolink tightens safety rules
USA: Southern California Regional Rail Authority has taken steps to improve its safety procedures following the September 12 collision between a Metrolink train and a UP freight train in the Los Angeles suburbs which killed 25 people and injured 135. Politicians and railroad officials are seeking to reassure the public ...
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NewsGröna Tåget spawns ECO4
SWEDEN: In an ongoing research project, Bombardier has started testing permanent-magnet traction motors as part of its strategy to develop more environmentally-friendly trains. Dr Harry Hondius reports from a 245 km/h test run between Stockholm and Västerås.