Passenger rail news – Page 254
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NewsVelaro sets Chinese speed record
CHINA: On June 24 a CRH3 trainset from the Siemens Velaro family of high speed trains set a Chinese steel-wheel rail speed record of 394·3 km/h.
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NewsSiemens coaches arrive at Ashdod
ISRAEL: The first six of 87 coaches ordered from Siemens for inter-city and regional services was unloaded at the Port of Ashdod on June 18. ISR expects to have two complete 10-car trains ready for trials by the end of August, and plans to put the first into passenger service ...
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NewsAGV begins dynamic testing
CZECH REPUBLIC: Alstom’s seven-car AGV demonstrator Pégase has begun a four-month programme of dynamic trials at the Velim test track, where the traction package, wheel-rail and pantograph-catenary interfaces will be tested at up to 210 km/h. The trainset was delivered from La Rochelle on May 14, and began test running ...
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NewsSTAR is born
SWITZERLAND: Stadler has handed over to Aare Seeland Mobil the first Schmalspur Triebzug für Attraktiven Regionalverkehr, or 'narrow gauge railcar for attractive regional transport'. ASM placed a SFr18·5m order for three low-floor three-car EMUs in 2005. They will be used on its 1·2 kV DC metre-gauge line from Solothurn to ...
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NewsPESA delivers DMUs
EUROPE: This month Polish rolling stock manufacturer PESA will deliver the first of 23 three-car DMUs ordered by southern Italian regional railway Ferrovie del Sud Est for use on services from Bari. An initial order for 13 units signed in June 2006 was followed by an option for a further ...
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NewsNetwork Rail team to study high speed corridors
UK: Citing increasing capacity constraints and projections of strong growth in passenger and freight demand over the next 25 years, Network Rail announced on June 23 that it was launching a 'strategic review into the case for building new rail lines across the network of Great Britain'. A team ...
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Amman - Zarqa light rail back on
JORDAN: A new contract has been awarded for the construction and operation of the long-planned inter-urban light rail line between Amman and Zarqa. The US$332m 30-year build-operate-transfer concession with Spain's Ineco-Tifsa and a Kuwaiti partner replaces a US$240m contract with a consortium of Jordanian, Pakistani and Chinese firms which was ...
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UK high speed rail development fund announced
UK: High speed rail pressure group Greengauge 21 announced a £750 000 strategy development programme at a Rail Forum event in Birmingham on June 13. The work programme will examine five broad corridors linking Britain's major urban areas: London - Birmingham - ManchesterLondon - ...
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NewsMoscow Sheremetyevo airport rail link opens
RUSSIA: First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov attended the formal launch of rail services between Sheremetyevo international airport and Moscow's Savylovaky station on June 10. The 29 km journey from the airport to the city centre takes around 35 min by rail, compared to around 50 min by bus on ...
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NewsArriva passengers go online
DENMARK: Passengers travelling on Arriva services in western Denmark gained free onboard wi-fi access on May 26. Danish firm Network Zone Relations has equipped 29 Alstom Lint DMUs used in Jylland with Moovbox wi-fi access points and routers supplied by UK company Moovera Networks. The Moovbox links the train ...
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NewsThalys adds wi-fi and smart tickets
EUROPE: Passengers travelling on 300 km/h Thalys services between Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Köln have been able to use on-board wi-fi since May 14. A quarter of the Thalys fleet had been fitted by that date, and all sets will be equipped by the autumn. Access to the ThalysNet portal ...
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Armenian concession starts
ARMENIA: South Caucasus Railways officially took over the management of Armenian Railways on June 1 under a concession agreement signed on January 16.
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Local routes go private
GERMANY: Veolia Verkehr has won a contract to provide about 40% of local rail services in the Leipzig region for two years from December 2009. The private company will take over 12 routes totalling 219 km from DB Regio and operate around 3 million train-km a year. The Leipzig transport ...
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CAF Class 121 on test
SPAIN: With the aim of placing the first four sets into service this October, RENFE has begun dynamic trials of the Class 121 EMU on the Mirando de Ebro - Irún route. The national operator is taking delivery of 29 Class 121s, similar to the Class 120 supplied by CAF ...
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NewsLong-term TGV plans
FRANCE: Legislation being drawn up following the national environmental summit at the end of 2007 (RG 12.07 p743) confirms that another 2 000 km of high speed lines will be launched by 2020. New lines listed in the first of three draft laws unveiled on April 30 by Jean-Louis Borloo, ...
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Woolly policy
GERMANY: Our editorial office recently received an e-mail highlighting a special menu available in Deutsche Bahn dining cars. All dishes featured fresh mutton, and at the bottom of the page customers were invited to take advantage of a special offer for a limited number of woolly jumpers. For those ...
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NewsPolish regions to own local services
POLAND: Ownership of the state railway's regional passenger business PKP PR is to be transferred from the national to provincial governments under a restructuring programme which was approved by parliament on May 15. Railway holding company PKP SA is to be paid 2·16bn zloty from the state budget to ...
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Hyundai Rotem hands over Turkish DMU
TURKEY: The first of 12 diesel multiple-units ordered from South Korean rolling stock manufacturer Hyundai Rotem was formally handed to Turkish state railway Director General Süleyman Karaman at a ceremony in Seoul on May 22. The €42m order for the 140 km/h two-car air-conditioned DMUs for inter-regional services was ...
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Modular EMUs extend an adaptable family
GERMANY: Developed from a design for Sweden, the Coradia Lirex Continental EMU is designed for adaptability in terms of floor height, extra doors and energy absorption. Harry Hondius rides the first four-car set.
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NewsNSB signs with Nomad
NORWAY: Nomad Digital has been selected to provide broadband internet and entertainment services on passenger trains operated by state railway NSB. The pilot phase announced on May 21 will cover Oslo commuter routes and inter-city trains from the capital to Bergen and Trondheim. According to Nomad the first wi-fi ...