Passenger rail news – Page 260
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News
Two cities adopt smart tickets
TICKETING: Affiliated Computer Services announced on February 12 that it had won a US$14m three-year contract from Marseille Provence Metropole to implement a multi-operator and multi-modal contactless ticketing system across the city. ACS will deploy its Atlas multi-operator system in partnership with Spie. Implementation will allow a single smart card ...
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News
Five qualify to build CDG Express
FRENCH Minister of Transport Dominique Perben announced on January 30 that five consortia had qualified for the concession to develop a dedicated rail link to Paris Charles-de-Gaulle airport (RG 9.06 p485). The five bids are from: Eiffage partnered with Macquarie Bank a group formed of Bouygues TP, Seco-Rail, RATP-Développement, ...
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NewsOpen access high speed bid
BIDS ARE due to close around February 28 for supply and maintenance of a fleet of 25 high speed trains, with an option for up to 10 more sets. A group of four leading Italian businessmen is planning to launch services on three domestic routes in competition with Trenitalia. ...
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NewsPendolino deal falls apart
THE SURGE of passengers riding Virgin's tilting Pendolinos after the UK's West Coast Main Line was upgraded for 200 km/h operation has created an urgent need for two extra vehicles in each of the 53 nine-car trainsets. Under a 'handshake deal' valued at around ?158m, reached on January ...
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News
Bluetooth in Bilbao
RENFE Cercanías de Bilbao has launched a trial Bluetooth service, offering passengers timetable, fares and service disruption information on their mobile phones and PDAs. The service uses J2ME technology to communicate with Bluetooth-enabled devices, allowing passengers to download a guide to RENFE services in the local area, complete with ...
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NewsEurostar seeks better connections
AT THE END of a year that saw revenue increase by 11·7% to £518m, and passengers carried through the Channel Tunnel rise 5·4% to a record 7·85 million, Eurostar Chief Executive Richard Brown told the Railway Study Association in London on January 10 that after HS1 opens in November 'we ...
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News
First leather seats
UK inter-city operator First Great Western has unveiled the first trailer coaches to be refurbished by Bombardier at its Derby plant under a £63m programme to overhaul the 53-strong IC125 HST diesel fleet. The first fully-refurbished trainset was officially unveiled with a Plymouth - London special train on January 17. ...
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NewsBritain grapples with main line smart ticketing
Roger Ford reviews progress with smart ticketing in the UK heavy rail market
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NewsChiltern tries mobile tickets
ON DECEMBER 14 Chiltern Railways and YourRail began a three-month trial of ticket delivery by mobile telephones, using the mobi-ticket system developed by Mobiqa for use at concerts and sporting events. During the trials Chiltern Railways' E-Day advance-purchase ticket can be booked on line 24 h ahead of travel, ...
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News
East Coast to be re-franchised
EXPRESSIONS of Interest to operate the UK's InterCity East Coast franchise were invited by the Department for Transport on December 15. Submissions are due by January 15, with the aim of having a new operator in post within 12 to 18 months. As an interim measure, existing operator GNER will ...
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News
Better train seats justify the investment
‘Rolling stock builders are taking too large a risk at the start of projects’, warns Marc Granger, President of French train seat manufacturer Compin. Cutting corners today ‘will hit them later’, five to 10 years into the life cycle of the rolling stock.
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NewsBroad-gauge Velaro fleet relaunches Russia’s high speed programme
Siemens is to supply eight Velaro RUS high speed trains to Russian Railways for services from Moscow to St Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod
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NewsVertical integration on the German branches
GERMANY: DB AG’s Regio Netze are joint businesses run by DB Regio and DB Netz. The model for this concept was the Kurhessenbahn in Kassel, followed by the SüdostBayernBahn based in Mühldorf, which is the largest operation to date. Then came the Schwarzatalbahn with the Oberweissbacher ...
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News
Second-generation bogies to be tested on gauge-changing EMU
Researchers are testing an improved bogie design for Japan's gauge-changing EMU. Bench tests are due to be completed by the end of 2006, and trials with a second trainset will start next year
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NewsMerkel opens Berlin Hauptbahnhof
Ralf Roman Rossberg reports on the opening ceremony for Berlin Hauptbahnhof, where east-west and north-south services meet at the geographical centre of the German capital
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NewsHigh speed needs an integrated network, says Pepy
THE PROSPECTS for Europe's growing high speed rail sector are 'very positive', according to the Chief Executive of French National Railways, Guillaume Pepy. But operators need to work together more closely if rail is to boost its market share. Looking back over the 25 years since SNCF opened the ...
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News
Stadler wins Alger contract
ALGERIAN national railway SNTF announced on March 18 that Stadler Bussnang AG had won an international tender called last summer for the supply of EMUs to operate suburban services around the capital. The Swiss manufacturer is to supply 64 four-car Flirt electric multiple-units between the second half of 2008 ...
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News
Strategic thinking can reduce the mass of commuter EMUs
Rolling stock manufacturers are studying the potential for reducing the weight of rolling stock, with a view to cutting energy consumption and life-cycle costs. Experience from Japan suggests that taking a strategic view offers long-term benefits
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NewsDouble-deck multiple-units arrive on Zürich's S-Bahn network
Due to enter service on S-Bahn routes in Zürich this summer are the first of 35 double-deck commuter EMUs ordered from Siemens in 2003, which offer a high rate of acceleration for rapid journeys between the closely-spaced stops and level boarding from the station platforms
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News
Three replacement franchises start
UK: Low-key celebrations were held in London on April 3 to mark the start of three replacement train operating franchises. FirstGroup has retained the First Great Western branding for its expanded ’Greater Western’ franchise which combines the FGW Link suburban services and the Wessex Trains regional services formerly run by ...