Passenger rail news – Page 262
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NewsWhich way to the airport?
Do airports need dedicated express shuttle trains, or should services be aimed at all rail users? Proposed changes to London's Gatwick Express are just one part of an international debate, which is complicated by local politics and geography.
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Gauge-convertible electric loco
AT THE end of December, Patentes Talgo unveiled a prototype for the series of 44 gauge-convertible electric locos that Renfe has ordered to operate through services off its AVE network. To be designated L-9202, Virgen del Buen Camino is 19·4 m long and weighs 74 tonnes. It is equipped with ...
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NewsUK refranchising progresses
THE STRATEGIC Rail Authority is pushing ahead with awarding of new franchises for passenger train operations in the UK. On January 17 SRA issued an invitation to tender for the Integrated Kent Franchise to the four bidders who were prequalified in December 2003 (RG 2.04 p63). The ITT was ...
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NewsClass 455 suburban EMU refurbished
UK: On November 23 South West Trains returned to service the first two of its 91 Class 455 inner-suburban EMUs which are being refurbished at Bombardier’s Ashford works. The mid-life refurbishment project will be completed in March 2008. The £67m cost is being funded by Porterbrook, and ...
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NewsEurostar on track to hit market share target
Launched 10 years ago next month, Eurostar is reaping the benefits from Section 1 of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link with rising traffic and record punctuality. Chief Executive Richard Brown briefs Murray Hughes on Eurostar's future plans
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Vuknovo airport service launched
MOSCOW Mayor Yuri Luzhkov joined the celebrations on July 29 to mark the launch of Russian Railways' second dedicated airport rail service in the capital. He was joined at Moscow Kievskaya station by RZD President Gennady Fadeyev, Moscow Railway President Vladimir Starostenko and the Chairman of Vuknovo International Airport's ...
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Serco takes Northern as DB pulls out of ICEC
A PARTNERSHIP of Serco Group and NedRailways BV has been selected as preferred bidder to operate the UK's Northern rail franchise, the Strategic Rail Authority announced on July 1. Northern will take over from First North Western and Arriva Trains Northern in October, employing 4000 staff and 265 trainsets to ...
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Ben Gurion International Airport link ready
ISRAEL Railways has set September 4 as the official opening date for the rail link between Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion International Airport. There will be 32 trains each way per day, covering the 8 km from the city centre in 10min. To mark completion of the US$83m single-track branch, ...
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NewsHSL Zuid shuttle trains ordered
EUROPE: On May 24 the Dutch High Speed Alliance and Belgian National Railways signed a contract with AnsaldoBreda for supply of 12 eight-car high speed trains, with options for up to 14 more. To be delivered in April 2006, the units will enter service a year later, replacing the existing ...
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NewsGNER internet link
SWEDISH supplier Icomera AB announced on April 7 that it had been appointed to install its Wireless Onboard Internet technology on 10 refurbished Mk IV trainsets (RG 11.03 p698) used by British inter-city operator GNER. The deal follows successful trials with an initial three trains (RG 9.03 p550). Users ...
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SBB ticket machines
LATER this year SBB will begin replacing portable ticket machines used for on-train sales with 2000 almex.mobile portable ticket machines from Höft & Wessel. Up to 1GB of data on available tickets and fares can be stored in the almex.mobile terminals, and a radio link can be used to obtain ...
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President Goh inaugurates KTX
'ON APRIL 1 Korea will speed up with KTX' announced the huge banners decking Seoul station on March 30. Hundreds of invited guests from across the world joined in the celebrations when South Korea's Acting President Goh Kun formally inaugurated the world's eighth high speed railway. Following the inauguration ceremony ...
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NewsEurostar abandons Project Jupiter
Plans to form a single company tentatively called Eurostar International that would have managed the train service between London, Paris and Brussels as a unified operation were formally abandoned by the Boards of SNCF, SNCB and London & Continental Railways on March 12. Originally SNCB had intended to take a ...
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Learning lessons from tilting trains
DB's failure to meet promised performance improvements where tilting trains were introduced led inevitably to strong media criticism. Murray Hughes finds that many of the difficulties can be blamed on too much innovation pushed through too quickly
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NewsCzech station lease signed
AN AGREEMENT has been signed for Grandi Stazioni SpA to manage commercial and retail space at three major Czech stations. Under the terms of the 30-year lease the Italian firm will carry out refurbishment work at Praha Hlavni, Karlovy Vary and Marianske Lazne. It is to spend KC658m upgrading ...
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NEG wins Greater Anglia
LATE DECEMBER saw the UK Strategic Rail Authority make significant progress with negotiating replacements for several passenger train franchises. On December 22 SRA named National Express Group as preferred bidder for Greater Anglia. This combines the Anglia and Great Eastern franchises with the West Anglia portion of WAGN, bringing almost ...
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Speed record foreshadows opening of UK's first high speed line
On July 30 a Eurostar trainset streaked through Kent on Section 1 of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link to set a UK rail speed record of 334·7 km/h. Murray Hughes rode the record-breaker
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Pendeltåg X60 EMU takes shape
Harry Hondius MSc reports from Salzgitter NOW UNDER construction at the Alstom LHB plant in Salzgitter are the first cars for a fleet of innovative articulated low-floor cars to operate Pendeltåg suburban services in Stockholm. Ordered last year by Storstockholms Lokaltrafik AB, they are derived from the Lirex experimental multiple-unit ...
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NewsConnex loses second UK franchise
UK: For the first time since privatisation in the 1990s, a franchise to operate passenger services in Britain has been terminated through default. On June 27, Strategic Rail Authority Chairman Richard Bowker announced that ‘we have given notice to Connex South Eastern that their franchise will terminate ...
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Refurbishment drives demand for seats
CARRIAGE body shells can outlive their interior furnishings by many years, making refurbishment the key to providing a quality travelling environment throughout the life of the vehicle. Seating is one of the most noticeable interfaces between passengers and trains, and the selection of appropriate designs and materials is critical. Eurostar's ...