Passenger rail news – Page 80
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NewsDSB orders the 1 000th Vectron locomotive
DENMARK: Siemens Mobility announced the sale of its 1 000th Vectron locomotive on May 4, with Danish national passenger operator DSB confirming an order for a further eight AC electric locos. DSB has now ordered a total of 42 Vectrons, procuring an initial 26 in 2018 followed ...
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NewsDB Regio retains Franken-Südthüringen operating contract
Source: Juergen Moeller GERMANY: DB Regio will continue to operate local services in the Franken-Südthüringen region around Bamberg, Lichtenfels and Coburg, organising authority Bayerische Eisenbahngesellschaft confirmed on April 29. Following a European tendering process, the state-owned operator has been awarded a 12-year contract running from December 2023 ...
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NewsSix suppliers shortlisted as Norske Tog seeks up to 200 commuter EMUs
Photo: Cato Edvardsen/Wikimedia Commons Class 69 EMUs are widely used on the Norwegian network by national operator Vy, formerly NSB. NORWAY: State-owned rolling stock leasing company Norske Tog has shortlisted six prequalified bidders to supply an initial 30 new commuter EMUs as part of a framework order ...
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NewsTrains prioritised over planes in Air France rescue deal
FRANCE: Modal shift from plane to train has been made a condition of a state aid package which the government is offering to Air France-KLM. According to Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, a €7bn support package for the Air France business is to be made conditional on ...
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NewsUIC shares ways to restore confidence in rail travel
COVID-19: The International Union of Railways has published a summary of potential steps that could be adopted to increase customer confidence in rail transport following the coronavirus pandemic.
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NewsTrafikverket proposes Malmö – Brussels overnight service
EUROPE: Trafikverket has recommended a Malmö – Köln - Brussels overnight train as the best option for increasing international rail travel to and from Sweden, although it has identified a number of hurdles that must be overcome.
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NewsPassenger service reintroduction study
Source: GeorgDerReisende / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) GERMANY: Local bus and rail freight operator Regionalverkehr Ruhr-Lippe has commissioned Spiekermann Consulting Engineers to undertake studies for the proposed reintroduction of passenger services on the 14·4 km Röhrtalbahn from Neheim-Hüsten to Sundern in Nordrhein-Westfalen. This will include assessing the signalling ...
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NewsPandemic scuppers Amtrak’s hopes of breaking even
USA: Amtrak has lost close to 95% its ridership since the advent of the coronavirus pandemic, just as the national passenger carrier was projecting that it would finally break even for the first time in almost 50 years. Ridership has all but disappeared because of the ...
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Rail Business UKUK government planning increase in rail services from May 18
UK: Despite an explicit denial of any proposals to increase passenger rail services when First Secretary of State Dominic Raab was questioned at the government’s daily coronavirus press briefing on April 22, industry sources confirm that train operating companies have been asked to prepare to reinstate a ...
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NewsRail investment is vital to post-Covid-19 recovery, say associations
EUROPE: Investment to ‘make rail the core element of the European transport system’ should be an intrinsic part of the EU’s plans for stimulating economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic, according to rail sector associations CER and UNIFE.
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NewsRENFE introduces personalised tickets
SPAIN: National operator RENFE has introduced personalised tickets for passengers travelling on AVE, Larga Distancia, Avant and Alvia services and all other trains where seats reservations are obligatory. Purchasers are required to provide mobile phone numbers and other contact information, with their privacy protected under national and ...
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NewsWestbahn and ÖBB awarded public service contracts to secure operations during the pandemic
AUSTRIA: Both Austrian Federal Railways and open access competitor Westbahn have been awarded emergency public service obligation contracts to ensure the continued operation of Wien – Salzburg trains during the coronavirus pandemic, in a move which the ALLRAIL association of new market entrants said should provide a ...
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NewsSentiment analysis to help train operators understand passenger feedback
FEEDBACK: On-train infotainment provider GoMedia is to use sentiment analysis software from Wordnerds to help train operators make sense of passengers’ comments in social media posts, online reviews, surveys and forums. ‘We are developing a range of digital solutions to give operators timely data, so that they ...
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Metro Report InternationalMaking transport more sustainable after the coronavirus
EUROPE: Emphasising that ‘the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic cannot simply be a return to business as usual’, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe has published guidance for policy makers aiming to reduce car use in urban areas. Developed under the Transport Health & Environment Pan-European ...
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NewsFlixTrain halts plans to launch open access service in France
FRANCE: FlixMobility GmbH has decided to postpone indefinitely its plans to launch open access passenger train services on five inter-city routes in France. The company had announced in June last year that FlixTrain-branded services would run on four French domestic routes, as well as between Paris and ...
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NewsRomania seeks inter-regional EMUs
Local builder Softronic demonstrated its Hyperion EMU prototype on a daily Craiova – București – Constanța service in the summer of 2014. (Photo: Mihai Tudosă). ROMANIA: Railway reform authority Autoritatea pentru Reformă Feroviară has invited bids for the supply of 20 low-floor EMUs for use on long-distance ...
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Metro Report InternationalPublic transport continuity needed to ensure ‘the health crisis does not turn into a social one’
INTERNATIONAL: Ensuring the continuity of public transport services during the coronavirus pandemic is essential to ensure that ‘the health crisis does not turn into a social one’, according to the International Association of Public Transport, United Cities & Local Governments, the International Transport Workers’ Federation and the ...
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NewsAmtrak awarded $1bn from coronavirus relief package
USA: The Federal Railroad Administration is making available more than $1bn to support Amtrak operations during the coronavirus pandemic, under the terms of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief & Economic Security Act approved by the US Congress on March 27.
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NewsBerlin – Malmö night train to continue despite closure of ferry route
EUROPE: The Berlin Night Express overnight train between Sweden and Germany will continue to run despite shipping company Stena Line’s plans to close the Trelleborg – Sassnitz ferry route which the train uses to cross the Baltic, operator Snälltåget has told Railway Gazette International. ...
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NewsALLRAIL calls for action to save new passenger train operators
EUROPE: The coronavirus pandemic is ‘annihilating’ the business cases of many independent passenger operators, and without urgent action the first bankruptcies could be seen this month, the ALLRAIL association of new entrants to the rail market has warned. On April 9 ALLRAIL said the ‘understandable’ decision to ...