Passenger rail news – Page 94
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NewsWestbahn to operate RegioJet’s Wien – Praha trains
EUROPE: Open access operators Westbahn and RegioJet have signed an agreement under which Westbahn will take over the ‘technical operation’ in Austria of RegioJet’s international trains which link Wien, Brno and Praha. Since their launch in December 2017, these trains have been operated between Wien Hbf and the Czech ...
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Editorial CommentComment: Jumping on the night train
After years of decline, overnight trains in Europe could be on the cusp of a renaissance. Rail is increasingly being hailed as a sustainable alternative to short-haul flying, encouraged in part by the flygskam (flight shaming) movement that originated in Sweden, and bolstered by the success of ...
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NewsMÁV domestic coach production gathers pace
HUNGARY: Following on from two prototype vehicles produced in 2014-15, a series batch of 20 IC+ hauled coaches for international trains has been completed by national railway holding MÁV. The vehicles have been produced in-house at MÁV’s Szolnok workshop. They have been funded by the company and contain more ...
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NewsCDG Express trains ordered
FRANCE: The Hello Paris consortium selected to operate the CDG Express airport rail link has ordered 13 electric multiple-units to run the service at a cost of €160m, Alstom confirmed on August 1. CDG Express will run for 32 km between Paris-Est and Charles-de-Gaulle airport Terminal 2, using a ...
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NewsPassenger trains start to serve Yakutsk
RUSSIA: Regular passenger trains have started running on the northern section of the Yakutia Railway, following celebrations on July 27 attended by State Counsellor Vyacheslav Shtyrov, on behalf of the President of the Sakha Republic Aisen Nikolayev. Formal approval of the line for passenger operation was granted on July ...
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Rail Business UKAzuma launches on Flying Scotsman
UK: East Coast Main Line operator LNER launched its Hitachi-built Class 800 Azuma trainsets on Anglo-Scottish services on August 1, deploying one of the electro-diesel units on its flagship 05.40 Flying Scotsman service from Edinburgh to London King’s Cross and the 17.30 return working. Class 800s have been operating ...
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Rail Business UK
UK railway news round-up - August 1
On July 25 TransPennine Express accepted the first of the Nova 2 branded Civity EMUs which are being supplied by CAF and Eversholt Rail. The five-car Class 397 units will enter service later this year on TPE’s services from Manchester and Liverpool to Edinburgh and Glasgow via the West Coast ...
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NewsRidership surge prompts SNCF to order more TGVs
FRANCE: SNCF Mobilités announced an order for 12 double-deck TGVs on July 31 as part of its fleet renewal strategy. Branded TGV Océane by the operator, the Avelia Euroduplex trainsets are to be supplied by Alstom for use on routes between Paris and Metz and Nancy in eastern ...
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NewsMonopolies Commission urges more competition on German network
GERMANY: Further separation of infrastructure provider DB Netz from the Deutsche Bahn group is amongst a raft of measures recommended by the Monopolies Commission to enhance quality and competition on the rail network. In its seventh report, published on July 25, the Commission highlights the need for better service ...
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NewsSakhalin diesel railcars outshopped
RUSSIA: Three Class RA3 diesel multiple-units to operate regauged regional railway routes on Sakhalin were formally unveiled by Transmashholding on July 26, at a ceremony attended by the Deputy Chairman of the Sakhalin oblast government Vitaly Gudin, RZD’s Deputy General Director, Passenger, Dmitry Pegov, and the First Deputy General Director ...
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Rail Business UKNine recommendations for rail in northern England
Nine recommendations are set out in a review of the Rail North Partnership between the Department for Transport and Transport for the North which manages the Northern and TransPennine Express passenger franchises. UK: Nine recommendations are set out in a review of the Rail North Partnership between ...
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Rail Business UKAbellio orders East Midlands inter-city fleet
UK: Hitachi Rail has been selected to supply a fleet of 200 km/h inter-city trains to operate on the Midland Main Line, as part of the new East Midlands Railway franchise, where Abellio is due to take over from incumbent operator Stagecoach on August 18. The NS subsidiary announced ...
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NewsŠkoda signs Latvian EMU contract
LATVIA: National passenger operator Pasažieru Vilciens has signed the €240m contract for Škoda Vagonka to supply a fleet of 32 dual-system EMUs for the Riga suburban network, the manufacturer announced on July 30. Škoda Vagonka was named as preferred bidder in February, after procurement monitoring agency IUB blocked an ...
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NewsMetre-gauge coaches delivered
BANGLADESH: A batch of 26 new inter-city coaches for Bangladesh Railways’ metre-gauge main lines was expected to arrive at Chittagong Port by the end of July, having been shipped from the Indonesian port of Tanjung Perak, in Surabaya, on July 19. Being supplied by PT Inka under a US$101m ...
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Rail Business UKStadler bimodes enter service at Greater Anglia
UK: The first of 38 three- and four-car electro-diesel multiple-units being supplied by Stadler to operate regional services in East Anglia began revenue operation on Abellio's Greater Anglia routes from Norwich to Lowestoft and Yarmouth on July 29. The first Stadler multiple-units to operate in the UK, the Class ...
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NewsWork begins on Ankara suburban rail extension
TURKEY: Construction has started on an extension of Ankara’s Başkentray suburban railway from the current western terminus of Sincan to Yenikent. The 8 km northwestern extension is being funded from public sources. Completion of the TL353m project is due by the end of June 2022. From ...
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NewsHauts-de-France keen to reopen Abbeville – Le Tréport
FRANCE: Plans are in hand to run competitively tendered passenger services over the Abbeville – Le Tréport line in northern France that was closed in May 2018. In a corrigendum published on July 19 to an April notice in the Official Journal of the European Union the region specified ...
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Rail Business UKAccessible travel policy guidance updated
UK: The Office of Rail & Road has published updated guidance designed to enable train and station operators to provide older and disabled people with greater confidence when travelling by rail. The Accessible Travel Policy replaces ORR’s Disabled Persons’ Protection Policy and broadens its scope. Updated requirements ...
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NewsRegioJet buys double-deck coaches to cope with ridership growth
SLOVAKIA: RegioJet has acquired 10 second-hand double-deck coaches from DB Regio, which it plans to use to provide a rapid increase in capacity on Bratislava – Dunajská Streda – Komárno services operated under contract to the Ministry of Transport. The Dbz750 coaches were built at the Bautzen plant in ...
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NewsMinimum access rights include station platforms, court rules
AUSTRIA: The use of station platforms is included within the ‘minimum access package’ which EU Directive 2012/34 requires infrastructure managers to make available to all train operators, the European Court of Justice has ruled. This means that charges for the use of platforms must not exceed the cost that ...