Passenger rail news – Page 98
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NewsTransdev orders Regio-S-Bahn Bremen Flirts
GERMANY: Transdev subsidiary NordWestBahn has awarded Stadler a €100m contact to supply 16 Flirt electric multiple-units for use on Regio-S-Bahn Bremen/Niedersachsen services from December 2022. The order announced on June 13 follows the award in April of a competitively-tendered contract for incumbent NordWestBahn to continue to operate the services from ...
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NewsLausanne station to be rebuilt
SWITZERLAND: The Federal Office for Transport has approved plans for Swiss Federal Railways to proceed with the reconstruction of Lausanne station. Announcing the decision on June 3, BAV said that the government would contribute SFr900m towards the SFr1∙3bn cost. The main objective is to extend the platforms to a length ...
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NewsTAZARA seeks opportunities with the private sector
AFRICA: The Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority board is seeking to develop open access operations to increase traffic on its network, ‘in view of the good performance by the private operator so far’. Following its meeting in Dar es Salaam on June 1, the board directed the railway’s management to appoint a ...
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Rail Business UKSign language app for deaf passengers
UK: ScotRail and InterpreterNow have introduced an app designed to make it easier for railway staff to communicate with deaf people using British Sign Language. The app can be installed on staff or customer smartphones, and provides immediate access to online British Sign Language interpreting via a video call. Customers ...
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NewsDodoma commuter rail study commissioned
TANZANIA: Tanzania Railways Corp has awarded an international consortium a €2·5m nine-month contract to undertake feasibility and preliminary design studies for a commuter rail network in the capital Dodoma. The consortium is led by Spanish consultancy Ardanuy Ingenieria and includes Intercontinental Consultants & Technocrats from India and ...
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NewsGo-Ahead, Abellio and National Express take over German operating contracts
GERMANY: A number of passenger services transferred to new operators on June 9, including routes in Baden-Württemberg which are the first in Germany to be managed by UK-based rail and bus group Go-Ahead. Go-Ahead In 2015 the Land of Baden-Württemberg selected Go-Ahead for the Stuttgart Netz 1 Lot 2 (also ...
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Rail Business UKVirgin Trains open access service to ‘show the rest of the industry how it can be done’
UK: A partnership of Virgin Group, Stagecoach, SNCF and Alstom has applied to the Office of Rail & Road for permission to operate open access trains between London and Liverpool from May 2021, which it says would be ‘the UK’s most advanced and customer-focused’ rail service. The announcement on June ...
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Rail Business UKGWR prepares for December timetable recast
UK: More than three-quarters of all services operated by Great Western Railway are set to change with the introduction of a completely recast timetable on December 15, as the FirstGroup franchise operator moves to capitalise on the fruits of the Great Western Route Modernisation programme and increase capacity on some ...
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NewsPassengers prevail over freight in capacity allocation dispute
SWITZERLAND: The need to provide a minimum level of network capacity for freight operators should not be understood in absolute terms, but instead all relevant interests need to be weighed up, the Federal Administrative Court has ruled in a dispute about train paths. As a result, its says the needs ...
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NewsZSSK RegioPanter EMU rolled out
SLOVAKIA: Škoda Transportation has rolled out the first of the Class 660 electric multiple-units ordered by national passenger operator ZSSK for use on regional services around Žilina. The €160m contract for 25 dual-voltage 3 kV DC/25 kV AC EMUs with a maximum speed of 160 km/h was signed in March ...
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NewsRussian Railways orders high speed trains
RUSSIA: Russian Railways has signed a €1·1bn order for a further 13 Velaro RUS high speed trains for use on the 650 km Moscow – St Petersburg route, Siemens Mobility announced on June 7. The 10-car 3 kV DC trainsets will be supplied by Siemens Mobility and the Ural Locomotives ...
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NewsIllinois votes to fund rail expansion
USA: Dedicated funding for two new inter-city rail services and urban rail expansion is included in a $45bn package of infrastructure investment approved by the Illinois state legislature on May 31. The six-year programme put together by Governor J B Pritzker allocates $33·2bn for transport projects. The majority of this ...
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NewsTrenitalia's ETR700 ex-Fyra trains to enter service on Adriatic Corridor
ITALY: The first four of 17 ETR700 trainsets originally built for Fyra services in the Netherlands and Belgium are to enter commercial service with Trenitalia on June 9, FS Group announced on June 3. The trains are branded Frecciargento and will initially operate between Milano and Ancona, with two return ...
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NewsJR East to trial fuel cell multiple-unit
JAPAN: East Japan Railway has started work on a new generation of hydrogen fuel cell trainsets, a decade after early experiments with its prototype New Energy Train. The railway set an objective to ‘diversify energy’ as part of its ‘Move Up 2027’ 10-year vision adopted last year, and it hopes ...
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NewsBombardier to supply 74 more double-deck coaches to Israel
ISRAEL: Bombardier Transportation has signed a contract to supply 74 Twindexx Vario double-deck coaches to Israel Railways. The €147m order announced on June 6 is an option on a framework agreement signed in October 2010 and will take ISR’s total fleet of Bombardier double-deck coaches to 586. ...
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NewsFirst Kiss for DB Regio
GERMANY: DB Regio has placed its first order for Stadler Kiss double-deck electric multiple-units, signing a €220m contract on June 5 for 18 four-car units for use in Schleswig-Holstein. This follows the award in April of a contract for incumbent and sole bidder DB Regio to continue to operate Elektronetz ...
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NewsCompetition authority opposes online ticket monopoly
SWEDEN: Competition authority Konkurrensverket has called on the government to review the regulations governing the online sale of rail tickets, in order to address the dominant position of the sj.se website run by state-owned incumbent operator SJ AB. Two new entrants – MTR Express and Saga Rail – filed complaints ...
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NewsThello bids to run Milano – Paris high speed service
FRANCE: Trenitalia subsidiary Thello has notified rail regulator ARAFER of its intention to launch the first open access passenger services on the French high speed network. The regulator announced on June 4 that Thello had requested paths from SNCF Réseau for a twice-daily service between Milano and Paris to start ...
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NewsTrenitalia orders 14 high speed trainsets
ITALY: Trenitalia has confirmed an order for a partnership of Hitachi Rail (60%) and Bombardier Transportation (40%) to supply 14 more Frecciarossa 1000 high speed trainsets and maintain them for 10 years. The €575m deal announced on June 4 follows the publication in May of FS Group’s business plan for ...
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NewsCampania DMUs ordered using Lombardia contract
ITALY: Campania regional train operator Ente Autonomo Volturno has ordered five Stadler diesel-battery multiple-units by using an option within a framework contract for up to 50 units which Lombardia regional railway FNM signed with the Swiss manufacturer in November. The two operators said this arrangement would enable them both to ...