Passenger rail news – Page 99
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Rail Business UKVirgin Trains announces plans for cheapest fare app
UK: Virgin Trains is developing a booking app which it says will guarantee that passengers obtain the cheapest walk-up fares by retrospectively looking at the trains used and recalculating the fare if a different ticket would have been cheaper than the one purchased. The system would automatically ...
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NewsUzbekistan orders more Talgo 250 trainsets
UZBEKISTAN: National railway UTY has finalised an order for a further two Talgo 250 trainsets for use from 2021 on Afrosiyob services between Toshkent, Samarkand, Qarshi, Bukhara and Khiva, along with four coaches to lengthen its original pair of Talgo 250 trainsets. The €57m order announced by Talgo on May ...
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NewsCotton Belt railway DMU order placed
USA: Dallas Area Rapid Transit has awarded Stadler a $199m contract to supply eight Flirt diesel multiple-units for the $1·1bn Cotton Belt Regional Rail Project in the northern suburbs of Dallas. The 42 km line between Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Shiloh Road in Plano is under construction for opening ...
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NewsAlstom awarded Zollernalbbahn DMU contract
GERMANY: Following a European tender, Baden-Württemberg’s rolling stock procurement body SFBW has awarded Alstom a contract to supply 18 two-car Lint 54 diesel multiple-units for use on Zollernalbbahn services between Tübingen and Aulendorf from December 2020. The 140 km/h units will have 150 seats, air-conditioning, wi-fi, power sockets, passenger ...
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NewsSBB looks at options to reintroduce night trains
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways is examining options for reintroducing overnight services to a range of European destinations. Armin Weber, Head of International Passenger Services, told Schweizer Radio & Fernsehen on May 30 that SBB had identified a market need and was looking at potential routes. If SBB decided to re-enter ...
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NewsLeo Express unveils its Chinese EMUs
CZECH REPUBLIC: The three multi-system electric multiple-units being built for open access operator Leo Express by Chinese manufacturer CRRC Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive are nearing completion and on course for delivery in the second half of the year, the operator confirmed on June 3. The inter-city EMUs are due to undergo ...
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NewsBorne backs early extension of Rhin-Rhône high speed line
FRANCE: Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne has agreed to ‘look again’ at the timescale for completing the second phase of the LGV Rhin-Rhône high speed line, serving Dijon and Mulhouse. LGV Rhin-Rhône opened with the December 2011 timetable change, covering an initial 140 route-km between Auxonne, east of Dijon, and Petit-Croix, ...
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NewsToronto passenger rail enhancement shortlist announced
CANADA: Infrastructure Ontario and Greater Toronto transport agency Metrolinx have shortlisted four consortia to bid for the On-Corridor Works contract within the GO Rail Expansion programme, which aims to provide an enhanced and all-day Regional Express Rail passenger service in the Greater Toronto & Hamilton Area. BidderApplicant leadConstructionDesignOperations ...
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NewsCrown Prince inaugurates København – Ringsted line
DENMARK: The København – Ringsted high speed line was formally inaugurated by Crown Prince Frederik on May 31, in a ceremony at Køge Nord station attended by Transport Minister Magnus Heunicke, Banedanmark CEO Per Jacobsen, DSB CEO Flemming Jensen and around 1 000 stakeholders and official guests. With a budget ...
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NewsLeo Express looks to Ukraine as Polish service increased
EUROPE: Czech rail and coach operator Leo Express is to increase its weekends-only Praha – Kraków open access rail service to run daily between June 28 and September 2, with a connecting coach link to Lviv in Ukraine. ‘People in Poland love Leo Express’, said CEO Peter Köhler on May ...
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NewsCDG Express delayed to 2026
FRANCE: The CDG Express project to provide a dedicated airport express between central Paris and Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport is to be delayed by two years, Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne announced on May 28. Running for 32 km between Paris-Est and the LGV Interconnexion station at Charles-de-Gaulle airport Terminal 2, CDG Express ...
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NewsRiga Central station reconstruction contract awarded
LATVIA: Design and build contracts for the reconstruction of Riga Central station as a multimodal transport hub with provision for 1 435 mm gauge services were signed on May 29 by Latvia’s Rail Baltica implementation agency Eiropas Dzelzceļa Līnijas and the Besix Rere Group. EDzL selected the joint venture of ...
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NewsThai government backs ‘three airports’ rail link
THAILAND: Proposals to develop a fast passenger line between three airports in the south of the country under a PPP model were approved by the government on May 28. Covering a total distance of approximately 220 km, the 1 435 mm gauge railway would make use of the existing ...
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NewsDublin seeks battery-electric DART fleet
IRELAND: National railway Iarnród Éireann and the National Transport Authority have invited expressions of interest in a 10-year framework agreement covering the supply of between 250 and 600 vehicles for Dublin Area Rapid Transport suburban rail services. Expansion of DART electric services to Maynooth, Drogheda and Hazelhatch forms part of ...
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NewsRigi rack railway operator orders EMUs
SWITZERLAND: Mountain railway and cable car operator Rigi Bahnen AG has awarded Stadler a contract to supply six two-car low-floor rack electric multiple-units for entry into service from autumn 2021. The contract signed on May 22 is worth SFr38m, including spare parts. The Bhe4/6 EMUs are intended to replace ...
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Rail Business UKVivarail units take over Marston Vale services
VIVARAIL: Class 150 and 153 diesel multiple-units have been withdrawn from West Midlands Trains services on the UK's Marston Vale Line, with all services now operated using Class 230 DMUs supplied by Vivarail. The first Class 230 unit entered service between Bletchley and Bedford last month. Vivarail has ...
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NewsSlovenia increases Stadler multiple-unit order
SLOVENIA: A firm contract for Stadler to supply a further 26 multiple-units was signed by national railway SŽ on May 27, as an option on an order placed in April 2018. The latest order is worth €151m excluding VAT, and covers 10 four-car 160 km /h Flirt ...
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NewsADB’s largest ever rail loan to support Manila commuter project
PHILIPPINES: In what the organisation says is its ‘largest single infrastructure project financing’, the Asian Development Bank on May 23 agreed a loan worth US$2·75bn for construction of the Malolos – Clark suburban railway. This long-standing scheme has been revived by the current government in Manila under its ‘build, build, ...
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Rail Business UKLegal action over ‘inappropriate’ risks in new West Coast franchise
UK: The West Coast Trains Partnership joint venture of Stagecoach Group (50%), SNCF Holding (30%) and Virgin (20%) confirmed on May 24 that it had begun legal action against the Department for Transport. This follows DfT’s decision to disqualify it from bidding for the West Coast Partnership contract covering the ...
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NewsBaku suburban railway phase one launched
AZERBAIJAN: The first phase of a planned circular suburban railway serving Baku and the Abşeron Peninsula was inaugurated by President Ilham Aliyev on May 21. The first phase uses 13·5 km of modernised route eastwards from Baku’s main station to a new hub at Sabunçu, with three intermediate stations. Sabunçu ...