All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 291
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NewsELP places first order under 100-loco framework
EUROPE: Leasing company European Loc Pool has awarded Stadler a firm contract to supply 10 Eurodual Co-Co electro-diesel freight locomotives, within a framework contract covering up to 100 locos. The locomotives will have a 2·8 MW rating in diesel mode and up to 6·15 MW in electric mode, with the ...
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NewsVIA Rail gets buzzy
CANADA: VIA Rail is installing beehives on the rooftops of its stations in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Québec City in partnership with Alvéole, a company which combines beekeeping with education. The national passenger operator hopes this will help to raise awareness among urban populations of the decline of bees and ...
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NewsWabtec invests in additive manufacturing
3D PRINTING: Wabtec has purchased an H2 binder jet printer from GE Additive that is to be used to 3D print components for the group’s locomotive, transit, engine and mining products. The printer uses metal binder jetting with stainless steel 316, and Wabtec says that use with other materials ...
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NewsShift2Rail study backs fuel cell train development
EUROPE: Fuel cell and hydrogen trains ‘are well positioned to help Europe reach its greenhouse gas, air contaminant and noise reduction goals as a versatile zero-emission technology’, according to a report commissioned by the EU-funded Shift2Rail and Fuel Cells & Hydrogen joint undertakings. Published in conjunction with a Hydrogen Train ...
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NewsSNCF to advise on Czech high speed line standards
CZECH REPUBLIC: Infrastructure manager SŽDC and SNCF Mobilités have signed a KC11m agreement to jointly draw up technical standards and documentation for future high speed lines in the country. SŽDC is currently planning a route from Praha to Dresden including a 26 km tunnel under the Erzgebirge mountains, which would ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
SBB Cargo has begun using automatic couplers as part of a project which it see as a important step towards partial automation of ‘last mile‘ rail operations. It has equipped 100 intermodal wagons and 25 locomotives with Voith Cargoflex couplers at a cost of SFr15m, including SFr9m provided by the ...
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NewsCRRC locomotive on test in North Macedonia
NORTH MACEDONIA: National operator MŽ Transport is testing the first of four CRRC Zhuzhou electric locomotives it has ordered to haul freight on the north–south corridor between the Serbian and Greek borders. The €8m order signed in January 2017 was financed using part of a €50m loan from the European ...
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NewsBoosting bogie performance
BOGIES: Anti-vibration specialist Trelleborg and Bombardier Transportation have developed a hydraulic axle guide element for Bombardier’s Flexx family of bogies which provides frequency-dependent longitudinal stiffness. This reduces wheel and track wear, energy consumption and curve squeal noise. Flexx Curve can be installed in all past and planned Flexx Compact bogies. ...
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NewsFederal funding for California high speed rail pulled
USA: The Federal Railroad Administration announced on May 16 that it had terminated a $928·6m 2010 funding agreement with the California High-Speed Rail Authority. This follows a notice of intention to cancel the funding which had been issued by the FRA in March, after newly-elected Governor of California Gavin ...
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NewsCzech realignment contract awarded
CZECH REPUBLIC: Infrastructure manager SŽDC has awarded a consortium of Strabag Rail, Eurovia CS and Metrostav a KC3·87bn contract to build a new alignment between Soběslav and Doubí u Tábora. This will replace one of the last unmodernised sections of the Corridor 4 route between Praha and České Budějovice ...
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NewsRicardo acquires Australian consultancy under diversification strategy
AUSTRALIA: Ricardo plc has signed a share purchase agreement to acquire rolling stock life cycle management and technical services consultancy Transport Engineering Pty Ltd. The deal announced on May 14 is expected to be completed by the end of June, with the company then operating under the Ricardo brand as ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
Wien climatic wind tunnel operator Rail Tec Arsenal has split its Project Execution division into separate Rail & Road Vehicles and Aviation & Technical Systems divisions, to cater for the different needs of the sectors. Harting Technology Group has commissioned a robot which simulates real-world operating conditions to test inter-vehicle ...
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NewsPPF sells minority stake in Škoda Transportation
ŠKODA TRANSPORTATION: Petr Kellner’s investment business PPF Group announced on May 7 that it had sold a 10% stake in Škoda Transportation to an entity controlled by Michal Korecký. The price was not disclosed. Korecký had been one of the nine co-owners of Škoda Transportation until PPF completed the €326m ...
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NewsCompleted ALFA-X test train unveiled
JAPAN: East Japan Railway has formally unveiled its Series 956 ALFA-X high speed test train, which is due to start trial running at up to 400 km/h later this month. The completed 10-car trainset was displayed at its Sendai Shinkansen rolling stock workshops on May 9. Launched in July 2017, ...
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NewsBanks back Turkish railport
TURKEY: Two US$30m loans to finance the US$86m development of a privately-run inland rail terminal in Kocaeli province, to the east of Istanbul, have been agreed by the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development and majority Chinese-owned Turkish bank ICBC Turkey. The terminal is being developed by a 67:33 joint ...
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![Southern California Regional Rail Authority has awarded Talgo and Systra a contract to refurbish coaches (Photo: Lvi56 [CC BY 3.0]).](https://d1c4d7gnm6as1q.cloudfront.net/Pictures/100x67/7/9/6/23796_tn_us-metrolink-bilevel-lvi56_ccby3.jpg)
NewsMetrolink fleet modernisation contract awarded
USA: Southern California Regional Rail Authority has awarded a joint venture of Talgo and Systra a contract worth up to $138·9m for the refurbishment of up to 121 Bombardier BiLevel coaches used on Metrolink commuter services. There is a firm order for the modernisation of an initial 50 coaches, ...
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NewsStandard gauge plans on hold in Kenya
KENYA: Little more than a year after the opening of the Chinese-built 1 435 mm gauge railway between Mombasa and Nairobi, there are signs that East Africa’s love affair with China’s Belt & Road Initiative may be waning. On May 8, Kenya’s Transport & Infrastructure Minister James Macharia and ...
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NewsEurostar provides guide for travellers with autism
EUROPE: Eurostar has launched a virtual guide designed to help passengers with autism have a stress-free journey. The cross-Channel high speed train operator reviewed its travel experience with the Ambitious About Autism charity, which advised that travellers with autism are more comfortable if they have seen information about sights and ...
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KUBE to support internet of things on GSM-R
ASSET MONITORING: Kapsch CarrierCom is planning the first trial deployment of KUBE, an industrial internet of things device which can be used to collate and preprocess data from a range of asset monitoring sensors before using existing GSM-R networks to send the information to an infrastructure manager’s data hubs. Staff ...
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Stadler inaugurates Salt Lake City factory
USA: Vehicles being built for Caltrain and TEXRail were used to re-enact the completion of the transcontinental railway at Promontory Summit 150 years before as part of celebrations marking the official inauguration of Stadler US Inc’s factory in Salt Lake City on May 9. ‘It seems fitting that as we ...