All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 400
-
NewsHupac orders Chinese wagons
SWITZERLAND: Hupac and CRRC International have signed a two-year contract for CRRC Shandong to manufacture flat wagons for the intermodal freight operator and obtain Swiss wagon registration and EU certification for the designs. After the signing ceremony last month, the companies held talks on co-operation in the intermodal sector as ...
-
NewsBeograd depot upgrade loan signed
SERBIA: The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development is providing national passenger operator JSC Srbija Voz with loans totalling €47m to finance the upgrading and expansion of Zemun depot on the outskirts of Beograd. The site is to become the operator’s main maintenance facility, and the only one equipped to ...
-
NewsMerkel inaugurates München - Berlin Unity Project 8
GERMANY: Special trains from München and Nürnberg, celebrations in multiple cities and a spectacular arrival in Berlin Hauptbahnhof marked the inauguration on December 8 of the railway known as German Unity Project VDE8. Commemorative events had been staged in Nürnberg, Erfurt, Leipzig and Wittenberg to mark the formal opening of ...
-
NewsUS-built Estonian GE locomotive rebuilt
ESTONIA: Freight operator EVR Cargo has begun testing the first of its GE-built C30-7Ai Co-Co diesel-electric locomotives to be extensively rebuilt at its Tapa workshops. The modernisation of the 19 locomotives is being undertaken in collaboration with Czech supplier CZ Loko. Designated as Type C30-M, the modernised locomotive is ...
-
NewsTraxx Africa handed over in Durban
SOUTH AFRICA: Bombardier Transportation and Transnet Freight Rail celebrated the handover of the first of 240 Traxx Africa electric locomotives with a ceremony at Transnet Engineering’s assembly plant in Durban on December 7. Ordered by Transnet Freight Rail in March 2014 at a cost of R15bn, the 240 multi-system locomotives ...
-
NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
The Ukrainian government announced on December 4 that it expects to formalise by the end of the year a strategic partnership with GE Transportation for the implementation of a US$1bn seven-year Ukrainian Railways rolling stock renewal programme. The first stage would include the supply of 30 locomotives with domestically-produced components ...
-
News15 recommendations in Croydon Tramlink derailment report
UK: The Rail Accident Investigation Branch made 15 recommendations to improve safety on December 7 when it published its report into the overturning of a tram at Sandilands in Croydon, south London on November 9 2016. RAIB found that the Bombardier CR4000 tram had been travelling at 73 km/h ...
-
NewsQatar metro and light rail operating contract awarded
QATAR: Public transport authority Qatar Rail has awarded the RKH Qitarat joint venture between a consortium of RATP Dev and Keolis (49%) and local construction, property and trading business Hamad Group (51%) a contract to operate and maintain the Doha metro and Lusail light rail networks. The contract awarded on ...
-
NewsXi’an – Chengdu high speed railway opened throughout
CHINA: Revenue services on the 511 km Xi’an – Jiangyou section of the 663 km Xi’an – Chengdu Passenger-Dedicated Line began on December 6, with the first train leaving Xi’an at 08:22. The maximum operating speed on the line is 250 km/h. The 153 km first phase between Chengdu and ...
-
NewsUK railway news round-up
A regulated fares increase of 3·6% based on July RPI will take effect on January 2. In Scotland, selected regulated peak fares including Anytime and season tickets are set to RPI, and 1% below RPI for regulated Off-Peak fares. In Wales, regulated fares are capped at RPI until at least ...
-
NewsNGR EMUs ready to enter service in Brisbane
AUSTRALIA: The first of 75 New Generation Rollingstock trainsets being built by Bombardier for the Brisbane suburban network are expected to begin carrying passengers on December 11, Queensland Rail Chief Executive Officer Nick Easy confirmed on December 6. With 70% of Queensland’s population growth expected in the South-East region, the ...
-
NewsBaghdad and Basra urban rail memorandum signed by Alstom
IRAQ: A memorandum of understanding for the development of urban rail projects in Baghdad and Basra has been signed by the Iraqi government and Alstom as part of a Franco-Iraqi inter-governmental meeting. A 20 km elevated light rail line is proposed for Baghdad, which would link Mustansiriyah, ...
-
NewsLatvia's cabinet backs electrification financing proposal
LATVIA: The cabinet has accepted a Ministry of Transport report setting out how the first phase of the electrification programme envisaged under the national development plan for 2014–20 can be undertaken without requiring funding from the state budget. The first phase covers 25 kV 50 Hz electrification of the routes ...
-
NewsMetrans orders more Traxx locomotives
GERMANY: Metrans has ordered 10 more Bombardier Transportation Traxx F140MS locomotives for delivery in the first quarter of 2018 The intermodal subsidiary of Hamburger Hafen & Logistik AG currently has a fleet of 50 mainline and 17 shunting locomotives. ‘With more of our own locomotives at our disposal, we ...
-
NewsAngel Trains raises £1·1bn to support ‘appetite to compete’
UK: Rolling stock leasing company Angel Trains Group announced on December 6 that it had secured £835m of new funding to refinance the procurement of 665 Bombardier Transportation Aventra electric multiple-unit cars that will be leased to Abellio for use on the East Anglia franchise from 2019. It said the ...
-
NewsSNCF orders prototype EMU and tram-train traction transformers
FRANCE: National railway SNCF has awarded Mitsubishi Electric Corp a contract to supply prototype traction transformers for Z2N double-deck electric multiple-units used on Paris commuter services and Siemens Avanto tram-trains operating on route T4. The order follows on from Mitsubishi Electric becoming the first Japanese company to be certified by ...
-
NewsHelsinki and Bombardier agree Variotram settlement
FINLAND: Helsinki transport authority HKL and Bombardier Transportation have reached an agreement which will see the 40 Variotrams withdrawn from service in the Finnish capital by the end of 2018. The Variotrams were delivered by Adtranz (later Bombardier Transportation) in 1998-2003, but the track profiles and operating conditions on Helsinki’s ...
-
NewsNew South Wales fleet replacement advances
AUSTRALIA: Three consortia have been shortlisted for the contract to replace the NSW TrainLink regional rail fleet of XPT, Endeavour and Xplorer trains, the New South Wales state government has announced. The bidders are: Regional Futures, led by Downer; Bombardier Consortium; Momentum Trains, led by CAF. Transport for NSW ...
-
NewsKoleje Śląskie operating contract extended
POLAND: Śląskie voivodship has awarded in-house train operator Koleje Śląskie a five-year extension to its contract to provide local passenger services. In 2015 the voivodship awarded KŚ a contract running for 10 years from January 1 2016, with the five-year extension to December 2030 being subject to investment in new ...
-
NewsSankt Pölten freight bypass inaugurated
AUSTRIA: A 24·7 km freight bypass around the city of Sankt Pölten was inaugurated with a ceremony on December 1, ahead of the planned start of revenue services on December 10. The bypass has been built as part of the wider project to upgrade the Wien – Salzburg Westbahn main ...