All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 445
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NewsUkrainian Railways plans five-year investment programme
UKRAINE: National railway UZ has presented its five-year development strategy for 2017-21. This includes investment of 130bn to 150bn hryvna, and the formation of five business sectors: freight transport and logistics, passenger transport, infrastructure, traction services, manufacturing & services. In the freight sector, UZ plans to invest in the creation ...
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NewsLahore Metro’s first train rolls out
PAKISTAN: The first of 27 five-car metro trains for the 27·1 km Orange Line now under construction in Lahore was rolled out at CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive’s plant in China on May 15. The trains are scheduled to be delivered between July and the end of this year. The styling is ...
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NewsDhaka metro contracts signed
BANGLADESH: Dhaka Mass Transit Co signed contracts for the construction of metro Line 6 on May 3, in a ceremony attended by Road Transport & Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader. The 15·9bn taka contract CP-02 awarded to a joint venture of Thailand’s Italian-Thai Development Public Co and China’s Sinohydro Corp covers ...
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NewsAlexa 'Skill' for train times and fares released
UK: Independent ticket retailer RedSpottedHanky.com can now be accessed via Amazon Echo and Echo Dot smart devices using an Alexa intelligent personal assistant add-on 'Skill' developed by Atos company Worldline. Worldline says the personal assistant functionality is a first for the UK rail industry, and claims it will help travellers ...
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NewsDHL opens centre to manage Germany – Far East rail freight
GERMANY: DHL Global Forwarding has opened a central China Rail Competence Centre in Stuttgart to co-ordinate the growing volumes of freight it is sending from Germany to Asia by rail. This includes shipments for automotive, technology, mechanical engineering and retail customers. ‘Rail freight volumes between Germany and Asia have increased ...
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NewsUnderground extension of Chennai metro opens
INDIA: The first underground section of the Chennai metro opened on May 14, when a 7 km extension of Line 2 (the Green Line) from Thirumangalam to Nehru Park was inaugurated by Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Edappadi K Palaniswami and national Minister of Urban Development Venkaiah ...
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NewsRENFE plans for profit in 2017
SPAIN: The national operator is expecting to make a pre-tax profit of €39∙2m in 2017, RENFE President Juan Alfaro has told MPs. For the first time since the present corporate structure was adopted in 2005, this positive result would be due to income generated by the group’s own activities. At ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
RZD Logistics, Far East Land Bridge and TransContainer have increase the number of transit freight trains through the Naushki border crossing between Mongolia and Russia from one to two per week. The 57-wagon container trains carry fast moving consumer goods from China to Europe. Citing a projected 37% increase ...
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NewsEurotunnel’s third-generation freight shuttles enter service
EUROPE: The first of three additional freight shuttle rakes for carrying lorries was inaugurated by Groupe Eurotunnel Chairman & CEO Jacques Gounon and President of the Hauts-de-France Region Xavier Bertrand at the end of April. The three trainsets will provide 20% more capacity and enable Eurotunnel to offer up ...
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NewsTwilight Express Mizukaze to launch next month
JAPAN: West Japan Railway is to launch the Twilight Express Mizukaze (fresh breeze) luxury cruise train in June, adopting a similar concept to JR East’s Train Suite Shiki-Shima. With five one night or two-night itineraries, the luxury 10-car train will give up to 30 passengers the opportunity to travel to ...
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NewsExpedia to acquire majority stake in SilverRail
SILVERRAIL: A definitive agreement for online travel group Expedia to acquire a majority stake in rail ticket retailing and distribution platform developer SilverRail Technologies was announced on May 12. The transaction is expected to close in mid-2017, subject to conditions including regulatory approval. Terms were not disclosed. ‘Rail is ready ...
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NewsFS bids to supply wagons to Uruguay
URUGUAY: Supply of rolling stock is one of three priority areas identified for developing co-operation between state railway AFE and FS Group of Italy. Announcing on May 12 that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with AFE in Montevideo, FS reported that its Mercitalia freight business had submitted a ...
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NewsIONX and Ermewa agree telematics partnership
EUROPE: Amsted Rail used the Transport Logistic tradeshow in München on May 9-12 to mark the extension of its telematics activities in Europe. Amsted’s IONX subsidiary has finalised a preliminary co-operation agreement with wagon leasing business Ermewa for the supply of telematics technology. The agreement covers IONX telematics equipment, proprietary ...
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NewsLegios Clever demonstrator wagon includes nanotechnology
CZECH REPUBLIC: A range of advanced subsystems and materials selected to highlight possible technology options are included in the Legios Clever demonstrator wagon which Legois exhibited at the Transport Logistic trade fair in München on May 9-11. Legios worked with researchers at the University of Liberec to develop nanotechnology-based ...
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NewsCrowd-funded open access operator Locomore files for insolvency
GERMANY: Open access operator Locomore announced on the evening of May 11 that that it had filed for insolvency at the district court in Charlottenburg. Locomore launched a partly crowd-funded daily return service between Berlin and Stuttgart in December 2016 using refurbished coaches and with a focus on sustainability. ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
Indian Railways’ Chittaranjan Locomotive Works produced 292 three-phase electric locomotives in the 2016-17 financial year, up from 280 in 2015-16 of which 215 were three-phase types and 250 in 2014-15. The Railway Board has set a target of 325 locomotives for 2017-18. ST Kinetics has entered the rail sector ...
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NewsSiemens Mobility hit by competition and industry overcapacity
SIEMENS: Plans for a restructuring of various activities in Germany were announced by Siemens on May 11, as part of strategy to become a ‘digital industry company’ and reduce costs. The measures included centralisation of IT and training activities, and the loss of around 1 700 jobs over several years ...
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NewsDB launches integrated consultancy service in 'important' UK market
UK: Deutsche Bahn launched an integrated engineering and consultancy service for the UK rail industry at the Railtex 2017 trade fair. The combined portfolio brings together the rolling stock expertise of DB Systemtechnik and DB's established UK technical consultancy ESG Rail with the infrastructure and operating knowledge of DB Engineering ...
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NewsSales down but profit up at Škoda Transportation
CZECH REPUBLIC: Rolling stock manufacturer Škoda Transportation has announced record earnings of KC1∙6bn on a turnover of KC15∙7bn in 2016. Sales were down by KC2∙5bn, but net profit rose almost threefold from 2015. Exports accounted for 50∙4 % of total production and the company employed 5 327 people. Trams were ...
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NewsUK railway news round-up
Borrowing an idea from the highway maintenance industry, Keltbray Rail Plant is installing directional LED lights on 14 Colmar road-rail vehicles to clearly identify the 10 m safety exclusion zone around them. ‘As we often work at night, signage is not always visible, and so we have adopted lighting to ...