All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 452
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NewsWeedfree orders weed killing train
EUROPE: Weedfree On Track is investing £2m in a second weed killing train, backed by a £300 000 debt funding package from Enterprise Ventures SME Loans and £200 000 from Finance Yorkshire's Business Loans fund. The vehicles are to be supplied by Hungarian company Gaal-Gaal, which supplied Weedfree's existing ...
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NewsRENFE poised to join Virgin’s HS2 franchise bid
UK: Spanish national operator RENFE is understood to be the front runner to join the Virgin Rail Group joint venture of Stagecoach and Virgin Holdings to bid for the government’s upcoming West Coast Partnership franchise.Currently Virgin (51%) and Stagecoach (49%) operate inter-city services under the Virgin Trains brand on the ...
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NewsSBB wants better co-operation with road transport
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways and national road transport association Astag have joined forces to demand a more effective freight transport policy at national level and better co-operation between road and rail. At a press conference on April 7 in Basel at which both organisations pledged support for the planned Gateway ...
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NewsRegions sound out SNCF competitors
FRANCE: The body which represents the regions of France says that there is a ‘strong appetite’ amongst potential bidders for contracts to operate TER passenger services currently provided by SNCF, which are expected to be opened up to competition around 2024. In order to enable its members to prepare for ...
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NewsElectrification fabrication facility to support just-in-time delivery
UK: VolkerRail and Unipart Rail have opened a third overhead electrification equipment preassembly facility, to support phase three of Network Rail's 25 kV 50 Hz North West Electrification Programme. VolkerRail said precision prefabrication at the site in Crewe would ensure the just-in-time delivery of electrification equipment, with a high degree ...
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NewsWrocław tests city-funded rail service
POLAND: A pilot service financed by the city of Wrocław, rather than the Dolnośląskie voivodship, was launched by regional operator Koleje Dolnośląskie on April 10 with a week of free travel. The new service runs entirely within the city boundaries, linking Wojnów in the east with Nadodrze, taking 18 ...
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NewsSJ rolls out national automated alcohol testing
SWEDEN: SJ has begun the national roll-out of Hök Instrument's Sesame Connect system for the automated daily alcohol testing of safety-critical employees. ‘With just 33 unmanned units covering the entire country, all SJ’s train drivers confirm they are sober every time they come to work’, said Mark Hawthorne, Vice-President Sales ...
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NewsJP Morgan buys Beacon Rail
BEACON RAIL: An agreement has been signed for JP Morgan Asset Management to acquire the Beacon Rail rolling stock leasing business from Pamplona Capital Management for around €1bn. Completion of the deal is expected shortly. Beacon Rail Leasing is based in Luxembourg, with offices in Boston and London. Pamplona had ...
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NewsHS2 seeks station design and development partners
UK: High speed line project promoter HS2 Ltd has begun the process to appoint ‘world-class’ architects and developers to produce detailed plans for four ‘ambitious and iconic’ stations for the first phase of the future network. The organisation is also undertaking a separate procurement to select a master development partner ...
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NewsSBB launches Gotthard Panorama Express
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways staged a preview trip for its seasonal Gotthard Panorama Express on April 8. Combining a 2 h 45 min cruise on a steamship on the Vierwaldstättersee with a rail journey over the famous Gotthard pass, the service is intended to stimulate tourist travel over the historic ...
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NewsLondon joins the Silk Road as UK – China rail freight service sets off
UK: The first rail freight service from the UK to China departed from the rail terminal at DP World’s London Gateway port in Essex on April 10, carrying containers containing exports including soft drinks, vitamins, pharmaceuticals, baby products and whisky. ‘London Gateway has joined the Silk Road’, said DP ...
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NewsBilbao metro Line L3 opens
SPAIN: The third metro line in Bilbao opened on April 8. Line L3 links Kukullaga on the EuskoTren commuter network to Matiko. There are five intermediate stations on the 5·9 km route, including an interchange with lines L1 and L2 at Casco Viejo. The metre-gauge line is operated by ...
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NewsResearch project aims to automate train driver functions
FRANCE: The Safe Autonomous Land Transport project to test the use of technology to automate train drivers’ observation functions has been launched by the SystemX digital engineering research institute in partnership with SNCF and Alstom. Drawing on the scientific expertise of the Université de Technologie de Compiègne, the project aims ...
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Following a two-year review by UK infrastructure manager Network Rail and freight operators, 4 702 unused train paths per week have been released to provide capacity for other services. The spare paths are the result of the decline in coal and steel traffic, as well as better timetabling and more ...
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NewsTrain operator sees the light
UK: Chiltern Railways estimates it will save around £10 000/year in lighting maintenance costs, see a significant reduction in its energy bills and also improve staff working conditions following the installation of Zeta Specialist Lighting’s LED technology at three servicing sites in Wembley, Aylesbury and Stourbridge. Zeta worked with Ormiston ...
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NewsRailway Directory 2017
RAILWAY DIRECTORY: In today's fast-moving and increasingly globalised railway industry, information is key to business success. Knowing who is operating in the market, and where to find potential suppliers, customers or competitors is vital. Since 1895, Railway Directory has provided a comprehensive overview of the world's railway sector. Its distillation ...
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NewsFirst locomotive modernisation completed
USA: Motive Power Resources has rolled out the first locomotive to be modernised at its recently-completed heavy overhaul and repair facility in Minooka, Illinois. The EMD SD38 locomotive for Ardent Mills in Easton, Pennsylvania, has been refurbished with new mechanical components and a ZTR Nexus control system. The ...
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NewsDevelopment authority to regulate Indian Railways
INDIA: Creation of the Rail Development Authority of India to act as an independent railway regulator was announced by the government on April 5. The move is part of an ongoing reform of the transport sector, following the scrapping of the separate railway budget. RDA is to be established under ...
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NewsČD announces Pendolino rejuvenation
CZECH REPUBLIC: National passenger operator České Dráhy has awarded its DPOV subsidiary a contract to refurbish the seven seven-car Class 680 Pendolino trainsets used on its flagship inter-city routes from Praha to Ostrava, Cheb, Františkovy Lázně and Košice. The work is scheduled to start this summer and take around a ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Plant has obtained certification for the use of its DTK-417K traction motors in the Eurasian Customs Union countries. Designed for use on TMH Bryansk type 2TE25KM, TEM18DM and 3TE25K2M diesel locomotives, these will replace motors previously imported from Ukraine. The Greenbrier Companies received orders for 700 wagons ...