All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 493
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NewsEuropean Commission to consider free Interrail passes for 18-year olds
EUROPE: Responding to a suggestion from German MEP Manfred Weber that the European Union should fund free Interrail tickets for Europeans reaching the age of 18, on October 4 Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc said the Commission ‘admires the boldness and the level of ambition’ of the proposal, and would ‘carefully ...
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NewsEthiopia – Djibouti railway inaugurated
AFRICA: Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and President of Djibouti Ismail Omar Guelleh officially inaugurated the 756 km Chinese-built railway linking their countries with a ceremony in Addis Ababa on October 5. ‘It is the first standard gauge electrified railroad on the continent built with Chinese standards and ...
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NewsBerlin S-Bahn mock-up presented
GERMANY: Stadler Pankow and Siemens have presented a full-sized mock-up of the vehicle design they will supply for the Berlin S-Bahn. Built in the Babelsberg Film Studio in Berlin, the wooden-bodied model will undergo four weeks of customer experience testing with around 400 ‘representative passengers’ and members of official associations. ...
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NewsPension funds back Abellio East Anglia order for Stadler trainsets
UK: Contracts worth more than £600m for Stadler to supply 378 multiple-unit cars for the next East Anglia franchise were signed by Abellio UK and leasing company Rock Rail on October 4. In conjunction with a £900m order for 665 Bombardier EMU cars which was signed with Angel Trains on ...
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NewsKanat Alpysbayev
Kanat Alpysbayev has become President of Kazakh national railway KTZ following the appointment of his predecessor, Askar Mamin, as First Deputy Prime Minister. Alpysbayev was formerly Vice-President of Operations.
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NewsDB Regio awarded Breisgau-Ost-West operating contract
GERMANY: The Land of Baden-Württemberg has formally awarded lowest bidder DB Regio the Netz 9a contract to operate Breisgau-Ost-West regional passenger services totalling 2·9 million train-km/year on routes from Freiburg: Freiburg – Gottenheim – Endingen/ Breisach;Freiburg – Titisee – Neustadt – Donaueschingen – Villingen;Freiburg – Titisee – Seebrugg. The ...
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NewsSiemens and MAPNA sign Iranian locomotive contract
IRAN: Siemens has signed a contract to support the modernisation of the rail network and supply local industrial group MAPNA with components for the assembly of 50 Safir diesel-electric locomotives at its factory in Karaj. The contract was signed on October 3 during an official visit to Iran by Germany’s ...
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NewsCross-border tram delivered to Strasbourg
FRANCE: Compagnie des Transports Strasbourgeois has taken delivery of the first of 12 Alstom Citadis trams ordered in 2014. The €41m order forms part of a framework contract for up to 50 trams. The first of these are due to enter commercial service in April, with all 12 due ...
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NewsEuropean Commission approves Wabtec acquisition of Faiveley
EUROPE: The European Commission announced regulatory approval for Wabtec’s proposed acquisition of Faiveley Transport on October 4, subject to a commitment to divest the Faiveley Transport Gennevilliers sintered brake business which has annual sales of €12m. The proposed US$1·8bn acquisition was announced on July 27 2015. The European Commission was ...
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NewsFrench government and Alstom agree Belfort rescue package
FRANCE: A short-term order for TGV trainsets and shunting locomotives and a longer-term diversification programme are at the heart of a rescue plan to preserve rail vehicle manufacturing and related industrial activity in Belfort, which was unveiled by the French Secretary of State for Industry Christophe Sirugue and Alstom President ...
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NewsNew Orleans tram network expands
USA: New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu was among those who attended the opening ceremony for the latest extension of the city’s tram network on October 3. Passenger services on the 2·6 km line linking North Rampart Street with Elysian Fields Avenue began the previous day. There are six stops ...
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NewsLondon Underground seeks better track design to support Night Tube
UK: To support the roll-out of further Night Tube all-night services on the London Underground, Transport for London is seeking to engage with suppliers who could help to develop low-maintenance track. In particular, TfL is looking for an improved fastening for bullhead rail which would offer a maintenance interval of ...
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NewsFirst EIB loan for Moldovan Railways
MOLDOVA: The European Investment Bank signed its first loan for the Moldovan railway sector on September 26, providing €50m towards a programme which includes infrastructure rehabilitation and the acquisition of 11 mixed traffic Stage IIIB compliant diesel locomotives to replace outdated locomotives. The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development is ...
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NewsSky Train on test in Chengdu
CHINA: CRRC Nanjing Puzhen’s Sky Train suspension monorail began running on a 300 m test track in Chengdu on September 30. Developed in conjunction with Chengdu’s Southwest Jiaotong University, the suspension monorail has been designed for use in smaller cities and scenic places. Chief designer Zhai Wanming estimates that ...
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NewsRedcliffe Peninsula Line opens in Brisbane
AUSTRALIA: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Moreton Bay Regional Council Mayor Allan Sutherland attended the opening ceremony for the Redcliffe Peninsula Line in Brisbane on October 3. Regular services started the following day. Known until September as the Moreton Bay Rail Link, the 12·6 km ...
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NewsSt Petersburg urban rail factory opens
RUSSIA: Transmashholding’s Oktyabrsky Electric Railway Car Repair Plant has officially opened a tram and metro train manufacturing facility at its site in St Petersburg. The 15 000 m2 factory has been built on land made available by restructuring existing production processes at the plant, and is designed to offer the ...
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NewsAmsted and GE to integrate train monitoring systems
TECHNOLOGY: Amsted Rail and GE Transportation have announced a partnership to integrate GE’s GoLINC train management and locomotive monitoring platform with Amsted Rail’s IONX Edge wagon component monitoring technology. Near real-time alerts with actionable information will deliver ‘a much more complete and more accurate understanding of what’s happening during train ...
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NewsTranstech to supply Tampere trams
FINLAND: Tampere city council has selected Škoda Transportation subsidiary Transtech to supply trams for the city’s future network. CAF, Pesa and Stadler Rail Valencia had also bid. Contract signing will take place with final project approval, which is expected on October 24. Depending on the final design of the ...
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NewsSan Diego light rail extension contract awarded
USA: San Diego Association of Governments has awarded the Mid-Coast Transit Contractors joint venture led by Stacy & Witbeck and including Herzog and Skanska a $921·8m contract to build the Mid-Coast Trolley light rail extension. The 17·6 km extension of the Blue Line would run from Old Town to ...
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NewsSix bids for Israel Railways EMU contract
ISRAEL: Best and final offers for a contract to supply 330 double-deck electric multiple-unit cars to Israel Railways were submitted by six bidders by the September 28 deadline. The bidders are Alstom, Bombardier Transportation, Hitachi Rail Italy, Siemens, Škoda Transportation and Stadler. The planned order will cover a total ...