All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 655
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NewsHigh-capacity wagons for Volkswagen's inbound logistics
EUROPE: Following successful trials with two prototypes, this month leasing company Touax Rail is to supply Volkswagen with the first series-built vehicles from an order for 300 high-capacity sliding-wall wagons. Volkswagen Logistics awarded Touax a contract in October 2013 for the development and lease of 300 twin-axle wagons, which were ...
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NewsZSSK seeks locomotives and coaches
SLOVAKIA: National passenger operator ZSSK has called separate tenders for the supply of multi-voltage electric locomotives and coaches. Six four-axle 6·0 MW electric locomotives with a maximum speed of 200 km/h are required to replace ageing Škoda Class 350 locomotives on EC and IC services on the Praha – ...
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NewsAtlanta Streetcar starts test running
USA: The first light rail vehicle for the Atlanta Streetcar line began test running under its own power on October 1. Siemens has supplied four cars from its S70 Avanto LRV family under a $17·2m contract awarded in 2011. These are powered from overhead wires at 750 V DC. ...
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NewsChicago commuter modernisation plan
USA: Chicago commuter rail operator Metra has proposed a 10-year, $2·4bn modernisation plan, which it says is the ‘first long-term rolling stock plan in Metra history’. Of the current fleet of 837 coaches, 40% date from before the 1990s. The plan would see the purchase of 367 new cars ...
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NewsWien Hauptbahnhof officially inaugurated
AUSTRIA: Wien Hauptbahnhof was formally inaugurated by President Heinz Fischer when he launched two days of celebrations at the capital's new main station at 10.00 on October 10. The through station integrates north–south and east–west routes including three TEN corridors by replacing the former Südbahnhof and Ostbahnhof termini which ...
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NewsHitachi to build ScotRail EMUs
UK: Hitachi Rail Europe confirmed on October 9 that it has been selected as preferred bidder to supply and maintain a fleet of electric multiple-units for the next ScotRail franchise, which had been awarded to Abellio by Transport Scotland the previous day. Subject to the successful conclusion of negotiations, Hitachi ...
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NewsWorld rail market October 2014
Belgium: Danobat is to supply an underfloor wheel lathe for De Lijn’s Oostende tram depot. Germany: Nomad Digital is to supply wi-fi equipment for 20 Alstom Coradia EMUs ordered for use on Elektro-Netz Niedersachsen-Ost services. Poland: BillBird is rolling out electric invoicing for PKP Cargo. PR has ...
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NewsJernbaneverket budget increased to NKr17·7bn
NORWAY: Acting Director General of Jernbaneverket, Gunnar Løvås, said on October 8 that he was ‘very pleased’ with the government’s budget which allocates a record NKr17·7bn to the infrastructure manager in 2015, an increase of NKr1·5bn on this year. Nearly NKr11·3bn is for capital investment and NKr6·5bn for operations ...
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NewsNew Tube for London initial designs unveiled
UK: Design proposals for the New Tube For London project to modernise London Underground’s small-profile Piccadilly, Bakerloo, Central and Waterloo & City lines were revealed on October 9. Transport for London has shortlisted Alstom, Bombardier, CAF, Hitachi and Siemens for the contract to supply around 250 trainsets. It plans ...
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NewsDB to close Eberswalde and Zwickau maintenance facilities
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn announced plans to close the DB Fahrzeuginstandhaltung rolling stock maintenance subsidiary’s Eberswalde and Zwickau sites on October 8. DB said there has been a significant reduction in wagon maintenance activities, as a result of fluctuations in the cyclical market and operators optimising their fleet planning to ...
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NewsRDC bids to upgrade the Sylt shuttle
GERMANY: Open access operator RDC Deutschland has submitted proposals to DB Netz for upgrading of the car-carrier shuttle service between Niebüll and Westerland on the island of Sylt. In return for higher access fees that would pay for upgrading of terminals and other infrastructure improvements, RDC Deutschland, the German ...
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NewsBombardier wins its first Ethiopian signalling contract
ETHIOPIA: Bombardier Transportation has been awarded a €36m contract to supply its Interflo 250 signalling for the 394 km line which is under construction to link Weldiya in the north of the country with Awash on the main Addis Abeba – Djibouti corridor. The contract announced on October 8 has ...
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NewsAbellio awarded ScotRail franchise
UK: The Abellio subsidiary of Dutch national passenger operator NS has been awarded the next ScotRail franchise, the Scottish Government announced on October 8. Abellio is to take over from current franchisee FirstGroup on April 1 2015. The franchise covers almost all internal passenger services within Scotland, and will run ...
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NewsRailway research stepped up
NORTH KOREA: Investment in research to develop local skills in locomotive production, track components and IT systems has been stepped up in North Korea, reports the State Academy of Sciences. SAS’s Branch Academy of Railway Science subsidiary has achieved ‘many successes’ in developing IT-based processes for rail transport, and it ...
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NewsDB and Schleswig-Holstein plan new line to reach Fehmarn Belt tunnel
GERMANY: Under a letter of intent signed by Schleswig-Holstein’s Minster for Transport, Economy, Labour & Technology, Reinhard Meyer, and DB Netz CEO Frank Sennhenn a double-track electrified line on a new alignment would be built between Lübeck and Puttgarden to serve the Fehmarn Belt tunnel, due to open in 2021. ...
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NewsEuropean Commission seeks associated members to join Shift2Rail
EUROPE: The European Commission has invited organisations to express interest in becoming associated members of the Shift2Rail initiative, which is to invest almost €920m in railway research and innovation in 2014-20. Applications are to be submitted by November 12, with the associated members to be selected in early 2015. The ...
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NewsFirst Rio Line 4 metro train rolls out
BRAZIL: The first trainset for Rio metro Line 4 rolled off the production line at the CNR Changchun Railway Vehicles factory in China on September 29. The Type A trainset is due to arrive in Rio in December. The six-car trainset has capacity for 2 240 passengers. The stainless ...
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NewsFirst trams arrive in Zhuhai
CHINA: The first two trams for Zhuhai Line 1 have arrived in the Chinese city from AnsaldoBreda’s Pistoia factory in Italy. The remaining eight trams will be assembled at CNR Dalian’s factory under a 10-year licensing agreement signed between the two firms in 2012. The five-section Sirio vehicles will ...
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NewsUrban rail news in brief - October 2014
Incumbent Üstra has been directly awarded a 22½ year contract to operate the Hannover light rail network from September 25 2015. India’s Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu has reduced the minimum population a city must have before the government supports the construction of a metro from 2 million to ...
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NewsKoleje Mazowieckie orders Newag EMUs to increase capacity
POLAND: Voivodship-owned operator Koleje Mazowieckie has selected Newag to supply 12 Impuls electric multiple-units between January and November 2015. European Union POIiŚ funding will cover 59% of the 257·3m złoty cost of the order. The five-car Impuls units will be 90·4 m long, enabling them to be operated in pairs ...