All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 732
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NewsResearching attitudes to ticketing
UK: Independent passenger watchdog London TravelWatch has published Passengers’ Ticket Purchasing & Journey Experiences, a study of users’ attitudes towards ticketing on rail, metro, light rail and bus services in London. The research commissioned from Aecom found that while passengers are confident about purchasing tickets for journeys they make regularly, ...
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NewsLocal railway to be electrified
CZECH REPUBLIC: Zeleznice Desná's 22 km independently-owned line from Šumperk to Kouty nad Desnou and Sobotín is to be modernised and electrified at 3 kV DC in 2014-15. The aim is to cut journey times from 35 to 19 min and attract more tourists to holiday and sport resorts. The ...
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NewsEMU designed for rapid acceleration
CHINA: CSR Sifang has rolled out the latest addition to the Cinova family of EMUs. Derived from the 200 km/h CRH6A unveiled in November 2012, the 160 km/h CRH6F is intended for use on routes of up to 100 km or 1 h from city centres where stops every ...
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NewsLake District electrification plan
UK: On August 9 Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin confirmed the government's support for plans to electrify the 16 km single-track branch from Oxenholme station on the West Coast Main Line to Windermere. Subject to a business case confirming that the £16m project offers value for money, infrastructure ...
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NewsGoldschmidt Thermit acquires PortaCo
USA: Welding and maintenance service company Goldschmidt Thermit Group acquired 100% of the shares of hydraulic power unit and railway and construction tool manufacturer PortaCo on August 1. The acquisition of the company based in Moorhead, Minnesota, enables Goldschmidt Thermit 'to complement our product portfolio and strengthen our activities in ...
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NewsRift Valley Railways train control upgrade
AFRICA: Rift Valley Railways has begun a US$9·3m roll-out of automated train warrants and GPS-based train location on its network in Kenya and Uganda, employing technology supplied to rail operators in Brazil, Argentina and South Africa. The Translogic integrated logistics management platform will provide detailed information on train positions and ...
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NewsNumedalsbanen reactivated for logging traffic
NORWAY: Infrastructure manager Jernbaneverket has announced that the 30 km Kongsberg - Flesberg section of the Numedalsbanen route is to be permanently reactivated to meet increased demand for forest product transport. Vegetation clearance, tamping and rehabilitation of the 27 m steel Lyngdalselva bridge is scheduled to be finished for ...
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NewsMaryland Purple Line to be a PPP project
USA: Maryland’s first public-private partnership in the public transport sector will be the Purple Line light rail route, Governor of Maryland Martin O’Malley announced on August 5. The 25·7 km east–west Purple Line would link New Carrollton in Prince George’s County and Bethesda in Montgomery County, with 19 intermediate ...
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NewsSouth West Trains plans suburban train order
UK: Franchised passenger operator South West Trains has invited expressions of interest in separate negotiated contracts to finance and supply between 135 and 250 electric multiple-unit cars to increase capacity on suburban services into London Waterloo. The operator is seeking EMUs of three to five 20 m cars, suitable for ...
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NewsEcoTram starts test running in Wien
AUSTRIA: A Siemens Ultra Low Floor tram equipped with technology to reduce energy consumption has begun test running in passenger service in Wien. The ULF tram will operate on Route 62 until May 2014. As part of the EcoTram project, the tram has been equipped with intelligent control units ...
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NewsSNCF awards onboard catering contract
FRANCE: SNCF has awarded a joint venture of Newrest (65%) and Elior (35%) a contract to provide catering services on long-distance passenger trains from November 2013. The contract announced on August 6 covers domestic TGV services, Intercité trains on the conventional network and international services on LGV Est operated ...
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NewsMontreal, Maine & Atlantic files for bankruptcy protection
CANADA: Following the devastating derailment and explosion at Lac-Mégantic in Québec on July 6, Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Canada Co announced on August 7 that it had sought relief under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act in the Superior Court of Québec. Simultaneously, US-based sister company Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway ...
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NewsThales to support signalling skills in Malaysia
MALAYSIA: Thales and the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology has signed a memorandum of understanding setting out plans to promote the development of rail industry skills. The memorandum signed on July 29 is intended as the first in a series of initiatives planned under the National Rail Industry ...
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NewsFerronor takes delivery of EMD locomotives
CHILE: Electro-Motive Diesel has delivered six GT46AC freight locomotives to metre-gauge operator Ferronor. The 4 500 bhp locomotives built in the USA at EMD's plant in Muncie, Indiana, have 16-cylinder 710G3C engines with electronic unit injection, a split radiator system and variable-speed cooling fans and traction motor blowers that optimise ...
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NewsHohenzollerische Landesbahn retains operating contract
GERMANY: Following a competitive tender, on August 1 the Land of Baden-Württemberg announced it had selected incumbent Hohenzollerische Landesbahn for a contract to operate Zollernbahn local services between Tübingen and Sigmaringen. The recently-modernised Regio-Shuttle RS1 diesel railcars are to be retained to operate the route, but the new contract requires ...
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NewsRecruiting a cast of thousands
CHINA: MTR Corp held a two-day Career Expo on June 29-30 with the hope of recruiting up to 2400 staff for a range of construction and civil engineering posts working on five ongoing and 10 planned rail projects across Hong Kong. Opportunities were offered in various disciplines including 40 frontline ...
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NewsFinal section of Stockholm Citybanan tunnel sunk into place
SWEDEN: The third and final section of the Söderström immersed tunnel was lowered into place in central Stockholm on August 6. The tunnel connecting the islands Riddarholmen and Södermalm forms part of the SKr16·8bn Citybanan, a 6 km deep-level line being built to carry suburban rail services beneath central Stockholm. ...
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NewsFirst test train through the Marmaray tunnel
TURKEY: A ceremonial first test train ran through the Marmaray tunnel between Kazliçesme on the European side of Istanbul and Ayrılıkçesme on the Asian side on August 4, with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the controls. 'This project is not the project of the century, but it is the ...
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NewsSiemens awarded Gurgaon metro extension contract
INDIA: IL&FS Rail has awarded Siemens a €70m turnkey contract to supply electrification, signalling and rolling stock for the 6·5 km Gurgaon metro Phase II extension. The six-station extension to the standard-gauge line is due to open in late 2015 or 2016. It will have a capacity of 30 ...
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NewsDB launches mentoring programme
GERMANY: Following a trial underway since 2011, Deutsche Bahn has launched a mentoring programme for younger female staff in technical roles across the infrastructure and technical divisions of the business. The programme is intended to demonstrate to young women in engineering roles that a future at leadership level is open ...