All Switzerland articles – Page 16
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NewsTracklaying completed in Gotthard base tunnel
SWITZERLAND: The completion of tracklaying in the 57 km Gotthard base tunnel was marked with a ceremony at 12.00 on October 31, when the concrete was poured for a ‘Golden Sleeper’, 54 m from the southern portal at Bodio. Noting that it is now possible for diesel-hauled trains to run ...
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NewsFirst MTR Express inter-city Flirt on test
SWEDEN: Ahead of the launch of MTR Express Stockholm – Göteborg open access services in March 2015, guests including Railway Gazette joined MTR Nordic and Stadler staff on a test run of the operator’s first Flirt Intercity EMU in Switzerland on October 17. MTR Express is part of the Nordic ...
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NewsZentralbahn orders more Fink EMUs
SWITZERLAND: Zentralbahn signed a SFr53m contract on September 22 for Stadler Rail to supply five more Fink metre-gauge electric multiple-units. Under the deal signed by ZB Managing Director Renato Fasciati and Stadler Rail Group CEO Peter Spuhler, the three-car rack EMUs are to be delivered in late 2016. They ...
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NewsNexans signs SBB cable framework
SWITZERLAND: Nexans announced on September 24 that it had signed a five-year framework agreement with SBB for the supply of signalling and balise power supply cable. The agreement is worth €35m in total. From next month, Nexans is to provide over 7 000 km of cable for infrastructure upgrade projects ...
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NewsCeneri base tunnel dispute resolved
SWITZERLAND: The Federal Supreme Court has upheld two appeals by the preferred bidders against the Federal Administrative Court’s decision to block the award of two contracts for fitting out the 15·4 km Ceneri base tunnel. The losing bidders for the contracts had appealed to the Federal Administrative Court, which ruled ...
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NewsWagon leasing company calls for subsidy rethink
EUROPE: State subsidies for the installation of low-noise wagon brakes need to be rethought to increase uptake, according to Mark Stevenson, Chief Executive of wagon leasing company AAE. Replacing cast iron brake blocks with low-noise LL blocks cuts noise by around a half, according to Stevenson, and quieter trains ...
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NewsCeneri base tunnel delay warning
SWITZERLAND: Opening of the 15·4 km Ceneri base tunnel could be delayed by two years to December 2021 as result of tendering disputes, AlpTransit Gotthard warned a supervisory committee of the Swiss parliament on August 28. The project promoter said that the effects that any such delay would have ...
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NewsSBB overspend funded
SWITZERLAND: SBB announced on June 30 that it had reached agreement with the Federal Office for Transport over the financing of projected overspends in its infrastructure maintenance budget during the five-year plan period 2013-17. Faced with increasing traffic volumes, SBB spent SF129m more than anticipated in 2013, and the ...
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NewsSBB orders Stadler EMUs
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways announced two firm orders for Stadler Rail to supply additional electric multiple-units on June 9. A SFr397m order covers 19 six-car double-deck EMUs to be delivered from late 2018. These will enable service frequencies to be increase on the Zürich S-Bahn network. The second order ...
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NewsHarsco to supply catenary maintenance vehicles to SBB
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has awarded Harsco a contract to supply 59 catenary construction, maintenance and repair vehicles between March 2016 and September 2017. These will replace existing vehicles and expand the fleet, enabling maintenance and repairs to be undertaken more quickly to minimise disruption on the network. ...
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NewsSwiss tests confirm Baseline 3 backwards compatibility
SWITZERLAND: Siemens Rail Automation announced on May 22 that a joint testing programme organised with Swiss Federal Railways and BLS AG has successfully demonstrated the functionality and backwards-compatibility of its ETCS Baseline 3 onboard software, ready for the introduction of the revised Control Command & Signalling TSI later this year. ...
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NewsStadler wins Gotthard base tunnel high speed train contract
SWITZERLAND: Stadler Rail has beaten rival bidders Alstom and Talgo to win a SFr980m contract to supply 29 articulated high speed trains for international services through the Gotthard base tunnel. Announcing the order on May 9, Swiss Federal Railways said that Stadler Rail was the clear winner with a ...
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NewsStadler overhauls TEE trainset
SWITZERLAND: Stadler Rail has replaced the wheel-slip protection and anti-slide devices and restored the multi-system capability of SBB Historic’s preserved RAe TEE II 1035 six-car electric multiple-unit, enabling it to once again operate under 1·5 kV DC, 3 kV DC, 15 kV AC and 25 kV AC electrification. Five RAe ...
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NewsSBB orders 485 wagons
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways announced a SFr50m contract for Slovakian company ŽOS Trnava to supply 485 wagons to replace its infrastructure maintenance fleet on March 31. The order covers: 70 twin-axle hopper wagons; 140 bogie hopper wagons; 50 tipping wagons with high sides; 25 tipping wagons with low sides; ...
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NewsRecord ridership in a 'challenging year' for SBB
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways found 2013 'a challenging year', but carried more than a million passengers/day for the first time while its freight business recorded positive net income for the first time in more than 40 years. SBB's consolidated net income fell from SFr422·5 in 2012 to SFr238·2m in 2013, ...
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NewsSimplon tunnel safety contract signed
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has awarded a contract to Rhomberg Bahntechnik to install, test and commission safety equipment in the two single-track bores of the 20 km Simplon tunnel between Brig and Iselle in Italy. The SFr7·1m contract covers the installation of illuminated handrails, alarm equipment, emergency signage and lighting ...
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NewsSwiss voters back long-term rail funding plan
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has welcomed the result of a referendum on February 9 which saw voters approve a long-term strategy to finance and upgrade rail infrastructure. SBB said the Finanzierung und Ausbau der Bahninfrastruktur strategy which was supported 62:38 on a 55% turnout would provide a solid foundation ...
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NewsSwitzerland to fund Italian gauge enhancement
EUROPE: An agreement for Switzerland to fund gauge enhancement works to provide clearance for 4 m high semitrailer traffic from freight terminals in northern Italy to the Swiss border was signed by the two countries' transport ministers on January 28. Switzerland is aiming to encourage road freight to switch to ...
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NewsTango light rail vehicles ordered for St Gallen
SWITZERLAND: Appenzeller Bahnen has awarded Stadler Rail a SFr60m contract to supply seven Tango light rail vehicles as part of the St Gallen Durchmesserlinie project. Announcing the order on January 23, Stadler said the six-section 50 m long and 2 400 mm wide metre-gauge LRVs would be similar to Tango ...
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NewsBase tunnel tests start the countdown to opening
SWITZERLAND: Transport Minister Doris Leuthard launched the first official test train through a completed section of the Gotthard Base Tunnel on December 16. Accompanied by Swiss Federal Railways CEO Andreas Meyer and AlpTransit Chairman Renzo Simoni, Leuthard took the opportunity to announce that the Base Tunnel would be inaugurated during ...