Transport Scotland’s Bill Reeve cannot think of a more exciting time for the railways of the Highlands. His comment was part of his presentation to the annual HITRANS (Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership) Rail Stakeholder Conference held at Inverness on 29th January. Other speakers illustrated why his comment was justified. ScotRail Alliance managing director, Alex
GERMANY: Proposals to significantly reduce the use of diesel traction in favour of low-emission alternatives have been presented to the Bayern cabinet by Land Transport Minister Joachim Herrmann. The Bayerische Elektromobilitäts-Strategie Schiene (BESS) is intended to support the federal government’s climate 2050 climate targets, and to make rail a more attractive option for passenger and freight transport.
ETHIOPIA: Work is to start later this year on the construction of a railway training academy, Ethiopian Railways Corp announced on January 13. When fully operational, the academy is expected to employ around 250 teachers and administrative staff, training up to 1 00 students at a time in seven different railway-related disciplines. The Chinese-built electrified railway
Network Rail has awarded Siemens Rail Automation a contract to supply, install and support European Train Control System (ETCS) in-cab signalling on the fleet of 745 freight locomotives across Great Britain. This is the first of a series of contracts which will see ETCS – a key component of Network Rail’s Digital Railway programme – installed
The first freight service has been launched on Kenya’s 472km standard gauge railway between the capital of Nairobi and the coastal city of Mombassa. The 52-wagon train carried 104-containers, which is almost the equivalent cargo to that which is transported daily between the two cities by trucks, according to president Uhuru Kenyatta. Departing Mombassa at
KAZAKHSTAN: Contracts for the supply of 300 shunting locomotives and the provision of 18 years of support for 175 TEP33A passenger locomotives were signed by national railway KTZ and GE Transportation during Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s visit to the USA on January 17. The two contracts are worth more than US$900m in total. Final assembly
A draft 30-year Strategic Transport Plan for northern England was published by Transport for the North (TfN), marking the start of a 13-week consultation on the proposals, which include the first detailed vision for the Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) link between the region’s six largest cities. The plan aims to tackle the economic imbalance between
The European Investment Bank signed a €30m loan agreement with Talgo on December 21 to support the development of high speed and commuter trains, including a prototype EMU for short and medium-length journeys. Stone Canyon Industries company A Stucki has acquired Magnus, which supplies bronze locomotive traction support bearings for the US and international markets. ‘This acquisition and our recent
Bombardier Transportation has signed a contract with Israel Railways (ISR) to supply 54 Twindexx Vario double-deck coaches. The new coaches will be used on ISR’s first electrified line, the A1, which connects Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem. The €104 million deal was signed on December 31 as part of a framework agreement made in October 2010. Consisting of
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