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$900m in total. Final assembly
A draft 30-year Strategic Transport Plan for northern England was published by Transport for the North (TfN), marking the start of a 13-week consultation on the proposals, which include the first detailed vision for the Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) link between the region’s six largest cities. The plan aims to tackle the economic imbalance between
The European Investment Bank signed a €30m loan agreement with Talgo on December 21 to support the development of high speed and commuter trains, including a prototype EMU for short and medium-length journeys. Stone Canyon Industries company A Stucki has acquired Magnus, which supplies bronze locomotive traction support bearings for the US and international markets. ‘This acquisition and our recent
Bombardier Transportation has signed a contract with Israel Railways (ISR) to supply 54 Twindexx Vario double-deck coaches. The new coaches will be used on ISR’s first electrified line, the A1, which connects Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem. The €104 million deal was signed on December 31 as part of a framework agreement made in October 2010. Consisting of
Constructions y Auxiliary de Ferrocarriles (CAF) has released the first images of its new train production plant in South Wales. The Spanish rolling stock manufacturer revealed in July, 2017, it would construct a £30 million factory to build trams, suburban, inter-city and high-speed trains in the UK as it targets contracts with Transport for London, HS2 as
CHINA: Beijing Suburban Railway Co inaugurated two services on December 31 linking the capital with its outer suburbs. The Sub Central Line links Beijing Xi with the sub-administrative centre of Tongzhou to the east of the city. Services run from Beijing Xi to Beijing main station through the 9·2 km cross-city tunnel which opened in 2015,
TWO years since it began, construction on the new Rand 928m ($US 75.4m) rolling stock manufacturing plant at Dunnottar, South Africa, is entering its final stages, with Alstom and its partners in the Gibela joint venture relocating to new corporate offices at the facility last week as work gets underway on the first train. More
Hitachi has announced that work has begun on TransPennine Express’ new fleet of intercity trains. Production has begun on two test trains, which are being made in Japan and will arrive in the UK in the summer of 2018 for testing ahead of them entering passenger service in December 2019. The bullet train-inspired fleet is
