Passenger rail news – Page 2
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NewsStudy looks at how to increase international capacity at London St Pancras
EUROPE: High speed line concessionaire HS1 Ltd has appointed ‘experience design’ agency Active Thinking to undertake an in-depth study into expanding passenger capacity at London St Pancras International station to cope with increased demand for international travel and the potential arrival of competitors to Eurostar. Eurostar ...
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NewsVIA Rail fleet renewal funding confirmed
CANADA: National passenger operator VIA Rail is to begin the competitive procurement of ‘new, comfortable and accessible trains’ for use across the country following the confirmation of government funding. The latest funding under the 2024 budget follows from that announced in 2018 which enabled the procurement ...
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NewsUS federal funding available for inter-city rail services
USA: The Federal Railroad Administration has issued a notice of funding opportunity, making $153m available from the Restoration & Enhancement grant programme. The grants are intended to assist with covering operating costs for projects to establish new inter-city passenger services, restore withdrawn routes and enhance existing ...
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NewsSJ to replace Vy Tåg as night train operator
SWEDEN: National transport agency Trafikverket has directly awarded state operator SJ a contract to operate Stockholm – Narvik overnight trains for one year from December 15 2024, with an option for a further year. SJ operated the services until December 2020, when the Vy Tåg subsidiary ...
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NewsInvestors take stake in Flix
INTERNATIONAL: Investors EQT Future and Kühne Holding have agreed to acquire a 35% minority stake in Flix, which manages the commercial side of open access train and coach services that are operated by partner companies. In addition to a primary investment, the investors will acquire shares ...
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Rail Business UKRail and tram-train in Manchester’s Bee Network expansion plans
UK: Local rail services around Manchester are to be brought into the region’s expanding Bee Network by 2028 as part of a public transport development strategy unveiled by Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham on July 10.
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NewsJoint border crossing to accelerate Serbia – Montenegro train services
EUROPE: Montenegro and Serbia opened a joint rail border crossing at Bijelo Polje on the Beograd – Bar line on July 8. All border checks will be undertaken at the Montenegrin station where locomotives are changed, eliminating the separate checks at Vrbnica station on the Serbian ...
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NewsLiège – Maastricht – Aachen regional services finally launched
EUROPE: A through regional passenger train service linking Liège in Belgium with Aachen in Germany via Maastricht in the Netherlands was finally launched on June 30. Branded as LIMAX for the cities served, the so-called Three Countries Service was originally expected to start running in 2018. ...
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In depthRomania: New rolling stock to support rail market reforms
Romania’s Railway Reform Authority is procuring new multiple-units to operate regional and inter-regional services under competitively tendered PSO contracts, but this is only part of a wider market opening strategy, ARF President Ștefan Roșeanu explains to Benjámin Zelki.
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NewsGo-Ahead Deutschland renamed Arverio as ÖBB targets growth in southern Germany
GERMANY: The Go-Ahead Deutschland business which Austrian Federal Railways acquired from The Go-Ahead Group in February has been rebranded as Arverio Deutschland, a name derived from the Gallo-Roman ‘god of the roads’ Arvernus. Announcing the new name on July 10, Arverio said ...
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Rail Business UKScottish transport ticketing goes digital
UK: Unicard has migrated paper-based ZoneCard tickets valid on ScotRail, Glasgow Subway and bus services in the west of Scotland to its ITSO-compliant smart ticketing platform. Strathclyde Partnership for Transport awarded the contract with the aim of improving the passenger experience and reducing the complexity of ...
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NewsVR beats Vy to win next Norrtåg operating contract
SWEDEN: The Norrtåg transport authority owned by four regions in the north of Sweden has selected VR Sverige as preferred bidder for the next contract to operate local passenger train services.
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NewsMore coaches to boost capacity on Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway
KENYA: A further 20 coaches which CRRC Nanjing Puzhen is supplying to increase capacity on the 480 km Standard Gauge Railway route from Mombasa to Nairobi were shipped from Shanghai at the end of June. The contract signed in September covers a mix of first, second ...
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NewsSprinter corridor double-tracking project gets grant
USA: The federal Department of Transportation has awarded California’s North County Transit District a $10·2m grant to complete preliminary engineering and environmental clearance for the San Marcos to Escondido eastern segment of the Sprinter Corridor Service Improvement Project. The overall project involves 15 km of double-tracking ...
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NewsGreat British Rail Replacement aims to bring a fresh approach during train service disruption
UK: CMAC Group has launched Great British Rail Replacement to help operators provide a more seamless passenger experience during planned and short notice disruption.
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Metro Report InternationalJapanese local railway pilots facial recognition ticketing
JAPAN: Light rail and bus operator Yamaman Co has added facial recognition to the Jorudan Style Point&Pass ticketing system used on its 4·1 km six-station Yukarigaoka Line and local bus services. Passengers need to register online and provide a passport-style photo and credit card details to ...
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NewsIncumbent awarded next Niedersachsen-Ost operating contract
GERMANY: The Niedersachen, Greater Braunchsweig and Hannover transport authorities have awarded incumbent Metronom the next contract to operate Elektro-Netz Niedersachsen-Ost passenger services. The next ENNO contract will run from December 2025 to December 2038, with the option to extend for a further two years. It covers ...
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NewsComfortJet coaches enter service
CZECH REPUBLIC: National operator ČD has put its first set of ComfortJet inter-city coaches into revenue service. An initial set began operating on the Praha – Bohumín route on June 12, with the Bohumín – Františkovy Lázně route to follow once three sets are ready for ...
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Rail Business UKWest Midlands Trains proposes Manchester to London service
UK: West Midlands Trains has announced plans to extend its existing West Coast Main Line services to create a Manchester – London route.
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NewsWiremind software to help Eurostar optimise revenue
EUROPE: International high speed train operator Eurostar has signed a five-year contract to use Wiremind’s CAYZN software to modernise its revenue management processes, identify new revenue opportunities and increase load factors. It is expected to go live in Q1 2025. Eurostar Chief Commercial Officer François Le ...