Traction & rolling stock news – Page 2
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Metro Report InternationalDriverless tram operation demonstrated in depot
FINLAND: The driverless movement of a tram around the Tampere tramway’s depot has been demonstrated, with Škoda Group saying its ’marks a significant step towards full autonomy’. The Škoda ForCity Smart Artic X34 tram was set tasks remotely. It then moved around the depot ...
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NewsDesert train air-conditioning units delivered
UAE: Liebherr Transportation Systems (China) has supplied heating, ventilation & air-conditioning units for three push-pull trainsets which Etihad Rail ordered from CRRC Qingdao Sifang last year. Each trainset will comprise a diesel locomotive, five intermediate passenger cars and a driving trailer coach. They have a design ...
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NewsVectrons ordered for trans-Alpine routes
SWITZERLAND: Südleasing has ordered 20 Siemens Mobility Vectron multi-system electric locomotives which will be leased by SBB Cargo International under a long-term contract with a flexible term. The locos are to be equipped with the XLoad package to increase haulage capacity, and approved for operation in ...
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Metro Report InternationalFirst light rail vehicle delivered to Maryland’s Purple Line
USA: The first of 28 five-section light rail vehicles for the Purple Line in the Maryland suburbs of Washington DC has been delivered from CAF’s factory at Elmira in New York state. Maryland Transit Administration said it is the longest LRV of its kind in the ...
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NewsChina postpones delivery of electric locos to Belarus
BELARUS: Chinese manufacturer CRRC Datong has postponed the delivery of 15 BKG2 single-section AC electric freight locomotives to Belarus Railway, citing the use of western components now subject to EU and US sanctions on Belarus. The BKG2 is derived from the domestic HXD2 locomotive design. This ...
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NewsUkrainian grain wagons made with domestic components
UKRAINE: The Karpaty wagon factory has developed five models of grain hopper wagon using newly-sourced domestically produced components. This will enable wagon production to continue despite the loss of the Azovstal and Azovmash plants in Mariupol as a result of Russia’s full scale invasion. Last year ...
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Metro Report InternationalDriverless tram scheduled to carry first passengers in September
RUSSIA: Moskva’s first driverless tram is to begin carrying passengers in September, the city’s Department of Transport has announced. On July 15 operator Moskva Metro reported that the tram was currently on test without passengers on Route 10, adding that it had already covered 400 km ...
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Metro Report InternationalCarbon fibre metro trainset to enter service
CHINA: CRRC Qingdao Sifang has unveiled its six-car Cetrovo 1.0 Carbon Star Express metro trainset, which features carbon fibre composite bodyshells, bogies and other load-bearing structures. The manufacturer says the material is five times stronger than steel, reducing the overall train weight by 11% and power ...
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NewsElectric train delivery is a complex task
ESTONIA: The delivery of 16 new electric multiple-units from Škoda’s Ostrava factory to Estonian passenger operator Elron’s depot at Pääsküla is being managed by logistics company EWSA, with transport by road from the Czech Republic to Latvia and then by rail with Operail as transport partner ...
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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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Metro Report InternationalPre-series Ruhrbahn high-floor light rail vehicle deliveries begin
GERMANY: Essen and Mülheim an der Ruhr transport operator Ruhrbahn has taken delivery of the first of 51 Type HF1 high-floor light vehicles ordered from CAF. The LRVs are being supplied from the Spanish manufacturer’s Zaragoza factory under a €150m contract signed in June 2021. This ...
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NewsFinnish EMUs to have propane-based HVAC units
HVAC: Liebherr-Transportation Systems has developed its first series-produced heating, ventilation and air-conditioning units to use propane as an alternative to more environmentally harmful refrigerants. The concept was developed in co-operation with TÜV Süd. Stadler Polska has ordered 80 of the saloon HVAC units, 80 heat recovery ...
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Metro Report InternationalBozankaya wins Beograd tram tender
SERBIA: On July 11 Beograd city transport operator GSP named Turkish supplier Bozankaya as the winner of a 7·8bn dinar contract to supply 25 trams. The first is to be delivered in 12 months, and the rest within the following 13 months. GSP has specified five-section, ...
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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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Metro Report InternationalLonger tram is ‘an advertisement for leaving your car at home’
GERMANY: The first of the longest trams ever ordered for Berlin has been unveiled by operator BVG. The nine-section trams will be used to increase capacity on Route M4 from Hackescher Markt to Falkenberg and Zingster Strasse, which carries up to 18 trams/direction/h and around 100 ...
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Metro Report InternationalHamburger Hochbahn signs €2·8bn deal for CBTC and trains offering a ‘completely new experience’
GERMANY: Hamburg city transport operator Hamburger Hochbahn has signed a €2·8bn framework agreement for Alstom to supply up to 374 metro trainsets and communications-based train control equipment. The deal announced on July 10 covers up to 120 DT6-A driverless trainsets for GoA4 unattended automatic operation on ...
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NewsStadler selected for Bulgarian EMU order
BULGARIA: Stadler Polska has been selected for a contract to supply 35 electric multiple-units, Transport minister Georgi Gvozdeykov said at the Green Transition Forum 4.0 in Sofia on June 26. The contract will be worth 642·5m leva, including 15 years of maintenance. The EMUs would be ...
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NewsSchleswig-Holstein establishes train leasing company
GERMANY: The Land of Schleswig-Holstein has established its own train leasing company ZUG.SH, saying this will lower financing costs and widen the pool of potential bidders for train operating contracts. ZUG.SH will finance the €500m purchase of 42 Coradia Max partly double-deck electric multiple-units already on ...
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NewsRail freight associations raise ‘serious concerns’ about digital automatic couplers
EUROPE: ‘Serious concerns’ about the competitive, economic, technical and operational impact of deploying digital automatic couplers have been set out by associations representing private freight operators in central and eastern Europe. They say DAC offers numerous benefits, but ‘hasty and arbitrary solutions could further hamper the ...
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In depthInterview: Full service and multi-system in demand
Polish leasing company Cargounit is seeing growing demand for multi-system electric locomotives and bi-modes with a last mile capability, and CEO Łukasz Boroń tells Benjámin Zelki that customers are increasingly looking for full-service packages.