Industry Insider Week 26 – 12 Must-Read Rail Stories

All the important rail news of the week, summed up for you in one place: our Railway-News Industry Insider Week 26 for 24–28 June 2019:

San Francisco APM guideway © Jef Poskanzer under licence

Rolling Stock

Coradia Lint for ODEG © Alstom

Alstom to Supply 8 Coradia Lint Diesel Trains to ODEG

Alstom will be delivering eight Coradia Lint regional trains to Ostdeutsche Eisenbahn GmbH (ODEG). The contract is worth around 45 million euros (51 million USD). These diesel multiple units will be the first in the world to feature EU-emission Stage V powerpacks which makes them more eco-friendly than other DMUs. The multiple units will be built in Salzgitter, Lower Saxony, and delivered by the second half of 2022. The DMUs will then enter service on the Elbe-Spree network from December 2022.

Last of 30 B-Series Trains for Transperth Delivered

The Bombardier-EDI Downer joint venture, EDI Rail Bombardier Transportation Pty Ltd, won a contract to supply 30 B-Series electric multiple units to Western Australia’s Public Transport Authority (PTA) back in 2016. The last of the 30 railcars has now been delivered. Celebrations took place in Western Australia at the Nowergup Rail Depot. Attendees included the Minister of Transport, Planning and Lands, Western Australia, Rita Saffioti, and Elwyn Gearon, General Manager and Transperth Train Operations.

A Class 331 Civity EMU for Northern by CAF © Northern

New CAF Trains for Northern to Enter Service on 1 July

Northern invested 500 million GBP (558 million euros | 634 million USD) in 101 new trains which are being manufactured by CAF. The first nine trains of Northern’s new fleet for local services will be entering service today, on 1 July. The trains will operate services between Cumbria and Manchester Airport, Liverpool and Manchester Airport, and Doncaster and Leeds. The remaining 92 trains are expected to start entering service over the coming months into 2020.

Bombardier to Operate and Maintain San Francisco APM

Bombardier has won a ten-year contract from the City and County of San Francisco to operate and maintain the Automated People Mover (APM) at San Francisco International Airport. The Bombardier Innovia APM 100, known as the SFO AirTrain, currently transports passengers between San Francisco and the airport’s five terminals as well as parking facilities. The contract is worth 220 million USD (193 million euros) and includes an option to extend for a further five years. The total AirTrain fleet consists of 38 Innovia APM 100 vehicles and serves nine stations over 10km.

Swiss rail operator BLS has modernised its fleet of NINA trains © BLS

BLS Modernises Its Fleet of Bombardier NINA Trains

All 36 NINA trains operated by Swiss railway company BLS have undergone a thorough modernisation programme. BLS has invested around 30.7 million Swiss francs (27.6 million euros | 31.4 million USD) into the modernisation works over the course of four years. The Bombardier NINA trains with electrical equipment from Alstom are now more energy-efficient. Thanks to the modernisation programme the NINA trains feature carbon dioxide sensors, LCC lighting, insulated windows and more.

China: Testing Successful for CRRC Carbon-Fibre Metro

Chinese rolling stock manufacturer CRRC has announced that its carbon-fibre ‘future metro’ has successfully completed its trial run on a test line. CRRC first unveiled its carbon-fibre metro at InnoTrans 2018 (Berlin | Germany). Compared to traditional metro vehicles, CRRC’s carbon-fibre version uses 15 percent less energy. This is due to the latest silicon carbide inverter and permanent-magnet synchronous motor. CRRC believes the new technologies and materials in its new metro vehicles will be the future of metros worldwide.

Comment

Beyond the Digital Buzzwords

Tommaso Spanevello, Public Affairs Manager at UNIFE, discussed UNIFE’s most recent Vision Paper ‘Digital Trends in the Rail Sector’. The paper was published on 15 April this year and highlighted the importance of digitalisation within the rail sector not only as an objective in itself but as a method to achieve more ambitious and overriding goals. The paper established five interrelated ‘focus areas’ which are big data, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), new mobility services and the digitalisation of freight logistics services.

Science and Technology

Alstom to Equip Harsco Rail Vehicles for SBB with ETCS

Eleven Harsco Rail Europe maintenance vehicles will be having Alstom’s ATLAS 200 Baseline 3 ETCS (European Train Control System) installed. The installations should be completed by the end of 2020. Schweizerische Bundesbahnen (SBB) will then deploy the vehicles on its network in Switzerland. The ETCS system plays a vital role in making the railway in Europe interoperable and safer. It works by forcing the train to adhere to speed restrictions and signalling instructions.

Interview

Bringing a Freight Line Back to Life in Colombia

Colombia has experienced more than its fair share of political struggles. However, it is filled with great opportunities, including for the rail sector. Many railway lines in Colombia have fallen into disuse. Holdtrade Atlantico’s co-founder Leonardo Suarez spoke to Railway-News about his company’s plans to reinstate a freight railway line in the country. During the interview Leonardo discussed the benefits of having a freight railway line and the opportunities for Colombia as a whole.

Etihad Rail Awards Civil and Track Works Contracts

Etihad Rail, the developer and operator of the United Arab Emirate’s national railway, has approved the award agreement for civil and track works for packages B and C of Stage 2 of the UAE national freight and passenger railway network. The civil and track works for packages B and C went to China Railway Construction Corporation Ltd and Ghantoot Transport & General Contracting Company. Packages B and C will connect Khalifa Port, Khalifa Industrial City and Jebel Ali Port.

Infrastructure

Santiago de Chile metro station Cristobal Colon

Systra Wins Important Line 7 Contract for Santiago Metro

Systra has been awarded a contract from Metro SA to design the rail systems, workshops and railway vehicles of the new, fully automated metro line 7 in Santiago, Chile. The government announced its plans to build the new metro line back in 2017. Line 7 will be almost 25km in length with 21 new stations running from Renca (northwest) to Vitacura (northeast). The new line will run parallel to line 1 for some distance to relieve it of roughly 10,000 daily commuters.

Events

Critical Communications World 2019 Continues Tradition of Success

The Critical Communications World (CCW) 2019 which was organised by The Critical Communications Association (TCCA) brought together the worldwide communications community last week. Visitors to CCW 2019 were able to benefit from a variety of opportunities such as masterclasses and high-level conference sessions including presentations from a variety of industry thought leaders. CCW 2019 also offered a number of opportunities for networking, both on and off-site. The show featured more than 70 manufacturers showcasing their latest products.