Industry Insider Week 27 – 9 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 27 for 01–05 July 2019:

Siemens Mobility Avenio tram for Munich
Siemens Mobility Avenio tram for Munich © www.siemens.com/press

Infrastructure

DART Downtown Rowlett station on Blue Line
DART station on the Blue Line © Michael Barera under licence

Dallas Light Rail Gets 60 Million Grant from FTA for Platform Extensions

The US Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has awarded Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) 60.76 million USD (53.67 million euros). The money will go towards lengthening the platforms of the Red and Blue Lines. The total cost of the extension works at the stations in question is 128.74 million USD (113.71 million euros). The extension works will allow DART to run three-car trains on both lines and therefore increase capacity.

Read more | Dallas Light Rail Gets 60 Million Grant from FTA for Platform Extensions

BART Begins Traction Power Substation Upgrade Works

San Leandro station is the first on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) network in California to get its traction power substation replaced. Following a public vote in November 2016 in which 70.5 percent voted in favoured of Measure RR – a bond issue – BART has 3.5 billion USD that it is now investing in infrastructure upgrades across the network. BART has announced that the new substations should be operational by November this year. In addition to replacing existing traction power substations, BART will also install two new ones in downtown San Francisco.

Read more | BART Begins Traction Power Substation Upgrade Works

Sydney Metro City & Southwest Design Contract Awarded

The Arcadis Australia Pacific Pty Ltd-Mott Macdonald Australia Pty Ltd joint venture, Metron T2M, has won a contract worth 26 million AUD (16 million euros | 18 million USD) for design services for the Sydney Metro City & Southwest project. The design services will include works on the stations as well as the corridor between Marrickville and Punchbowl. This rail corridor features design challenges such as curved platforms, which will need to be straightened to allow Alstom’s automated, driverless metro trains to operate.

Read more | Sydney Metro City & Southwest Design Contract Awarded

Switzerland Invests 1 Billion in Its Railway Infrastructure

The Swiss Federal Council has granted further implementation agreements with SBB and BLS worth around 1 billion Swiss francs (900 million euros | 1.01 billion USD). The contracts are part of the Future Development of the Railway Infrastructure (ZEB) programme. These funds will pay for a number of railway infrastructure projects such as improving and modernising Lausanne Station and railway infrastructure on the Lausanne-Biel-Olten route, the Basel-Olten-Lucerne route and the Winterthur-Sankt-Gallen route.

Read more | Switzerland Invests 1 Billion in Its Railway Infrastructure

Austria: OEBB rockfall and avalanche protection
Austria: rockfall and avalanche protection © OEBB

OEBB Increases Rockfall and Avalanche Protections

Austrian Federal Railways OEBB is installing a structure 150m long and up to 5m high at the Lueg Pass to increase rockfall and avalanche railway infrastructure protections. It is also repairing existing facilities over a stretch of 500m that became damaged last winter. The new structure will extend over existing protecting measures in order to support and reinforce them. The new nets which can handle around two tons dropping vertically from a height of 100m will ensure greater protection from avalanches. OEBB says it will complete these works by the end of July.

Read more | OEBB Increases Rockfall and Avalanche Protections

Rolling Stock

Stadler to Supply 55 FLIRT Akku Trains to NAH.SH

On 21 June it was announced that Stadler had won the contract to supply 55 FLIRT Akku trains to Nahverkehrsverbund Schleswig-Holstein GmbH (NAH.SH) pending a ten-day appeal period. This period is now over and Stadler remains the winning bidder. The contract is worth around 600 million euros (677 million USD) and contains an option for a further 50 vehicles. This will be the first major rolling stock order that involves Stadler’s news battery technology which was unveiled at InnoTrans 2018.

Read more | Stadler to Supply 55 FLIRT Akku Trains to NAH.SH

Vivarail battery train at Rail Live 2019
Vivarail’s Class 320 battery train at Rail Live 2019 © Railway-News

Vivarail Battery Train Wins Environment Award

Vivarail has won the Rail Industry Innovation Environment Award for its converted Class 320 battery train and its fast-charge system. The Vivarail Class 230 only takes 10 minutes to charge and can run for 60 miles before it needs recharging. Vivarail reused existing body shells and bogies, therefore reducing both waste and saving energy from the start. Vivarail now wants to focus on getting its pure battery train into service in order to contribute to decarbonising the railways in the UK.

Read more | Vivarail Battery Train Wins Environment Award

Hamburg Buys Additional 32 DT5 Metro Trains

The Alstom-Bombardier partnership has been selected by Hamburger Hochbahn AG to supply an additional 32 DT5 metro trains to the city. This contract is worth 186 million euros (210 million USD). The DT5 metro trains will be manufactured at Alstom’s Salzgitter site in Lower Saxony. The metro trains will then enter service starting in January 2021. Alstom will be responsible for the mechanical parts whilst Bombardier will be responsible for the electrical equipment.

Read more | Hamburg Buys Additional 32 DT5 Metro Trains

Siemens Mobility Avenio tram for Munich
Siemens Mobility Avenio tram for Munich © www.siemens.com/press

Munich Orders 73 Additional Avenio Trams from Siemens

Stadtwerke München (SWM) has ordered a further 73 Avenio trams from Siemens Mobility as part of an option from a previous framework agreement. This contract is worth 200 million euros (225 million USD). SWM made their first order of Avenio trams from Siemens in 2012 for eight units. The additional low-floor four-car units will add to the existing Avenio fleet that are already operating in Munich. Siemens Mobility will deliver the trams by 2021.

Read more | Munich Orders 73 Additional Avenio Trams from Siemens

Previous Industry Insiders for you:

Industry Insider Week 26 – 12 Must-Read Rail News Stories
Industry Insider Week 25 – 9 Must-Read Rail News Stories
Industry Insider Week 24 – 7 Must-Read Rail News Stories
Industry Insider Week 23 – 13 Must-Read Rail News Stories

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