All the important rail news of the week, summed up for you in one place: our Railway-News Industry Insider Week 36 for 02–06 September 2019:
Until 8 April, Deutsche Bahn received passenger train and freight operators submissions for their preferred slots for the 2020 timetable on Germany’s rail network. Over 72,000 applications were submitted to the German state rail company. Competition for track slots is increasing. Due to the high volume of submissions, more than 3,000 conflicts arose between operators bidding for the same slots. During the past few weeks 140 Deutsche Bahn employees worked on solving the puzzle.
Read more | Deutsche Bahn Completes 2020 Timetable
Northern will begin operating new electric trains between Blackpool and Liverpool on Monday 9 September. The train operating company says further trains will be launched to serve Blackpool-York and Blackpool-Bolton-Hazel Grove. Northern are replacing their fleet of Pacer trains with 101 new trains over 2019 and 2020. In order to celebrate the launch of the new electric trains, Northern held an event in Blackpool.
Read more | Trains for Blackpool | Northern Continues Fleet Roll-Out
CRRC is developing a permanent magnet direct drive (as opposed to gearbox) electric locomotive. The new electric locomotives have been put through their paces by CRRC employees at the CARS National Railway Track Test Center. Over ten tests have been completed on the locomotives such as, static braking performance etc., which it passed successfully. Permanent magnet direct drive technology is an emerging technology and viewed as the next generation of driving technology.
Read more | CRRC Performs Type Test for Permanent Magnet Direct Drive Electric Locomotive
Alstom will be presenting two of its innovative trains at Expo Ferroviaria 2019. The trains which Alstom wish to feature are the Coradia iLint and the Coradia Stream ‘Pop’. Expo Ferroviaria will take place in Milan on 1–3 October. Alstom also possesses three rail infrastructure solutions for trams, a multimodal supervision signalling solution and its HealthHub system which it will present at the expo. HealthHub is a preventive maintenance tool that can monitor the health status of trains, infrastructure, and signalling equipment.
Read more | Alstom Rolling Stock Solutions at Expo Ferroviaria 2019
Stadler has won the tender to supply up to 50 TRAMLINK trams to Swiss transport operator, Bernmobil. The new trams will operate in the Swiss capital of Bern. The first order for 27 trams has been placed, the contract value for this order is around 125 million Swiss francs (115 million euros | 126.5 million USD). The 27 trams will comprise of 20 bi-directional and 7 uni-directional TRAMLINK vehicles. Bernmobil can request further vehicles in order to extend its services as part of the contract option starting in 2027.
Read more | Stadler Wins Tram Tender for Swiss Capital
The first 49 trains which will operate on Line 14 of the Shanghai Metro have successfully been fitted with Bombardier’s MITRAC propulsion system. The installation works are taking place in CRRC Nanjing Puzhen Ltd’s facility. Following Shanghai Shentong Metro Group Co. Ltd’s original order in 2018, the first driverless metro train to be fitted with the propulsion and control system came off the assembly line on 3 September 2019. Line 14, which is set to open in 2020, will have a total length of 38.5km with 31 stations.
Read more | First Shanghai Metro Train Rolls Off Assembly Line | MITRAC Propulsion
A week after the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the cancellation of the South Eastern franchise process, First / Trenitalia was awarded the West Coast Partnership. Due to its timing, the announcement was met with a lot of surprise within the rail industry. The current South Eastern franchise had been extended by DfT, prior to the cancellation, through the direct award process. DfT was concerned that continuing the competition process would lead to additional costs to taxpayers.
Read more | Uncertainty Following West Coast Partnership Award
Industry Insider Week 34 / 35 – 16 Must-Read Rail News Stories
Industry Insider Week 33 – 9 Must-Read Rail News Stories
Industry Insider Week 32 – 10 Must-Read Rail News Stories
Industry Insider Week 31 – 12 Must-Read Rail News Stories
Please fill in the contact form opposite. A member of the team will be in touch shortly.