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NEWS
40 additional Euroduplex train sets for SNCF
Patrick Kron, chairman and CEO of Alstom, has declared his great satisfaction at the SNCF’s signing of the contract option for 40 additional double-deck Euroduplex very high-speed trains.
The 40 trains are in addition to the firm tranche of 55 Euroduplex train sets currently under construction, the first of which entered commercial service on 11 December 2011 on the new Rhine-Rhòne high speed line with the last units being delivered mid-2015.
The additional train sets will be delivered from 2015. Their manufacture will contribute to the workload of Alstom Transport’s La Rochelle site which builds the passenger cars as well as the workload of other sites in France: Belfort (locomotives), Reichshoffen (end cars), Le Creusot (bogies), Ornans (traction systems), Le Petit Quevilly (locomotive transformers), Tarbes (electrical units and traction equipment) and Villeurbanne (electronic control systems). Visit: www.alstom.com
Bombardier wins order to supply trains for northern Germany
Bombardier Transportation will deliver 16 BOMBARDIER TWINDEXX Vario multiple units to Deutsche Bahn AG for operation on the KielHamburg and Flensburg-Hamburg railway lines. The order is valued at approximately €160 million and is part of a framework agreement between Bombardier and DB AG from December 2008. DB AG has already ordered 135 of the variable double-deck coaches for intercity transport as well as 18 intermediate coaches and three doubledeck power cars for regional services.
“Bombardier’s innovative TWINDEXX Vario trains have proven themselves over many years of service,” said Michael Clausecker, chairman of the management board, Bombardier Transportation Germany. “With this order, we will be supplying Deutsche Bahn with the 2000th of these modern double-deck coaches. Their variability in length, configuration and interior design is one of the key reasons for our trains’ great success.” Visit: www.bombardier.com
HS1 LTD and Network Rail agree new deal
HS1 Ltd, the owners of the UK’s first and only high-speed railway, and Network Rail have signed a new deal, extending Network Rail’s contract to operate and maintain High-Speed 1 until at least 2025.
Nicola Shaw, chief executive, HS1 Ltd, said: “We conducted an extensive market review and knew that we had alternatives. However the quality of delivery from Network Rail (CTRL) has been good over the last few years and this deal offered real benefits to us and to our customers. We’ve now got a decade of certainty on which to work together to improve the line even further and to welcome more growth.” Visit: www.networkrail.com
Arriva Danmark extend rail contract in Jutland
Arriva Danmark has extended its contract to operate the Vestbanen train operation in western Jutland. To help attract new passengers from outlying areas the Region of Southern Denmark has invested DKK 47 million (€6.3m) on upgrading the railway line and DKK 58 million (€7.8m) on two new Lint 41 trains which will be painted in Arriva livery.
As part of the contract Arriva Danmark is responsible for maintaining the tracks, signals, platforms and station buildings and traffic management.
Arriva Danmark managing director Thomas Øster said: “It is a very forward-looking agreement. For the first time we can explore using our Vestbanen train fleet more effectively to complement our existing rail services in central and western Jutland.” Visit: www.arriva.co.uk
Vossloh’s order backlog at all-time high
BY the close of fiscal 2011, demand for the Vossloh Group’s products and services was higher than ever. In an operationally difficult year the group reached a record order backlog of around €1.5 billion. Especially buoyant was demand for locomotives and the new light rail vehicles. Werner Andree, Vossloh AG’s CEO, says, “2011 has been a challenging year yet 2012 will see Vossloh back on the growth track. This and next year sales and earnings are set to resurge. With our tall order backlog we have laid the groundwork.”
In 2011 and after years of above-average growth, the Vossloh Group suffered setbacks in sales and EBIT. This was mainly due to project delays in China, a suspension of shipments to Libya, and weak demand from several European markets. Year-on-year sales fell 11.4 per cent to €1197.2 million, the decline at the Rail Infrastructure division being somewhat steeper than at the Transportation. Visit: www.vossloh.com
NEWS
New developments in the Rail industry
Siemens train delivered to Russia
Siemens has delivered the first of 38 Desiro RUS regional multiple-unit trains to Russia. The passenger service of the first Desiro RUS trains will start in Kazan and Sochi in 2013. During the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi in February 2014 the trains will transport the athletes and spectators to the various sporting venues in the mountain area quickly and safely. Production of the Desiro RUS in the Siemens factory in Krefeld, Germany, started in April 2011. Nine months later, at the end of January 2012, Siemens and RZD signed the release for the shipment of the first train.
“With the embarkation of the first Desiro RUS we have passed another major milestone for this contract,” commented Hans-Jörg Grundmann, CEO of the Siemens Rail Systems Division. “By 2013 we will deliver another 37 complete trains of this type. From 2013 we will manufacture another 16 vehicles on the basis of increasing localisation e.g. in Yekaterinburg, where we are currently investing around €200 million in the construction of a factory.” Visit: www.siemens.com
First major step for Euro Carex
Euro Carex has achieved a major first: the first test of a high-speed freight train between Lyon St Exupéry airport and St Pancras International Station in London, travelling via Paris Charles De Gaulle airport and the Channel Tunnel. This test demonstrates the efficiency, speed and environmental benefits of an intermodal transportation system combining air containers and high-speed rail network. The Express Rail Euro Carex operation could, in time, be connected to the trans-continental distribution network for next-day delivery with a lower carbon footprint lower than air and road transportation. The express freight business could also be complemented by traditional freight and road freight. Visit: www.eurocarex.com
Shortlist for Bank station upgrade
London Underground (LU) has announced the four bidding groups who have been shortlisted to go through the new Innovative Contractor Engagement (ICE) procurement process for the Bank Station Capacity Upgrade project.
The Bank and Monument Tube station complex is located in the heart of the City of London financial district and is the fourth busiest interchange station on the Underground network with 96,000 customers during the morning rush hours, which is set to increase. The upgrade project will, by 2021, deliver increased capacity at Bank station and a step-free route between the Northern line platforms, DLR and street levels.
The bidders are BFK Joint Venture (BAM Nuttall, Ferrovial SA & Kier), CVC Joint Venture (Costain, VINCI Grand Projets & VINCI Construction), Dragados SA and MBA Joint Venture (Morgan Sindall, Balfour Beatty & Alpine Bemo Tunnelling) Visit: www.tfl.gov.uk
Merhaba Türkiye
ON 13 April 2012 the first intermodal ‘Company’ Train for the BSH Bosch and Siemens Home Appliances Group started out from Germany to Turkey.
The train is operated by Rail Cargo Austria and logistics service provider ExpressInterfracht (EXIF) in cooperation with BSH, Europe’s leading home appliance manufacturer. From Giengen the train travels around 2200 kilometres to Cerkezkoy in Turkey with BSH appliances from different locations in Germany, using 45’ high cube containers specially provided for BSH, before coming back again. 34 containers are in transit in each direction. The departures will be taking place every weekend from now on in both directions.
Traction power in Austria and Hungary is provided by the in-house operations of Rail Cargo Austria and Rail Cargo Hungaria. By 2013 at the latest, all EXIF intermodal traffic will be carried by Rail Cargo in-house operations across Romania to the Turkish border. Visit: www.railcargo.at
INDUSTRYNEWS
Virgin Trains scoops another award
Virgin Trains has won another prestigious award, being voted the top long-distance franchise operator for 2012 by leading industry experts. The Institute of Transport Management placed Virgin Trains at the top of the industry, beating UK operators and SNCF-owned Eurostar. The ITM based its award on areas including price, frequency, punctuality, health and safety, comfort and cleanliness.
Tony Collins, CEO of Virgin Trains said: “We pride ourselves on customer service and independent surveys and awards repeatedly recognise the efforts made by our staff. We are delighted to win this ITM award ahead of competition such as Eurostar and we will continue to work hard to provide the best possible service.” Visit: www.virgintrains.co.uk
ECR and Gefco Group Gevrey inaugurate marshalling yard
Euro Cargo Rail (ECR), France’s premier private railway freight operator, and the Gefco Group, Europe’s leading automotive logistics company and a world leader in logistics for manufacturers, have inaugurated a new railway hub dedicated to the transportation of PSA Peugeot Citroën group vehicles. The new railway hub, located in Gevrey, near Dijon, France, will support the strategic organisation of flows of PSA Peugeot Citroën vehicles to the Gefco Group’s 15 distribution centres in France and Europe.
More than 500,000 new cars from the PSA Peugeot Citroën production plants will be marshalled every year at Gevrey, before being prepared and shipped by ECR in collaboration with other private French rail operators on Gefco’s behalf. A total of 55 trains every week: a record for the Deutsche Bahn subsidiary Euro Cargo Rail, which has become the leading private rail freight operator in France in just seven years. Visit: www.eurocargorail.com
Eurostar reports continued growth
Eurostar has reported a good start to the year with continued growth in sales revenues and passenger numbers. In the first quarter of the year, sales revenues rose by 7% from £197 million to £211 million. Passenger numbers also saw an increase to 2.24 million in Q1 2012 from 2.15 million in the same period last year.
The growth over the last three months has been driven by an increase in leisure travel with business travel in the first quarter of the year remaining broadly flat compared with 2011.
Nicolas Petrovic, chief executive of Eurostar, said: “Our core destinations continue to be a
VR is 150 years old
Finland’s VR is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. 17 March 1862 was the date when regular rail services began between Helsinki and Hämeenlinna.
“We look back with pride at our long, splendid history, during which the railways have played a key role in the development of Finnish society,” states president and CEO Mikael Aro. “At the same time we look to the future with confidence, for we intend to transport passengers and freight for at least another 150 years. We are building VR Group into a modern, international service company, for which the most important goals are improving service, open dialogue and satisfied customers.” Visit: www.vr.fin
big draw for passengers but we have also seen particularly good take-up of our Amsterdam fares as passengers are increasingly keen to try out new leisure destinations by high-speed rail.” Visit: www.eurostar.com
Russian stations to be modernised
IN 2012, Russia’s Directorate of Railway Stations plans to reconstruct, modernise and commission nine station complexes: Leningrad, Paveletsky, Savyolovsky and Riga railway stations in Moscow, as well as stations in Samara, Saransk, Rybinsk, Atkarsk and Padunskie Porogi.
The work involved includes a whole series of measures, with the implementation of architectural, artistic, structural, functional, technological and engineering solutions aimed at improving energy efficiency and the operational performance of the station buildings and increasing the range of passenger services. Visit: eng.rzd.ruw
