BEIJING – China is planning to build more that 1,800 miles of new railway lines this year, including 1,500 miles of high-speed railroad, Chinese media reports.Construction includes a total of 102 railway projects planned in the Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) for National Economic and Social Development and Vision 2035 of China. China […]
Zone & Region: International
Year in review: Top international stories
Trains News Wire’s review of the top stories of 2022 continues. We’ll count down the Top 10 stories of the year, as voted on by Trains editors, columnists, and correspondents, beginning Monday, Dec. 26. Today, we asked our European correspondent, Keith Fender, to look at what he considers the year’s top international rail stories. At […]
Year in Review: LIRR completes two major projects
Today, Trains News Wire begins our review of the top stories of 2022. We’ll count down the Top 10 stories of the year, as voted on by Trains editors, columnists, and correspondents, beginning Dec. 26. As a prelude, we’ll be looking at major stories that didn’t quite make that list. Today: Notable transit stories. Several […]
Swiss gauge-changing Panoramic Express debuts on Golden Pass route
INTERLAKEN, Switzerland — A concept the Swiss rail industry (and its passengers) has dreamed of for years became reality in mid-December with the debut of through trains from Montreux on Lake Geneva to Interlaken in the heart of the Alps. No new rail lines were needed but some modern railway technology was. The route includes […]
Wabtec transit braking system receives certification
PITTSBURGH — A Wabtec brake technology for transit systems, designed to address wheel slide in low-adhesion situations such as can occur on wet or leaf-covered rails, has received European certification, allowing its use on new equipment as well as retrofitting onto existing mainline trains. The DistanceMaster Adaptive Wheel Slide Protection technology received certification from international […]
France to ban some short-haul flights in favor of rail alternative
BRUSSELS — The European Commission has approved a French move to ban short-haul domestic flights on routes where rail service is available that takes less than 2½ hours. The move approved Friday will end flights between Paris Orly Airport and the cities of Nantes, Bordeaux, and Lyon, the Telegraph reports. That falls short of the […]
Former Korean SW1001s to replace GE centercabs at Ontario freight car plant
HAMILTON, Ontario — After 68 years of service, National Steel Car’s venerable GE centercab switchers will soon be replaced by former Korail EMD SW1001s from National Railway Equipment. Freight car manufacturer National Steel Car has received three locomotives. Delivered as NREX 2109, 2114, and 2118, and are now numbered 8504, 8604, and 8704, all three […]
British passenger equipment company files for insolvency protection
SOUTHAM, England — Vivarail, the British passenger train re-manufacturing company majority-owned by Pittsburgh-based Railroad Development Corp., has announced it is seeking the appointment of insolvency administrators via the British courts while efforts are made to find new investors or owners for the company. The process, similar to Chapter 11 protection in the USA, will allow […]
South Korea “Amfleet” passenger cars
South Korea “Amfleet” passenger cars: The former Budd Company was well-known for its signature, corrugated stainless steel style when designing passenger cars. Just by a glance, it is usually easy to spot a Budd car. When Amtrak came on the scene, the Budd’s Metroliner was used as the basis for the Amfleet I and II […]
Thieves in India steal a locomotive — one piece at a time
BEGUSARAI, India — Thieves in the state of Bihar stole an entire diesel locomotive, piece by piece, by digging a tunnel into a rail yard and removing parts from the unit awaiting repairs, police said last week. The Hindu newspaper reports three people were arrested and 13 sacks of locomotive parts were recovered at a […]
New British government keeps spending on high speed rail, lets rail reforms slip
The British government, now with its third Prime Minister in 12 weeks, has confirmed it will continue to fund several major rail (and road) investment programs, as well as new nuclear power plants. Opponents of both sets of projects had hoped the high price tag might tempt the government to make immediate spending cuts. New […]
Wabtec to acquire Brazilian maintenance equipment firm Super Metal
PITTSBURGH — Wabtec has reached agreement to acquire Super Metal, a leading Brazilian supplier of automated vehicles and other maintenance-of-way equipment. Wabtec describes the deal as complementing its 2021 acquisition of U.S. maintenance equipment manufacturer Nordco [see “Wabtec to acquire …,” Trains News Wire, March 23, 2021] and accelerating its strategy of expansion into international […]
