Tag: railroad (Page 11 of 16)

Siemens Mobility Receives First Battery Powered Train Order

March 24, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

20 Mireo Plus B battery-powered trains for Baden-Württemberg
Maintenance contract for 29.5 years
Delivery of trains by June 2023

Landesanstalt Schienenfahrzeuge Baden-Württemberg (SFBW) has ordered 20 Mireo Plus B trains from Siemens Mobility. The two-car electric trainsets with 120 seats can operate on rail routes with or without overhead power lines thanks to their battery hybrid drive, and are scheduled to operate in Network 8 of the Ortenau regional system. The contract also includes maintenance of the trains by Siemens Mobility for a period of just under 30 years. State Minister for Transport Winfried Hermann said: “This marks the first time battery-powered trains will be used in the state. With this innovative technology, the electrification of rail routes without continuous overhead power lines will also be possible.”

Delivery of the trains is scheduled to be completed by December 2023. The trains will be built at the Siemens Mobility factory in Krefeld, Germany. The KfW IPEX Bank is financing the trains for Nahverkehrsgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg (NVBW). The financing of €77 million has a term of 28 years.

“With this order, the state of Baden-Württemberg is investing in the future of mobility. Our battery-powered train Mireo Plus B makes climate-friendly, locally emission-free passenger transport possible, thus offering a sustainable alternative to the use of diesel-powered trains on non-electrified rail routes. We will guarantee the availability of the fleet with our maintenance of the trains over their entire lifecycle,” said Sabrina Soussan, CEO of Siemens Mobility.

“In the interest of sustainability, we’ve deliberately opted for a “lifecycle model’,” said Winfried Hermann, Minister for Transport in Baden-Württemberg. “We’re breaking new ground in converting to climate-friendly propulsion systems in local transport by introducing this new technology and want to commit the company to this technology through contractual arrangements. Siemens is also responsible for energy consumption and energy costs over the entire contract period of 29.5 years. In this respect, we are entering new territory regarding public transport tenders in the state of Baden-Württemberg.”

The Mireo Plus B has a range of around 80 kilometers in battery operation under real conditions. The batteries can be charged via the overhead line while operating along electrified sections and by recuperating the train’s braking energy. The battery system is mounted underfloor and is installed in two battery containers. Lithium-ion batteries with a long service life are used in the system.

The Network 8 Ortenau comprises the routes:

Offenburg –Freudenstadt/Hornberg
Offenburg – Bad Griesbach
Offenburg – Achern
Achern – Ottenhöfen and
Biberach (Baden) – Oberharmersbach-Riersbach

Amtrak Takes Active Measures to Maintain Safe Environment

March 24, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

The safety of Amtrak’s customers and employees is our top priority. We continue to monitor the coronavirus situation closely and we are taking action based on guidance from public health experts; that includes restoring service to trains and routes once demand returns. In order to maintain a safe environment and address customer concerns and potential business impact, we are taking the following measures:

Before You Travel

If you are traveling with Amtrak:

Providing an essential transportation service: We are waiving change fees on all existing or new reservations made before April 30, 2020. Simply log in to your account or go to Modify Trip on Amtrak.com, or find your reservation from your account on the home screen in the Amtrak app. A fare difference may apply to your new itinerary. If you want to cancel your reservation with no fee, you must call 800-USA-RAIL and speak with an agent (not available via Amtrak.com or the app).
Take care of yourself and keep others safe: If you are feeling ill, please stay home until feeling better.

Maintaining a Safe Environment

To reduce risk, we are:

Enhancing cleaning protocols: We have increased the frequency of cleaning services on our trains and at our stations.
Increasing disinfectant supplies: We have increased the quantity of sanitizers and disinfectant wipes available for customers and employees on our trains and stations.
Reinforcing good hygiene practices: We are regularly sharing best practices with employees and customers on ways to protect against communicable diseases.

We continue to recommend that everyone follow CDC guidelines around social distancing. If you do need to travel with us, know that we are taking extra steps to keep our stations and trains clean, keep you safe, and remain an essential part of transportation in America. See what we are doing here.

Service Impacts

While Amtrak continues to operate, we have temporarily suspended the following services due to reduced demand. See details on service impacts here.

What You Can Do

To protect against all communicable diseases:

Wash your hands: Wash hands frequently with soap and water – and for 20 seconds. If you can’t wash your hands, use hand sanitizer.
Cover your mouth: When sneezing or coughing, use tissues and promptly dispose of them or cover your mouth with your sleeve or elbow.

While we are running reduced service across the country, it is still essential to exercise caution around railroad tracks and crossings. #SeeTracksThinkTrain

Amtrak Has Cancelled Winter Park Express Service

March 15, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

Amtrak Has Cancelled the Winter Park Express service for the remainder of the 2019 – 2020 ski season.

Customers with reservations on trains that are being modified will be contacted and typically be accommodated on trains with similar departure times or another day.

Amtrak is waiving change fees on all existing or new reservations made before April 30, 2020. To change reservations, log in to your account or go to Modify Trip on Amtrak.com, or find your reservation from your account on the home screen in the Amtrak app. A fare difference may apply to your new itinerary. If you want to cancel your reservation, you must call 800-USA-RAIL (not available via Amtrak.com or the app).

Alstom Hydrogen Train Coradia iLint Completes Successful Tests in the Netherlands

March 7, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

The world’s first hydrogen fuel cell passenger train takes its first steps abroad after commercial success in Germany.

The Netherlands: second country in Europe to test the hydrogen train
Tests carried out with green hydrogen
Performance equivalent to classic DMU regional trains
41 hydrogen trains already on order in Germany

Alstom has performed ten days of tests of the Coradia iLint hydrogen fuel cell train on the 65 kilometres of line between Groningen and Leeuwarden in the north of the Netherlands. The tests follow 18 successful months of passenger service on the Buxtehude–Bremervörde–Bremerhaven–Cuxhaven line in Germany, where total of 41 Coradia iLint have already been ordered. The latest tests make the Netherlands the second country in Europe where the train has proven itself a unique emissions-free solution for non-electrified lines.

Last October, Alstom and the Province of Groningen, local operator Arriva, the Dutch railway infrastructure manager ProRail and the energy company Engie signed a pilot project agreement to test the Coradia iLint, the world’s first passenger train powered by hydrogen fuel cells, in the Netherlands. DEKRA, an independent testing inspection and certification company, has been appointed test leader. This series of tests is being performed at night at up to 140 km/h without passengers. For the purpose of the tests, a mobile filling station has been erected by Engie for refuelling the Coradia iLint with completely green – sustainably produced – hydrogen.

“The tests in the Netherlands demonstrate how our hydrogen train is mature in terms of availability and reliability, providing the same performance as traditional regional trains, but with the benefit of low noise and zero emissions. It is also easy to integrate in an existing fleet and is compliant with all safety regulations. The Coradia iLint hydrogen train is a reliable emission-free train ready to help transport us to a carbon-neutral Europe,” said Bernard Belvaux, Managing Director, Alstom Benelux.

The Coradia iLint is the world’s first regional passenger train to enter service equipped with fuel cells to convert hydrogen and oxygen into electricity, thus eliminating pollutant emissions related to propulsion. The completely train is quiet, and its only emission is water. Purpose-built for use on non-electrified lines, it provides clean, sustainable traction with no sacrifice in performance. It has a range of approximately 1000 kilometres – the same as equivalent-size diesel multiple units. The train is developed and produced by the Alstom teams in Salzgitter, Germany and Tarbes, France.

The Dutch railway network has approximatively 1,000 kilometres of non-electrified line on which around 100 diesel trains currently operate daily.

On Saturday 7^th of March, the station of Groningen will welcome the press and public to discover the Coradia iLint at the platform between 12:00 to 16:00.

Canadian National Starts Calling Back Employees Laid Off During Rail Blockade

March 1, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

MONTREAL, Feb 28 (Reuters) – Canadian National Railway Co has started calling back many of the 450 workers it laid off earlier this month in eastern Canada, when blockades crippled operations on strategic rail lines, according to a company email sent to customers on Friday.

Earlier this week, police made 10 arrests and cleared a blockade in eastern Canada that had been stopping freight and passenger traffic for almost three weeks on one of Canada’s busiest lines.

The blockades were held in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en people in the Pacific province of British Columbia, who are seeking to stop TC Energy Corp from building a gas pipeline over their land.

“In the absence of illegal blockades on our network over the last 24 hours, and while we are keeping a close watch for any further disruptions, we have started calling back many of the temporarily laid off employees based in Eastern Canada,” CN chief executive Jean-Jacques Ruest said in the email seen by Reuters.

The email did not specify how many of the 450 workers were being called back.

After 21 days of disruptions, “there is a significant backlog of trains parked on our tracks and in our yards that will be processed,” the email said.

“The complete network recovery process will take several weeks.”

Montreal-based CN said the company was on its way to recovering in Western Canada, and said products like export grain, imported containerized goods, coal, potash and other commodities are moving to market.

Canada relies on CN and rival Canadian Pacific Railway to move crops, oil, potash, coal and manufactured goods to ports and the United States. About half of Canada’s exports move by rail, according to industry data.

(Reporting By Allison Lampert; editing by Grant McCool)

Alstom Signs First Contract for Battery-Electric Regional Trains in Germany

February 6, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

Alstom will manufacture, deliver and maintain until 2032 eleven Coradia Continental battery-electric trains for regional traffic on the Leipzig-Chemnitz route on behalf of VMS (Verkehrsverbund Mittelsachsen) and with the support of ZVNL (Zweckverband für den Nahverkehrsraum Leipzig), the two authorities responsible for this line. The contract is worth approximately €100 million. Following this order, Alstom offers all types of traction systems on the market as well as the full range of emission-free drives, from efficient electric motors to hydrogen fuel cells and advanced battery traction.

In 2014, Alstom had previously signed a contract with VMS for the delivery of 29 Coradia Continental electric regional trains (EMU). In order to bridge the 80 kilometres of non-electrified line between the cities of Chemnitz and Leipzig, the authority requested a battery-electric version (BEMU). The new trains will enter service in 2023. They will be built at Alstom’s German site of Salzgitter, in Lower Saxony. The battery traction sub-system is designed and supplied by Alstom’s traction centre of excellence in Tarbes.

“We are immensely proud to be providing the responsible authorities with a sustainable and perfectly-suited solution. Today, Alstom stands apart in being able to offer any form of emission-free traction currently on the market built into a proven solution. As a responsible company, Alstom has an intense focus on sustainable mobility, offering the best-fitting solutions that make it not only possible, but also cost-effective and attractive,” says Gian Luca Erbacci, Senior Vice President of Alstom Europe.

The Coradia Continental BEMU trains will be similar to those already in service on the Dresden, Riesa and Zwickau routes. The main difference: they will also have high-performance batteries on the roof. The train, based on the proven Coradia Continental, builds on Alstom’s long experience in battery traction, gained with the Coradia iLint, Citadis trams and the Prima H3 locomotive.

The Coradia Continental BEMU has a range of up to 120 kilometres and can be operated under catenary as well as on non-electrified sections. The three-car-trains will be 56 metres long and equipped with 150 seats. They will have a top speed of 160 km/h in battery mode. The capacity of the batteries (high-power lithium-ion) is calculated to ensure catenary-free operation of the line Chemnitz-Leipzig without any sacrifice in performance or comfort.

Alstom’s Coradia range allows operators and transport authorities to offer their passengers regional trains that meet their needs and expectations, while demonstrating exemplary reliability and cost-effectiveness. Alstom has tailored the Coradia range to operate with all available emission-free power systems, from electric to battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cells. The latter, the Coradia iLint, powered by fuel cells and offering performance comparable to a diesel train while emitting nothing but water, has been in passenger service in Germany for over a year.

Amtrak Downeaster Achieves Record Ridership In 2019

February 3, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

PORTLAND, MAINE – The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA) announced today that the Amtrak Downeaster achieved record breaking ridership of 574,404 passengers in calendar year 2019, a 7.8% increase from 2018. The previous ridership record of 546,056 passengers was set in 2017.

The Amtrak Downeaster experienced record ridership growth in 9 out of 12 months, according to NNEPRA Marketing Director, Natalie Bogart, who reported that August 2019 was the highest ridership month in Downeaster history. “August ridership of 60,944 was an all-time record and the first time that Downeaster ridership surpassed 60,000 passengers in a month.”

NNEPRA attributes the ridership surge to increased frequency to Freeport and Brunswick, improved reliability, as well as repeat riders. Amtrak Customer Satisfaction score of 91% suggests that people are not only riding the Downeaster, but are finding it to be enjoyable as well. When compared to Amtrak services throughout the country, passengers rank the Downeaster among the top services for friendliness, overall satisfaction, and quality of on-board food service.

“These results are particularly impressive,” stated NNEPRA Chairman, John Melrose. “We are committed to the continued growth of the Downeaster service and are working hard in 2020 to improve/ expand transportation alternatives to further enhance mobility to our citizens and support economic growth for Maine Businesses.”

For additional Amtrak Downeaster information or to purchase tickets visit: AmtrakDowneaster.com

Amtrak Downeaster, POR, 2016, 15th Anniversary of the Downeaster, Portland Intermodal Station, Chuck Gomez WASHINGTON, WAS

Bombardier Joint Venture Wins Contract to Build 160 New Chinese Standard High-Speed Train Cars

January 4, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

With around 4,500 train cars already delivered, Bombardier’s Chinese joint venture is the only Sino-foreign entity to win a new Chinese standard high-speed train bid
New Chinese standard high-speed train cars to enhance passenger experience and contribute to the expansion of the world’s longest high-speed rail network

Global mobility solution provider Bombardier Transportation announced today that its Chinese joint venture, Bombardier Sifang (Qingdao) Transportation Ltd. (BST), has been awarded a contract from China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. (CHINA RAILWAY) to supply 160 CR400AF cars, a new Chinese standard high-speed train car for China’s evolving high-speed rail network. The 160 cars will be configured into ten 16-car trainsets with an operating speed of 350 km/h. The total contract is valued at approximately 2.97 billion CNY ($427 million US, 380 million euro). Bombardier Transportation owns 50 per cent of the shares in BST, which is consolidated by Bombardier Transportation’s partner CRRC Sifang Rolling Stock Co., Ltd.

Jianwei Zhang, President, Bombardier Transportation China, said, “We are very proud to have been chosen to supply the new generation of CR400AF cars, a high-speed railway car, through our BST joint venture. China’s high-speed rail industry has become one of the nation’s economic pillar industries and the high-speed network has brought greater mobility and prosperity to the public. Bombardier is proud of its contributions to China’s rail industry and looks forward to delivering more of the high-quality products that are helping China meet its ambitious long-term mobility goals.”

In 2018, BST won two contracts to build a total of 288 CR400AF cars and every car was delivered on-time and on quality. This latest contract is BST’s third and reflects the trust that CHINA RAILWAY has in BST’s efficiency, reliability and competitive edge. All 160 cars will be delivered by mid-2020.

Bombardier Transportation in China is the full solution provider across the entire value chain. From vehicles and propulsion to services and design, Bombardier Transportation in China has seven joint ventures, six wholly foreign-owned enterprises, and more than 8,000 employees. Together, the joint ventures have delivered 4,500 railway passenger cars, 580 electric locomotives and over 2,500 metro cars, Monorail, APM, and trams to China’s growing rail transit markets. It is a major signalling supplier to the Chinese high-speed network and through its joint ventures, propulsion equipment and signalling systems are utilized in a total of 30 Chinese cities.

Genesee & Wyoming Announces Completion of Sale to Brookfield Infrastructure and GIC

December 30, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W) today announced the completion of its previously announced sale to affiliates of Brookfield Infrastructure and GIC.

Under the terms of the sale, each issued and outstanding share of G&W common stock converted into the right to receive $112 in cash. As a result of the completion of the sale, G&W’s common stock ceased trading on the NYSE prior to market open today and will no longer be listed for trading on the NYSE.

“This transaction is an excellent outcome for all G&W stakeholders,” said Jack Hellmann, Chief Executive Officer of G&W. “For our customers, employees, and Class I partners, the long-term investment horizon of Brookfield and GIC is perfectly aligned with the long lives of G&W railroad assets. We look forward to building on G&W’s track record of safety, service excellence and commercial growth as we become an important component of a portfolio of global infrastructure assets.”

About Genesee & Wyoming

G&W owns or leases 119 freight railroads organized in locally managed operating regions with 8,000 employees serving 3,000 customers.

G&W’s six North American regions serve 42 U.S. states and four Canadian provinces and include 113 short line and regional freight railroads with more than 13,000 track-miles.
G&W’s Australia Region serves New South Wales, the Northern Territory and South Australia and operates the 1,400-mile Tarcoola-to-Darwin rail line. The Australia Region is 51.1% owned by G&W and 48.9% owned by a consortium of funds and clients managed by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets.
G&W’s UK/Europe Region includes the U.K.’s largest rail maritime intermodal operator and second-largest freight rail provider, as well as regional rail services in Continental Europe.

G&W subsidiaries and joint ventures also provide rail service at more than 40 major ports, rail-ferry service between the U.S. Southeast and Mexico, transload services, contract coal loading, and industrial railcar switching and repair. For more information, please visit www.gwrr.com.

About Brookfield Infrastructure

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners is a leading global infrastructure company that owns and operates high quality, long-life assets in the utilities, transport, energy and data infrastructure sectors across North and South America, Asia Pacific and Europe. We are focused on assets that generate stable cash flows and require minimal maintenance capital expenditures. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners is listed on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges. Further information is available at www.brookfieldinfrastructure.com.

Brookfield Infrastructure is the flagship listed infrastructure company of Brookfield Asset Management, a leading global alternative asset manager with over $500 billion of assets under management. For more information, go to www.brookfield.com.

About GIC

GIC is a leading global investment firm established in 1981 to manage Singapore’s foreign reserves. As a disciplined long-term value investor, GIC is uniquely positioned for investments across a wide range of asset classes, including equities, fixed income, private equity, real estate and infrastructure. In infrastructure, GIC’s primary strategy is to invest directly in operating assets with a high degree of cash flow visibility and which provide a hedge against inflation. GIC has investments in over 40 countries. Headquartered in Singapore, GIC employs over 1,500 people across 10 offices in key financial cities worldwide. For more information on GIC, please visit www.gic.com.sg.

CP Completes Central Maine & Quebec Railway Acquisition

December 30, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

CALGARY, Dec. 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ – Canadian Pacific (NYSE: CP) has closed the transaction related to the acquisition of the Central Maine & Quebec Railway. The acquisition of CMQ in the U.S. remains subject to Surface Transportation Board approval.

The acquisition, first announced on November 20, 2019, will provide CP customers with seamless, safe and efficient access to ports at Searsport, Maine and to Saint John, New Brunswick, via Eastern Maine Railway Company and New Brunswick Southern Railway, thereby preserving and enhancing competition.

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