Train service in south Thailand is suspended until Friday, while State Railway of Thailand officials inspect tracks after sabotage was discovered on Wednesday in Yala. Two days earlier, a passenger train bound for Pattani derailed after tracks were removed by suspected Muslim insurgents. Twenty people were hurt in the wreck. Also on Wednesday, a Muslim man was fatally shot in Narathiwat, and a school was burned in Yala. — Wikinews
VICTORIA, Australia — At least ten people have been killed, and more than 50 injured, when a V/Line passenger train and a semi trailer collided at a grade crossing on the Murray Valley Highway in northern Victoria, Australia. At least 13 more are still missing and are believed to be trapped in the wreckage. The collision, which occurred at 1:40 p.m. local time, was about 6 miles north of the town of Kerang, on the Swan Hill railway line. The train involved in the accident was a service from Swan Hill, which departed at 1:00 p.m. from Swan Hill railway
BERLIN – Bombardier Transportation signed a contract with Spanish National Railways (RENFE) for the supply of 100 TRAXX F140 DC locomotives for freight transportation. The total contract is valued at about $549 million US (416 million euros) and also includes a 14-year maintenance service agreement for this fleet of locomotives. Delivery of the first freight locomotives is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2008 and continue until 2010. Bombardier Transportation was selected to supply the new freight locomotives for RENFE on Nov. 7. Under the contract, a portion of the vehicles will be manufactured by Bombardier at RENFE’s
MEXICO CITY – Nearly two dozen people were killed when a freight train crashed into a bus in a suburb of the Mexican capital city. More than a dozen other people were injured in the wreck at a grade crossing in Cuautitlan, located north of Mexico City. The exact cause of the wreck remained under investigation. There was some indication the driver of the bus tried to beat the train, The Associated Press reported. According to another account, the bus stalled on the grade crossing and in the path on an on-coming train. At the time of the crash, the
PARIS — The French postal service La Poste has reached agreement with SNCF, the national rail company, to create a joint rail-based high-speed courier service. The planned joint venture was announced on Monday by the two state-owned businesses. La Poste’s return to rail was prompted by stiff competition and rulings of the European Commission. In the late 1990s, mail train services were largely replaced by road and air shipment. Faced with European prohibitions on night flights, and the harmful effects of carbon emissions, La Poste changed its policy. There will be 3 TGV high-speed mail trains in the new fleet,
CALCUTTA, India — Six people were killed Monday, Nov. 20, and more than 80 people were injured when a bomb exploded on a passenger train. Authorities suspect terrorists planted a bomb in one of the train’s cars. The bomb denoted about 6:20 p.m. local time near Belacoba, a station located about 345 miles north of Calcutta, The Associated Press reported. The explosion blew the side and the roof off one of the cars, according to published reports. Local authorities believe either Maoist rebels or Assamese militants might be responsible for the attack, The Associated Press reported. — Railfanning.org News Wire
PARIS – Two trains have collided head-on in eastern France at Zoufftgen in the Moselle region of France, close to the Luxembourg border, at around 11:45 local time earlier today. Based on initial reports, BBC News has suggested 10 passenger deaths as well as those of two train drivers involved in the incident and a trackside worker. French officials later confirmed at least 5 dead. The trains were a French freight train and a Luxembourgeois passenger train. The passenger train was traveling from Luxembourg to Nancy and the freight train was travelling from Thionville to Luxembourg. There are also at
ERIE, Pa. – General Electric Company signed a contract to supply 310 new Evolution Series locomotives for Kazakhstan’s national railway company, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ). The locomotives will be used to help KTZ move record amounts of goods and materials by rail, driven in large part to strong demand for transit, intermodal traffic and petroleum products. “By choosing Evolution Series locomotives, KTZ is investing in the very best technology available,” said John Dineen, President and CEO of GE Transportation. “I am proud that KTZ and GE are extending our relationship, one that has proven to be very beneficial to both
A Transrapid maglev train traveling on the system’s test track in Lathen near the Netherlands border in Germany collided with a maintenance vehicle on the track, killing 23 people and severely injuring 10, according to Karl-Heinz Brueggeman, a spokesman for the rescue effort. The driverless train was estimated as operating at above 120 mph when the crash occurred around 9:30 a.m. local time. The unmanned train with 31 passengers aboard crashed into a maintenance wagon containing 2 workers. The train traveled about 0.6 miles from its departure station when it struck the maintenance vehicle. Debris from the accident was spread
BOMBAY, India – Indian Railways will use wireless railway communications technology to help improve the safety and efficiency on one of the most important and busiest rail arteries in India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, officials announced. The Nortel GSM-R network will provide highly sophisticated wireless communications along the 751-km, 90-station line connecting the major Uttar Pradesh industrial and business centers of Ghaziabad and Mugalsarai, according to Nortel. The wireless system will be used to connect train conductors, on-board crew, train dispatchers, station personnel and other operations groups, such as those responsible for attaching and separating rail cars at station
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