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Bombardier cuts plants and jobs and Alstom is still between life and death
The Canadian manufacturer Bombardier (turnover of €13 billion in 2003), one of the main railway manufacturers, announced in March that it will cut 6,500 jobs, that is to say 18% of the staff working in its transport division, so as to reduce excess capacity. Seven plants will be closed in five European countries (Germany, Portugal,
Belgian Railways SNCB to be split soon
The Belgian government announced in March that national railways SNCB (turnover of €3.7 billion in 2003, with 42,000 staff members) will be split into two companies soon: one responsible for managing the infrastructure, other in charge of operating services. A new holding owning the two sister companies will be set up. This evolution, which takes
New shareholder for Keolis
Keolis one of the main public transport operators in Europe (turnover of €1.6 billion in 2002 in 9 countries with 27,000 staff members, leader on the French urban transport market with a share of 40%), is about to go through a major reshuffling of its ownership structure with the sale by the bank BNP-Paribas of
Tramways are back in Barcelona
34 years after the closure of the last tramway line serving the Catalan capital city, four lines of the new tramway network of Barcelona (see EMTA News n°2) were inaugurated in April and May. This network consists in two separate infrastructures: Trambaix, connecting Barcelona with Southern suburbs, and Trambesos, connecting Barcelona with Northen suburbs. Trambaix,
Towards more integrated and more reliable rail services in London ?
Heavy rail carries 42% of morning peak passengers into central London; it is a backbone of the public transport systems of the British capital city. Surveys show that Londoners make seven times more rail journeys than people in other UK cities, and that one third of all rail journeys in the country are made wholly
Bike+Ride and integrated information in Rhine-Ruhr
VRR, the public transport authority of the German Rhine-Ruhr conurbation (7.2m inhab. on a 5,000 km2 territory), incites passengers of public transport to use bicycle to go to stations. More than 8,000 bicycles can be parked close to stations, and the number is growing very fast. A list of these Bike and Ride facilities can
Stockholm will try congestion charging during one year
The municipality of Stockholm adopted a proposal to introduce a congestion charging scheme covering the complete inner-town of the city for a 13- month trial period starting in June 2005. During this period, all car drivers entering or leaving the area between 6.30am and 6.30pm will have to pay a charge of SEK 2 (€2.2)
20 years of successful transport and fare integration in the region of Vienna
VOR, the public transport authority for the region of Vienna-Eastern Austria (2.6m inhab. on 8,400 km2) will celebrate in June its 20th birthday. The first steps towards fare integration took place in 1961 with an agreement between Austrian national railways ÖBB and Wiener Linien, the public operator of urban transport systems in Vienna. This was
New European transport research program
The European Road Transport Research Advisory Council (ERTRAC) exposed its strategic research program, underlining the importance of mobility improvement and reduction of noise and pollution. In the field of individual mobility, the research program aims at providing the relevant solutions to satisfy the expected 32% growth in demand by 2020. Focus will be made on
The European Commission proposes a new Directive to ensure that Member States save each year at least 1% more energy
The Commission released in December a draft Directive aiming to boost the cost-effective and efficient energy use in the EU. The proposal sets a framework with common definitions, tools, methodology targets and obligations, both for the public and for the private sectors. The Directive sets a target of energy saving of 1% per year, that
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