New trains next year for Vienna City Airport Train
Stadler has delivered new trains for Vienna’s City Airport Train (CAT), with three five-car class 4705 KISS double-decker emus scheduled to enter passenger service in autumn 2027.
The trains will run between Wien Mitte in central Vienna and Vienna Airport, replacing the existing fleet and following the completion of works on Vienna’s core railway line. They were ordered in 2023, and are being delivered under a full-service arrangement between Stadler and CAT.
Built at Stadler’s production facility in St Margrethen, eastern Switzerland, they have been configured specifically for airport transfer services. Each train will have around 300 seats and a maximum operating speed of 200 km/h. The interior has been designed around the requirements of passengers travelling with luggage. The trains will include dedicated luggage storage areas, wide gangways and low-floor boarding areas. Seating will be equipped with power sockets and USB ports, while free Wi-Fi will be available throughout the passenger areas. A passenger information system will provide real-time travel information.
The new CAT trains (photo: CAT)
Accessibility is also incorporated into the train design. Each unit will include wheelchair spaces, a wheelchair-accessible toilet and dedicated areas for prams.
The three KISS trains are expected to begin passenger service in autumn 2027, adding capacity and replacing the current push-pull trains, rebuilt by Siemens in 2002. Normally two units are in service at any one time.
IARO Express 663 had an earlier article on the new trains.
Sources Railway News (railway-news.com ) and the IARO database
Three NEC bridges to be replaced
Maryland has become one of the key sites of railway upgrades in the Northeast Corridor (NEC), which runs between Washington DC and New York and serves Baltimore-Washington International and Newark Liberty International Airports. Three consecutive water crossings on a 56km stretch between Baltimore and the Susquehanna River (south of Philadelphia) will soon be rebuilt or replaced: the Gunpowder River Bridge, Bush River Bridge, and Susquehanna River Bridge (media.amtrak.com) . At each crossing, Amtrak’s plans call for a fixed bridge carrying four tracks.
The largest of the three projects, the Susquehanna, is now underway. Early construction began in July 2024, following removal of the remaining piers from an 1866 predecessor to the current bridge. The target completion date is 2036. Planning for the bridge began in 2013. It was then funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) (en.wikipedia.org) , which Congress passed in 2021. The current bridge is a 120-year old two-track deck truss that is more than 1220 metres long. Amtrak calls it a “serious bottleneck,” since three tracks narrow to two at the bridge. Trains slow to 145km/h to cross it, and the swing span must be opened manually for taller marine traffic. With seventeen fixed spans and a single swing span over the navigation channel, it carries about 110 trains daily—including 80 to 90 Amtrak, 12 to 14 MARC suburban, and 8 to 10 Norfolk Southern freight trains.
The replacement will consist of two new, two-track fixed bridges, which will double the corridor’s capacity at the crossing and provide 18 metres of vertical clearance. One span is designed for 200 km/h speeds, primarily for MARC and freight services; the other is designed to handle 260 km/h Amtrak Acela trains. The project also includes modernising eight kilometres of track and three interlockings around the bridge. The cost is approximately $2.7 billion, $2.1 billion of which was awarded through the IIJA in 2023.
Amtrak announced recently that it had selected HNTB for architectural and engineering services for the Bush River and Gunpowder River bridges. The process “will include community engagement to inform the final design.” Both two-track bridges were built in 1913, and each carries more than 100 trains a day (Amtrak, MARC, and Norfolk Southern) with a 200 km/h speed limit. Both will be rebuilt with four tracks. Construction is expected to begin around 2030 and will be completed by the mid-2030s.
At Bush River, Amtrak will replace (amtraknewera.com) a 0.6km, two-track movable drawbridge with a new, fixed, high-level bridge that can support speeds up to 260 km/h. Currently, the mechanical span requires a 20-person crew to open it for marine traffic on summer weekends. The Federal Railroad Administration’s projected cost is $750 million. At Gunpowder River (amtraknewera.com) , Amtrak will replace a bridge that currently has just 3.6 metres of vertical clearance with a fixed-span bridge that can support speeds of at least 230 km/h. The FRA’s projected cost is $1.3 billion.
Amtrak believes both projects will increase speeds, capacity, and reliability by not only doubling the tracks but upgrading the track alignment, signal systems, and electric traction infrastructure.
Infrastructure—the unglamorous, nuts-and-bolts half of the railroad—determines whether the more glamorous half (trains) can do what it was built to do. But what the new bridges will not do is add more service. The number of trains crossing them is set by Amtrak’s operating plan, not by the number of tracks. Amtrak has a stated goal of doubling ridership to 66 million by 2040, up from its FY 2025 ridership of 34.5 million. But it has no published target for increased service in Maryland.
MARC, for its part, has proposed the most ambitious expansion (mta.maryland.gov) in its history—a $13.7 billion, 25-year plan for both expansion and repair projects. It would increase service on the Penn and Brunswick lines and extend service into Virginia, Delaware, West Virginia, and western Maryland. But the plan has no funding behind it. In short, the number of Amtrak and MARC trains running through Maryland, once it eliminates the bottlenecks, will still come down to political will and funding.
IARO Express 689 reported on reconstruction of a different bridge, further north on the NEC.
Sources HS Rail (hsrail.org ) and the IARO database
Urgench airport rail link completed
Uzbekistan has its first passenger airport rail link, albeit with a very limited service.
The electrified line is designed to have a capacity of around 650 000 passengers a year. It runs between Urgench Airport, Ugrench and the ancient Silk Road city of Xiva (Khiva).
Construction cost 225bn soum and is reported to have created 30 permanent jobs. The project includes a covered two-track terminus station at the airport, a bridge, road crossings and 25 drainage structures.
On August 17 President Shavkat Mirziyoyev travelled from the airport to Xiva on a six-car CR200J train supplied from China. The push-pull trainset has a maximum speed of 160 km/h. Accommodation is provided in VIP, business and economy classes, with wi-fi, charging sockets, air-conditioning and facilities for passengers with disabilities. The line opened to passengers in early September.
Currently, trains operate once a day: to Khiva in the morning and back in the evening. Train 7055 departs from the airport at 8:40, arrives at Urgench station at 8:59, leaves from there at 9:02 and arrives in Khiva at 9:22. Train 7058 departs Khiva at 21:00, arrives in Urgench at 21:20, departs from there to the airport at 21:23, and arrives at 21:42. Total travel time is 42 minutes. The ticket price for adults is 25 thousand soums, and for children, 14 thousand soums.
Sources Railway Gazette (railwaygazette.com ), Gazeta (gazeta.uz ) and the IARO database
Delivery delays keep old East Midlands Railway trains in service
2003-2005 vintage Class 222 dmus are expected to remain with East Midlands Railway (EMR) longer than initially expected. EMR, which serves East Midlands Airport Parkway, has extended their lease as the delayed introduction of the Class 810 Auroras continues.
The 222s, owned by Beacon Rail, are due to move to ScotRail next year where they will replace the Inter7City HST fleet: the first ex-EMR Meridians were expected to enter traffic next year. In a tender notice, published on 1 October, EMR wrote that: “due to delays in the introduction of its new inter-city rolling stock,” it was “extending the lease of its incumbent Class 222 fleet and therefore requires the continued provision of maintenance and engineering support services.”
The notice states that EMR “may exercise an option to extend the amended agreement for a further period of up to six months beyond 22 August 2027, resulting in a maximum expiry date of 22 February 2028. The extension may be exercised to support completion of the Class 222 fleet withdrawal programme, vehicle return activities, associated transition obligations and the phased introduction and stabilisation of the Class 810 fleet and does not contravene any onward leasing arrangements.”
There are 11 bi-mode (diesel and electric) Class 810s available for passenger service, with one currently at Derby as part of the Rail Accident Investigation Branch work following the Elstow accident on 19 June. No more than seven 810s have been in traffic at once on one day and none have yet carried passengers while operating in multiple. Hitachi received the order for the trains in 2019, with the first delivered in 2022 – the year all 33x5-car trains should have been in traffic.
EMR has introduced reduced timetables and short-formed services after five ‘222s’ moved to open access operator Lumo for its West Coast main line operations which began earlier this year.
An EMR Aurora class 810 leaving St Pancras International
Sources Modern Railways (modernrailways.com ) and the IARO database
Costa Rica studies monorail or tram for Juan Santamaria Airport
Costa Rica’s transportation officials are looking for European funding to study a transit connection between San José Juan Santamaría International Airport and the planned electric train network. The proposal would connect the airport terminal with the railway line near Río Segundo, removing one of the main barriers facing travelers who want to use public transport between San José airport and the Greater Metropolitan Area. Officials are considering several possible systems, including a monorail or light rail service. The technical studies would determine which option is best suited to the short connection, as well as its cost, design and possible construction timeline. The Costa Rican Railway Institute (Incofer (incofer.go.cr) ), is developing the plan with the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation and Aeris, the company that manages Juan Santamaría International Airport.
The agencies hope to finance the studies through non-repayable cooperation funds from the European Union. However, the funding has not yet been confirmed, and authorities have not established how much the studies or eventual construction would cost. Transportation officials expect to get approval to begin the studies at the end of the year.
The airport connection would link to the planned TIBI electric train project. From Río Segundo, passengers could continue by rail toward Alajuela, Heredia, San José and Cartago. Officials also want the transit system coordinated with the planned expansion of the highway between San José and San Ramón. That road project includes a new interchange in front of the airport designed to bring together cars, buses, trains and other forms of transportation.
A survey conducted among Costa Rican and international travelers found that 82 percent of respondents would be willing to use a public transportation connection at the airport if one were available. Juan Santamaría currently has public buses serving San José, Alajuela and other destinations, but the terminal does not have a direct rail connection. Many arriving passengers instead depend on taxis, ride-hailing services (ticotimes.net) , rental cars or private hotel transfers.
The gap is particularly noticeable for visitors traveling into San José, where congestion along the General Cañas Highway can make travel times unpredictable. A rail connection has been discussed previously, but the latest proposal remains at an early stage. No technology has been selected, no construction funding has been approved and no opening date has been announced.
The studies will determine whether the project is technically and financially practical before the government decides whether to move ahead.
The expansion of Juan Santamaría International Airport has, for now, shelved the project for a passenger terminal in Orotina, as proposed during the administration of former President Luis Guillermo Solís (2014-2018). The infrastructure in Orotina had been thought of as a long-term development intended to replace Juan Santamaría Airport when it reached its capacity. The current government, however, is confident that the ongoing expansion works, and others planned for the future, will extend the lifespan of the country’s main airport.
The Minister of Public Works and Transportation explained that the idea now is to convert it into an air cargo terminal, given that the Juan Santamaría Airport’s cargo terminal is operating beyond capacity. Orotina offers several advantages for becoming a logistics hub: the geographic location, its connectivity to the port of Caldera and Route 27, and its proximity to the railway line, which is a key factor in the potential reactivation of the train service to Caldera.
IARO Express 248 reported on plans for Orotina Airport.
Source Tico Times (ticotimes.net ) Q Costa Rica (qcostarica.com )