Jernbanenyheder IV. kvartal 2002

• Denmark: Arriva starting operation on lines in Jylland - International trains in Jylland - IC/3 repainted in new livery - HFHJ MX 19 on lease to Arriva - Last semaphore signal torn down - SB, HP and KFS locos for preservation - DSB MA 460 with new engines - S-tog crash at Holte - DSB MZ to be reinstated - Museum S-tog to be scrapped - TraXion bankrupt - ME repaintings
  
• Germany: FLEX starts operation - Accident in Halle (Westf)
• Greece: OSE Alco-update
• Spain: New books

News updated 21. December 2002

Arriva starting operation on lines in Jylland: Arriva is busy preparing the premiere of their operations on several lines in Jylland. Two class MR/D trainssets (MR/D 4075/4275 + 4085/4285) was handed over to Arriva on 1. November 2002, while another 37 DMU's will be transferred from DSB (on lease) from 5. Januar 2003. MR/D -85 was presented with the Arriva logo in blue applied to the front on 20. December 2002 in the workshop in Varde. From 2004 new Alstom Lint DMU's will be used by Arriva (21. December 2002).

International trains in Jylland: The through loco-hauled IR-trains Hannover-Fredericia ended on 14. December 2002 with the european timetable change. DBAG ended the IR-trains on the Hamburg to Flensburg (-Padborg) line from this date, while a new IR-service was started by FLEX AG (more below). On the other hand a new EC-service Praha-Århus started from 15. December 2002 (EC 174/175). This service is hauled by a DSB class ME diesel loco on the danish line and is formed by 5 CD coaches types Ampz, Bmz and WRmz. The ME used for the trains is believed to be the same during the week, which are then swapped during weekends with the ME's from the Copenhagen-Århus IR's (21. December 2002).

IC/3 repainted in new livery: DSB MFA 5066/FF 5466/MFB 5266 was repainted in the new DSB blue and grey livery in the Århus workshop during november 2002 and had its premiere run around the 22. November. Also IC/3 trainset -74 has been repainted in December 2002 and was tested after being overhauled on 19. December between Århus and Randers.

DSB plans to repaint all class MF and ER multiple units during the next years (21. December 2002, sources DSB and more).



HFHJ MX 19 on lease to Arriva: HFHJ MX 19 was transferred to Varde on trains G 7603 (Høje Taastrup-Fredericia-Esbjerg) on 15.-16. October 2002, for lease as extra loco during the autumn. At first it was planned to lease ØSJS Mx 41, but as OHJ wanted to continue using this loco, Arriva got the Frederiksværkbanen loco instead. By the way, MX 19 has been mounted with shunting platforms (8. November 2002).

Last semaphore signal torn down: The last station in Denmark still with semaphore signals is Borris in Jylland. However, new daylight signals is also being installed here, so now they can only be found on museums. A news feature on the last steam train passing Borris can be found on TV/Midt-Vest (8. November 2002).

SB, HP and KFS locos for preservation: SB M 8 (Marcipanbrød, former LJ M 31) and HP T 12 (ex. DSB 146, Frichs/Ardelt) was transferred from Nordjydske Jernbaner to Silkeborg in train PM 8405 (Hjørring-Silkeborg) on 2. November 2002. From here the two locomotives was taken by road to Vrads and then under own power to Bryrup for preservation with Veteranbanen Bryrup-Vrads (VBV).

The Sentinel-shunter (10152/1962) of Københavns Frihavn og Stevedore has been sold to Dansk Jernbane-Klub and was transferred from Copenhagen on 2. November 2002 by truck (previously we stated that the shunter was sold to Esbjerg Veteranbane Klub, which is not the case) (8. November 2002, updated 18. November 2002).

DSB MA 460 with new engines: DSB Museum Lyntog MA 460 will be out of service, while a new engine will be installed. This summers museum trains with the Lightning Train has been in trouble several times, due to the worn down state of the engine. MA 460 was build 1963 by MAN and is equipped with a 12-cylinder Maybach MD650 engine and a dieselhydraulic Voith transmission (8. November 2002).

S-tog crash at Holte: A southbound surburban train on line E from Hillerød to Køge ran into an empty train awaiting departure for Høje Taastrup in Holte at 17.31 on 7. November 2002. Unfortunately one passenger was killed while 9 other was injured. One car in the E-line train had a 10-15 meter tear in the side. Reason for the accident is not yet known (7. November 2002, sources DSB and DR, DR news file).

DSB MZ to be reinstated: Two DSB MZ locos (DSB MZ 1406 and 1425) will have their electrical train heating generators and diesel engines reinstated to work as permanent breakdown locos. One of the locos is belived to be permanently in Århus, as spare loco for the class ME which will start work the new Århus-Praha EC 175/174 from the timetable change 15. December 2002 (7. November 2002).

Museum S-tog to be scrapped: DSB Museum has transported MM 7601/FS 7101 back to Holbæk for scrapping as the trainset was in too bad condition to be preserved. Instead another intact S-tog of the 2nd generation will be preserved (7. November 2002, see also News 2001/III).

Photo from the S-tog rescue action on 7. August 2001 by Niels Karsdorp.

TraXion bankrupt: The private operator TraXion went bankrupt on 1. November 2002. In an interview the manager Erik Panduro states that extremely expensive ensurances is one of the main reasons for the bankrupcy. The Ikea-train seems to continue running, rumours has that a company from Germany has taken over the operation, but this has not yet been confirmed.
The 3 class MY-locos of TraXion in working condition was taken over by a (Swedish?) leasing company and then leased back to TraXion in August. Their future is not known at this point (7. November 2002, source JydskeVestkysten. Updated 8. November 2002).

FLEX starts operation: The new operator FLEX AG started its operation of DB Reise & Touristik AG InterRegio replacement trains between Hamburg and Flensburg (-Padborg) on 15. December 2002. FLEX (short name derived from Flensburg Express) is a 100% subsidiary of Norddeutschen Nahverkehrsgesellschaft mbH (NNVG). 6 Siemens Taurus-locos has been leased for the service (ES 64 U2 - 019, ES 64 U2 - 021, ES 64 U2 - 023, ES 64 U2 - 097, ES 64 U2 - 098 and ES 64 U2 - 099) while the coaches are refurbished former Deutsche Reichsbahn wagons. Timetables for the 8 daily trains between Hamburg and Padborg with stops in Elmshorn, Neumünster, Rendsburg, Schleswig, Tarp and Flensburg is awailable from www.flex.ag (21. December 2002, sources flex and others).

Accident in Halle (Westf): The loco driver was badly injured while 50 passengers had slight injuries (including four children), when a regional service from Dissen-Bad Rothenfelde to Bielefeld (on KBS 402) ran into a heavy loader lorry in a unsecured level crossing in the morning of 7. November 2002 in Halle outside Bielefeld. The DMU's 644 063 and 644 062 was involved in the accident, 644 062 was quite damaged. The lorry was loaded with concrete elements and was not allowed to go without prior permission from the police, which had not been obtained (8. November 2002, sources Richard Holtz and Lok-Report).

OSE Alco-update: Rebuilding of class MX-636's continues, with the fifth loco entering service early November 2002. Also the plan is to modernise all 20 MX-627 in a similar fashion to that of MX-636's. The contract is an extension of MX-636. The plan to modernise the MX-627 was established 3 years ago or so, at same time as the MX-636. Award of the MX-627 contract was conditional upon successful service of MX-636. Given the good service of the MX-636 so far ALCO-FM are awaiting confirmation for commencement of MX-627 project which is expected to begin in February or March 2003. The proposal for overhaul of the remaining 11 DL-537's is still under discussion (8. November 2002, source World Diesel Loco).

RENFE 333. La tracción diesel. Jaume Roca ISBN 84-94593-08-X

RENFE 340. La tracción diesel Josep Miquel & Eduard Ramírez ISBN 84-95493-14-4

New books: Two new books on spanish diesel locomotives has been published in the collection of the
monographs Spanish Railways: RENFE 340. La tracción diesel and RENFE 333. La tracción diesel. Both titles are awailable from railwaymania.com

(8. November 2002, source Josep Miquel).