TransPennine Express aims to get more out of its fleet
UK: TransPennine Express is seeking to achieve higher levels of performance from its fleet, its Fleet, Safety & Service Delivery Director Paul Staples explained when Rail Business UK recently visited Arwick depot. The operator says it is also ‘anticipating great things’ from the trial conversion of a Hitachi trainset to battery hybrid power.
Interview: Record funding is flowing – but Germany’s railway must deliver
The building blocks to turn round performance on Germany’s national network are being put in place thanks to an unprecedented investment programme, but Deutsche Bahn and infrastructure arm DB InfraGO must deliver on their promises, warns Federal Minister for Digital & Transport Dr Volker Wissing. Murray Hughes put the questions.
Railway supply industry news round-up
This week’s news from the global railway supply chain.
AI project aims to prevent level crossing safety incidents
UK: Purple Transform has been awarded Innovate UK funding to develop and trial the use of artificial intelligence to alert staff to potential safety incidents at level crossings.
Comment: Contrasting approaches to fixing things
The transport ministers of Britain and Germany are taking contrasting approaches to addressing the problems facing their railways. Dr Volker Wissing believes management reorganisation cannot solve DB’s problems, but his counterpart Louise Haigh is taking the opposite view with Labour’s rail reforms. Nick Kingsley suggests they could learn much from each other.
Gotthard Base Tunnel fully reopens after derailment damage is repaired
SWITZERLAND: The 57 km Gotthard Base Tunnel has fully reopened, 389 days after a derailed freight train caused extensive damage to the slab track in the western bore of the world’s longest railway tunnel.
Spanish high speed lines to be linked by chord
SPAIN: High speed rail infrastructure manager ADIF Alta Velocidad has awarded Vías y Construcciones a €40m civil works contract for the construction of a chord at Olmedo to enable through running between the Galicia and Asturias/Burgos high speed lines.
Bill to take passenger train operations into the public sector makes progress
CRRC ZELC plans European production hub with Hungarian partner
Turkey develops wagon to carry main battle tanks by rail
White Gyrfalcon high speed trains ordered for Moskva – St Petersburg line
Five in the running to supply new TransPennine Express fleet