During December Veslatec acquired lifting technology manufacturer Nordlift, which produces equipment able to lift complete trainsets. Nordlift CEO Matti Ranttila will continue as a minority stakeholder and an adviser for two years. ‘Nordlift will become even more internationally competitive when its entire production can be carried out in our own factories’, said Veslatec CEO Tom Bergström. ‘Nordlift has the expertise to design, weld, assemble and test lifting equipment, while Veslatec’s expertise lies in laser machining and further processing.’
Modula precast modular platforms developed by Urbamat Environnement and Hering International have been approved for use in France, with the first installation at Verneuil-l’Etang station.
Andrea Bertallot has been appointed Chair of the management board of DB Engineering & Consulting GmbH, reporting to Niko Warbanoff, CEO of the DB ECO Group and Chair of the management board of DB International Operations.
The 103rd UIC General Assembly approved the membership of the Tshwane University of Technology from South Africa as an affiliate member, Kenya Railways as associate member, the National Infrastructure Agency of Colombia as affiliate member and the UK’s Global Centre of Rail Excellence as affiliate member.
TE Connectivity announced on December 14 that it had completed the acquisition of Swiss electrical equipment manufacturer Schaffner Holding.
The European Cyclists Federation and UIC have signed a memorandum of understanding to promote ‘seamlessly connected door-to-door, multimodal, sustainable, and active transport‘
Eurail and Interrail pass holders can now make seat reservations via Rail Europeʼs website. ‘We now offer crucial information on required reservation types for almost every journey, point-to-point tickets and passes alike, thus avoiding long waiting lines at the station and alleviating one of the biggest customer pains in the railway industry’, said CEO Björn Bender on December 27.
Watson Farley & Williams advised RIVE Private Investment on the €300m financing of 20 Alstom Traxx, 15 Siemens Mobility Vectron and 20 Vossloh Rolling Stock Modula EBB locomotives which will be managed by Northrail.
The UIC Regional Assembly Europe has appointed Luigi Ferraris, CEO of FS Group, as Chairman for 2024-25. He takes over from Acting Chair Martin Frobisher of Network Rail.
