PJM has expanded its testing services to include the dynamic interaction between a pantograph and overhead contact line. A pantograph test rig for calibrating the measuring system has been set up at the company’s site in Graz, and tests in a wind tunnel have shown that the measuring system is non-reactive. Tests can be carried out with up to two measuring pantographs in multiple operation. ‘Due to decarbonisation, the focus will be on electric rail vehicles in the future’, said CEO Martin Joch.
Alstom booked €10·9bn of orders and sales reached €8·8bn in its H1 to September 30. Adjusted net profit was €224m. ‘Demand remains robust, driven by green mobility policies, proving resilient to geopolitical tensions, and we had a solid commercial performance in this first half’, CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge said on November 14. ‘We are making steady progress on our roadmap, with backlog margins returned to pre-merger levels and a focused shift towards Services and Signalling. With a strengthened balance sheet and an investment grade rating with a stable outlook, we are focused on effectively managing our projects portfolio, amid supply chain challenges, while driving cost efficiencies to deliver on our financial trajectory’.
Indian Railways and Switzerland’s Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy & Communications have signed a renewed MoU for collaboration in the areas of technology sharing and track maintenance, management and construction. ‘Some of the good practices from the Swiss railways can be replicated on a much larger scale in India’, said India’s Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw.
The Australasian Railway Association has extended the application deadline for the ARA Future Leaders Programme to December 3. The programme of workshops, webinars and networking events is returning in 2025 following three successful cohorts between 2017 and 2019, with refreshed content and the addition of an executive sponsorship programme.
Thomas Schilliger joined wagon leasing company Wascosa as Chief Operations Officer on November 1. Peter Balzer is to leave at the end of the year after more than 10 years, first as CEO and for the past two years as an adviser.
China Railway Construction Corp has opened a plant in Algeria’s Tindouf province to produce 1·2 million concrete sleepers for the construction of the 575 km Western Mining Railway.
Australia’s Rail Industry Safety & Standards Board is seeking nominations from industry representatives and subject experts to review and update AS 7523 Rolling Stock Emergency Equipment Standard. The Locomotive, Passenger Vehicle and Infrastructure Vehicle standards will be combined, and RASSB said the introduction of technologies such as hydrogen and battery power will have an impact on the emergency equipment required.