INTERNATIONAL: US-based international railway investor Railroad Development Corp and British lightweight rolling stock developer TDI Greenway are to join forces in the emerging very light rail and ‘pop-up metro’ sectors.
A joint venture announced on February 25 will result in RDC taking a 50% stake in TDI Greenway. RDC’s Pop-Up Metro business will be combined with TDI Greenway, although they will retain separate branding.
Pop-Up Metro told Metro Report International that it still aims to develop low cost passenger services in North America using former London Underground District Line trains operating on existing freight tracks. It will also now work with TDI on light rail and very light rail systems suitable for rapid deployment.
RDC Chairman Henry Posner III and CFO John Hensler will join the TDI Greenway board, chaired by Sam Wauchope.
‘This partnership with RDC represents a significant step forward for TDI Greenway’, said Wauchope. ‘Pop-Up Metro gives us an operational base for increased trade into North America and RDC brings a wealth of global expertise and respect to our operations.’
TDI Greenway has developed the Revolution VLR lightweight railcar for lightly used branch lines, the Lync VLR tram and Orbit autonomous battery powered road vehicle. It has tested a diesel-battery hybrid RVLR, and leasing company Eversholt Rail has ordered three pre-series battery railcars which are in production for trials.
‘We are in advanced negotiations in the UK with a major infrastructure fund and are working with Network Rail to reinstate disused railway lines to recommence local community rail transport routes across the country’, said Wauchope. ‘There is a real momentum behind very light rail and it is an exciting time for this sector on both sides of the Atlantic.’
Posner said ‘RDC’s business model is based on partnerships. By combining our Pop-Up Metro subsidiary with TDI Greenway, we will gain the breadth and capability to more rapidly advance projects in North America and abroad. We have admired TDI’s tenacity, innovation and progress from across the pond, including its development of the Revolution VLR vehicle, and believe that we are stronger together.’
RDC was a backer of Vivarail, which developed multiple-units for the UK market using former London Underground cars but entered administration in December 2022. FirstGroup’s Great Western Railway subsequently acquired Vivarail’s battery train assets and intellectual property, including its FastCharge technology with GWR is trialling. However, this acquisition did not include the assets relating to Vivarail projects with London Northwestern, Island Line and Transport for Wales.
In 2021-22 Vivarail supplied two battery trainsets to operate as a Pop-Up Metro demonstrator at the Rockhill Trolley Museum in Pennsylvania. Plans for a 13 km route using Cedar Rapids & Iowa City Railway tracks in Iowa City were put on hold in early 2025.
