FRANCE: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes région has signed a contract with SNCF Voyageurs to operate local passenger services from 2024 to 2033.

UK: Hitachi has launched TREsim Flex, a realistic offline training environment for signallers that accurately replicates operational events.

SWITZERLAND: Stadler has delivered the first of two railcars which it is supplying to re-equip the Dolderbahn rack railway in Zürich.

INDIA: Saft has supplied more than 30 sets of ReGenPro batteries to provide standby power for operational and safety systems in the tunnels on the Banihal – Sangaldan section of the Udhampur – Kashmir railway.

USA: The automated inspection of commuter rolling stock is to be trialled on New York’s Metro-North Railroad, supported by a $2m grant from the federal Department of Transportation’s Strengthening Mobility & Revolutionizing Transportation programme.

LITHUANIA: National passenger operator LTG Link has deployed IVU Traffic Technologies’ IVU.rail software for planning and dispatch.

Ab sofort ist die neue LokProgrammer Software 5.2.7 zum Download verfügbar. Diese beinhaltet die Firmware 5.9.162 für alle LokSound 5 und LokPilot 5 Decoder. Die Funktion "Smarte Feuerbüchse" kann nun die Feuerbüchsen-LED synchron zum Dampfstoß simulieren, um ein noch echter aussehendes Ergebnis zu realisieren. Wir wünschen Frohe Ostern und viel Freude mit Ihrer Modellbahn!

Ab sofort ist die neue LokProgrammer Software 5.2.7 zum Download verfügbar. Diese beinhaltet die Firmware 5.9.162 für alle LokSound 5 und LokPilot 5 Decoder. Die Funktion "Smarte Feuerbüchse" kann nun die Feuerbüchsen-LED synchron zum Dampfstoß simulieren, um ein noch echter aussehendes Ergebnis zu realisieren. Wir wünschen Frohe Ostern und viel Freude mit Ihrer Modellbahn!

BULGARIA: CRRC Qingdao Sifang Locomotive has withdrawn its bid for a contract to supply 20 push-pull trainsets, after the European Commission launched an investigation into whether the Chinese state-owned company might have benefited from an unfair subsidy.

UK: Leasing company Porterbrook has bought three Zephir LOK 16.300 depot shunters which will be leased to GB Railfreight for use at the Celsa Steel works in Cardiff.

GERMANY: Following a European tender, transport authorities go.Rheinland and VRR have selected incumbent DB Regio for a contract to operate Köln S-Bahn services until December 2032.

HUNGARY: Hungarian-Austrian cross-border operator GySEV has signed a contract for Stadler to supply nine inter-city electric multiple-units with an option for four more.

IRELAND: National railway Iarnród Éireann and Dogpatch Labs have launched Future Track which aims to bring a ‘start-up mindset’ to innovation in the rail sector.

SWITZERLAND: SBB and Alstom have carried out a series of trials using a remotely controlled shunting locomotive on tracks that remained open for normal operations.

SOUTH KOREA: Seoul Metro has been selected as operator for Line A of the capital’s Great Train Express commuter rail network, ahead of the opening of the first section on March 30.

UK: Connected Places Catapult, Network Rail and Great Western Railway have selected three SMEs to receive funding of up to £75 000 for technology trials in the Station Innovation Zone at Bristol Temple Meads.

EUROPE: Rolling stock lessors in Europe are benefiting from continued rail traffic recovery and have resilience to higher interest rates, adequate leverage and long-term funding profiles, according to a report from Fitch Ratings.

GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn carried more than 1∙8 billion passengers in the year to December 31 2023, up by nearly 6% on the previous year.

PORTUGAL: Agreement has been reached to restore passenger services on an orbital line in the northern suburbs of Porto.

USA: Chicago Transit Authority has launched its Innovation Studio project to partner with the private sector to explore new ideas.