USA: Short line and regional railway group Gulf & Atlantic Railways has rebranded as Pinsly Railroad Company.

FINLAND: Siemens Mobility has been awarded a contract to deploy ETCS Level 2 and hybrid train detection on the first route which to be upgraded under the government’s Digirail project to replace legacy train control systems.

SERBIA: DB Systemtechnik’s Siemens Vectron locomotive 193 969 is being used for 200 km/h test running on the Novi Sad – Vrbas southern section of the 108 km corridor between Novi Sad, Subotica and the Hungarian border at Kelebia, which is being rebuilt to modern standards.

This week’s news from the global railway supply chain.

UK: Four train operators are to run a joint programme giving technology companies the opportunity to demonstrate AI, telecoms, quantum and other innovations in a real-world rail environment.

USA: Private sector project promoter Brightline West has named Siemens Mobility as preferred bidder to supply 355 km/h electric trainsets for its planned high speed line between Las Vegas and California.

EUROPE: Knorr-Bremse RailServices has signed a contract to provide Stadler with comprehensive rolling stock braking system maintenance, repair and spare part supply services

UK: Dynamic testing has begun with a DB Cargo UK Class 66 diesel locomotive which has been retrofitted with ETCS as the First in Class for the roll-out of the digital signalling technology across the most common type of freight loco in the UK.

USA: Union Pacific is to begin testing the first of six diesel-battery-hybrid shunting locomotives during May.

ASIA: Japan’s JR Hokkaido and JR East have sold cars of ex-Series KiHa 183 diesel multiple-units to Thailand and Cambodia.

EUROPE: Subsidiaries of Chinese rolling stock group CRRC delivered passenger trainsets to two operators in southeast Europe during April.

UK: Rail Business UK has been speaking to industry leaders as they start to digest the rail policy proposals set out by the Labour Party ahead of the forthcoming general election.

IRELAND: The National Transport Authority has awarded Indra a contract to supply and manage a national multimodal transport payment system covering trains, trams and buses.

SYSTRA: French national railway SNCF and Paris transport operator RATP have entered into exclusive negotiations for the sale of a majority stake in transport engineering consultancy Systra to Latour Capital and Fimalac.

FRANCE: SNCF Voyageurs and supplier Alstom have revealed the colour scheme for the operator’s future fleet of TGV-M trainsets.

INTERNATIONAL: On April 26 the People’s Republic of China deposited an application to accede to the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail as an associate member.

TRACK MACHINES: Unipart Rail has launched a range of rail construction, maintenance and renewal machines, developed in partnership with Thomson Engineering Design Ltd.

GERMANY: Transport ministers in the Länder favour keeping the flat-fare Deutschland-Ticket for the long term.

EUROPE: Slovenian Railways and Austrian Federal Railways have launched two cross-border passenger services as an initial step towards better and more frequent connections between the two countries. One links Ljubljana with Villach and the other connects Ljubljana with Pragersko, Maribor and Graz.

UK: CrossCountry has awarded West Midlands Trains a long-term contract to continue to maintain the long-distance operator’s Class 170 diesel multiple-unit fleet at Tyseley depot in Birmingham until 2031.