POLAND: Vossloh has inaugurated an ‘ultra-modern and largely automated’ facility at Nowe Skalmierzyce for the production of Engineered Polymer Sleepers.

AUSTRIA: ‘Never change a winning team’, Porr Group and Rhomberg Sersa Rail Group said when they announced that their joint venture which is fitting out the Koralm Tunnel has been awarded a contract for similar works on the 27 km Semmering Base Tunnel project.

UK: The latest version of Telent’s Traction Power Centralised Management System has been commissioned at Raynes Park in south London.

CANADA: Canadian National has created fire-fighting trains named ‘Trident’ and ‘Neptune’ which are designed to enable a significant amount of water and fire suppression capacity to reach isolated areas.

UZBEKISTAN: Hyundai Rotem’s first order to export high speed trainsets was amongst several co-operation agreements signed during South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s visit to Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on June 14.

TANZANIA: Passenger services on the 201·8 km electrified standard gauge railway from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro were formally launched on June 14. President Samia Suluhu Hassan paid the fares for the 1 400 passengers on the first trip.

FRANCE: A survey of rail passengers and potential users has found that national train services are perceived as too expensive and too inflexible.

UK: To meet Transport for London’s need to upgrade a lineside electrical switch box, UB Infrastructure devised a way to clad the existing building in aluminium panels which were fabricated off-site by ADS Laser Cutting and installed by Walker Construction.

USA: The US High Speed Rail Association has published a ‘first-of-its-kind action plan’ designed to equip advocates with practical tips, realistic expectations and strategic support as they work to launch new projects for 300+ km/h railways.

ITALY: French national passenger operator SNCF Voyageurs has announced plans to launch open access high speed train services within Italy from 2026, with the target of obtaining a 15% market share by 2030.

ASIA: A trilateral intergovernmental agreement has been signed setting out the legal basis for building the planned China – Kyrgyzstan – Uzbekistan railway.

News from the world rail freight market.

UK: A virtual reality tool designed to provide hazard awareness training for people who will be working on or near tram tracks has been developed by the Light Rail Safety & Standards Board in partnership with tram simulator specialist Avansim and industry association UKTram.

BANGLADESH: Indian Railways’ engineering consultancy RITES has been awarded a contract to supply 200 coaches to Bangladesh Railway.

USA: Advanced Polymer Coatings has launched TriFLEX, a direct-to-metal exterior coating system for wagons which it has developed in collaboration with the chemical sector and ‘major rail rolling stock operators’ to offer chemical resistance, mechanical toughness, UV stability and weather resistance.

UK: Alstom has signed a contract to supply and maintain a further 10 nine-car Class 345 Aventra electric multiple-units for London’s Elizabeth Line.

Divested by SNCF and SBB more than two years ago, distribution and ticketing business Rail Europe is focusing on its core remit of facilitating international rail bookings, with 80% of its revenue coming from non-European travellers. CEO Björn Bender sets out his strategy to Nick Kingsley.

MALAYSIA: The first of 10 ETS3 long-distance trainsets for national railway KTMB’s electrified west coast corridor was rolled at CRRC Zhuzhou’s factory in China on June 7.

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

GERMANY: Environmental association BUND has called for Deutsche Bahn to ensure people can access all products including reduced fares, BahnCard discounts and seat reservations without creating an online account.