SWITZERLAND: Transports Publics du Chablais has awarded Stadler a SFr140m contract to supply 13 rack-equipped Beh4/8 electric multiple-units.

News from the world rail freight market.

UK: DB Cargo UK has awarded Siemens Mobility a contract to begin fitting Trainguard 200 onboard ETCS units to its fleet of EMD Class 66 diesel locomotives.

MOROCCO: National railway ONCF has awarded a consortium of Colas Rail and SETEC two contracts for work on the Kenitra – Marrakech high speed line with a combined value of €250m.

INDIA: Rolling stock and rail infrastructure supplier Texmaco Rail & Engineering and European maglev and automation technology company Nevomo have signed a memorandum of understanding.

POLAND: High speed rail and airport project promoter Centralny Port Komunikacyjny has appointed EY to prepare a business plan for the procurement and management of its future train fleets.

GREECE: Rail and air accident investigation body EODASAAM exposes serious systemic failures in the Greek railway sector and makes 17 recommendations for improvement in its report into the head-on collision between passenger and freight trains near Tempi which killed 57 people on February 28 2023.

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

UK: Transport for London and Network Rail have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate and share confidential information on asset management, maintenance and environmental issues.

MOROCCO: National railway ONCF has selected three manufacturers to supply up to 168 high speed, inter-city and suburban trainsets worth up to 29bn dirhams.

GERMANY: DB Regio has called tenders for framework contracts to supply electric multiple-units to replace life-expired fleets used on S-Bahn services in the Rhein-Main, Stuttgart and München areas.

UK: Transport for Wales has returned to service the first of six Class 153 single-car diesel multiple-units which are being refurbished to carry bicycles.

SWEDEN: Transport agency Trafikverket has awarded public address and voice alarm supplier Ambient System a framework contract for the modernisation of analogue sound systems at stations across Sweden.

Delivery of FNM’s first Coradia Stream fuel cell multiple-unit marks a significant step for the H2iseO ‘Hydrogen Valley’ decarbonisation project, as Toma Bačić explains.

PORTUGAL: Infrastructure manager Infraestruturas de Portugal has awarded Hitachi Rail and its partners SISINT and Conecticabo contracts to modernise telecoms and passenger information systems on Lisboa’s Cascais Line.

UK: Design work has been completed for the proposed conversion of a Class 60 diesel freight locomotive to a modern form of steam power. The project’s backers are to make a decision on whether to proceed in the next two to three months, Steamology CEO Matt Candy has told Rail ...

INTERNATIONAL: Future Travel Studio has developed DreamSuite, an airline-inspired flat-bed seat concept intended as an alternative to couchettes for overnight trains.

UK: JST Ports & Logistics Holdings has acquired RFS Works, a material handling company which provides rail logistics at sites such as quarries, construction sites and depots.

USA: ‘With multiple independent federal and state audits completed, every dollar is accounted for, and we stand by the progress and impact of this project’, California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO Ian Choudri said after recently appointed US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a review of federal funding for the project.