News from the world rail freight market.

UK: Following a trial backed by the Rail Delivery Group, a further 194 Scheidt & Bachmann ticket machines on Greater Anglia routes are to switch to using paper roll ticket instead of the traditional orange magnetic stripe cards.

SPAIN: Infrastructure manager ADIF has awarded Siemens Rail Automation a €21·6m contract to renew the safety and communications systems at Grisén station, northwest of Zaragoza on the Madrid to Barcelona conventional line. This is the junction for a short branch serving an Opel car factory.

SLOVAKIA: State passenger operator ZSSK announced on November 27 that it would place a €58·4m firm order for a consortium of Škoda Group and ŽOS Trnava to supply a further six four-car Class 660 Panter electric multiple-units suitable for operation using 3 kV DC and 25 kV 50 Hz.

NORTH AMERICA: Ballard Power Systems has signed two agreements to supply fuel cells for use on freight locomotives in Canada and passenger trains in the USA.

UK: The Chartered Institution of Railway Operators and Keele University are to launch a rail MBA programme in February 2025. This is designed to enable rail professionals to gain access to affordable and industry specific master’s level higher education.

While the EU’s Third and Fourth railway packages sought to liberalise the passenger rail sector within the bloc and influence it beyond, the establishment of a competitive dynamic within the European market seems less assured than it has for some time, argues Executive Editor Nick Kingsley.

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

UK: The Office of Rail & Road is asking for views on its plans for annual assessments rating how train operators and Network Rail provide assistance to disabled passengers.

UK: A study has found that international passenger capacity at London St Pancras station could be more than doubled to improve the user experience and potentially facilitate new train services.

CANADA: The project to relaunch Northlander passenger services between Toronto and a future Timmins-Porcupine station is advancing, with the province of Ontario awarding a contract for station works and releasing images of the what future trains will look like.

FRANCE: National operator SNCF Voyageurs has unveiled the first of the Grand Est région’s TER 2N NG double-deck electric multiple-units to undergo mid-life refurbishment as part of the national OPTER programme.

MOROCCO: Hyundai Rotem is in advanced negotiations as part of an ongoing tendering process for the supply up to 150 trainsets for Morocco’s national railway ONCF, a representative of the South Korean company confirmed to Railway Gazette International at the Rail Industry Summit exhibition in Casablanca on December 10.

MEXICO: The government has announced plans to invest 157bn pesos in 2025 for the construction of new passenger railways and the development of freight operations on some parts of the network.

Following FirstGroup’s announcement that it is to order more trains to support its growth drive in the open access market, First Rail Managing Director Steve Montgomery explains the next steps to Rail Business UK.

MOROCCO: Minister for Transport & Logistics Abdessamad Kayouh has announced that a second train assembly facility is to be built to serve the needs of national operator ONCF.

UK: VTG Rail UK has secured a 10-year wagon leasing agreement with new customer Alvance British Aluminium, which will take on 20 JPA powder tank wagons retrofitted with VTG’s iWagon technology.

CANADA: VIA Rail Canada has issued a requests for qualification for a contract to supply more than 40 locomotives and 313 coaches of nine types to replace its Long-Distance, Regional & Remote train fleet.

BRAZIL: The Brazilian Northeast Development Fund (Fundo de Desenvolvimento do Nordeste) has agreed to lend R$3∙6bn to help finance construction of the Ferrovia Transnordestina project.

USA: Southern California Regional Rail Authority has awarded Alstom a combined Train Operation & Maintenance Services contract for its Metrolink passenger rail services.