UK: A five-year contract to supply Network Rail with switches and crossings and associated components was announced by Progress Rail at the InnoTrans rail industry trade fair in Berlin.

GERMANY: In a bid to end the shortage of qualified staff at a time when demand for electrification skills is expected to grow rapidly, the German Railway Industry Association (Verband der Bahnindustrie in Deutschland) has partnered with a group of companies to launch a specialist training scheme.

AFRICA: China Civil Engineering Construction Corp is in active negotiations for a 30-year concession to operate the Tanzania-Zambia Railway network and revitalise the infrastructure and rolling stock.

AUSTRALIA: Port Dock station on a spur from the Outer Harbor line in central Port Adelaide has reopened after 43 years.

INNOTRANS: Stadler has unveiled its prototype RS Zero lightweight railcar, offered in hydrogen or battery powered versions as a locally emission-free successor to the successful Regio-Shuttle RS1 family of diesel railcars for use on secondary routes where a high passenger capacity is not required.

INNOTRANS: The Resource Sharing Broker digital platform for matching freight operators’ locomotive requirements with leasing companies’ availability has been developed with the aim of increasing the competitiveness of the rail freight sector.

UK: High speed line project promoter HS2 Ltd has selected six businesses to join its latest Innovation Accelerator programme.

EUROPE: Plans for the launch of a daily direct ICE train service between Paris and Berlin have been presented by SNCF TGV-Intercités CEO Alain Krakovitch and DB Personenverkehr CEO Michael Peterson at InnoTrans.

InnoTrans: The global market for railway systems and services is expected to continue growing at an annual average of around 3% until 2027-29, according to the 10th UNIFE World Rail Market Study.

INNOTRANS: ‘We need to harness people’s passion for railways’, urged Hermany’s Federal Minister for Digital & Transport Dr Wolker Wissing at the opening ceremony for InnoTrans 2024 in Berlin on September 24.

SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has selected Frequentis to supply and maintain technology to replace its current dispatching system and manage communications for more than 11 000 trains per day.

INNOTRANS: Hyundai Rotem is displaying its prototype hydrogen fuel cell tram at InnoTrans 2024 in Berlin.

INNOTRANS: Ahead of the opening of the InnoTrans trade fair in Berlin, Siemens Mobility launched the latest iteration of digitalisation programme on September 23, branded Signaling X.

Whereas innovation in railways was once about the search for higher speeds or energy efficiency, Prof Peter Veit believes that the primary focus is now shifting to a whole‑system understanding. It will also be necessary to optimise infrastructure maintenance methods to accommodate rising demand, he explains to Reinhard Christeller.

UK: The Institution of Civil Engineers has published a report setting out lessons it says need to be learned from the decision to cancel the northern phases of the High Speed 2 project.

INNOTRANS: The 14th InnoTrans trade fair which opens on September 24 is the largest trade show ever to be held in Berlin, according to Dirk Hoffmann, COO of organiser Messe Berlin.

INNOTRANS: Around 230 senior European decision makers and rail sector representatives travelled from Brussels to Berlin on a special train on September 23, organised by the Europe’s Rail joint undertaking to demonstrate the benefits of enhancing cross-border rail connectivity.

CHILE: Representatives of EFE Trenes de Chile have visited the Caxias do Sul factory of Marcopolo Rail in Brazil to see the production of diesel multiple-units the operator has ordered.

UK: Rail Business UK understands that the government has no plans to introduce a subscription-based ticket offering unlimited rail travel, as has been proposed in a report produced for Greenpeace by the Greengauge 21 think tank.

GERMANY: Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, city transport operator VGF and retailer Amazon are testing the use of trams to deliver parcels from the outskirts to the city centre. This aims to reduce road traffic, noise and carbon emissions in the urban area.