One of the key messages of InnoTrans 2024 was that railways need to focus on delivery to justify the scale of investment and maintain the political support the industry is looking for.

ESTONIA: The purchase and sale agreement for the privatisation of national rail freight operator Operail was signed by the RailProject OÜ subsidiary of winning bidder Tiigi Keskus on October 31.

News from the world rail freight market.

LUXEMBOURG: National railway CFL and Hitachi Rail have signed a framework agreement for the design and installation of ETCS Level 1 Full Supervision and simplified trackside signalling at Bettembourg and Dudelange stations.

BOOK REVIEW: With an introduction by Prof Roderick Smith of Imperial College, London, If There Were No Shinkansen is the work of former East Japan Railway Chairman Shuichiro Yamanouchi, who died in 2008. Subtitled High-speed rail experience from its birth to today in Japan, the book is a remarkable personal ...

EUROPE: Direct trains between Amsterdam Centraal and London will be reinstated from February 10 2025, with the opening of a higher capacity departure terminal for passengers on Eurostar’s cross-Channel service.

USA: The first of NJ Transit’s Multilevel III double-deck electric multiple-unit cars was unveiled by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy at the operator’s Meadows Maintenance Complex in Kearny on October 30.

ROMANIA: Cluj-Napoca city council approved the results of a feasibility study into a 48·8 km suburban rail scheme linking Bonțida with Gârbău via the city’s main station.

NORTH MACEDONIA: The government has cancelled the previous administration’s opening up of rail infrastructure access to private and foreign freight operators.

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

UK: A long-term rolling stock investment strategy will ‘end the boom-and-bust approach’ and ‘give the supply chain the certainty it needs to plan and invest’, according to Secretary of State for Transport Louise Haigh.

Unsere Herbstneuheit für 2024: Die V100 der Bundesbahn in H0 aus der ESU Engineering Edition. Dank Vollmetallausführung mit LokSound 5 Decoder, PowerPack, Kurvensensoren, Doppellautsprechern, Glockenankermotor, Rauchgenerator, digitalen Kupplungen und vorbildgetreuen Lichtfunktionen bleiben keine Wünsche offen. Erstmals kommt die neue Lüftersteuerung unserer Decoder zum Einsatz, mit deren Hilfe die Lüfterdrehzahl des Kühlerlüfters situationsabhängig angepasst werden kann. Zahlreiche einzeln angesetzte Details verleihen diesem Klassiker eine zeitgemäße Optik - sogar das Führerhaus kann abgenommen werden! Erleben Sie unser neues H0 Modell in fünf Varianten auf unserem Messestand während der Faszination Modellbau in Friedrichshafen vom 01.11.24 bis zum 03.11.24 oder ab sofort bei Ihrem Fachhändler - Die Auslieferung wird ab Montag 04.11.24 beginnen!

UK: The prototype 08e battery locomotive which Positive Traction has produced by rebuilding a 1950s Class 08 diesel shunter has successfully completed two weeks of trials with Mendip Rail at Heidelberg Materials’ Whatley Quarry in Somerset.

While its planned high speed services linking Bordeaux with Rennes and Nantes are still in gestation, French new entrant Le Train believes it can establish itself as the largest private operator in an increasingly crowded domestic market. CEO Alain Getraud and Deputy Chief Executive Catherine Pihan-Le Bars explain their vision ...

GERMANY: Work to electrify the 164 km line through the Eifel region between Hürth-Kalscheuren near Köln and Trier-Ehrang was launched with a ceremony in Kyllburg on October 28.

INDIA: Spain’s Ministry of Transport & Sustainable Mobility has signed a memorandum of understanding to support Indian Railways in developing and upgrading its network.

SOUTH KOREA: Korea Railroad Research Institute is preparing to extend its R&D programme which aims to introduce direct train-to-train communication and position reporting to replace centralised traffic control.

UK: Funding for the construction of the High Speed 2 tunnels from Old Oak Common to London Euston, and commitments to the ongoing Transpennine Route Upgrade and to take East West Rail to Cambridge were included in the budget presented by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves on October 30.

CHILE: National railway EFE Trenes de Chile has awarded Alstom a €55m contract for the deployment of the Virtual Signalling Control digital traffic management tool.

EUROPE: A ‘Railway Erasmus’ scheme providing people undertaking railway-related studies, apprenticeships or internships with an opportunity to experience other countries is among the recommendations of the final report of the Skill Training Alliance For the Future European Rail System project.