EGYPT: Plasser & Theurer has signed a contract to supply a fleet of track maintenance machines to Egyptian National Railways.

UK: Train drivers’ union ASLEF has launched a campaign demanding access to safe, clean, accessible and dignified toilets for drivers. It has published a report into the current situation which Executive Committee President Dave Calfe said is an occupational safety, public health and human rights issue that cannot be solved ...

INDIA: As work continues on the 300 km/h Mumbai – Ahmedabad high speed line, Indian Railways has begun the development of indigenous trains suitable for operation on existing corridors at up to 250 km/h.

CANADA: Genesee & Wyoming Inc has launched Red Deer Railway Ltd, its first railway in western Canada.

UK: High Speed 2 project promoter HS2 Ltd has selected Costain for the Tunnel & Lineside Mechanical & Electrical Systems contract. This covers the design, supply, installation and commissioning of M&E services within the tunnels including ventilation systems, as well as low voltage power services and distribution on the open ...

MOROCCO: Work on the 430 km high speed line from Casablanca to Marrakech is moving rapidly into the construction phase, following the letting of a series of civil engineering contracts to local and foreign contractors.

GERMANY: The European Commission has concluded that Germany’s provision of €1·9bn to support the national railway’s freight business DB Cargo is in line with EU state aid rules.

UK: The government has confirmed the timescales for the first three train operators to transfer to the public sector following royal assent to the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024 which provides the legal framework.

AUSTRIA: The long-running upgrading of the Südbahn route between Wien, Graz, Klagenfurt, Villach and the Italian and Slovenian borders reached two significant milestones at the end of November.

UK: Construction materials supplier Breedon Group has ordered 54 JPA powder cement tank wagons which will be built by German company Feldbinder and equipped with leasing company VTG’s iWagon technology to provide tracking and data-driven insights into safety and performance.

TAIWAN: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has been awarded a contract to design, supply and install trackwork, overhead electrification, power supplies and signalling for an expansion of Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp’s Zuoying depot.

Persons with Reduced Mobility was once considered a progressive descriptor, yet now it stands as a reminder of how industries must remain agile in their accessibility approach, says Emma Partlow, Director of Consumer Engagement & Policy at Transreport.

CHINA: Construction has begun of a 48·7 km maglev line from Changsha Dong to Liuyang. This would be the first maglev in China to run between urban areas.

BRAZIL: Another step has been taken towards construction of the planned EF118 project for a 577 km rail link running inland from the South Atlantic coast at São João da Barra to Nova Iguaçu, northwest of Rio de Janeiro.

CHINA: The first part of the 108·8 km long Sanya – Jianfeng Bei railway line running from Sanya to Yazhou was inaugurated on November 16. Leisure-oriented services are operated over a combination of the West Ring conventional line and sections of the Hainan Western Ring high speed line opened in ...

News from the world rail freight market.

ASIA: A ceremony in Baku on November 24 marked the departure of what Kazakh national railway KTZ said is the first container train to run eastbound between Azerbaijan and China on the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route.

AUSTRALIA: The Australian government gave final approval on November 5 for construction of a 39 km rail link in New South Wales to take Inland Rail from Illabo to Stockinbingal. The new alignment will bypass Cootamundra and Bethungra, where ARTC’s existing Main South Line follows a winding and steeply-graded alignment ...

UK: Labour MP for Swindon South Heidi Alexander was appointed as Secretary of State for Transport on November 29, following the resignation of Louise Haigh the previous evening.

USA: Chicago-based private equity firm Wind Point Partners has completed a corporate carveout of locomotive services business Velocity Rail Solutions from Stellex Capital Management’s A Stucki Company.