ASIA: A rail and sea freight service from India to Kazakhstan has been developed by Kazakhstan’s KTZ Kedentransservice, Uzbekistan’s UTY subsidiary Uztemiryulkonteyner and Transport & Logistics Centre of Turkmenistan

INTERNATIONAL: The Rail-Mil Computers subsidiary of Poland’s Kombud Group and South Korean company STraffic have formed a strategic partnership to supply control systems for railways and metro lines.

TICKETING: Cubic Transportation Systems launched its FEnX station ticket gate at the Transport Ticketing Global trade fair in London, saying it had combined the latest technology with user-centric design to reduce fare evasion, enhance the passenger experience and optimise efficiency.

AUSTRIA: Open access operator Westbahn has awarded Stadler a contract to supply three Smile high speed trainsets to enable it to introduce Wien – Graz – Klagenfurt – Villach services from March 2026.

NORWAY: Infrastructure manager Bane Nor has successfully completed ‘the first 100 days of operation of ERTMS in Norway’, following the commissioning of the first series installation on the Roa – Gjøvik line in November 2024.

UK: The government’s rail reforms must provide more robust guarantees and stronger regulation so that freight operators have fair and economically viable access to the Great British Railways network and investors will be willing to look at the sector, politicians and industry representatives said at the Rail Freight Parliamentary Reception.

UK: The fleet of 10 two-car and 16 three-car Alstom Class 175 diesel multiple-units owned by Angel Trains and previously used by Transport for Wales until 2023 is to begin entering service with Great Western Railway in Devon and Cornwall later this year, with all expected to be operational from ...

UK: Cubic Transportation Systems and experts from Imperial College London are to conduct joint research into the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in the public transport sector.

CZECH REPUBLIC: The Ministry of Transport has awarded Arriva Vlaky a KC3·03bn contract to operate long-distance passenger services on the Praha – Plzeň – Cheb and Praha – Plzeň – Klatovy/Železná Ruda routes for 15 years from the December 2028 timetable change.

UK: The Department for Transport is seeking suppliers to take part in trials of GPS-based pay-as-you-go ticketing in Yorkshire and the East Midlands later this year,

HUNGARY: ETCS Level 2 trackside equipment has been activated on the 25·2 km Százhalombatta – Pusztaszabolcs section of the 228 km Budapest – Pécs main line.

Analysis of the national budget for 2025 underscores Turkey’s commitment to expanding its rail network, which is expected to grow by 8500 route-km in the next 30 years. David O’Byrne investigates.

UK: The Rail Delivery Group has awarded Tracsis a multi-year contract to provide a Tap Converter system which will support the roll-out of pay-as-you-go National Rail travel in urban areas across the country. Tracsis said this will be a major step towards modernising rail ticketing.

TICKETING: Easier has developed a ticket gate with an overhead camera which counts passengers and identifies fare evasion attempts, with AI training to help it improve accuracy.

KAZAKHSTAN: Chinese manufacturer CRRC has handed over a diesel hybrid shunting locomotive built for national railway KTZ.

INTERNATIONAL: Australia’s Transport for New South Wales and British infrastructure manager Network Rail have signed a five-year memorandum of understanding to co-operate to develop rail technology, improve reliability and drive sustainability.

EUROPE: The International Union of Railways has awarded Hit Rail a five-year contract to supply a Real Time Mobility Data Exchange service.

GERMANY: DB Regio has awarded Škoda Group a contract to overhaul five double-deck push-pull trainsets which operate Nürnberg – Ingolstadt – München regional services using the high speed line, with an option for a sixth.

News from the world rail freight market.

SLOVAKIA: Electric services on the 21·5 km single-track Haniska pri Košiciach – Moldava nad Bodvou (mesto) section of the Košice – Zvolen line began on February 17.