ISRAEL: Railway cybersecurity startup company Cervello has raised US$4·5m during a seed funding round. Investors include North First Ventures of Israel and Awz Ventures of Canada, along with Nissim Bar-El, the founder of technology security consultancy Comsec Group. ‘As operators further digitise their infrastructure, the railway industry is adopting an active

EUROPE: Open access operators Westbahn and RegioJet have signed an agreement under which Westbahn will take over the ‘technical operation’ in Austria of RegioJet’s international trains which link Wien, Brno and Praha. Since their launch in December 2017, these trains have been operated between Wien Hbf and the Czech border station

High Court refuses to reject claims from frustrated franchise biddersTHE HIGH COURT has rejected a government attempt to quash legal challenges from Stagecoach, Virgin and Arriva, which argue that the rejection of four franchise bids in April was unlawful. In each case the reason was the same, because the bidders

THE annual rail industry ‘Three Peaks Challenge’ – raising money for the Railway Children charity – was once again supported by Direct Rail Services on June 13-15.  The operator supplied ‘retro’-liveried No. 37402 Stephen Middlemore 23.12.1954 – 8.6.2013 and No. 37419 Carl Haviland for the train, which carried participants between their

HAPPY memories of Class 20s on summer-dated holiday trains to Skegness were rekindled on May 27 when Pathfinder Tours took a pair of blue EE Type 1s back to the Lincolnshire coast.  Harry Needle Railroad Co Nos. 20096 and 20107, usually hired to GB Railfreight for London Underground ‘S’ stock

STRATFORD-upon-Avon will gain its second regular steam operation later this month when West Coast Railways launches its ‘Merchant of Avon’ trains on July 28.  Five summer Sunday trains are planned initially, starting from Burton-on-Trent and calling at Tamworth, Coleshill Parkway, Henley-in-Arden, Tyseley, Dorridge and Stratford on July 28, August 11/25

TWO of the last steam locos built by Vulcan Foundry (Newton-le-Willows) are used in the Malaysian state of Sabah to operate regular tourist trains.  The train between Tanjung Aru (Kota Kinabalu) and Papar runs normally on Wednesday and Saturday, and is a joint venture between the Sutera Harbour Resort, near

THE railways in Myanmar (formerly Burma) are being slowly modernised with assistance from Japan, in particular.  The state railway retains a handful of operational steam locos, although many more are plinthed or stored at depots.  Above: 2-8-2 YD No. 967, Vulcan Foundry UK (5732/1949), passes Bago North signalbox

The only remaining diesel loco supplied by British Thomson-Houston (BTH) still in service anywhere in the world is in use with Alliance Group in New Zealand, where it works as a shunter at their Pukeuri Works, north of Oamaru, on the South Island.  The loco – DSC 2067 – was

AROUND half the route operated by Florida tourist train Orlando & Northwestern Railway – which runs as ‘The Royal Palm Railway Experience’ – was closed to passengers in April.  The move came after the route’s owner, shortline freight operator Florida Central Railroad, decided it would no longer maintain the Tavares