RAIB reports ‘near miss’ on Welsh lineA TRACK worker in Wales was almost hit by a train because his group had become separated, the Rail Accident Investigation Branch has said. The incident occurred on 2 April this year, when one member of a p-way team only moved out of the

LATVIA: National passenger operator Pasažieru Vilciens has signed the €240m contract for Škoda Vagonka to supply a fleet of 32 dual-system EMUs for the Riga suburban network, the manufacturer announced on July 30. Škoda Vagonka was named as preferred bidder in February, after procurement monitoring agency IUB blocked an earlier decision

BANGLADESH: A batch of 26 new inter-city coaches for Bangladesh Railways’ metre-gauge main lines was expected to arrive at Chittagong Port by the end of July, having been shipped from the Indonesian port of Tanjung Perak, in Surabaya, on July 19. Being supplied by PT Inka under a US$101m contract for

AUSTRIA: The European Commission announced on July 25 that it would refer Austria to the Court of Justice of the EU for failing to comply with rules regarding the certification of train drivers. At present, the licensing of train drivers in Austria is managed by SCHIG, the public railway agency responsible

CZECH REPUBLIC: ČD has awarded the first contract for the installation of ETCS on its fleet, but has halted the tendering process for other contracts. AŽD Praha and ČD-Telematika are to equip 102 Class 162 and 362 electric locomotives by 2022 at a cost of KC1·4bn, with 39% of the cost

SPONSORED CONTENT: As primary movers of people and goods, railways play a central role in the economic and social life of most countries, writes Karsten Oberle, Head of the Global Railway Practice at communications group Nokia. Railways have also become an attractive target for potential cyber attacks, due in large

UK: The first of 38 three- and four-car electro-diesel multiple-units being supplied by Stadler to operate regional services in East Anglia began revenue operation on Abellio's Greater Anglia routes from Norwich to Lowestoft and Yarmouth on July 29. The first Stadler multiple-units to operate in the UK, the Class 755 FLIRT

SPAIN: An agreement to build and operate a rail motorway terminal in the Port of Barcelona has been signed by the government of Catalunya and SNCF subsidiary VIIA.The terminal will be open to any operator, offering capacity to accommodate eight trains per day carrying unaccompanied lorry trailers to and from

TURKEY: Construction has started on an extension of Ankara’s Başkentray suburban railway from the current western terminus of Sincan to Yenikent. The 8 km northwestern extension is being funded from public sources. Completion of the TL353m project is due by the end of June 2022. From Yenikent a single-track line is

Merseyrail was the UK’s most punctual passenger train operator in 2018/19 with an average of 95.51% of trains running on time – well above the national average of 86.3%. Overall national punctuality during March was steady at 89%, but Merseyrail topped the charts with an impressive 98.1%.