INTERLOCKING: Bombardier Transportation presented what it says is the fastest computer-based interlocking at UITP Global Public Transport Summit 2019. Speaking exclusively to Railway Gazette at the company’s Liljeholmen office in Stockholm on June 11, Bombardier said that EBILock950 will be officially presented at the Nordic Rail trade show in Jönköping

THALES: Thales has presented two tools for big data analytics at the UITP Global Public Transport Summit 2019. Thales’ NAIA software captures data on passenger flow, platform crowding, train occupancy and intervals between trains. It then analyses this to help operators to understand how passengers behave and respond appropriately. Using

TANZANIA: Tanzania Railways Corp has awarded an international consortium a €2·5m nine-month contract to undertake feasibility and preliminary design studies for a commuter rail network in the capital Dodoma. The consortium is led by Spanish consultancy Ardanuy Ingenieria and includes Intercontinental Consultants & Technocrats from India and South Korea’s Soosung Engineering.

GERMANY: A number of passenger services transferred to new operators on June 9, including routes in Baden-Württemberg which are the first in Germany to be managed by UK-based rail and bus group Go-Ahead. Go-Ahead In 2015 the Land of Baden-Württemberg selected Go-Ahead for the Stuttgart Netz 1 Lot 2 (also known as 1b or

UK: A partnership of Virgin Group, Stagecoach, SNCF and Alstom has applied to the Office of Rail & Road for permission to operate open access trains between London and Liverpool from May 2021, which it says would be ‘the UK’s most advanced and customer-focused’ rail service. The announcement on June 11

UK: More than three-quarters of all services operated by Great Western Railway are set to change with the introduction of a completely recast timetable on December 15, as the FirstGroup franchise operator moves to capitalise on the fruits of the Great Western Route Modernisation programme and increase capacity on some

ESTONIA: State owned logistics company Operail has reported a net profit of €2·6m for the first three months of 2019, double the figure for the same period last year. Chairman Raul Toomsalu said the main source of profit was the lease fleet of 2 100 wagons, with revenue up 65% as

Reservations required Virgin will be going ahead with its plans to require reservations from all passengers, which it unveiled in April, if it is allowed to run a new open access service between Liverpool and London from 2021. The operator’s future as a franchise holder is in doubt after

‘Pendolino’ No. 3900045 Virgin Pride passing Rugeley Trent Valley on May 13, with a Liverpool Lime Street to London Euston service. CHRIS MILNER FOLLOWING the shock announcement Virgin Trains (VT) and its partner Stagecoach had been disqualified from bidding from the West Coast Partnership franchise and were likely to exit

FOLLOWING the shock announcement Virgin Trains (VT) and its partner Stagecoach had been disqualified from bidding from the West Coast Partnership franchise and were likely to exit railways, VT has surprised everyone by announcing it will make a bid to become an open access operator. Virgin has lodged an application