IRELAND: National railway Iarnród Éireann and the National Transport Authority have invited expressions of interest in a 10-year framework agreement covering the supply of between 250 and 600 vehicles for Dublin Area Rapid Transport suburban rail services. Expansion of DART electric services to Maynooth, Drogheda and Hazelhatch forms part of the

VINTAGE Trains (VT) has added two more opportunities to ride behind Tyseley’s beautifully restored No. 7029 Clun Castle on June 9. The double-chimneyed BR ‘Castle’ will work what are expected to be the last passenger trains over the former GWR branch to Coalbrookdale and Ironbridge.  Two shuttles will run down the

LOCOMOTIVE builder Vossloh, which opened a new factory in Kiel-Suchsdorf in northern Germany last year, is building up to 50 new diesel locos a year. Currently, all those being built are its new four-axle ‘DE18’ design. Unlike previous Vossloh designs these are diesel-electric locos and incorporate an MTU 12V 4000 R43L

THE long-term future of Boston’s Mattapan to Ashmont high-speed line Presidents’ Conference Committee (PCC) tramcars is in doubt. They were built in 1945/46 and are the oldest passenger vehicles in continuous regular public transport service in the USA. MBTA PCC No. 3087 approaches Mattapan on June 19, 2017 with a service

AMERICAN manufactured diesel locos, once used in the USA, are being completely rebuilt in Estonia for use there and also in Ukraine.  Estonian state-owned rail freight company Operail inherited the former US Class 1-operated diesel locos which were imported during 2002/03 when the business was run by private company Baltic

ITALIAN Railways (Trenitalia) has been slowly withdrawing its Class 656 Bo-Bo-Bo locos for several years. The 4,200kW 3kV DC locos were officially nicknamed ‘Caimano’ (after caiman or alligators), and 461 were built between 1975 and 1989. Around half were later converted to freight-only Class 655. These are also now being

DESPITE opening a new electrified main line in 2016, parts of the old metre-gauge Chemin de Fer Djibouto-Éthiopien still appear to have some operational trains, although passenger services on the full route ceased in 2008.  The metre-gauge line was opened between Addis Ababa and Djibouti in stages from 1902, and

SWTZERLAND: Mountain railway and cable car operator Rigi Bahnen AG has awarded Stadler a contract to supply six two-car low-floor rack electric multiple-units for entry into service from autumn 2021. The contract signed on May 22 is worth SFr38m, including spare parts. The Bhe4/6 EMUs are intended to replace Bhe2/4 railcars

VIVARAIL: Class 150 and 153 diesel multiple-units have been withdrawn from West Midlands Trains services on the UK's Marston Vale Line, with all services now operated using Class 230 DMUs supplied by Vivarail. The first Class 230 unit entered service between Bletchley and Bedford last month. Vivarail has developed the