UK: Hitachi Rail Ltd is ramping up maintenance activity at Agility Trains East’s new Doncaster depot as the roll-out of Class 800/801 Azuma trainsets begins on the East Coast Main Line. The first Azuma entered service on May 15, and four more were being used for driver training in late

CHINA: Two prototype vehicles intended to support research into a 600 km/h maglev system were unveiled by CRRC Qingdao Sifang on May 23. The 53 m long locally-developed prototype comprises a driving car and an intermediate vehicle. It has been built as part of a five-year maglev development programme announced by the

WORK is underway to repair the Conwy Valley Line in North Wales after flooding washed away significant sections of the line for the second time in three years.  The damage occurred on March 16 when Storm Gareth caused water levels to rise and wash away embankments supporting the Llandudno to

ESTONIA: Trinational project promoter RB Rail has selected IDOM as the winner of a contract to provide design and supervision services for the Tallinn – Rapla section of the Rail Baltica standard gauge line. The Spanish company’s bid of €11·4m was judged the most economically advantageous. The contract covers site investigations, preparation

NO FEWER than 73 stations are sharing a £300million Government cash injection aimed at improving access for all passengers.  Around 75% of rail journeys are now made through step-free stations with lifts and ramps, but many smaller locations still rely on subways and footbridges, making travel difficult for disabled or

UK: Infrastructure manager Network Rail has awarded contracts worth £800m for the haulage and operation of its engineering trains and the provision of seasonal rail treatment services in Control Period 6 which runs from 2019 to 2024. ‘These contracts demonstrate the commercially creative approach Network Rail’s supply chain now adopts’,

EUROPE: Swedish national operator SJ has been selected for the next contract to operate Öresundståg passenger services from Göteborg, Kalmar and Karlskrona to Malmö in southern Sweden and København in Denmark. The contract announced on May 21 is to run for eight years from December 2020, with an option for a

SWEDEN: CAF has reached an agreement to acquire 100% of rolling stock maintenance company EuroMaint Group from funds advised by private equity firm Orlando Nordics. The deal announced on May 23 is worth around €80m, subject to adjustments at the closing of the transaction which is expected by July 19. CAF said

THE £160million project to electrify a fifth route between Edinburgh and Glasgow has been completed on time and on budget.  The electrification project has been undertaken to cater for projected growth in passenger numbers from towns such as Livingston and West Calder into Edinburgh in the east and from Cleland

NEW trains whose launch on London Overground has been delayed for a year by technical problems are set to carry passengers for the first time.Class 710 Bombardier Aventra trains are expected to enter service today between Gospel Oak and Barking, and the arrival of the first two units will allow