Russian company Repetek has become the full owner of ZMK-Trans with the purchase of the 50% stake held by an outside shareholder. ZMK-Trans has around 300 flat wagons used for timber and general purpose transport, which will now supplement GK Maximum‘s fleet of more than 10 000 wagons. Malcolm Logistics has awarded DB Cargo UK a £21m three-year extension until August
BELGIUM: Infrastructure manager Infrabel announced on January 25 that it had started work on a new national training centre, due for completion by the end of 2020 at a cost of €20m. Located next to Brussels Ouest station, the centre will bring together activities currently undertaken across Belgium, including initial training for the 500 new
AN ACS Group/Hochtief-led consortium has been selected as recommended developer for a $US 1.95bn public-private partnership (PPP) project to build an automated peoplemover at Los Angeles International Airport and operate it for 25 years. The consortium comprises ACS Infrastructure Development and Hochtief PPP Solutions, each with an 18% stake, plus Dragados USA, Flatiron, Fluor, Balfour
Freight operator Canadian National Railway (CN) has announced a record C$3.2 billion (∼€2.08 billion) for major infrastructure projects in 2018 to meet a growing demand for rail freight. President and CEO Luc Jobin said the programme will see CN invest more than it ever has before in network safety, efficiency and resiliency. For the third
Dutch infrastructure manager ProRail has called for the reintroduction of the railway police to stem rising levels of vandalism. CEO Pier Eringa said that ProRail employs around 150 special officers and has installed cameras to monitor hotspots on its 7,000km network but that it remains a big problem. In 2016, there were 608 delays as
Transport Scotland’s Bill Reeve cannot think of a more exciting time for the railways of the Highlands. His comment was part of his presentation to the annual HITRANS (Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership) Rail Stakeholder Conference held at Inverness on 29th January. Other speakers illustrated why his comment was justified. ScotRail Alliance managing director, Alex
GERMANY: Proposals to significantly reduce the use of diesel traction in favour of low-emission alternatives have been presented to the Bayern cabinet by Land Transport Minister Joachim Herrmann. The Bayerische Elektromobilitäts-Strategie Schiene (BESS) is intended to support the federal government’s climate 2050 climate targets, and to make rail a more attractive option for passenger and freight transport.
ETHIOPIA: Work is to start later this year on the construction of a railway training academy, Ethiopian Railways Corp announced on January 13. When fully operational, the academy is expected to employ around 250 teachers and administrative staff, training up to 1 00 students at a time in seven different railway-related disciplines. The Chinese-built electrified railway
Network Rail has awarded Siemens Rail Automation a contract to supply, install and support European Train Control System (ETCS) in-cab signalling on the fleet of 745 freight locomotives across Great Britain. This is the first of a series of contracts which will see ETCS – a key component of Network Rail’s Digital Railway programme – installed
