The future of the German rail network is once again in the spotlight. With Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder describing DB’s situation as ‘dramatic’, our Senior Editor Chris Jackson explains why all eyes wil be on Berlin in September as a potentially major policy reset looms.

CANADA: The Alto high speed rail project is to benefit from a Major Projects Office which the government has established to identify projects that are in the national interest and streamline their assessment and approval to accelerate development.

NORTH AMERICA: North American Rail Solutions has announced a ‘strategic combination’ with ZA Construction to provide railway design, maintenance, repair, construction and support services in the USA and Canada.

SWITZERLAND: Metre-gauge operator Zentralbahn has awarded Stadler a contract to supply five more Adler electric multiple-units and three Fink units. These will provide additional capacity by 2030 to handle increasing leisure traffic including the growth of international tourism.

ROMANIA: The first of 29 InterRegio EMUs being supplied by Pesa for Romania’s ARF has been completed at the manufacturer’s Bydgoszcz plant.

ITALY: Firenze city council has approved the final design of a 6·1 km tram line to link Piazza Libertà on the existing network with Rovezzano main line station.

This week’s news from the global railway supply chain.

UK: A five‑year trial of the Breeze app, described as the UK’s first fully integrated, multi‑city Mobility‑as‑a‑Service transport app, is to end on October 31.

Numerous rail projects are under way across Italy, thanks to Covid recovery funding, but slow progress means that some schemes may not meet the EU deadlines for completion. Toma Bačić investigates.

CHILE: EFE has signed a US$470m contract with the Constructora Gran Andes consortium for the first section of civil works to reconstruct the Santiago – Batuco railway.

USA: Hitachi Rail has opened a factory in Maryland where it will produce rolling stock for North American customers including the Washington DC, Baltimore and Philadelphia metros.

ITALY: The construction of a railway to the resort town of Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Dolomites is not viable, according to a study prepared by infrastructure manager RFI.

AUSTRALIA: Expressions of interest in the next contract to operate passenger rail services around Melbourne are to be invited from mid-September, with the state government calling for ‘the most experienced transport operators from around the world’ to bid.

USA: NJ Transit has exercised options to purchase an additional 200 Alstom Multilevel III double-deck commuter electric multiple-unit cars for $1·055bn and 12 ALP45 electro-diesel locomotives for a maximum of $204m.

CHILE: A contract has been let for renewal of the Malloco – Santiago Lo Errázuriz section of the Santiago - Melipilla suburban rail scheme, while national railway EFE has received bids for civil works for an underground section of the route in the centre of the capital city.

UK: The Department for Transport has published what it says is ‘landmark’ research into the most effective measures to prevent railway suicides.

NEW ZEALAND: Greater Wellington Regional Council has awarded Alstom a NZ$1·066bn contract to supply and maintain 18 battery-electric multiple-units for the Wairarapa and Manawatū lines as part of the Lower North Island Rail Integrated Mobility programme.

With its planned acquisition of Frauscher Sensortechnik, Wabtec is pushing further into the train control market, and it hopes its PTC 2.0 concept could offer a lower-cost alternative to ETCS for railways around the world. President of Wabtec’s Digital Intelligence business Nalin Jain explained the thinking to Nick Kingsley.

SWITZERLAND: State-owned SBB Cargo is undertaking a realignment of its freight services under the Suisse Cargo Logistics programme, which would see the company become self-sufficient.

This week’s round-up of news from the urban transport sector.