PORTUGAL: Infrastructure manager Infraestruturas de Portugal has awarded Hitachi Rail and its partners SISINT and Conecticabo contracts to modernise telecoms and passenger information systems on Lisboa’s Cascais Line.

UK: Design work has been completed for the proposed conversion of a Class 60 diesel freight locomotive to a modern form of steam power. The project’s backers are to make a decision on whether to proceed in the next two to three months, Steamology CEO Matt Candy has told Rail ...

INTERNATIONAL: Future Travel Studio has developed DreamSuite, an airline-inspired flat-bed seat concept intended as an alternative to couchettes for overnight trains.

UK: JST Ports & Logistics Holdings has acquired RFS Works, a material handling company which provides rail logistics at sites such as quarries, construction sites and depots.

USA: ‘With multiple independent federal and state audits completed, every dollar is accounted for, and we stand by the progress and impact of this project’, California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO Ian Choudri said after recently appointed US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a review of federal funding for the project.

Development of the South Wales Metro project around Cardiff is progressing apace, and the start of electric operation marks a significant milestone in the programme, as Chris Howe explains.

CZECH REPUBLIC: The Ministry of Transport has selected a preferred design option for two railway tunnels to be built under Praha with a total length of 10·6 km.

News from the world rail freight market.

GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn has awarded Smart Mobile Labs a framework contract for the planning, deployment and operation of secure private 5G networks.

NORWAY: State-owned railway engineering contractor Baneservice has awarded Swedish company Railcare a SKr30m order to supply a Railvac diesel-operated vacuum excavator.