USA: Watco is to acquire the 650 km Great Lakes Central Railroad, which runs north from Ann Arbor in Michigan to Cadillac with branches to Thompsonville, Traverse City and Petoskey.

USA: California’s North County Transit District unveiled new Alstom double-deck push-pull coaches as part of celebrations marking the 30th anniversary of its Coaster passenger service between Oceanside and San Diego.

SWEDEN: SJ has awarded Alstom a further two-year contract for the maintenance of night trains at depots in Luleå and Stockholm.

News from the world rail freight market.

UK: Two more training courses have been launched by the Rail Safety & Standards Board. One will help frontline rail workers develop leadership skills for a ‘dynamic and complex’ environment, and another is aimed at equipping operational decision-makers with the skills to make rational choices under pressure.

USA: Houston-based industrial logistics and repair services group PSC has announced a ‘significant’ expansion of its freight wagon activities through the acquisition of 32 repair, inspection, cleaning, shunting and maintenance facilities operated by Rescar.

CROATIA: HŽ Infrastruktura has launched a €620m tender for the modernisation and double-tracking its 83 km Dugo Selo – Novska line. The project is co-financed by the European Union through the Connecting Europe Facility and the Competitiveness & Cohesion Programme

Birmingham University spin-out Vanguard STS launched its HydroShunter locomotive on January 31 before convening a round table to assess the prospects of hydrogen traction gaining ground in rail applications. Nick Kingsley joined the discussion.

EUROPE: Virgin Group is seeking partners to invest in its planned launch of international high speed train services through the Channel Tunnel.

SWEDEN: The Halland region is to trial Fairtiq’s pay-as-you-go ticketing system based on swiping in and out on a mobile app.

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

UK: The Railtex rail industry trade fair which was to have been held at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham on May 13-15 2025 has been postponed.

UK: On display at the Transport Ticketing Global exhibition in London was Scheidt & Bachmann’s latest FareGo PG|50 ticket gate, which has been developed with total cost of ownership in mind.

EUROPE: Swiss Federal Railways is looking at ordering up to 40 high speed trainsets for use on international services to Italy and France, and ’potentially for other destinations such as Barcelona and London’.

FRANCE: SNCF Voyageurs and Alstom have unveiled the interior design of the TGV M high speed trainsets which are to enter service from 2026. Jérémie Anne reports from Paris.

GERMANY: Two waves of fraud have hit sellers of the Deutschlandticket monthly public transport pass, and the fightback against the criminals has been hindered by the lack of a central body with overall responsibility for the tickets.

ASIA: A rail and sea freight service from India to Kazakhstan has been developed by Kazakhstan’s KTZ Kedentransservice, Uzbekistan’s UTY subsidiary Uztemiryulkonteyner and Transport & Logistics Centre of Turkmenistan

INTERNATIONAL: The Rail-Mil Computers subsidiary of Poland’s Kombud Group and South Korean company STraffic have formed a strategic partnership to supply control systems for railways and metro lines.

TICKETING: Cubic Transportation Systems launched its FEnX station ticket gate at the Transport Ticketing Global trade fair in London, saying it had combined the latest technology with user-centric design to reduce fare evasion, enhance the passenger experience and optimise efficiency.

AUSTRIA: Open access operator Westbahn has awarded Stadler a contract to supply three Smile high speed trainsets to enable it to introduce Wien – Graz – Klagenfurt – Villach services from March 2026.