Arriva loses franchise in Northern England
Arriva UK Trains will lose the rail franchise in Northern England five years ahead of schedule. The UK government will take Northern, the troubled train operator, under its control from 1 March 2020 instead of...Read more
Biggest German political party wants to reform DB
German Federal traffic minister Andreas Scheuer Scheuer signed a deal this week with Deutsche Bahn for the investment of 86 billion euros to update the German rail infrastructure. Still, there is a lot of discussions...Read more
Magic circle of rail franchise in UK
It’s a month since the UK’s newborn and veteran train operators have declared their inspiring plans for the future. Some companies even managed to report fewer quick wins. On the other hand, at least six...Read more
UK waves goodbye to Virgin Trains
United Kingdom has waved goodbye to Virgin Trains. The railway operator has been operating on the West Coast Main Line for over 22 years. It was the UK’s last railway enterprise owned by business magnate...Read more
Deutsche Bahn prepares Arriva for IPO
Deutsche Bahn is considering to launch an initial public offering (IPO) of its multinational transport subsidiary Arriva. The company’s minority stake might well be sold next year. Afterwards, DB plans to put the remaining shares...Read more
ATO as the magic bullet for shortage of track capacity
“Almost everywhere in the world, there is a shortage of capacity on the rail network. We desperately need Automatic Train Operation to tackle this shortage. It’s not a question of can do or want to,...Read more
Arriva NL: ‘Liberalisation is not as fashionable as earlier’
CEO of Arriva Netherlands Anne Hettinga had expected more from the government plan for liberalisation of the Dutch railways. He calls ‘extremely disappointing’ that four lines mentioned in the coalition agreement still have to be...Read more
Czech private operators will enter regional lines
After several years of successful operations on the mainline between Prague and Ostrava, two major Czech private railway operators are preparing to enter the country’s regional lines. On 15 December 2019, Leo Express will launch...Read more
Second test with autonomous passenger train in Groningen
In the coming period, there will be a second test with Automatic Train Operation (ATO) in the province of Groningen in the Netherlands. This time the passenger train of Arriva will run between the Groningen...Read more
GOBOTiX tests automated inspection system to identify rolling stock faults
The UK-based technology company GOBOTiX has completed a successful trial of Vehicle Underside Examination System (VUES). During the 27-month tests, this automated inspection system has detected the various types of rolling stock defects and anomalies....Read more
NMBS has no plans for its own Three Countries Train
For a number of years, Dutch and Belgian authorities, rail operators and rail infrastructure managers have been discussing an international rail connection between four cities in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. Until the Dutch trains...Read moreSuccessful tests of passenger self-driving train in Netherlands
Dutch infrastructure manager ProRail is performing the weeklong tests of a passenger train equipped with Automated Train Operation (ATO). The pilot ride was made on the evening of 15 March. The trials are being carried...Read more