Californian high-speed trains one step closer to becoming a reality
California’s high-speed rail authority has taken a significant step towards procuring its first high-speed trainsets, bringing high-speed rail to California nearer to reality, by approving a Request for Qualifications for the nation’s first 220 miles-per-hour...Read more
Major Spanish rail operating centre receives upgrades
The rail operating centre in Sevilla, which monitors more than 226,000 trains on a yearly basis, has received a significant upgrade, Spanish infrastructure manager Adif announced last week. The overhaul is part of a 72-million-euro...Read more
Israel eyes multi-billion-euro rail expansion, Saudi link on the cards
The Israeli government aims to connect the country’s major urban centres with the interior via rail as part of the ‘One Israel Project’. The plans call for an investment of 100 billion shekel (24.5 billion...Read more
HS2: UK infrastructure watchdog condemns in scathing assessment as “unachievable”
A coruscating report has put the high speed rail project HS2 on the most serious level of fiscal mismanagement. The UK government appointed but independent watchdog, the Infrastructure and Projects Authority, has placed the multi-billion...Read more
Renfe kicks into high gear with new high-speed service to France
Renfe will begin offering – starting Friday afternoon – a high-speed service between Madrid and the French coastal city of Marseille. The move comes a mere two weeks after the start of cross-border services between...Read more
DB details high-speed tunnel planning as minister throws weight behind project
Deutsche Bahn has made changes to its planning for the construction of a new high-speed rail tunnel below the city centre of Frankfurt in a bid to streamline and speed up the effort. Meanwhile Federal...Read more
More than 700 million euros in UK backing for Turkish high-speed rail
UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK government’s export credit agency, will unlock 781 million euros in financing for a new high-speed railway in Southern Turkey. The money comes with the condition that UK firms will...Read more
Rail Baltica preps for construction work on section to Polish border
The Lithuanian government has begun land acquisitions in the area between the city of Kaunas and the Polish border. Transferring ownership of plots of land and objects to the government should speed up preparations for...Read more
Renfe inaugurates new entity for international activities
Spanish operator Renfe announced the launch its fifth business unit on Wednesday, in a bid to manage and grow its international activities. Renfe Proyectos Internacionales was created following the restructuring of Renfe Operadora.Read more
DB’s new high-speed train begins testing abroad
The new ICE 3neo high-speed rolling stock, which Deutsche Bahn (DB) entered into service in Germany last December, will begin testing in the Netherlands, Dutch Railways (NS) announced late last week. The trains are slated...Read more
ICE-L rolling stock leaves factory for tests in Poland, Austria and Romania
The first ICE-L train was on its way to Germany this week, ‘smuggled’ in between a freight train. The Talgo-built rolling stock will undergo performance testing in the coming months in multiple countries and is...Read more
DB sees potential for tripling European high-speed network, but investments insufficient
Deutsche Bahn forecasts that an additional 21,000 kilometres of high-speed rail can be built between now and 2050. That is the key finding of a new study presented over the weekend. It would mean tripling...Read more
Brand recognition of Renfe’s AVE high-speed label backfires
So synonymous is Spanish operator Renfe’s AVE brand with high-speed services that when a competitor’s train broke down earlier this week, Renfe received the complaints. The Spanish operator has reached out to market and competition...Read more