On April 12 the UK government passed emergency legislation giving itself control — although not at this stage ownership — of the British Steel plant in Scunthorpe. This aims to prevent Chinese owner Jingye taking any steps which would shut down the UK’s only remaining blast furnaces able to produce virgin steel which is used for products including rail.
The Ministry of Railways has announced that India produced 1 681 locomotives in the 2024-25 financial year, 209 more than in 2023-24. The ministry said ’this milestone surpasses the total locomotive production of regions such as the United States, Europe, South America, Africa and Australia, reaffirming India’s growing dominance in the global railway sector’.
US private sector passenger train operator Brightline has launched a Brightline Rewards loyalty programme using Antavo’s Loyalty Cloud platform.
Trainline has expanded Chief Data Officer Mike Hyde’s role to Chief Technology Officer, overseeing both the Technology and Data teams with a focus on embedding AI and machine learning into Trainline’s strategy. Nina de Souza has been appointed Chief Product Officer, joining from B2B auction marketplace TBAuctions.
US composite sleeper manufacturer Evertrak has appointed David Connell to its Tie Transformation Team. He was previously Vice-President of Engineering at Union Pacific. ‘His extensive background in track materials innovation, infrastructure management, and strategic engineering leadership will be invaluable as we continue to transform the railroad tie industry with our environmentally sustainable GFRP composite alternatives that outperform traditional wooden ties’, said Evertrak founder and CEO Tim Noonan.
Luc Laroche has been appointed President of the Railenium research institute in Valenciennes.
Rail industry optical fibre sensing technology company Sensonic has appointed Ashish Upadhyay as CEO. He joins from rail cybersecurity company Cylus, where he was Director for the Asia Pacific region.
Alstom has appointed Thabiso Komako as CEO of South African rolling stock mechanical and electrical component manufacturer Alstom Ubunye from April 1. He was previously Rolling Stock Operations Executive at the Gibela Rail Transport Consortium of Alstom and Ubumbano Rail.
Eurostar has signed a charter of commitments relating to the inclusion of travellers with autism in the rail environment, drawn up in conjunction with organisations including SNCF Réseau. The charter commits the business to further develop its neurodivergent-friendly designs, create clear, accessible and sensory-sensitive messaging and provide more intensive autism and neurodivergent supportive training for all frontline staff.
