Railway technology and innovation news
The latest technology and innovations from rail industry manufacturers, suppliers and service providers worldwide.
BNSF and Wabtec prepare to test battery-electric locomotive
USA: Wabtec has started conducting factory testing at its Erie plant of a prototype 4 400 hp battery locomotive, ahead of trial operations with BNSF that are planned to take place in the final quarter of this year.
Battery traction agreement signed as Hitachi sees market for more than 400 trains in the UK
UK: Hitachi Rail and battery company Hyperdrive Innovation have signed a memorandum of understanding for the joint development of a battery pack suitable for powering trains, and a roadmap towards a manufacturing agreement which would cover any future orders.
Arriva awards Guardia ETCS retrofitting contract
NETHERLANDS: Arriva Nederland has awarded Stadler a contract to retrofit 36 Flirt multiple-units used on regional services in Limburg with Guardia ETCS onboard equipment.
Crowdsourcing train loadings to support social distancing
UK: Independent ticket retailer Trainline has launched a function on its app which is designed to help passengers alert other people if they find that it is not possible to socially distance in particular areas of specific trains.
Specialist cables developed for Egyptian resignalling project
EGYPT: Nexans has supplied 1 700 km of cables specially developed to an Egyptian National Railways and Alstom specification for use on the project to upgrade signalling systems on the 240 km Beni Suef – Asyut section of ENR’s main line along the River Nile south of Cairo.
SNCF Réseau selects Trimble data sharing platform
FRANCE: Infrastructure manager SNCF Réseau is to use Trimble’s Quadri and Connect platforms to share information and streamline data workflows within its Enterprise Common Data Environment.
Dynamic trials start with 600 km/h maglev prototype
ETR700 HVAC maintenance contract
First approval for AngelStar’s Guardia onboard ETCS
Eurostar to test facial biometrics for ‘walk-through’ check-in
Iarnród Éireann awards national traffic management system contract
First of a Kind funding awarded for 25 rail innovation projects
Talgo orders ECx onboard systems
Robotic welding at Tikhvin wagon factory
Knorr-Bremse begins production of low-noise brake blocks for new wagons
Wabtec launches BlueFilter air filters for trains
Freight innovation funding applications invited
Automatic operation of regional passenger trains to be tested
Teleste to equip Luxembourg Coradias with passenger information systems
KiwiRail orders lifting jacks
Launch customer for Zagro’s powerful E-MAXI XXL battery shunting vehicle
Electronic Ticket Control Database enters service
Partnership to offer mission-critical IoT radio communications in the rail market
Supplying 1 km of cables per metre of vehicle length