About the author

Kevin Smith

Kevin Smith joined IRJ in 2009 as Features Editor and since then has travelled the world reporting on developments in the world's railways. He was appointed Managing Editor in 2017 and Editor-in-Chief in February 2020. Before joining IRJ, Kevin worked for several local newspapers in the United States and as a freelance technical writer for a university engineering magazine. Kevin graduated with a first class honours degree in American Studies from Lancaster University, Britain, in 2006, and with a Master's degree in American Studies from Purdue University, United States, in 2008.

June 22, 2015 | Light Rail

Tampere selects Tralli consortium for LRT project

THE Finnish city of Tampere has awarded the Tralli consortium of Pöyry, VR Track and Yit a contract to implement the city's planned 23.5km light rail line.

June 22, 2015 | Middle East

Oman Rail issues operations and maintenance tender

OMAN Rail, which is developing the country's 2135km railway network, has issued an open tender for the selection of a freight and network operations and maintenance partner.

June 22, 2015 | Commuter Rail

Rhine-Main S-Bahn enhancement secures funds

GERMANY's Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) has allocated up to €122m for construction of a new Rhine-Main S-Bahn link from Frankfurt Airport to Frankfurt Stadion and an additional link to Gateway Gardens in its federal programme for financing municipal transport.

June 12, 2015 | Financial

Thailand approves Jica loan for SRT Red Line

THAILAND's cabinet has approved a proposal from State Railway of Thailand (SRT) to borrow Yen 38.2bn ($US 308.8m) from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (Jica) to finance the second phase of the metre-gauge Red Line from Bang Sue to Rangsit.

June 12, 2015 | Middle East

RATP targets UAE transit through JV

RATP Group subsidiary RATP Dev has signed an agreement with Zain Capital, which is part of the Lakhraim Business Group, to establish a joint venture that will target some of the United Arab Emirates' largest transport and urban planning projects.

June 10, 2015 | Policy

Encouraging results for UITP's PTx2 campaign

IRJ at UITP 2015, Milan: A global campaign by the International Union of Public Transport (UITP) to double public transport's market share by 2025 compared with 1995 levels is yielding promising results, according to a progress report on the PTx2 initiative, which was released this week.

June 8, 2015 | Light Rail

Alstom launches SRS catenary-free electrification

IRJ at UITP 2015, Milan: A new catenary-free ground-based static charging system for LRVs and electric buses is one of the highlight exhibits for Alstom at the UITP 2015 World Congress and Exhibition being held this week in Milan.

June 5, 2015 | Europe

Record ridership on London's urban rail network

LONDON Underground reported a record 1.3 billion journeys on its services in its 2014-15 financial year, with the British capital's public transport services now carrying more than a half a billion more people annually than it did five years ago.

June 4, 2015 | Central/South America

SuperVia introduces new information system

RIO de Janeiro's suburban operator SuperVia recently completed phase 1 of its programme to upgrade its Central do Brazil terminal and 102 outlying stations, with work including the installation of Harman's IDX Information Delivery System at key stations on the network.

June 1, 2015 | Central/South America

Brazil seeks new routes for railway concession model

With Brazil's ambitious programme of railway construction plans stalling, the government is revising its concession model for new projects to rely more on private investment while easing pressure on public debt. Kevin Smith looks at the intricacies of this new policy and how the market might receive it.