Keith Fender

DB Regio’s new fleet of Bombardier class 445 and 446 Twindexx EMUs finally entered passenger service in early December.

LUXEMBOURG Railways (CFL) has begun operation of an inter-city service between Luxembourg and Düsseldorf in Germany in cooperation with German Rail (DB).

VIAS Rail took over the operation of the Erft-Schwalm regional rail network in Germany from DB Regio on December 10 operating services on two routes.

DB Long Distance issued a public apology on December 13 for the poor service and major delays suffered by passengers using the new Berlin - Munich high-speed route following the opening of the last section of the high-speed line between Erfurt in Thuringia and Ebensfeld, north of Bamberg in Bavaria, on December 10.

FRENCH infrastructure manager SNCF Network is planning to close the Gisors - Serqueux line in Normandy for two years to enable electrification and modernisation of the 50km line, which will become an alternative route for freight traffic to the port of Le Havre.

GERMAN open-access operator Autozug Sylt, which operates car-carrying trains between Niebüll and Westerland (Sylt) in competition with DB, has purchased two new Vectron DE diesel-electric locomotives from Siemens.

KOSOVO’s national train operator Trainkos has reinstated passenger services between Prishtina and Pejë, the country's main domestic route, two months after operations were suspended amid a dispute over funding.

PASSENGER numbers on Germany’s rail network continued to rise in the first half of this year as the meteoric growth in ridership on long-distance bus services came to an end, according to figures published by the federal statistics agency Destatis on September 21.

GERMAN Rail (DB) has presented the first of 48 class 422 EMU which it is refurbishing for Rhine-Ruhr Transport Association (VRR) at its Krefeld works.

PLANNING approval has been granted for a €222m project to electrify the Ulm - Friedrichshafen - Lindau line in southern Germany. Work on the first section between Ulm and Laupheim West will begin in 2018.