Keith Fender

GERMAN Rail (DB) has issued a tender for the provision of new locomotive-operated push-pull single-deck inter-city trains. The trains will be bought by DB using its own resources; no EU funding is involved.

GERMAN Rail (DB) has told IRJ it has no plans to launch ICE services from Frankfurt to London in 2020, contrary to reports in the British media, but says it still sees potential for the route in the medium-term.

AFTER a small decline in 2015, passenger numbers on Germany's railways returned to growth in 2016, according to annual figures published this week by the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), which also show overall public transport usage reached record levels.

LATVIAN Railways (LDZ) freight subsidiary LDZ Logistika has announced plans for the trial operation of a new largely rail-based container service connecting Riga with Mumbai in India.

GERMAN rail freight volumes showed small declines in 2016 despite an increase in the overall freight market, according to annual figures released this week by the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).

THE first of 30 new metre-gauge diesel-electric locomotives built by Chinese rolling stock manufacturer CRRC Ziyang arrived in Argentina on February 8.

ALSTOM has begun approval testing in Germany for the fleet of 20 class ED250 Pendolino trains supplied to Polish long distance operator PKP Intercity in 2014.

BADEN-Württemberg Ministry of Transport announced on January 26 that it has awarded DB Regio a contract to operate regional services on the Rhine Valley line from Karlsruhe to Basle in Switzerland.

THE first container train from China to Britain arrived at DB Cargo’s London Eurohub terminal in Barking on schedule on January 18, having left Yiwu in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang, southeast of Shanghai on 1 January.

AFTER a hugely challenging year in 2015, German Rail (DB) witnessed a return to growth in its long-distance passenger business during 2016 and has also enjoyed success in the German regional rail market, retaining several major contracts whilst winning back some routes previously lost to competitors.