VFLI, an open-access railfreight subsidiary of French National Railways (SNCF), has awarded Stadler Rail Valencia a contract via Beacon Rail Leasing to supply three additional Euro 4000 diesel locomotives for use on freight services in France and Belgium.

THE first Siemens USA Charger passenger locomotive was revealed during a visit by US Federal Railroad Administrator Mrs Sarah Feinberg to the company's Sacramento plant on March 25.

THE first two class 45-000 six-axle diesel locomotives for Transnet Freight Rail, South Africa, rolled off the production line at CRRC Corporation's Dalian plant in China on March 15.

SWISS railfreight operator BLS Cargo says it expects to take delivery of the first of 15 Vectron multi-system electric locomotives from Siemens within the next few months.

A new Danish rail speed record was set on the night of March 21/22 when a Hector Rail locomotive operating on behalf of infrastructure manager Banedanmark reached 235.8km/h during testing.

AKIEM, the locomotive leasing subsidiary created by French National Railways (SNCF) in 2008 has been partly sold to Deutsche Bank-owned investment business Deutsche Asset Management for an undisclosed sum.

Rolling stock using Saudi Arabia's North-South Railway has suffered from severe wheel-wear issues since the line opened in 2011. Success in overcoming this problem provides lessons for the design of future desert heavy-haul networks as Thomas Hewitt, project manager rolling stock at Canarail, explains.

Israel's network expansion programme and technological upgrades are set to revolutionise rail transport in the country in the next four to five years. Kevin Smith visits facilities in Haifa and Lod to see how the railway is preparing for the transition.

THE first of 80 Sr3 Vectron electric locomotives for Finnish national train operator VR Group was delivered to the VUZ test track at Velim in the Czech Republic on February 20 for dynamic testing.

METROLINX, the regional transport authority for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, has received a prototype locomotive from Wabtec subsidiary MotviePower, which the supplier says is the first North American commuter locomotive to meet Tier 4 emissions standards.