Italy’s minister of infrastructure and transport, Mr Graziano Delrio, explains to Marco Chiandoni how the government is pressing ahead with its rail investment programme.

The publication of a report by the French Infrastructure Policy Board on options for funding future infrastructure projects sheds new light on the true cost of meeting current commitments. Keith Barrow looks at the possible priorities for investment over the next 20 years, and how they might be funded.

THE French prime minister, Mr Edouard Philippe, conducted the first meetings on February 19 to discuss the reform of French National Railways (SNCF) following the submission to him on February 15 of a report on the future of rail transport by a commission led by former Air France-KLM chairman Mr Jean-Cyril Spinetta.

ACCORDING to German press reports, three senior ministers in the German government have written to the European Union’s environment commissioner Mr Karmenu Vella proposing to make public transport in five German cities free-of-charge together with other measures in order to cut road transport pollution.

BRITAIN’s infrastructure manager Network Rail (NR) says it wants to increase spending to £47bn in the five-year period from 2019 to 2024 (Control Period 6 - CP6) in order to increase capacity, improve the reliability of infrastructure and reduce delays by 15%.

THE Lithuanian government has approved a proposal by the Ministry of Transport and Communications to reorganise Lithuanian Railways (LG), bringing the organisation’s structure into line with the provisions of the European Union’s Fourth Railway Package.

BRITAIN’s minister of state with the Department of Transport (DfT), Mr Jo Johnson, has called for the withdrawal of diesel-only trains by 2040 and the decarbonisation of the railway.

BRITAIN’s secretary of state for transport Mr Chris Grayling informed the House of Commons on February 5 that the Department for Transport (DfT) is making contingency plans to take over the operation of the Inter-City East Coast (ICEC) franchise from Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC).

January saw the publication of an eagerly-awaited strategic plan for the development of road and rail networks in Northern England. Keith Barrow outlines the key elements of the plan, which includes proposals for a new line across the Pennines.