TWO of the four French railway unions joined air traffic controllers and other public sector workers in a national strike on March 22 in protest against president Mr Emanuel Macron’s plans for labour reform and the perception that rather than seeking a better deal for state workers, who number more than 5 million, he wants to cut back the public sector through redundancies and the use of contract workers. This is Macron’s first real test since he came to power in May 2017.

“YOU need to think like you are the Google of transport, or you will be dead.”

THE French government has initiated discussions with regional authorities and stakeholders following the publication in February of two watershed reports into the future priorities for infrastructure investment and the structure of French National Railways (SNCF). Both reports favour a slimmed-down conventional network rather than building more high-speed lines, while a major reorganisation of SNCF is recommended to address some of its long-term problems.

SEVERAL of Europe’s private open-access passenger operators are proving the sceptics wrong and disproving a widely-held belief that passenger rail services can only survive with government hand outs and subsidies. As we report this month, some operators have overcome considerable obstacles to compete with their much-larger state-owned competitors and are beginning to thrive.

AS we take our annual look at the year ahead, it is hard to avoid the “D” word. Digitalisation is starting to take hold in the minds of railway managers and engineers around the world as they begin to appreciate what it can achieve. Digitalisation is rapidly emerging as a driver of railway technology and innovation alongside existing drivers such as heavy-haul freight, high-speed, and metro automation.

THE quest to reduce the emission of greenhouse and noxious gases from diesel engines appears to have taken on a new sense of urgency judging by the recent flurry of announcements about pilot projects for alternative-fuelled trains and contracts for the supply of trains with innovative traction systems. Such developments are vital if rail is to maintain its environmental competitive edge over other modes.

THE announcement on September 26 that Siemens and Alstom have agreed to merge their rail businesses did not come as a complete surprise as rumours of a potential tie up, first between Siemens and Bombardier Transportation and more recently between Siemens and Alstom, have been circulating for some time.

The closure of a small stretch of railway line must never again lead to the chaos and wide-reaching economic damage of Rastatt, an incident which has directly exposed rail as the weak link within the integrated logistics chain. A strong transport supply system underpins vital trade relations between European countries and beyond, as well as local, national and European economies. Customer confidence in rail transport has also been damaged, jeopardising modal shift in the coming months and beyond. This must be rapidly restored if rail is to continue playing a key role in Europe’s sustainable transport system.

TECHNOLOGY is advancing at a faster rate than ever before, and the pace of change is impacting many areas of business and industry, with some of the innovators firmly intent on disrupting the status quo.

THE merger of Alstom and Siemens’ Mobility division on September 26 might be read as a reaction to another recent tie-up in this age of consolidation in the railway rolling stock supply market: the combination of Chinese state-owned companies, CSR and CNR, in June 2015.