IRJ at Railtex 2017: Alstom launched its CLever lightweight catenary system for the British market during the Railtex exhibition following a trial installation on the West Coast Main Line. The company also announced details of a new EMU for the British market.

THE GLOOM hanging over the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) lifted a little on May 9 as the first of a fleet of Alstom X'Trapolis Mega EMUs entered service on one of the country's busiest commuter corridors.

ALSTOM achieved a 6% increase in sales and a 15% rise in Ebit for the year ending March 31 2017, while its order backlog reached a new record of €34.78bn.

GERMAN regional operator DB Regio has awarded a €150m contract to Alstom for the supply of 25 additional Coradia Continental EMUs for the states of Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate.

The replacement of life-expired trams on established light rail networks and continued investment in new lines helped to fuel a 43% increase in the sale of light rail vehicles last year, according to data from IRJ Pro. Jonny Dearden, market researcher for IRJ Pro, explores the factors driving growth and looks ahead to the prospects for 2017.

A cross-border tram link between Strasbourg and the German town of Kehl was inaugurated on April 28, kicking off two days of celebrations marking the opening of the extension of Line D from Aristide Briande.

ALSTOM and Airbus have concluded a cybersecurity cooperation agreement, which was signed by Mr Marc Fontaine, the digital transformation officer at Airbus, and Mr Pascal Cléré, the senior vice president of Alstom’s digital mobility division, at the Airbus’s Blagnac facility in Toulouse.

ALSTOM and Paris Transport Authority (RATP) have successfully completed an experiment concerning the autonomous stabling of a tram at RATP’s line T7 depot in Vitry-sur-Seine.

SENEGAL’s minister of economy, finance and planning Mr Amadou Bâ has signed two financing agreements worth a total of CFA 129.6bn ($US 215.5m) to finance rolling stock for the Dakar TER project and relocation and renewal of the existing metre-gauge line.

ALSTOM has begun delivering a batch of 70 additional Metropolis metro cars to Panama Metro, which will be used to increase capacity on Line 1.