LINSINGER, Austria, has rolled out an MG31 rail milling train for use on London’s new cross-city Elizabeth Line.

ELECTRIFICATION remains an “optimal solution” for the development of the busiest parts of Britain’s railway network, despite the cancellation of three key schemes last summer, according to a report by the House of Commons Transport Select Committee on rail infrastructure investment, which was published this week.

STADLER confirmed on June 26 that production of aluminium carbodies will begin shortly for the fleet of class 777 EMUs for Liverpool’s Merseyrail suburban network.

THE Welsh government has announced plans to build a £100m “world-leading” rail testing centre which it says would offer facilities for an innovation accelerator, rolling stock and infrastructure testing, storage, decommissioning, maintenance and servicing.

BRITISH infrastructure manager Network Rail (NR) has invited suppliers to bid for 10-year track maintenance contracts worth up to £5bn, as part of a plan to introduce three new geographically-focused alliances between NR, designers and construction suppliers.

BRITAIN’s East Coast franchise returned to government-owned operation on June 25 with the launch of London North Eastern Railway-branded (LNER) services following the failure of the eight-year Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC) franchise jointly held by Stagecoach (90%) and Virgin (10%).

GERMAN Rail (DB) has reportedly shelved its planned high-speed service between London, Cologne and Frankfurt, citing changes in the economic environment for its cancellation of the proposed service.

BRITAIN’S Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has called for infrastructure manager Network Rail (NR) to spend more on reliability and safety over the next five years, including an extra £1bn to replace worn-out assets.

PORTERBROOK Leasing Company has awarded Siemens a First-in-Class (FiC) design and fitment contract to install ETCS Level 2, Baseline 3 on-board equipment on a Great Western Railways class 387 Bombardier Electrostar EMU.

NEXUS, which owns and operates the 78km Tyne & Wear light metro centred on Newcastle-upon-Tyne, invites expressions of interest by July 9 for a British-government-funded project to replace its entire 90-car train fleet with light rail EMUs.