GERMAN Rail (DB) is one of the world's biggest transport organisations with nearly 297,000 employees (64% of them in Germany) and group turnover of around €40bn in 2015. Yet despite its size and breadth of activities, DB faces an uncertain future - largely driven by changes in its "home" market.

JAPAN is the European Union's (EU) biggest trading partner after China, but the trade in railway equipment between the two economic powers is a poor reflection of this status and the scale of their respective railway markets.

THE first refurbished class 474 EMU for the Hamburg S-Bahn network was presented to Hamburg's minister for economics, transport and innovation Mr Andreas Rieckhof and Mr Lutz Aigner, managing director of the city's transport authority HVV by Mr Kay Uwe Arnecke, managing director of DB Regio subsidiary S-Bahn Hamburg on January 13.

MEASURES to ensure non-discriminatory access to Germany's rail market and changes to the track access charging regime are being proposed under new draft legislation approved by the federal cabinet on January 13.

RDC Deutschland, the German subsidiary of Railroad Development Corporation, United States, has begun trial operation of its new Autozug Sylt car and lorry carrying trains on the 39.3km Niebüll - Westerland (Sylt) line in Schleswig Holstein.

SWEDISH open-access operator and traction provider Hector Rail has acquired 15 six-axle class 151 freight locomotives from DB Schenker with the aim of offering railfreight operators a cost-effective alternative to leasing new locomotives.

BAVARIAN Railway Company (BEG) has published an international tender notice in the Official Journal of the European Union for a contract to operate regional services from Nuremberg to Coburg and Sonneberg in the neighbouring state of Thuringia via the southern section of the 107km Ebensfeld - Erfurt high-speed line, which is due to open in 2017.

GERMAN Rail (DB) has announced the outcome of months of strategic review, assisted by consulting firm McKinsey, confirming a programme of measures to tackle the company's worsening financial performance.

GERMAN Rail (DB) has confirmed that as part of its planned cost reductions for next year it will cease operating all overnight trains with sleeper, couchette and specially-equipped overnight seating coaches from December 15 2016.

FOLLOWING a European tender, Rhine-Ruhr Transport Authority (VRR) has acquired 48 class 422 EMUs used on Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn services from German Rail (DB) subsidiary DB Regio.