GERMAN Rail (DB) carried a record number of passengers on its domestic services in Germany last year, with ridership reaching 49 million and the total distance travelled increasing by 4% to 82.4 billion passenger-km.

THE Supervisory Board of German Rail (DB) has approved plans to increase the maximum length of the next-generation ICx long-distance train from 10 to 12 cars in order to raise seating capacity from 724 to 830.

A surge in rolling stock procurement and infrastructure investment is required in Germany in the near future to meet growing demand for rail transport. However, doubts exist over the level of funding available for these projects.

GERMAN infrastructure manager DB Networks and Hessen State Ministry of Economics, Transport and Regional Development announced on January 30 that the planning process for the Hanau – Würzburg/Fulda high-speed line is to resume, and a programme of public consultation will begin later this year.

THE BAVARIAN Railway Authority (BEG) and Rhine-Main Transport Association (RMV) have selected DB Regio for the contract to operate regional express services from Frankfurt to Aschaffenburg and Wurzburg via the Spessart line for 12 years from December 2015.

THE supervisory board of German Rail (DB) has extended Dr Rüdiger Grube's contract as CEO of DB until December 2017. Grube, who is 61, has been CEO of DB since May 1 2009 and his contract was due to end on January 1 2013.

POLAND's largest open-access railfreight operator DB Schenker Rail Poland has awarded Siemens a contract to supply 23 3kV dc class 193 Vectron electric locomotives.

THE twin-bore Katzenberg tunnel on the line between Freiburg im Breisgau and Basle was formally inaugurated on December 4 with an ICE-T emu and a freight train passing the through the tunnel and arriving simultaneously at the southern portals.

Bombardier's multi-engined Traxx DE ME was one of the star exhibits at InnoTrans in September, with visitors waiting up to 40 minutes for the chance to see inside this innovative locomotive. With the need for lower emissions and greater fuel economy becoming ever more pressing, Keith Barrow asks whether four engines might be better than one.

FOLLOWING a Europe-wide tender, DB Regio has won Lot 1 of the contract to operate the Eifel-Westerwald-Sieg network contract in western Germany comprising three routes and covering 2.3 million train-km per year.