Rail roundup: Alstom’s German overhaul, Proxima’s €850m order, Austria tops EU rail use
It’s your daily update on Europe’s tracks from RailTech. Alstom has been turning heads today with the news that they will indeed shutter their Görlitz plant in a massive overhaul of their central European operations. Meanwhile, French newcomer Proxima has just signed a fat contract with the manufacturer to make the open access carrier more competitive on France’s fast-liberalising network. And apparently Austria is the EU’s most train enthusiastic nation – but not Europe’s… Find all this and more as we take you through today’s hottest stories in the European rail industry.
Alstom to shutter, sell German plants, merge DACH-Nordic regions
French rail giant Alstom has announced plans to severely downsize and even shutter some of its German manufacturing sites. That includes its Görlitz plant. It is also going to combine its branch for Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DACH) with its Nordic department to create a larger region, bringing in a new turnaround specialist from Siemens to oversee the merger. What this exactly means for Alstom’s regional employees, as well as local markets, remains to be seen as the news breaks. But Germany’s unions are extremely worried.
“They said this is a structural problem, that they don’t have enough trains to build, so the German manufacturers are too big and the orders too few,” Jochen Homburg, a spokesperson from Germany’s biggest metalworkers’ union IG Metall, told RailTech. Find our deep dive on the story here.
Renovation work begins on Germany’s high-speed rail network
German state rail manager Deutsche Bahn is set to close a large section of its ICE high-speed line for several weeks to carry out extensive renovation work. The ICE line works are the first of many to come between now and 2030. Costing around 90 million euros, the modernisation project will see 35 km of rails replaced between Hamm and Ahlen in Germany’s northern Ruhr region, along with the replacement of two bridges. Work on the rails is set to begin on October 11, with disruption – including the rerouting of long-distance trains – expected to continue until November 29.
Hitachi to deliver passenger information system to Lisbon Metro
Lisbon has awarded Hitachi Rail a new contract to provide a comprehensive Passenger Information System for its entire metro network. The contract includes a complete overhaul of the central systems, the installation of new screens at 10 stations, and new passenger address systems at all stations. Hitachi will be using its scalable and modular Advanced Passenger Information System solution, already in use at Metro do Porto and Infraestruturas de Portugal, which will allow for better digitisation of information across Lisbon Metro’s network, including rolling stock and surface-level data.
Meanwhile, the Portuguese capital’s metro is expanding its system with a new 4 km Red Line extension for which five bidders submitted their offer, as well as the imminent Circular Line extension, which will offer services to previously uncovered areas of the city.
Alstom signs €850m contract with new French open operator
French high-speed start-up Proxima has signed an 850 million euro order with Alstom for 12 Avelia Horizon double-deck high-speed trains. With deliveries scheduled from 2028, it will be using the rolling stock for its planned open access services between Bordeaux, Nantes, Rennes, Angers and Paris. The deal, announced by Alstom today, includes 15 years of maintenance. The new trains will be capable of speeds above 300 km/h and will apparently have the “largest passenger capacity in the market” to lower operating costs per seat.
Proxima was established by former Voyages SNCF CEO Rachel Picard, who helped develop the national operator’s budget Ouigo brand, and Timothy Jackson, founder of rolling stock leasing company Alpha Trains. Their expansion is part of the rapid liberalisation of France’s rails. For more on that topic, check here.
In other Alstom news, the company has teamed up with tech company Flox to test a new AI wildlife detection system on the Swedish railway network in a bid to stop trains hitting animals on the track. The trial has received a grant of 290,000 euros from the Swedish government’s innovation funding agency Vinnova and will see a series of field tests conducted on the network to validate the system in late 2024 and early 2025.
DB Supervisory Board, government approves DB Schenker sale
The Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bahn AG has approved the sale of DB Schenker to the Danish transport and logistics group DSV this week. At the same time, the German government granted approval for the deal, with the sale now expected to be completed in the course of 2025 after all regulatory approvals have been received.
Last month, the Board signed a contract to sell its logistics subsidiary to DSV for 14.3 billion euros, which will go up to 14.8 billion with interest. To find out what this means for German rail, check our report here.
Network Rail to tackle extreme weather with Korean Rail Research Institute
Network Rail has signed an MoU with the Korean Rail Research Institute (KRRI) to work together for five years, particularly in the area of developing technology to make the network more resilient to extreme weather. Areas of mutual interest include evaluation techniques for landslides, the assessment of rail infrastructure resilience to extreme weather, and the inspection of railway structures using tethered drones and robotics. Network Rail said that despite the distance, “technology will bring us together” so that the two parties can “make our railways safer and higher performing for our passengers and workforce.”
Poland reveals plan to adapt rail to climate change
Poland’s national rail company PKP PLK has approved a new version of its “Railway Infrastructure Adaptation Plan for Climate Change”. The document, which takes into account projected climate changes until 2100, sets out the directions and actions aimed at limiting the impact of rail infrastructure and PLK SA’s operations on global heating. Over the last ten years, PLK recorded an average of over 4,900 weather-related incidents per year that disrupted transportation, showing that the network is particularly vulnerable to the coming changes. Therefore, they’ll be changing up at the organisational level as well as adapting their design, operation and maintenance of infrastructure.
Austria tops EU in rail transport, says Austrian report
New analysis by the Austrian Transport Club (VCÖ) based on EU data claims that Austria travels more kilometres per capita by rail than any other country in the EU. At 2,160 kilometres travelled per year, it’s twice as much as the EU average of 1,060 kilometres. Meanwhile, France follows on 1,750 km, Sweden next on 1,440 km, and Germany ranks fifth with 1,280 kilometres per capita. Italy is all the way at 11th with just 880 kilometres per capita. But just because it’s not in the EU, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t count; Switzerland remains Europe’s rail champion, with each person travelling 2,310 kilometres per year by rail.
Read more:
- UK rail minister’s ex-dealings ‘severely’ hurting supply chain
- Intelligent Rail Summit ‘24: Estonia to play ‘pivotal role’ in future of rail tech
- Belgium: SNCB stops selling some intl. ticket
- Italy in France? Trenitalia to launch Paris-Marseille route
- EU report says liberalisation pays off but is it biased?
- France’s new firm accelerates regional liberalisation
