Toma Bacic

CHINA: The opening of a strategically important artery linking two airports in southern China has added further connectivity to the sprawling rail and metro networks of the Pearl River Delta region around Guangzhou. The 48.2 km Zhuliao – Xintang Nan section of the Guangzhou – Shenzhen Intercity Railway was inaugurated on August 1, completing a…

ITALY: Trenitalia has begun testing heat-mitigating window films on its Frecciarossa fleet in a trial aimed at improving energy efficiency and passenger comfort during the summer months. The work is being carried out at the Napoli Gianturco rolling stock maintenance depot, Trenitalia’s largest facility dedicated to high speed trains and the principal maintenance base for…

ITALY: A fleet of custom-made Stadler trainsets has begun entering service on the Circumvesuviana railway as part of custom-oriented modernisation strategy, newly-appointed head of regional transport operator EAV Pietro Diamantini tells Toma Bačić. The first of Stadler’s custom-built ETR300 electric multiple-units entered commercial service on regional transport operator EAV’s 950 mm gauge Circumvesuviana network on…

Open access operator Leo Express has come through some stressful times to reach an era of stable growth, partly thanks to major shareholder RENFE. Chief Executive Peter Köhler explains the company’s backstory and current strategy to Toma Bačić. ‘We think that the flexibility of private operators is a huge advantage, and that future railway services…

GERMANY: Responding to a complaint lodged by Italo seeking guaranteed access to the German rail network, federal networks agency Bundesnetzagentur has called for changes to DB InfraGO’s train path allocation rules. NTV-Italo had been seeking guaranteed long-term access rights to underpin its proposed €3.6bn investment in a fleet of high speed trains to launch services…

ITALY: Sardegna’s public transport operator ARST has unveiled the first of a fleet of hydrogen fuel cell powered multiple-units ordered for its 950 mm gauge lines. Toma Bačiċ reports from Stadler’s rolling stock commissioning centre at Erlen in Switzerland. In July 2023 ARST awarded Stadler a framework agreement to supply 10 hydrogen multiple-units for use…

FS Logistix has started a commercial trial of its Smart Train concept, launching a regular service between Milano and Catania using wagons equipped with PJM’s WaggonTracker technology. Toma Bačić reports. On April 15 Italy’s state-owned rail freight group FS Logistix began operational testing of its Smart Train concept in commercial service, dispatching the first pilot…

Advances in the sharing and analysis of condition monitoring data are paving the way for more proactive management of railway infrastructure, as MerMec Managing Director Ruggero Delcuratolo explains to Toma Bačić. Digitalisation and automation are changing the way in which the rail sector monitors and maintains its assets, according to Ruggero Delcuratolo, Managing Director of…

Automatic Train Operation is the latest addition to a growing portfolio of train control systems which Stadler has built up over the past decade, as the group’s Head of Signalling Marc Trippel explains to Toma Bačić.  Earlier this year, the metre-gauge Waldenburgerbahn became the first railway in Switzerland to introduce GoA2 automated operation, using CBTC…

Italian infrastructure manager RFI is expanding its ability to inspect and intervene on its network through autonomous and data-driven technology. Toma Bačić reports.