At the end of this year Australia will see its largest privatisation since the mid-1990s, when Queensland Rail (QR) will float its freight business, QR National, on the Sydney stock exchange. QR CEO Lance Hockridge explains to Keith Barrow why the sale is vital to the future of the company.

Three years after it was launched, the results and recommendations of Ferrmed’s global study detailing its great axis railfreight network are ready for consideration by the European Commission. Kevin Smith was at the 3rd Ferrmed Conference in Barcelona to hear insights into the project’s potential impact on future European freight transport.

 

With debts of nearly €10 billion, Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE) has come under international scrutiny for its role in the Greek economic crisis. Keith Barrow examines how easy credit has sustained a spiral of inefficiency at OSE that looks set to end in drastic corrective measures.

 

Go! Cooperative, the latest prospective member of Britain’s growing portfolio of open-access operators, is taking a slightly different approach from those that have set up and maintained successful operations in the past. Kevin Smith reports on the plans of Britain’s first cooperative train company as it aims to begin operations in December 2011.

 

Railways minister Ms Mamata Banerjee has announced plans to radically expand and improve India’s network over the next 10 years. Kevin Smith takes a closer look at the 2010-11 railway budget and how this fits into Indian Railways’ Vision 2020 plans.

 

Not one of the thousands of Eurostar passengers stuck in the Channel Tunnel on December 18 will forget that tumultuous experience any time soon. Now a highly-critical report into the events is demanding that Eurostar act quickly to prevent similar failures from happening again. Kevin Smith looks at the implications for the Channel Tunnel passenger operator.

 

With the inquest into what caused five trains to fail in the Channel Tunnel on December 18, and the subsequent response of Eurostar and Eurotunnel continuing, Kevin Smith reports on the incident and its aftermath.

 

With Swiss rail transport facing some difficult challenges over the next 20 years, regional editor Anitra Green reports from Suissetraffic 2009 where the country’s leading transport figures gathered to discuss the future of the nation’s transport network.

 

Last month one of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs made his biggest ever acquisition by purchasing all remaining shares in North America’s second-largest railway. Keith Barrow looks at how Warren Buffett’s high-stakes wager on BNSF has sent ripples through Wall Street.

 

The European Commission says 21 European Union member states have still not fully adopted key legislation on liberalisation, years after it was due to be implemented. Keith Barrow examines the obstacles blocking the First Railway Package.