IN-BRIEF - Financial: Amtrak awarded Metrolink contract; Hitachi partners with HyperloopTT; VTG places €746m in bonds

Japan: Hitachi Rail has launched a technology partnership with Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HyperloopTT) to integrate hyperloop’s capsule travelling system with Hitachi Rail’s ERTMS signalling system. The integration will begin at HyperloopTT’s Research and Development Centre at Aerospace Valley in Toulouse, France.

Hitachi Rail’s ERTMS will be adapted and integrated with HyperloopTT systems to manage and automate hyperloop capsules travelling at up to 1200km/h.

Germany: VTG has successfully placed corporate bonds worth €746m on the United States and Euro capital markets. The bonds are certified as sustainable in accordance with the criteria of the Climate Bond Initiative, as VTG's core business of renting rail freight wagons and organising rail freight transport reduces CO₂ emissions.

The bonds have terms of 12, 15 and 20 years. Standard & Poor's rated the bonds BBB with a stable outlook.

Switzerland: Rhaetian Railway (RhB) expects to record a loss of SFr 24.7m ($US 27.7m) in 2020, despite a record result in 2019 and a strong two months at the start of 2020. After accounting for the SFr 12.8m from the Swiss government to compensate passenger operators and SFr 1.8m for car transporting services, RhB expects a final loss of SFr 10m.

RhB says it made a number of changes to reduce costs after passenger numbers dropped by up to 90% between March and May 2020, including reprioritising and postponing non-safety-related projects. Staffing hours were also reduced.

United States: RJ Corman Railroad has officially acquired Owego and Harford Railway (OHRY), Lehigh Railway (LRWY), and Luzerne and Susquehanna Railway (LS) as well as short line transload service provider TranZ. RJ Corman now operates 17 short lines in 11 states.

The 42.9km OHRY, 96.5km LRWY, 96.5km LS, and TranZ were founded by Mr Steve May and operate in New York and Pennsylvania, carrying commodities such as sand, scrap, feed products, plastic, propane and wood products. The short lines handle approximately 14,000 wagons annually and interchange with Norfolk Southern as well as Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad (R&N).

France: Consolis, which provides precast construction solutions, has received a binding offer for its Rail division from international investment management firm TowerBrook Capital Partners. The rail business consists of a portfolio of brands involved in the design and manufacture of sleepers and other precast concrete products for railways.

The sale, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to be completed in the first half of this year.