BELGIAN National Railways (SNCB) marked the launch of a €147m project to refurbish its fleet of 44 AM75 EMUs on May 21, when CEO Mr Jo Cornu unveiled the first modernised train at the company's workshops in Mechelen.
A cross-party Dutch parliamentary committee, set up in December 2013 to investigate the V250 Fyra high-speed train fiasco, will start public hearings on May 18 which will continue until June 12.
BELGIAN railfreight operator SNCB Logistics has launched two new accelerated wagonload services between Belgium and central Europe, complementing the Swiss Xpress service launched in March.
BELGIAN Railways (SNCB) freight business SNCB Logistics will be 66.6% owned by independent European private equity group Argos Soditic following an investment of €70m structured as a capital increase in the company.
BELGIAN railfreight operator SNCB Logistics has launched a new fast wagonload service linking Belgium with Switzerland, cutting transit times from a week to 4.5 days.
THE British Treasury has sold the government's 40% stake high-speed train operator Eurostar for £585.1m to Patina Rail, a Canadian-British consortium of fund managers. Eurostar has also agreed to redeem the government's £172m preference share once the sale has been finalised which will increase the total value of the sale to £757.1m.
BELGIAN federal minister for mobility Mrs Jacqueline Galant told the country's parliament on January 23 that only one bidder, a consortium of Alstom and Bombardier, is in the running for a framework contract to supply a fleet of inter-city double-deck EMUs to Belgian National Railways (SNCB).
BELGIUM's Mobility and Transport Federal Public Services (FPS) has awarded Mott MacDonald a contract to independently review the €2bn national rollout of ETCS currently being implemented by infrastructure manager Infrabel.
NEW train schedules were launched across Europe on December 14, and according to the December issue of the European Rail Timetable, the improvements outnumber the number of services being withdrawn.
THALYS, which operates high-speed services between Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Cologne and Essen, will become an independent company on March 31 2015 for the first time since it was set up as a purely commercial entity in 1996.