International Railway Journal Magazine

The consortia comprise Malaysian and Chinese civil engineering companies. Artist's impression of a Penang light metro train. Photo Credit: MRT Corp BIDs have been submitted by six consortia for the phase 2 civil works package for the new Ringgits 16bn ($US 3.8bn) 29.67km elevated light metro line under construction between Butterworth and George Town and Penang International Airport on the island of Penang in Malaysia.

GERMAN Rail’s (DB) supervisory board has appointed Michael Obrowski as the national railway’s new chief financial officer (CFO). Obrowski replaces Karin Dohm who was appointed as CFO in October 2025, but left DB in March this year. Her departure followed reports of repeated clashes with fellow executives and alienating key stakeholders, including politicians and employee representatives.

The Korean company says this is its largest overseas maintenance deal. Hyundai Rotem CEO Lee Yong-bae (left) and Mohammed Rabie Khlie, director general of Moroccan National Railways, at the signing ceremony in Rabat on June 18.

The new lines would be built over the next 20 years. Dhaka's first metro line, MRT Line 6, opened in December 2022. Photo Credit: Shutterstock THE Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) presented Dhaka’s Updated Revised Strategic Transport Plan (URSTP) on June 23. The document calls for the construction of two new metro lines and five monorail lines over the next 20 years, plus other measures to alleviate chronic road congestion in the Bangladeshi capital.

THERE are 4000km of railway tunnels in Japan, and with more than 70% now over 60 years old life-extension measures have become a necessity. At present, there are sufficient numbers of qualified inspectors able to assess the condition of tunnel linings, but with the active workforce expected to shrink over the coming years due to an aging population, the need to streamline inspection processes has become a pressing challenge.

Investigators from Britain’s Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) say that one train ran into the other at 79km/h. Photo Credit: RAIB BRITAIN’s Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) issued a statement on June 24 giving initial details of the movements of two passenger trains just before they collided on June 19, resulting in the death of one driver and injuries, including some serious, to more than 160 people.

BARSTOW City Council in south-central California has approved BNSF’s $US 4bn Barstow International Gateway (BIG) project, paving the way for construction to start later this year or in early 2027. BIG is a planned 1820ha integrated rail facility on the west side of Barstow that includes a rail yard, intermodal facility, and transload warehouses designed to transfer freight from international containers to domestic containers. The project includes 331km of track and 35 bridges and culverts.

RHINE-Ruhr Transport (VRR) and go.Rheinland have released preliminary information about the forthcoming tender for the Rhineland Stage 2 S-Bahn contract in northwestern Germany. The notice has been issued to provide potential bidders with additional preparation time before a potentially shorter submission period begins. The tender is expected to launch from the third quarter of this year.

$US 10m additional payments will go towards maintenance and security. Photo Credit: Alstom PANAMA’s National Assembly budget committee has approved a $US 9.6m budget transfer to Panama Metro for rail maintenance, security upgrades and project management fees. The additional payments come as passenger traffic on the capital’s metro network continues to rise sharply.

Project involves converting 30 DMUs and bi-mode trains. Photo Credit: David Haydock BRITTANY in northwest France is converting its fleet of DMUs and bi-mode multiple units with diesel engines to consume type B100 biofuel produced from rapeseed oil. The region has 12 four-car AGC bi-mode class B 82500 multiple units dating from 2008, which will be converted first, as well as 18 X 73500 single cars built from 1999.