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Siemens Mobility is recasting its workhorse locomotive as a connected digital platform, a wager that the next phase of competition in European rail will be fought over software rather than horsepower. At a launch ceremony at its newly expanded Munich-Allach plant on 10 June, the German manufacturer unveiled the Vectron X, the latest iteration of a family that has sold close to 3,000 units across the continent. Every Vectron delivered from the middle of this month will be an X

A coalition of European Union transport ministers has urged the European Commission to draw up a dedicated industrial strategy for the bloc's rail supply sector, sharpening the contest over how Brussels protects strategic manufacturing from foreign competition. The initiative, led by Austria and backed by Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal and Romania, was tabled during this week's Transport Council. Ministers called for a comprehensive Euro

Germany's flagship railway renovation strategy is colliding with the industry it was meant to serve, with steelmakers warning of disrupted raw-material supplies just as Deutsche Bahn prepares to reopen one of its busiest corridors. The Hamburg to Berlin main line, shut since August 2025 for a sweeping overhaul, returns to full service on 14 June after a frost-driven six-week delay pushed completion beyond its original late-April target. DB InfraGO has renewed 165 kilometres o

Deutsche Bahn will reopen its Berlin to Hamburg main line on 14 June, drawing to a close a nine-month shutdown that stands as both the most ambitious and the most painful test yet of Germany's effort to drag its railway back from decades of neglect. The roughly 270-kilometre corridor, one of the busiest in the country, was closed last August for a comprehensive overhaul. Work on the route saw 165 kilometres of track, 249 switches and five kilometres of noise barriers renewed

Alstom, Europe's largest train maker, has confirmed it is in confidential exploratory talks over the potential sale of its Kassel locomotive plant in Germany, in a move that underscores the growing tension between the continent's rail manufacturing base and a defence sector hungry for industrial capacity. The French group said the discussions with an unnamed interested party were open-ended and that confidentiality obligations prevented further comment. Local media reports ha

Around Europe’s rail industry, one question is beginning to eclipse the old debate over punctuality: who will own the next generation of the continent’s high speed network? That question sharpened this week after fresh details emerged around Italian private operator Italo’s planned €3.6bn expansion into Germany, a move that would challenge Deutsche Bahn on some of Europe’s busiest intercity routes. The proposal, which includes up to 50 daily services linking Munich, Berlin, H

The European Parliament has cleared the final legislative hurdle for the Capacity Management Regulation, ending more than two years of negotiation and handing the bloc's rail industry the closest thing it has yet had to a single market for track access. The regulation, formally adopted on 19 May after a second-reading vote in Strasbourg, replaces the 2010 freight corridor rules and amends the 2012 governance directive. It is the most substantive overhaul of European rail plan

Alstom delivered a record €27.6bn in fresh orders for its 2025/26 fiscal year, lifting backlog to a sector-leading €104.4bn, but the French rolling stock group conceded that operational missteps on large contracts will continue to weigh on margins into the new financial year. Group sales rose 3.7% to €19.17bn, with organic growth of 7.2%, the company said on 13 May. Adjusted EBIT came in at €1.17bn, broadly flat year on year, while the adjusted EBIT margin slipped 30 basis po

Alstom said record commercial momentum failed to translate into the margin expansion shareholders had been promised, as Europe's largest train maker confirmed full-year results that crystallised a sharp reset of medium-term ambitions under new chief executive Martin Sion. The Saint-Ouen-based group reported order intake of €27.6bn for the fiscal year to 31 March, a 39 per cent jump that lifted its backlog above €104bn and underscored the strength of a European rolling stock c

The European Commission has fired the opening shot in a long-delayed effort to dismantle one of the single market's stubbornest barriers: the inability to buy a cross-border train journey on a single ticket. On 13 May the Commission tabled a Passenger Package of three legislative proposals, comprising a regulation on rail ticketing, a regulation on multimodal booking that repeals the 2009 computerised reservation rules, and a revision of the Rail Passenger Rights Regulation.

Brussels has set out the most far-reaching overhaul of European rail ticketing in more than a decade, proposing rules that would force operators to offer single-ticket bookings for journeys spanning multiple carriers and borders. The European Commission's "Passenger Package", unveiled on 13 May, bundles three legislative proposals: a regulation on rail ticketing, a regulation on multimodal booking, and a revision of existing rail passenger rights rules. The reforms, champione

Europe's rail supply industry has called on the European Union to ring-fence proceeds from its emissions trading system to help finance an estimated €546bn expansion of the bloc's high-speed network, in the latest sign that European policymakers are struggling to close a yawning gap between climate ambition and infrastructure funding. UNIFE, the Brussels-based association representing manufacturers including Alstom, Siemens Mobility and Stadler, published its financing propos