ASIA: Representatives of Kazak national railway KTZ have begun discussions with Chinese regional officials over the launch of a planned passenger service between Xi’an and Almaty.

USA: Short line and regional railway group Gulf & Atlantic Railways has rebranded as Pinsly Railroad Company.

FINLAND: Siemens Mobility has been awarded a contract to deploy ETCS Level 2 and hybrid train detection on the first route which to be upgraded under the government’s Digirail project to replace legacy train control systems.

SERBIA: DB Systemtechnik’s Siemens Vectron locomotive 193 969 is being used for 200 km/h test running on the Novi Sad – Vrbas southern section of the 108 km corridor between Novi Sad, Subotica and the Hungarian border at Kelebia, which is being rebuilt to modern standards.

This week’s news from the global railway supply chain.

UK: Four train operators are to run a joint programme giving technology companies the opportunity to demonstrate AI, telecoms, quantum and other innovations in a real-world rail environment.