Today’s Railways Europe 302 – April 2021

The April 2021 issue of Today’s Railways Europe contains all the very latest news and features from right across mainland Europe, plus all our regular monthly features. This month our articles visit Portugal, France, Switzerland, Germany, The Netherlands and Poland, covering a range of topics, old and new. Main line railways, light rail and heritage topics are all covered in our comprehensive news coverage, bringing you the best of European railways.

Feature articles include:

• The fall and rise of Portugal’s railways: 1980–2020: In recent years, railways in Portugal have increasingly come under the spotlight for the worst possible reasons. Manuel Tão reflects on the network’s fortunes through four difficult decades.
• Alstom and Bombardier: What future for the rolling stock ranges?: In issue 301, Keith Fender looked at the history behind Alstom’s takeover of Bombardier Transportation at the end of January and the likely impact of the acquisition on the rail industry. In this article, David Haydock and Keith Fender consider the possible effects on the rolling stock ranges of the two manufacturers.
• Waldenburgerbahn: The end of a Swiss narrow gauge oddity: This month Switzerland’s only 750 mm gauge passenger railway will close for modernisation and conversion to metre gauge. Andrew Thompson charts the history of this busy line south of Basel.
• Opening up the French passenger market: Over the next few years SNCF’s monopoly of the French passenger market will be broken with the arrival of competition in both the regional and long-distance sectors. David Haydock examines the changes ahead.
• Traction Archive: The dying embers of Polish steam: In 1991 Poland was a magnet for steam enthusiasts with a variety of classes still working passenger and freight trains on secondary routes. Keith Fender recalls a trip to the Elk and Poznan areas 30 years ago this month.
• Winter in Berlin pictorial: In February, northern Germany was hit by heavy snowfall and temperatures as low as -20 C, creating a “winter wonderland” for photographers with conditions rarely seen in Berlin. Christoph Grimm and Rene de Vries present a selection of images taken in the capital and the surrounding area.
• Rail freight around the Scheldt estuary Part 2: Terneuzen: Quintus Vosman explores the freight-only network in the Dutch region of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, which can only be accessed by rail through Belgium.

News stories include:

• Next-generation Nightjet stock revealed
• Portuguese open-access plans
• LNVG orders Alstom EMUs
• RegioJet extends trains to Split
• Škoda trams to replace Tatras in three German cities
• Graz metro proposals
• First RhB Ge 6/6 II scrapped
• More ex-DSB electric locos for Bulmarket
• 40th anniversary of first TGV world rail speed record
• New owner for ex-SNCF “Sous Marin” diesel
• Danish steam developments