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The goal of a single European railway network remains distant
24 Luglio 2026 - Europe is moving at different speeds on the deployment of European Ertms/Etcs signalling: few lines have been upgraded, often with versions that are not fully compatible, while the costs of adapting infrastructure and locomotive equipment remain extremely high.
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Hamburg-Berlin railway renewal proves only a partial success
23 Luglio 2026 - Even the major "complete renewal" project presented by Germany’s railways as the winning solution is showing all its limitations: missed deadlines, fragile alternative routes, and even a half-finished upgrade that will require further closures in the short term. Federal funding is scarce, and around 90 works across the network have been suspended or postponed.
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Four billion more for Italian rail maintenance
22 Luglio 2026 - The Italian Ministry of Transport and Rete Ferroviaria Italiana have updated the 2022-2026 Contratto di Programma, investment section, following the briefing to Cipess in December: €1.7bn earmarked and €2.2bn unrestricted for the national rail network.
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Another summer of works on the Brenner railway
15 Luglio 2026 - The Brenner railway will be subject to works again in summer 2026, with a partial closure in two time windows. Freight trains will be unable to use the line for around a dozen days.
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A step forward for the Rovereto rail bypass
15 Luglio 2026 - The Public Debate on the construction of the Rovereto rail bypass has closed with the coordinator’s report. A project that appeared to have fallen by the wayside has been revived. Initially planned alongside the Trento bypass, it was later removed indefinitely. Now it has been brought back.
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Gianpiero Strisciuglio is the new CEO of Ferrovie dello Stato
14 Luglio 2026 - On 13 July 2026, the shareholders’ meeting of Ferrovie dello Stato renewed the Board of Directors, which shortly afterwards elected Gianpiero Strisciuglio as the group’s new chief executive officer.
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Dac pilot to start in Bologna
14 Luglio 2026 - The Italian demo train for Digital Automatic Coupling is due to begin testing at Interporto di Bologna by July 2026, as part of the Horizon Europe-funded FP5 Trans4M-R project to validate digital automatic coupling in a real rail freight environment.
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Serbia, Hungary and Macedonia aim to revive rail freight
12 Luglio 2026 - Serbia, Hungary and North Macedonia have signed a memorandum of understanding to relaunch rail freight services, particularly on the Budapest-Belgrade route, which reopened to freight traffic after modernisation only in February 2026.
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Austria allocates €19.5bn for rail network through to 2032
12 Luglio 2026 - The Austrian Government has approved the new Öbb programme for 2027-2032, allocating €19.5bn to rail infrastructure plus €5bn for maintenance. Deadlines for the Semmering tunnel in 2029 and the Brenner-Nordzulauf in 2039 have been confirmed, with changes to minor sections.
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How Contship’s land-based intermodal operations work
12 Luglio 2026 - Contship grew and became known for its port container terminal operations, but over time the group has developed and expanded its land-based activities, adding a fleet of trucks and trains to connect continental and maritime flows and positioning itself as an intermodal operator. In this interview, Cristiano Pieragnolo, the company’s Chief Commercial Officer, explains how it operates and what its prospects are.
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Poland invests €150 billion in railways but not in freight
8 Luglio 2026 - Poland has launched its most ambitious rail investment plan: €140-150 billion for 4,700 km of new tracks across 19 main lines. But freight transport has been excluded, while 2,700 km will be dedicated to “pure” high-speed rail. The only counter-trend is the modernisation of a corridor linked to Rail Baltica.
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New Hannibal train between Melzo and Europoort Rotterdam
6 Luglio 2026 - Hannibal, the Multimodal Transport Operator of the Contship group, will launch a new intermodal rail service between the Rail Hub Milano in Melzo and Rotterdam’s Europoort terminal. The service will start on 8 July 2026 with six weekly trains and capacity for up to 38 loading units.
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SBB starts work on Switzerland’s Brütten tunnel
6 Luglio 2026 - A CHF3.3bn project, worth about €3.58bn, will transform the Zurich–Winterthur line. FFS has started work to expand the route to four tracks, with the Brütten tunnel as its central element and completion scheduled by 2037.
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Britta Weber takes the helm at Hupac
3 Luglio 2026 - Since 1 July 2026, Britta Weber has been the new chief executive of Hupac Group, becoming the first woman to lead the company in its almost 60-year history. She joins from UPS and aims to relaunch modal shift, starting from the terminals at Busto Arsizio and Milano Smistamento.
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A simple connector brings German railways to a standstill
3 Luglio 2026 - The official cause of the German railway blackout on 23 June 2026 has been revealed: a simple faulty connector which, once installed, generated no error message. In addition, the redundancy systems of the GSM-R network did not activate, despite being fully operational.
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Kombiverkehr ends 2025 with volumes down
3 Luglio 2026 - Intermodal operator Kombiverkehr recorded a 13.5% fall in volumes in 2025 due to rail works and poorly coordinated transport policies. Having completed its corporate transformation, the company is now calling on the German Government for a stable framework and compensation measures for the sector.





































