Manufacturers'​ Monthly’s Post

After decades of sourcing rail cars overseas, the NSW Government has re-committed to deciding on a replacement for the first 445 ageing Tangara suburban rail cars in 2025, and commencing procurement in 2026. The government has updated the Project Overview for the Future Fleet Program project page on Gateway by ICN and released an Early Guidance for Industry document. This confirms that the government will seek 50 percent local Australian and New Zealand content for the Tangara replacements as part of its plans to progressively replace five Sydney train types in the 2030s, 2040s and 2050s, rebuilding a local manufacturing sector. #manufacturing #australianmanufacturing Industry Capability Network Industry Capability Network - NSW #nswpol #rail #railmanufacturing

We can read with some sense of envy for countries, even near neighbours, that are investing in rail freight to get heavy trucks off roads.

Australian-made rail wagons are expected to be a cornerstone of the country's ongoing modal shift from road to rail needed to reach net zero targets.

Intermodal Freight, Road2Rail, how in Australia? Learning from the best in the world is never going to be a bad place to start. This time I had to go to Europe to learn from the best, so I did. Joseph Misuraca from MHD Supply Chain News heard I has been to Europe to look at, and learn about their '4th Generation' Road to Rail intermodal systems. For 25 years I have had so many people ask me "how do we get more freight off the roads and onto rail?" For 20 years I knew why we couldn't, but I didn't have a solution either. Typical - problems are a 'dime a dozon', but real answers are hard to find. I now believe I have found the direction, and maybe the answers. For the past 5-years I have been researching Europe's rapidly expanding Road to Rail systems. However, without seeing these 4th Generation systems working, without opertional undersanding and without real OpEx and CapEx costs, my thinking was easy to dismiss. So I funded my own research trip. Below is an introduction to some of what I learnt. Enjoy the short read and please leave a comment. Thank you to Anna Samsonova from LOHR INDUSTRIE, Imad J. from CFL Bettembourg, Marco Schmidt and Jean-Marc ABACHIN from CargoBeamer for your generousity in hosting me and openness in sharing your respective businesses. #Railfreight #Intermodal #road2rail #InlandRail #Portshuttles

Maritime Transport to Build $750 Million Rail Freight Interchange 🚆💰 Maritime Transport is set to construct a $750 million rail freight interchange. This project aims to enhance rail connectivity and streamline cargo movement. Investing in rail infrastructure is crucial for improving logistics efficiency and supporting economic growth. 🔗 Maritime Transport to build $750 million rail freight interchange https://lnkd.in/eFVjaePz #Innovation #Logistics #RailInfrastructure #CargoMovement #EconomicGrowth

Maritime Transport to Build $750 Million Rail Freight Interchange 🚆💰 Maritime Transport is set to construct a $750 million rail freight interchange. This project aims to enhance rail connectivity and streamline cargo movement. Investing in rail infrastructure is crucial for improving logistics efficiency and supporting economic growth. 🔗 Maritime Transport to build $750 million rail freight interchange https://lnkd.in/e68YZmwB #Innovation #Logistics #RailInfrastructure #CargoMovement #EconomicGrowth

The Victorian Government’s $104 million investment in regional rail upgrades, including new rail, extensions, and enhanced capacity, is strengthening freight services and boosting industry confidence. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gRYWxij6 #Freight #Rail #Victoria #Logistics

Derby’s Litchurch Lane - the nation’s largest train factory, in operation for 185-years - is facing closure. It is the only UK site where trains are designed, developed, built and tested and at risk are 1,300 direct jobs in Derby and a further 15,000 jobs in supply chains. This is terrible news for our city - most especially for those who work at the site and their families - as well as for those who work for suppliers across the UK.  It is not too late. A viable option for 10 new Aventra trains (as used on the Elizabeth Line) which Alstom and its supply chain can deliver immediately is available. Alstom has been very clear, it needs 10 Aventra trains to restart the production  lines. The Government is only committing to 5, despite knowing that Transport for London (and South West Rail) need more Aventra trains. Furthermore, Alstom has also committed to make Derby its global centre for the design and build of its successor to the Aventra, the Adessia. The site is also Alstom's global centre for monorail, having recently designed and built the system now operating in Cairo. Indecision on this (and the delayed timetable for HS2) is threatening the long-term future of UK train design, manufacturing and export opportunities. We believe the Government can support the UK economy by playing an important strategic role in the procurement of rolling stock by approving the additional 5 Aventra trains immediately. The cost of Litchurch Lane closing will be thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of pounds in lost taxes.  5 trains to save 185-years of production - we urge the government to act decisively and to act now. IF YOU SUPPORT THIS STATEMENT AND WISH TO BE INVOLVED IN THE CAMPAIGN FURTHER PLEASE EMAIL ME ON [email protected] & I'LL KEEP YOU IN THE LOOP.

We're proud to be a Derby business. Our Directors were born in Derby and in our first decade (2005-2015) we were part of the University of Derby before becoming an independent business. We build platforms and courses for some of the city's main employers: Toyota, the Royal Derby Hospital, Derby Homes - and the University of Derby. It's a city you suspect many in Westminster would find difficult to pinpoint on a map - and yet they should, because unlike so many other places in the UK with an industrial heritage, Derby still makes stuff. It still has a world-class manufacturing sector with Rolls-Royce, Toyota, JCB just down the road, and many others in the supply chains. That list included train manufacturer Alstom - but it may not for too much longer. 185 years of train production could shortly come to an end with the closure of the Alstom factory, essentially because in the run-up to the election Government has apparently ceased to operate effectively. I don't intend this to be a political point but it's difficult to avoid this conclusion. Moreover, this isn't a sector where one could argue that there is a natural and inescapable decline, as with other industries over the last few decades; rail is the future as well as the past. Please take a moment to join us in supporting the campaign to save the Alstom factory. More information here: https://lnkd.in/eqhGkWnU #railindustry Dr John Forkin MBE DL

Sharing this post from Dr John Forkin MBE DL regarding the situation at Alstom and what Marketing Derby and other local businesses can do to help. And not just local businesses, what we can do to help as individuals to save the 1,300 jobs that are at risk in the city. Just 5 trains to save 185 years of skills, production and innovation.