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The Trump administration and its Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy have scrapped billions of dollars in federal funding for the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA). While this has been presented as a financial decision, Trump’s words to describe the Governor of California, a political opponent, suggested it is part of his ongoing campaign against the largest and richest state in the US. 

The cut is worth at least $4bn, but while this is only a small part of the California High-Speed Rail project’s overall budget, it could make the continuation of the project impossible. The cancelled funding allocations are known as the FSP Agreement and the FY10 Agreement. 

The project was on track to cost as much as $128 billion, significantly higher than its original estimate of $33 billion. A key aim of the project was “creating the greenest infrastructure project in the nation, both in its operations and its construction.” 

The Department of Transportation described the project as “California’s High Speed Rail Boondoggle”. Boondoggle is a US term used to describe wasteful or fraudulent spending on capital projects. 

Nearly two years after a tender process for hydrogen-powered trains was dropped (without a single bid), and more than five years after Alstom and the Province of Groningen agreed that hydrogen was a viable “full-fledged sustainable alternative to the current diesel trains,” the dream appears to be over.

Instead of hydrogen, the northern region of the Netherlands said it will instead use battery-electric locomotives to achieve its zero-emission railway aim.

The new plan is to follow its provincial neighbour Friesland, which earlier this year made €2.2m available to “explore partial electrification” of its railways. This would rely on battery-electric locomotives that can charge quickly when connected to catenary lines at stations. This is known as a discontinuous electrification.

“We will focus on (partial) electrification with (battery)electric trains. This is in line with the plans of the Province of Friesland. Next year, we will investigate which lines should be partially equipped with overhead lines and which lines should be fully equipped with overhead lines,” Wessel Feenstra, Groningen’s zero emission railways’ project leader, told Future Rail.

The current commissioning period in Groningen and Friesland runs until 2035, and the choice of how to power its railway network is now focussing on battery-electric rolling stock.

Siemens Mobility has unveiled its Velaro high-speed train to the Egyptian public for the first time at TransMEA 2025 in Cairo, an event focused on transportation and logistics in the Middle East and Africa.

The Velaro is designed for Egypt’s railway requirements, operating at speeds up to 250km/h with a capacity for 489 passengers.

Siemens, the parent company of Siemens Mobility, said that the train’s features address desert operating conditions, including specialised filtration and cooling systems.

The company reported adaptations to handle sand, heat, and dust as well as other environmental challenges specific to Egypt. Siemens also said it used Altair’s advanced tools, which enhance the digital twin, to optimise the Velaro train’s design.

Meanwhile, the Siemens Mobility-built Desiro HC regional train completed its maiden run on newly built tracks near the 6th of October Depot, west of Cairo.

The train is slated for commissioning on the Green Line, which is a 660km network linking Cairo with Ain Sokhna, Alexandria, and Marsa Matrouh. The high-speed rail network is being developed by Siemens Mobility in collaboration with Arab Contractors and Orascom Construction.

Virgin Trains has received approval from the UK regulator Office of Rail and Road (ORR) to use the Temple Mills International rail depot in East London, marking major progress towards plans to operate further international rail services through the Channel Tunnel.

The permission, granted on 30 October, provides Virgin with assurance of access to the light maintenance facilities necessary for operation of its proposed international rail services.

According to ORR, Virgin Trains demonstrated the “most effective plan” for utilising capacity at Temple Mills.

The determination was based on an independent evaluation that also took into account both the business case presented and Eurostar’s expansion plans. Applications from Evolyn, Gemini, and Trenitalia were declined by ORR.

In its review, ORR found that Virgin Trains provided stronger financial and operational proposals than other candidates. Virgin also supplied documentation showing investor support and an understanding with a rolling stock supplier.

Czech train manufacturer Skoda Group has launched the first four-car metro train for Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, at its manufacturing site in Pilsen.

The approximately 80m new four-car train set is part of a contract with the Bulgarian operator Metropoliten EAD to supply a total of eight trains for the capital city’s metro service. The agreement is valued at approximately Kč1.6bn ($77.07m).

Škoda is manufacturing the trains at its plants in Pilsen and Ostrava, both in Czechia. The first metro is currently undergoing type and test runs at the Velim test circuit, while the second is in factory acceptance testing. Two further trains are currently in the production stage.

The metro train has a maximum design speed of 90km/h and runs on a third rail supplying 750V DC. The train is equipped with three-phase asynchronous motors and regenerative braking systems that return energy to the grid.  Each train provides more than 580 passenger spaces, including roughly 120 seats, and includes accessibility features such as barrier-free boarding and designated areas for wheelchair users.