GoVolta gets in. NS can’t stop it.
NETHERLANDS: The Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has ruled that open-access operator GoVolta’s planned services do not endanger the main rail network concession held by Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS). It grants access for three new international routes and domestic passengers on two services already notified.
NS asked for an economic equilibrium test in a letter dated 26 August. In a decision dated 9 September and published on 17 September, ACM concluded that the 2025–2033 concession is not at risk and ordered that access be granted for every service GoVolta notified.
ACM did not check NS’s calculations. It noted that NS’s own estimate of the fall in its internal return is below 0.2 percentage points, which under ACM’s method does not normally count as a substantial negative effect.
The decision does not allocate capacity. GoVolta still has to obtain train paths from ProRail, where concession trains take priority if there is not room for all applicants.
Full story: GoVolta gets green light for domestic and international services
The market grows. Europe’s share shrinks.
EU: European suppliers could compete for 56% of the world rail supply market in 2023–2025, down from 59% two years earlier, the European Rail Supply Industry Association (UNIFE) said on 22 September. The open market was worth EUR 124bn a year out of EUR 220.6bn.
UNIFE presented the 11th edition of its World Rail Market Study, prepared by Bain & Company, at InnoTrans in Berlin. Markets counted as closed include in-house production and countries with trade barriers or a strong preference for domestic suppliers.
Over the two three-year periods the market grew 4.6% a year excluding inflation, and UNIFE expects 3.2% a year to 2029–2031. Director general Enno Wiebe put the lost market opportunities for European suppliers at EUR 6.8bn.
Full story: World rail market grows. European suppliers get less of it.
Drivers cut speed. Renfe cuts the trains.
SPAIN: Renfe has withdrawn two fixed-gauge Talgo Avril trains from the Madrid–Valencia line. The operator says some of its own drivers have cut the trains’ speed on their own initiative.
The two sets covered six departures and have been replaced with S112 sets from the same manufacturer. Renfe says the decision is about operations and service quality and that there is no safety reason behind it.
Renfe put the figure at two in a statement answering the drivers’ union SEMAF, which had said five of the 11 available sets were out of commercial service. Each replacement set has 142–143 fewer seats per departure, on a corridor where Iryo and Ouigo compete for the same passengers.
Full story: Renfe pulls two Avril trains because drivers cut speed on their own
ČD Cargo returns to profit in first half
CZECH REPUBLIC: ČD Cargo made a pre-tax profit of CZK 385m (EUR 16m) in the first half of 2026. It carried 27.8m tonnes of freight, which the state-owned operator says was well above plan.
The freight operator lost CZK 931m (EUR 38m) in the first half of 2025 and CZK 3.82bn (EUR 157m) in the full year, according to ČTK. ČD attributes the improvement to more active selling and the cost cuts of previous years.
That’s The Rail Agenda for today. If you found it useful, forward it to a colleague.