Siemens and Lufthansa Technik to develop military evacuation train
GERMANY: Siemens Mobility and Lufthansa Technik Defense have agreed to develop a train that can carry more than 150 injured or sick patients under medical care, aimed at the Bundeswehr and its NATO allies.
Siemens Mobility supplies the train itself: Vectouro coaches hauled by a Vectron X or Vectron X Dual Mode locomotive. Lufthansa Technik Defense fits the coaches with stretcher racks and fully equipped intensive care beds.
The train is designed for up to 90 medical and support staff on board. The coaches can be configured for all four NATO patient categories, D1 to D4, and converted to ordinary passenger use.
The medical systems come from Lufthansa Technik’s aeromedical evacuation business, which the German Air Force and other armed forces have used for decades.
Rail passenger traffic hits a record as freight falls again
EU: Train passengers in the EU travelled 457 billion passenger-km in 2025, up 2.6% on the year before and the highest figure since data collection began in 2004. Rail freight moved the other way, falling for a fourth year in a row.
Growth slowed. A year ago, Eurostat reported a 5.8% rise for 2024.
Germany’s railways carried 2.95 billion passengers in 2025, ahead of France with 1.31 billion and Italy with 844 million.
Freight volumes are roughly 10% below the 2018 peak of 410 billion tonne-km. The European Commission’s mobility strategy of December 2020 set the goal of raising rail freight by 50% by 2030. Five years later, the growth is on the passenger side.
Coradia Max delays force Alstom to find EUR 2bn to cut debt
INDUSTRY: Alstom must find around EUR 2bn by September 2027 to reduce its debt after Coradia Max delays and problems on other German projects drained its cash. It now expects an adjusted operating margin of around 1% this financial year, down from around 6.5%.
Alstom paused Coradia Max production from April to June to fix problems on the double-deck regional train. It now expects a cash outflow of EUR 1.5bn this year. Net debt rose to EUR 1.1bn from EUR 0.4bn at the end of March.
The board is reviewing all organic and inorganic options to reduce debt, Alstom said. Its statement named no specific measures.
Alstom is reviewing how the group is organised and where it builds its trains, with decisions due by early 2027. It has not mentioned closures.
Budapest–Belgrade tickets on sale as ÖBB waits for approval
CROSS-BORDER: Hungarian operator MÁV-Start is selling tickets for two direct trains a day each way between Budapest and Belgrade from 13 December. Austrian operator ÖBB, which says both are to continue to Vienna, says the start still depends on the line being approved in Hungary.
Hungarian Transport Minister Dávid Vitézy told broadcaster RTL on 1 November that two quality assurance and regulatory certificates are still missing. He gave no new date.
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