Summary：Bombardier and Siemens are discussing a potential combination of their rail activities, Bloomberg and Reuters reported on April 11

Bombardier and Siemens are discussing a potential combination of their rail activities, Bloomberg and Reuters reported on April 11.

The wagon leasing market continues to improve in Europe and is growing in Asia, container, modular building, barge and wagon leasing company Touax said when announcing its annual results on March 29. Looking to the future, the company said its European wagon business ‘continues to improve gradually’, which was enabling it to ‘strengthen and develop third-party asset management.’

Tracsis is to invest up to £1m to take a 23·3% stake in Vivacity Labs, which produces software and data for smart cities and intelligent transport systems. A Tracsis executive will join Vivacity’s board, and the company has an option to take a further 4·8% stake for an additional £0·3m. The investment round also included Downing Ventures EIS Fund and the London Co-Investment Fund.

Harting Technology Group has completed a €5·5m project to expand its rail and industrial connector, cable and sensor factory at Sibiu in Romania, where the company expects to create 100 jobs over the next two years.

Siemens has joined the Corporate Partnership Board of the International Transport Forum, and intergovernmental organisation with 57 member countries which acts as a think tank for member governments and organises an annual summit of transport ministers. ‘It is a great opportunity to discuss the future of the transport industry with our peers‘, said Jochen Eickholt, CEO of Siemens Mobility.