Railways in Cattala

The rail transport system in Cattala consists of about 2,800 km of railway lines, of which 65% is electrified. Most traffic is passenger trains, although there is considerable freight goods traffic between Jennai and the ports of Calora and Celeste.

Maintenance work on all railway lines is managed by Ferrovie Cattala, a state-owned company that owns the railway infrastructure. The majority of passenger trains are operated by Trenocattala and its subsidiaries. Goods transport is performed by competing railway companies, including Deutsche Bahn.

Cattala is a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The UIC Country Code for Cattala is 77.

Jennai Railair
Jennai Airport Station was opened in 1972 and operated railway services between Jennai Harbour and Celeste's central station three times an hour, with 60 minute journey's between both main cities cutting journey times compared to the congested main roads. However the service was underused and passengers complained about the large number of suburban stations stopped at by the trains; Jennai Station was regarded as a "small town station on a slow line" according to a Ministry of Transport inquiry, commissioned in the 1980s to investigate why there was so little usage of the railway service.

In 1990, the railway station was closed for a major upgrade, and a spur was built connecting it to the InterCity line between Celeste and Jennai Harbour. A dedicated connection between two major cities and the airport was made and regular services increased. The station was extended underground, with two platforms and two tracks created to reduce delay and congestion on the line.

By 2005, the station had seen its passenger numbers rise above 7 million from just 1 million a year six years earlier. The station had reached capacity and required a major expansion to limit congestion and encourage more passengers to stop using cars to travel to the airport. The following year the new government announced its intentions to close the station for six months to build a further two railway tracks and an extra platform to resolve the capacity problem. Controversially, the station was closed and a replacement bus service set up to take passengers to the nearby town of Ovarco, which had become the de facto terminus for the services from Jennai International to the city itself. The upgrade meant new 10-car trains could run on the spur and services could for the first time terminate at the airport station.

Upon the opening of the new station, the Managing Director of Jennai Airport announced that the station was being renamed from "Jennai Airport Station" to "Jennai International", and the new terminal routes on platforms 1 and 3 would be referred to as "Jennai Railair" services. This branding was later rolled out across the line. Despite the recent upgrade and expansion of the railway service, there are already proposals to construct a fourth platform above ground to the north of Terminal Two, for dedicated suburban services and potentially direct services to Calora and the North.

InterCity Rail
The InterCity Rail franchise began in 1990, and took over the West Coast Main Line, Transmonte Express and the western stage of the South Coast Main Line.

Transmonte Eastern
The Transmonte Eastern line was created from the Central Line, which was rebranded following the integration of the urban railway network in 1990.