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DB NETWORKS has created a new Network Fund worth around €130m which will be used to pay for small short-term projects intended to increase capacity, remove bottlenecks and improve service quality.

THE Tanzania and Zambia Railway Authority (Tazara) is to revamp operations on the 1860km line between Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Kapiri Mposhi, Zambia, after it secured a $US 40m loan from China.

DELHI Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has placed a further order for Bombardier Movia Metro cars, which will take its fleet of these vehicles to 614 by 2013. The $US 120m contract for 76 vehicles follows on from a contract for 13 cars announced in the middle of last year. Delivery of these additional trains will commence in the third quarter of next year.

THE 3756m Eierberge tunnel, which German Rail (DB) says is the longest in Bavaria, has been holed through. The Euros 140m tunnel is also the longest of eight being built on the new high-speed line under construction from Halle via Erfurt to Ebensfeld, which itself is part of a Euros 10bn project to upgrade the 500km Berlin - Nuremberg corridor.

TAIWAN High-Speed Rail Corporation (THSRC) made an operating profit of nearly $NT 2bn ($US 69m) in the first half of this year, its first since the 340km high-speed railway began scheduled services in 2007. This compares with a loss of $NT 2.3bn in the first half of 2010.

A Euros 175m plan is being drawn up by Irish Rail (IE) to increase the proportion of lines passed for 160km/h operation. The plan will run from 2012 to 2016 and will cut journey times significantly from Dublin to the main cities in western and southern Ireland.

BULGARIA's transport minister, Mr Ivaylo Moskovski, says that the freight division of BDZ, Bulgaria's national train operator, could be privatised within the next six months. This would pave the way for the World Bank to grant a Lev 460m ($US 338m) loan to BDZ and a further Lev 160m loan to the National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC).

THE first test train arrived at the new station beneath Berlin Brandenburg Airport, itself still under construction, on August 27. The new station and connections to the existing rail network are on schedule for completion by the end of October. However, trains will not start running to the airport until it opens on June 3 2012, when it will replace the existing airport at Tegel.

GERMAN Rail (DB) has completed a Euros 110m five-month project to renew the track on the Berlin - Hannover - Bielefeld main line. Trains will return to their normal schedules on August 28.

THE first of eight 200km/h diesel trains being supplied by CAF, Spain, under a Euros 105m contract awarded by Saudi Railways Organisation in 2008, has started test running on the Velim test track in the Czech Republic. Testing will continue until the end of the year.