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GERMAN Rail (DB) has officially inaugurated a new electronic signalbox in Munich Pasing, on the western approach to the city, which DB describes as the largest railway junction in Bavaria.

THE number of trains operating on the Beijing - Shanghai high-speed line has been cut today from 88 per direction to 66 in the wake of the recall, which starts today on a step by step basis, of 54 CRH380BL trains by China CNR for safety checks. The Ministry of Railways has redeployed 21 CRH380A trains manufactured by CSR from other lines, but this is not sufficient to maintain the timetable.

JR EAST will establish a company later this year with the aim of boosting Japanese rail suppliers' attempts to challenge for contracts overseas. Working with domestic suppliers, the new organisation will offer packages for all aspects of railway infrastructure projects - from rolling stock and operations management to signalling and communications services. The company will begin operating early next year.

CHINA's premier Wen Jiabao has announced a three-point plan to improve railway safety in the wake of the fatal high-speed train crash near Wenzhou on July 23 in which 40 people died and 191 were injured. The objective is to strengthen the current investigation into the cause of the accident to not only identify the direct cause but also the source of the problem, while at the same time learning lessons from it. As a result, the government says the investigation team is being strengthened.

RUSSIAN Railways (RZD) has agreed terms of reference with Transmashholding for a contract to supply a fleet of 160km/h double-deck inter-regional trains.

TAIWAN's Railway Reconstruction Bureau (RRB) has submitted two route proposals to the government for a direct line between Taipei and Toucheng on the island's east coast.

BNSF Railway continued to generate healthy returns for parent company Berkshire Hathaway in the second quarter, with net profits rising to $US 690 million, an increase of 14.4% compared with the same period in 2010.

CANADIAN National (CN) has revealed plans to invest $US 165 million in its main Chicago freight yard in a move which will centralise the railway's shunting operations on a single hub.

DANISH infrastructure manager Banedanmark has awarded Siemens a Euros 252m contract to install communications-based train control (CBTC) on the Copenhagen S-Train network in the first phase of a Euros 3.2bn project to resignal the entire Danish mainline railway network by 2021.

RIDERSHIP on the Taipei - Kaohsiung high-speed line reached an all-time high of 3.7 million passengers last month, according to figures announced this week by Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation (THSRC).