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THE FINAL Alstom Citadis LRV for Dublin's Luas light rail network was handed over to Ireland's Railway Procurement Agency at Sandyford depot yesterday. Alstom has supplied a total of 66 40m-long Citadis vehicles to the city since 2004, and these have covered more than 17 million km and carried more than 160 million passengers in the last six years.

LEASING company Oslo Vognselskap has exercised an option for a further 32 Siemens three-car trains for the city's metro network in a deal worth around NKr 1.5 billion ($US 250 million). The trains will be assembled at Siemens' site in Vienna and deliveries will begin in 2012.

The 7th UIC world congress on high-speed rail, hosted last month in Beijing, China, by the Ministry of Railways and the Chinese Academy of Railway Sciences, showcased the latest high-speed technologies and project developments, as David Briginshaw reports. The event was attended by 20 senior government officials from China and other countries, and 50 heads of the world’s leading railways and manufacturers.The UIC was inundated with 700 proposals for presentations at the congress, which were whittled down to 209 from 20 countries. The next UIC high-speed congress will be held in Washington DC, United States, in 2012.

 

Will Switzerland and its neighbours be ready to make full use of the Gotthard base tunnel when it opens in 2017? Bernhard Kunz, managing director of Swiss intermodal operator Hupac, tells IRJ regional editor Anitra Green what still needs to be done.

 

ANYONE who attended last month’s excellent UIC world congress on high-speed rail in Beijing will be in no doubt about the gathering momentum in the deployment of high-speed rail around the world both in terms of the growing number of projects and the technical advances being made.

 

THE FIRST of 25 Alstom AGV high-speed trains for open access operator Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori (NTV) has arrived in Italy in preparation for the start of testing.

CALIFORNIAN commuter rail agency Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (Smart) has awarded Sumitomo and rolling stock partner Nippon Sharyo a $US 57 million contract to supply 18 two-car dmus.

SPAIN'S Crown Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia officially inaugurated the Euros 3.5 billion 314km Madrid - Cuenca - Albacete high-speed line yesterday. December 18 will also witness the launch of AVE services between Madrid and Valencia with the opening of the new 124km line between Motilla del Palancar, just beyond Cuenca, and Valencia.

TURKEY'S transport minister Mr Binali Yildirim officially launched test operation on the Ankara - Konya high-speed line today in preparation for the opening of the line in March.

A MAJOR acceleration of Helsinki - St Petersburg services took place on Sunday, when Finnish President Mrs Tarja Halonen joined Russian Railways (RZD) president Mr Vladimir Yakunin and Finnish Railways (VR) CEO Mr Mikael Aro to inagurate the new Allegro service between the two cities.