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THE BOARD of Eurostar is today expected to approve the acquisition of 10 Siemens Velaro high-speed trains, which could be used on new services from London to Amsterdam and Cologne.

GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for calm after riot police were called in to disperse crowds demonstrating against the construction of a new central station in Stuttgart.

RUSSIAN Railways (RZD) reported a 23% increase in container traffic on the Trans-Siberian Railway in the first eight months of 2010, a result which has left RZD president Mr Vladimir Yakunin optimistic about railfreight's gradual recovery following the economic downturn.

TRENITALIA has signed a contract with a consortium of Bombardier and AnsaldoBreda for 50 ETR 1000 high-speed trains in a deal worth Euros 1.54 billion. AnsaldoBreda has a 60% stake in the consortium and its share of the contract is worth Euros 900 million.

BRITISH infrastructure manager Network Rail has appointed Mr David Higgins as its new chief executive. Higgins is currently chief executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority, the body responsible for developing and building the infrastructure for the 2012 London Olympics. He will take up his new role in February 2011 and succeeds Mr Iain Coucher, who resigned from the post in June.

VICTORIA department of transport has selected Bombardier to supply a fleet of low-floor LRVs for Melbourne in a deal worth $A 303 million ($US 293 million). The contract includes 50 Flexity Swift vehicles, a mock-up, maintenance equipment, and maintenance of the LRVs until 2017, with options for a further 100 vehicles.

SÃO PAULO Metro (CMSP) has awarded the Eastern Express Monorail Consortium a $US 1.44 billion contract for a monorail line that will serve as a 24km extension to Metro Line 2.

MINING company Rio Tinto is planning further investment in its heavy-haul railway in the Pilbara region of northwest Australia to cope with a projected increase in international demand for iron ore. Rio Tinto said last week it will spend $A 246 million ($US 230 million) to raise output by 5 million tonnes to 230 million tonnes per year by the first quarter of 2012.

STUDIES will begin next month to determine the market for a high-speed line between Durban and Johannesburg, according to South Africa's transport minister Mr Sbu Ndebele.

Until recently the use of electro-diesel or dual-mode locomotives has been rare, but new designs are starting to appear. Dr Alex Luvishis states the case for their wider deployment.