Dan Templeton

ITALIAN State Railways’ (FS) engineering subsidiary Italferr has awarded a €397m contract to a consortium comprising Salini Impregilo (60%) and Astaldi (40%) for the design and construction of the Naples - Cancello section of the Naples - Bari line in Italy, which will have a maximum speed of 200km/h..

FORT Worth Transportation Authority (FWTA) has awarded a $US 97m signalling and communication services contract to Wabtec for the new Tex Rail commuter line in Texas.

CHINA Railway Corporation (CRC) has awarded a contract for the supply of 18 eight-car CRH1 A-A new generation high-speed trains to Bombardier’s Chinese joint venture, Bombardier Sifang Transportation (BST).

OMAHA City Council has received a final financial assessment of the proposed Omaha Urban Circulator, which is estimated to cost $US 156m and scheduled to open in 2022.

SPANISH rolling stock manufacturer Talgo announced on February 28 that its net profit reached €61.9m, up 3.8% in 2016 compared with the previous year, which the company attributes to “strong manufacturing activity” particularly in relation to the Mecca - Medina high-speed project in Saudi Arabia.

BOMBARDIER announced on February 27 that it will supply an additional 21 Flexity trams to Berlin Transport Authority (BVG), which has triggered an option in a framework agreement signed in 2006 for a maximum of 200 vehicles.

DENVER Regional Transportation District (RTD) inaugurated the long-awaited light rail R Line on February 24, extending the route into the centre of Aurora.

ALSTOM announced on February 24 that it has received an order worth over €20m from Germany’s Bentheim Railways (BE) for the supply of five Coradia Lint DMUs as part of a project to restore passenger services on the 28km Bad Bentheim - Nordhorn - Neuenhaus line in Lower Saxony.

STADLER announced on February 16 that it has signed a deal with Merseytravel worth up to £700m to build and maintain 52 EMUs for Liverpool’s Merseyrail network, which will enter service 2020 onwards.

SIEMENS announced on February 16 that DB Regio has ordered 39 EMUs to operate on its Rhine Valley rail network in southwest Germany from 2020.