David Briginshaw

While the roll-out of GSM-R in Europe has been a great success, there are two immediate threats to its prospects, and there is a growing recognition that railway telecommunications will have to evolve to keep up with and take advantage of rapid changes in technology.

Denmark, which is already investing heavily in its railway, is looking to ramp up spending even further in a bid to slash rail journey times between its main cities. David Briginshaw reports on these ambitious plans.

THE Rhine-Ruhr Transport Association (VRR) has issued a call for tender for a contract to supply and maintain for 30 years a fleet of 71 double-deck emus plus additional trains to cover maintenance.

TRIALS have started in South Africa with three locomotives fitted with a system called Jika passive hydraulic steering (PHS) which is aimed at trebling the life of locomotive wheels and reducing track wear by 60%.

THE governor of Jakarta, Mr Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, officiated at Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) ground breaking ceremony on October 10 to mark the start of construction of the first metro line in the Indonesian capital.

NORWAY's infrastructure manager, Jernbaneverket, has pre-qualified nine joint ventures and three companies from Europe and Asia to bid for two contracts for the construction of a 20km tunnel on the new 250km/h Follo line.

DR Choi YeonHye has been appointed as president and CEO of Korail, Korea's national train operator, and is the first woman to lead the company.

TRANSPORT for Greater Manchester (TfGM) opened a 3.4km extension to the East Manchester Line of its Metrolink light rail network early. Services started running to Ashton-under-Lyne on October 9.

ISRAEL Railways has placed a Shekels 1.5bn ($US 421.7m) contract with Alstom to maintain its fleet of IC3 dmus for seven years, with an option for an eight-year extension.

KANSAS City has awarded a $US 22m contract to the US subsidiary of CAF, Spain, for four LRVs for operation on its initial 3.5km downtown streetcar line linking North Market with Union Station.