Keith Barrow

THE first Alstom TGV 2N2 Euroduplex Atlantique trains for France’s Sud Europ Atlantique high-speed line entered commercial service on December 11, when French secretary of state for transport Mr Alain Vidalies and Mrs Florence Parly, executive director of Voyages SNCF welcomed passengers aboard the first service, the 09.28 Paris Montparnasse - Toulouse Matabiau.

ONTARIO Teachers’ Pension Plan and Borealis Infrastructure, Canada, announced on December 8 that they are considering selling their 30-year concession to own, operate and manage Britain’s 109km High-Speed 1 (HS1) link between London St Pancras and the Channel Tunnel.

FRENCH secretary of state for transport Mr Alain Vidalies and Mr Xavier Bertand, president of the region of Hauts-de-France, announced on December 7 that control of two loss-making inter-city services will pass to the regional government in a deal which includes the renewal of rolling stock.

TEST running began on Ottawa’s light rail Confederation Line on December 2 when an LRV operated between Cyreville and Blair on the eastern section of the route.

VANCOUVER SkyTrain Millennium Line services were extended to Coquitlam on December 2, when Mrs Christy Clark, premier of the province of British Columbia and Mr Dan Ruimy, member of parliament for Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge, inaugurated the 11km Evergreen extension.

THE Brazilian city of Salvador opened the initial section of its second metro line on December 5, when passenger services began operating on the 2.2km three-station western section of Line 2 from Accesso Norte station on Line 1 to Detran and Rodoviária.

BOMBARDIER announced on December 5 that French National Railways (SNCF) has ordered 52 additional Francilien suburban EMUs for services on Transilien lines J and L from Paris Saint Lazare.

FOLLOWING a competitive tender, Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW) has awarded Downer EDI a $A 1.7bn ($US 1.3bn) contract to supply and maintain 24 Waratah double-deck suburban EMUs, which will provide additional capacity on the Sydney Trains network.

TESTING of the first metro line in the Indian city of Lucknow was officially launched on December 1, when Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mr Akhilesh Yadav flagged off a trial run on the initial 8.4km section of the north-south line between Transport Nagar and Charbagh, which is due to open on March 26.