Quintus Vosman

NEW regulations governing electromagnetic compatibility in rolling stock have come into force in Germany.

NETHERLANDS Railways (NS) could be poised to acquire a stake in Thalys, the operator of high-speed services between Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Cologne, and Essen, according to reports in the Dutch media.

SAXONY-ANHALT public transport authority Nasa has awarded Veolia a one-year extension to its contract to operate the Harz-Elbe-Express (HEX) regional network, which was previously due to expire in December 2017.

UTRECHT regional public transport authority BRU has awarded Strukton Systems a €5.5m contract to upgrade four substations and construct a new substation on the Utrecht- Nieuwegein/IJsselstein Fast Tram (SUNIJ) line.

FOLLOWING a Europe-wide tender, Lower Saxony Transport Authority (LNVG) has selected German regional operator Metronom for a contract to operate the Eastern Lower Saxony Electric Network (ENNO) for 10 years from December 2015.

INTERNATIONAL high-speed operator Thalys enjoyed continued revenue growth in the first half of this year with increasing ridership on its core routes from Paris to Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne and the successful launch of Amsterdam – Lille services in April.

FROM December trains operating on the cross-border link between Zevenaar, the Netherlands, and the German border, will only be able to use ETCS Level 2 signalling with signals along the line and the Dutch ATB-EG automatic train protection system set to be removed.

THE Dutch government has approved funding to increase capacity at Amsterdam Central station and given the go-ahead for electrification and upgrading of the Nijmegen – Roermond line.

Berlin-Brandenburg Transport Authority (VBB) has published a pre-information notice in the Official Journal of the European Union for the direct award of an interim contract to operate the ring line of the Berlin S-Bahn to DB Regio subsidiary S-Bahn Berlin.

The European Commission (EC) has agreed to cover half of the cost of a €1.25m feasibility study into the construction of a high-speed line linking Germany and the Czech Republic.