RUSSIAN locomotive and rolling stock manufacturer Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with EMD to study potential opportunities for jointly developing a new range of diesel locomotives for 1520mm-gauge railways in Russia and the CIS region.

THE first train consisting of six Vossloh three-axle G6 shunters has been dispatched to BASF in Ludwigshafen, Germany.

TRANSPORT for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has signed an option worth £18m with a consortium of Bombardier and Vossloh Kiepe for the supply of 10 additional Flexity Swift light rail vehicles (LRVs).

GERMANY'S Federal Railway Authority (EBA) has finally approved the fleet of Siemens Velaro-D (class 407) ICEs ordered by German Rail (DB) for use on the German network, two years after they were originally due to enter service.

FRENCH National Railways (SNCF) has exercised an option for an additional 30 Régio 2N double-deck emus from Bombardier in a €277m deal which is being funded by the regions of Picardie, Midi-Pyrénées and Pays-de-la-Loire.

FINLAND's VR Group has selected Siemens as preferred bidder for a €300m contract to supply 80 1524mm-gauge electric locomotives for passenger and freight services.

ILLINOIS Department of Transportation (IDOT) announced on December 19 that it has issued a notice of intent to award Siemens a contract to supply a total of 35 200km/h diesel passenger locomotives for five US states.

TRENITALIA signed a €139.6m contract with Pesa Bydgoszcz on December 12 for 40 ATR 220 Atribo regional dmus, which will be delivered from December 2014 onwards.

NETHERLANDS Railways (NS) has awarded Bombardier a contract to supply 19 Traxx F140 MS multi-system electric locomotives to operate Dutch domestic services on HSL South following the cancellation of its order for AnsaldoBreda V250 trains.

UKRAINIAN Railways (UZ) received the first three type 2ES10 twin-section electric locomotives on December 16 from Ural Locomotives, a joint venture of Sinara, Russia, and Siemens.