BOMBARDIER presented the first Régio 2N double-deck emu to French National Railways (SNCF) president Mr Guillaume Pepy and representatives of regional governments at its Crespin plant in northeast France on September 25.

BRITAIN'S National Skills Academy for Railway Engineering (NSARE) announced on September 24 that approval has been granted for the development of a new training academy for rolling stock engineers, which will be built at Siemens' Kings Heath maintenance depot in Northampton.

SAUDI Railways Organisation (SRO) has awarded a contract to DB International to supervise infrastructure design work, rolling stock production, and project management for the 450km Mecca – Jeddah – Medina high-speed line.

A ceremony was held at Metz station on September 21 to mark the handover of the first of 10 Alstom Régiolis bi-mode multiple units for the French region of Lorraine.

INDIAN Railways (IR) is working on plans to adopt Common Rail Electronic Direct Fuel Injection (CREDI) technology for diesel locomotives with the aim of reducing fuel costs for its 4500-strong fleet.

THE president of Russian Railways (RZD), Mr Vladimir Yakunin, says he wants to get back into the business of running its freight trains and that splitting up the fleet between the new companies which were spun off from RZD was a mistake.

IN a ceremony held today in Gold Coast, Australia, Bombardier presented its first Flexity 2 LRV for the city's new light rail line, a 13km, 16-station link between Gold Coast University Hospital and Broadbeach.

ANSALDOBREDA has reacted to Netherlands Railways (NS) decision to cancel its order for 16 V250 high-speed trains by arguing that the operator failed to correctly implement a recovery plan for introduction of the fleet.

NEW YORK Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has placed a $US 1.8bn order with Kawasaki for an initial batch of 92 two-car M-9 emus for Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) as part of a framework deal which includes options for up to 584 additional sets for both LIRR and Metro-North.