RIDERSHIP increased by 8% on Portuguese Trains (CP) services in the first half of this year, according to figures released by the company on July 21, which show passenger numbers rose by 3.9 million compared with the first half of 2016 to more than 60 million.

BADEN-Württemberg Ministry of Transport announced on July 24 that Hohenzollern Railways (HzL) and Southwest German Transport (Sweg) will merge on January 2018 following approval of the combination by district councils of Zollernalbkries and Sigmaringen.

THE first light rail line in the Algerian city of Sidi Bel Abbès was inaugurated on July 25 by minister of transport and public works Mr Abdelghani Zaalane.

INDIAN Railways (IR) has shortlisted three bidders for a public-private partnership contract to build a factory to produce 5000 EMU cars over a period of 12 years. The selected supplier will also maintain the trains for 13 years.

THE CEO of China’s Exim Bank Mr Sun Ping and the CEO of Iran’s Bank of Industry and Mining, Mr Ashraf Afkhami, signed a $US 1.5bn loan agreement in Tehran on July 25, which will finance the electrification of the 926km Tehran - Mashhad line.

THE first Stadler RABe 501 Giruno inter-city EMU for Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) began dynamic testing at the VUZ Velim test centre in the Czech Republic on July 24.

THE state government of South Australia has awarded an $A 80m ($US 63.5m) contract for construction of Adelaide’s East End light rail extension to the Downer York joint venture of Downer EDI Works and South Australian partner York Civil.

ITALIAN design and engineering company Italdesign Giugiaro has been awarded a contract by CRRC Guangzhou Electric Locomotive, to design a new tram for Guangzhou.

ALSTOM has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Industrial Development and Renovation Organisation of Iran (IDRO), and Iranian Rail Industries Development Company (IRICO) to create a joint venture for the localised production of metro and suburban rolling stock for Iranian cities.

GERMAN Rail’s (DB) freight subsidiary DB Cargo has awarded Siemens a contract to upgrade its locomotive fleet with condition-based, predictive maintenance.