ITALY’s Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning (Cipe) granted definitive project approval on July 10 for the €2.5bn Brescia - Verona high-speed line.

THE conversion of the Schiedam - Hook of Holland line from heavy rail to a light rail line connected to the Rotterdam metro network is suffering delays which are likely to push the reopening date into next year.

ALSTOM led consortium Gibela has completed delivery of the first 20 trains to Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) as part of the €4bn contract signed in 2013 to supply 600 X’Trapolis Mega suburban EMUs over 10 years.

CAF announced on July 13 that it is planning to build a rolling stock plant in South Wales, which will assemble vehicles for the British market.

ALSTOM has delivered 13 Coradia Lint regional trains, which will begin operation in Demark later this year, to North Jutland Railway (NJ).

TRANSPORT for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has awarded MPact Thales (MPT), a consortium of Laing O’Rourke, VolkerRail and Thales, a contract to design and construct the extension of the city’s Metrolink light rail network to Trafford Centre.

SIEMENS presented the first prototype Rhine-Ruhr Express (RRX) EMU at its Wegberg-Wildenrath test centre on July 12, where testing will now begin.

BRITAIN’s Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB), the rail supply industry and a consortium of eight universities have secured £92m of funding to establish Britain as a global centre of rail excellence.

THE Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen, in association with Germany’s Lower Saxony Transport Authority (LNVG), have awarded 15-year concessions worth €1.6bn to operate regional passenger services to Arriva Nederland, the incumbent operator.

TRAIN driving simulation specialists Corys, a subsidiary of Areva (66%) and EDF (34%), and RSI, a subsidiary of IFP training, have agreed to merge.