THALES has been awarded a signalling contract by a joint venture of Gülermak and Kolin for the modernisation of the 36km Sincan - Kayaş line in Ankara.

THAILAND’s National Environment Board (NEB) has approved the first phase of the Bangkok - Chiang Mai high-speed line, after an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

BRITISH infrastructure manager Network Rail (NR) and train operators CrossCountry and East Midlands Trains have announced that the £200m remodelling of track and signalling in the area around Derby station will be upgraded during 79-days of engineering, starting on July 22 2018.

SWISS Federal Railways (SBB) has signed a long-term cooperation agreement with Southeastern Railway (SOB), Switzerland’s third largest railway, for the operation of two of its long-distance services under a co-branding arrangement.

COMMERCIAL operations began on the SKr 16.8bn ($US 2bn) Stockholm City Line on July 10, when the 05.04 Stockholm City - Nynashamn service became the first scheduled passenger train to run on the 6km underground line from Tomteboda in the north to Stockholm South.

HANS-Martin Schabert has joined Transmashholding to implement an export strategy for the Russian train builder.

A German federal court in Leipzig has ended a long-running dispute over the reinstatement of rail link in southern Berlin which will cut journey times to the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport, when it eventually opens, and Dresden.

EAST Japan Railway (JR East) has announced plans to build a 360km/h test train by spring 2019 as the basis for a new fleet of E956 10-car trains to be introduced in time for the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen to Sapporo in 2030.

THE European Commission (EC) and the Japanese government agreed on July 6 to remove the Operational Safety Clause (OSC) non-tariff barrier which impacts European rail equipment suppliers within a maximum one year after entry into force of a free-trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Japan.

KOREA’s national train operator Korail has be awarded a Won 5bn ($US 4.3m) consultancy contract for Manila metro Line MRT-7 from San Miguel Holdings’ subsidiary Universal LRT, which is implementing the project.