AZERBAIJAN officially inaugurated a new cross-border link to the Iranian city of Astara on March 5 when the first test train crossed the newly-constructed dual-gauge (1520mm and 1435mm gauge) bridge over the Astarachay river, which divides the two countries.

ZÜRICH Public Transport (VBZ) signed a contract with Bombardier for the delivery of 70 seven-section Flexity low floor LRVs on March 2, with an option for another 70 vehicles.

FRENCH rail solutions company CIM has acquired rail depot equipment specialist Mechan, Britain, for an undisclosed fee.

THE City of Istanbul has issued a tender for 50 new four-car metro trains for Istanbul Metro.

BOMBARDIER announced on March 2 that it has signed a five-year framework agreement to supply its EBI Cab 2000 automatic train protection solution to Polish rolling stock supplier Pesa for new vehicles for the Polish market.

LIVERPOOL Lime Street station is set to reopen to passengers on March 9 more than a week after a collapsed wall caused 200 tonnes of rubble to fall across four tracks, cutting off all main line traffic to the city centre’s primary rail hub.

GERMAN Rail (DB) has told IRJ it has no plans to launch ICE services from Frankfurt to London in 2020, contrary to reports in the British media, but says it still sees potential for the route in the medium-term.

A direct metro link between Taipei city centre and Taoyuan International Airport was inaugurated on March 2 by Taiwan’s minister of transport Mr He Che Dan, the mayor of Taipei Mr Ke Wenzhe, and the mayor of Taoyuan Mr Zheng Wencan.

ITALIAN State Railways’ (FS) engineering subsidiary Italferr has awarded a €397m contract to a consortium comprising Salini Impregilo (60%) and Astaldi (40%) for the design and construction of the Naples - Cancello section of the Naples - Bari line in Italy, which will have a maximum speed of 200km/h..

THE government of the Australian state of Victoria has released a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a $A 518m ($US 395m) project to increase track capacity on the regional rail line serving Ballarat and Melbourne.