THE Sicilian city of Catania has expanded its metro network for the first time since the opening of the initial Borgo - Porto section in 1999, with the start of passenger services on the branch from Galatea to Stesicoro in the city centre on December 20.

THE first class 707 Desiro City suburban EMU being built by Siemens for South West Trains (SWT) has arrived in London. Testing of the first two five-car trains will begin in early 2017 and are due to enter service in April between London Waterloo and Windsor.

SEOUL Metropolitan Government’s Urban Infrastructure division has awarded a Won 44bn ($US 36.8m) contract to Hyundai Rotem for 32 metro cars for operation on Line 9.

THE government of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Railway (BR) have agreed a memorandum of understanding with DP Rail, Britain, to design, finance, build, operate and maintain the new 240km Dhaka - Payra railway.

LYON Transport Authority, Sytral has started utility relocation works to enable full construction of Line T6 to begin in September 2017. The 6.7km light rail line is due to open at the end of 2019.

HITACHI Rail has placed an order with Rolls-Royce to supply 136 MTU Series 1600 PowerPacks for installation on 36 class 802 trains that will predominately operate Great Western Railway services between London, Plymouth and Penzance from 2018.

INCREASING capacity through track quadrupling most sections and upping the frequency of regional and inter-city trains is at the heart of the United States’ Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) new recommended vision for the Northeast Corridor (NEC) released on December 16.

SYSTRA has secured a seven-year project management contract for the implementation of a new train management system for Corsica Railways (CFC).

THE chief executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Mr Leung Chun-ying attended a ceremony at Ocean Park station on December 19 to mark the inauguration of the South Island Line.

THE French Railway Safety Board (EPSF) granted an Authorisation to Place in Service (APS) on December 15 to permit Siemens Velaro D class 407 high-speed trains to operate in multiple on the French rail network.