NETHERLANDS Railways (NS) rolling stock maintenance subsidiary Nedtrain launched construction on a new overhaul and refurbishment workshop at its Haarlem facility on September 1.

THE Polish region of West Pomerania has awarded Newag a contract worth around Zlotys 250m ($US 64.3m) to supply 17 Impuls regional EMUs.

CROWN Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed laid a foundation stone on September 5 to officially launch construction on the Route 2020 metro link to the site of Expo 2020.

CRRC Corporation more than doubled orders from outside China in the first half of this year, according to a financial release filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange on August 23.

TORONTO and Hamilton transit authority Metrolinx has appointed CH2M as vehicle technology consultant for the Toronto Regional Express Rail (RER) project.

SWISS Federal Railways (SBB) will introduce a new service for tourists next year on the historic scenic mountain route through the Gotthard Pass called the Gotthard Panorama Express, in addition to a train aimed at hikers and a conventional RegioExpress service.

ESKISEHIR Light Rail Transportation Company (EsTram) has awarded Škoda Transportation a contract worth around €26m to supply 14 28T ForCity Classic low-floor LRVs, which will be equipped with batteries for catenary-free operation.

THE managing director of Germany's Pro-Rail Alliance, Mr Dirk Flege, has called for politicians to act on upgrading Germany’s rail network to accept 740m-long 35-wagon freight trains, which is supposed to become the standard in Europe.

CHINA’s first driverless subway line, the Yanfang line in Beijing will begin operations at the end of 2017 according to a report on August 29.

BRAZIL’s interim federal government led by president Michel Temer is investigating how to revive the country’s ambitious new line construction programme at a time of financial austerity by involving the country’s concessionaire rail freight operators.