THE first of 70 class 385 regional EMUs for ScotRail was delivered to the VUZ Velim test track in the Czech Republic on August 26 after completing its journey from Hitachi’s Kasado plant in Japan.

JAPAN’s Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) announced on August 24 that its pre-series Dual Energy Charge Train (Dencha) battery-assisted EMU will enter revenue service on the 11km Orio - Wakamatsu section of the Chikuho Line on October 19.

TRANSMASHHOLDING (TMH) has set up a Hungarian subsidiary, Transzmasholding Hungary, with the aim of establishing a joint venture with local manufacturer Dunakeszi Járműjavító, the operator of a former Bombardier plant which is currently assembling trams for CAF.

UKRAINE’s second-largest city Kharkiv added a 30th station to its metro network on August 25 with the launch of passenger services on the northern extension of Line 3 from Oleksiivska to Peremoha.

AMTRAK announced on August 26 that it has awarded Alstom a contract to supply 28 high-speed trains for the Washington DC - New York - Boston Northeast Corridor (NEC), which will replace the existing Acela fleet and provide additional capacity on the 730km route.

HUBER & Suhner announced on August 15 that it signed a five-year contract with Bombardier to be its main cable supplier.

TRANSPORTNAYA Koncessionnaya Kompanya (TKK), a consortium of Lider Group and LSR Group, in St Petersburg, Russia, has placed an order with Stadler for 23 Metelitsa trams. The first six vehicles are due to handed over in July 2017.

URAL Locomotives presented the last of 33 ES2G Lastochka EMUs for the Moscow Ring Railway to Central Suburban Passenger Company at Podmoskovnaya depot in Moscow on August 22.

THE operation of regional rail services in Sweden's four most-northerly counties changed hands on August 20, when Tågkompaniet took over the Norrtåg network from Botniatåg, a joint venture between German Rail (DB) subsidiary Arriva (60%) and Swedish national train operator SJ (40%).

AFTER several delays, Dutch infrastrucutre manager Prorail opened the new station at Utrecht Vaartsche Rijn on August 23.