THE European Union moved an important step closer to harmonised safety approvals for railway equipment and operators on April 28, when the European Parliament approved the European Council's common position on the technical pillar of the Fourth Railway Package.

INCREASING ridership on Shinkansen services helped the three Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies listed on the Tokyo stock exchange to achieve record consolidated sales and operating profits for the 2015 financial year, according to their annual results, which were published on April 27.

THE government of the Australian state of Victoria published its 2016-17 budget on April 27, making provision for numerous rail projects and allocating more than $A 3.2bn ($US 2.4bn) to improve public transport.

FOLLOWING a lengthy legal dispute, Sicily's Department for Mobility, Infrastructure and Transport announced on April 15 that it has provisionally awarded Stadler a €43.9m contract to supply five EMUs for Messina - Palermo services.

GERMANY's Altona-Kaltenkirchen-Neumünster Railway (AKN) has received a 10-year direct award contract from the city of Hamburg and state of Schleswig-Holstein for operation of passenger services on its 117km core network.

GEORGIAN Railway (GR) announced on April 22 that it will take on four Stadler Kiss double-deck EMUs originally ordered by Russian airport rail link operator Aeroexpress.

THE managing director of Kenya Railways Mr Atanas Maina told a stakeholder meeting with the Shippers Council of East Africa on April 28 that more than 75% of civil works have been completed on the 472km Mombasa - Nairobi standard-gauge line.

SHANGHAI Disneyland Resort joined the city's metro network on April 26 with the start of trial passenger operation on the one-station eastern extension of Line 11 from Kangxin Highway.

URUGUAYAN State Railways (AFE) has appointed Alta Rail Technology, Brazil, to oversee the design and implementation of a new national advanced train control system, which will replace the legacy system with cellular and satellite-based technology.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held in Bellevue, Washington, on April 22 to mark the start of construction on Sound Transit's East Link light rail line.