METRO do Porto, which operates the 67km light rail network in Porto, Portugal, has awarded a €10.5m contract to Railway Equipment Maintenance Company (EMEF) to overhaul part of its fleet of Bombardier Eurotram LRVs.

IN what some industry observers believe may be a final attempt - short of a proxy battle - by hedge fund manager Mr Bill Ackman at a hostile takeover of Norfolk Southern (NS), Canadian Pacific (CP) notified NS on February 9 of its intent to submit a resolution to NS shareholders "to ask their board of directors to engage in good faith discussions with CP regarding a business combination transaction."

ITALIAN State Railways (FS) CEO Mr Renato Mazzoncini and Iranian Islamic Republic Railways (RAI) president Dr Mohsen Pour Seyed Aghaei signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Tehran on February 9 pledging to co-operate in the development of Iran's high-speed rail network and the modernisation of RAI's rolling stock fleet.

BELARUS Railways (BC) has awarded Pesa, Poland, a contract to supply four additional class DP3 three-car DMUs with an option for a further four trains.

BOMBARDIER has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bozankaya, a Turkish LRV car body manufacturer, to bid for Turkish State Railways' (TCDD) forthcoming tender for 80 high-speed trains, which is expected to be published shortly.

THE Bihar state cabinet signed off the detailed project report (DPR) for the first phase of the metro network in Patna on February 9, referring the project to the Indian government for final approval.

BRITAIN's Department for transport and franchisee Great Western Railway (GWR) have reached an agreement on funding a study into the upgrading of rail links between London, Devon and Cornwall.

THE government of the Brazilian state of São Paulo says it will seek assistance from Korea to develop plans for a network of frequent regional services linking the city of São Paulo with surrounding cities.

A head-on collision between two regional passenger trains in southern Bavaria has killed 11 people and injured more than 100, 18 of them seriously. 

KNORR-Bremse has purchased the rail transport portion of brake pad manufacturer TMD Friction from Hisshinbo Holdings, Japan, to expand its friction materials expertise.