ALPTRANSIT Gotthard has carried out a series of test runs in the Gotthard base tunnel with a 1500m-long freight train in preparation for the opening of the 57km tunnel later this year.

AUSTRIAN Federal Railways (ÖBB) has built a full-size mock-up of an interior concept for its next generation of couchette coaches, which will be used to evaluate passenger reaction to the proposed interior.

THE president of Friuli Venezia Giulia region Mrs Debora Serracchiani signed a framework agreement with Italian Railway Network (RFI) CEO Mr Maurizio Gentile in Rome on February 3 setting out investment priorities for the Italian region's railway network over the next 17 years.

FRENCH prime minister Mr Manuel Valls confirmed on February 6 that the government will contribute a further €500m towards the €3.7bn western extension of Paris RER Line E from St Lazare to Mantes-la-Jolie.

THE first of 52 Azur metro trains being supplied to Montreal Transport (STM) by Alstom and Bombardier entered passenger service on the Orange Line of the Montreal metro on February 7, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the metro.

IZMIR celebrated the opening of the latest addition to its Izban suburban rail network on February 6 when the 27km extension of the Southern Line from Cumaovasi to Tepeköy was inaugurated by Turkey's transport and communications minister Mr Binali Yildirim and the mayor of Izmir Mr Aziz Kocaoglu.

MASHHAD became the first Iranian city to complete an urban rail link to its airport on February 6, when the country's president Dr Hassan Rouhani inaugurated the extension of light rail Line 1 from Ghadir to Shahid Hashemi Nejad Airport.

GERMAN Rail (DB) has announced delays to the introduction of further new IC2 double-deck trains being supplied by Bombardier following problems with the vehicles swaying from side-to-side at speed on some lines on which they have already been deployed.

MALAYAN Railway (KTMB) has expanded its electric long-distance passenger services and cut journey times following the extension of 25kV ac electrification north from Ipoh to Butterworth and Padang Besar and south from Kuala Lumpur to Gemas.

GERMAN Rail (DB) is to spend €5.5bn this year on modernising its existing network which is around €200m more than in 2015.