IN a surprise announcement by Bombardier, Mr Laurent Troger has been appointed president of Bombardier Transportation with immediate effect succeeding Dr Lutz Bertling, who is stepping down to pursue other career opportunities.

SIEMENS Mobility Austria CEO Mr Arnulf Wolfram officially handed over the first of 101 Cityjet EMUs for Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) to the company's head of local and regional transport Mr Klaus Garstenauer and project manager Mr Thomas Grasl in a ceremony at Vienna Main Station on December 4.

GERMAN chancellor Mrs Angela Merkel and minister for transport and digital infrastructure Mr Alexander Dobrindt joined German Rail (DB) CEO Dr Rüdiger Grube Thuringia state minister-president Mr Bodo Ramelow and his Saxon counterpart Mr Stanislaw Tillich to inaugurate the 123km €2.74bn Erfurt - Leipzig/Halle high-speed line (VDE 8.2) on December 9.

BERLIN senator for urban development and the environment Mr Andreas Geisel confirmed on December 9 that the Senate has selected DB Regio subsidiary S-Bahn Berlin as preferred bidder for a contract to operate the Berlin S-Bahn Ring/South East group of lines for 15 years from 2021.

SWEDEN's enterprise minister Mr Mikael Damberg drove the inaugural train through the 8.7km Hallandsås tunnel on December 9. Construction of what is now the cournty's longest tunnel started as long ago as 1992.

ESTEL RA, a joint venture of Algerian Railways (SNTF) and Siemens, has secured a contract to supply signalling, safety and control systems, including ETCS, for the 140km Algiers RER commuter rail network which is operated by SNTF.

BRITAIN's Department for Transport (DfT) announced on December 9 that it has selected Arriva as preferred bidder for the Northern franchise, while TransPennine Express will be awarded to First Group.

PLANS to upgrade Geneva's main railway station at Cornavin by constructing an underground extension with two tracks took a step forward yesterday with the signing of a general agreement by representatives of the Swiss Federal Office of Transport and the city and Canton of Geneva.

STOCKHOLM County Council announced on December 8 that it has selected MTR Nordic, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong's MTR Corporation, for a concession to operate the Stockholm Pendeltåg suburban rail network for 10 years from December 2016.

CHINA's Exim Bank has agreed to provide $US 1.5bn to fund 85% of the cost of extending the 609km Mombasa – Nairobi standard-gauge line currently under construction 120km north to Naivasha, while the Kenya government will fund the remaining 15%.