CONSTRUCTION of Israel's Acre - Carmiel line has reached a key milestone with the start of tracklaying on the 23km route.

GERMAN Rail (DB) has launched a major restructuring of its organisation and a reduction in its management team in the wake of an 18.2% drop in Ebit for the first half of 2015, and a 39% fall in after-tax profit from €642m to €391m.

POLISH State Railways (PKP) says it will allocate funds raised from the privatisation of its power subsidiary PKP Energy towards the purchase of 10 additional Pesa ED161 Dart long-distance EMUs for PKP Intercity.

NEW YORK Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has given preliminary approval for two contracts totalling $US 205.8m for the first phase of the Queens Boulevard Line (QBL) CBTC rollout.
The Siemens contract is worth $US 156.2m, while the total value of the Thales contract is $US 49.6m.

THE Spanish Ministry of Public Works and Transport has launched construction of a new branch designed to improve connectivity between El Prat airport and the Barcelona suburban network.

PERU's Agency for the Promotion of Private Investment (Proinversión) issued an invitation to prequalify on July 24 for a concession to "comprehensively rehabilitate" the 128.7km Huancayo - Huancavelica line in the Andes, which is popularly known as Tren Macho.

A new structure for Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corporation (THSRC) came into effect on July 27, when the Ministry of Transport and Communications signed two agreements with the company to terminate the original build-operate-transfer concession for the Taipei - Kaohsiung high-speed line.

TURKISH State Railways (TCDD) has awarded CGA, a joint venture between Çeliker, Gülermak, and AŽD Praha, a contract to upgrade the 378km line from Kalin west of Sivas to Samsun.

WABTEC has confirmed that it plans to acquire Faiveley Transport for a total purchase price of $US 1.8bn, including assumed debt, which if approved, will create one of the world's largest rail equipment supply companies.

The first class E353 tilting EMU built by J-Trec, Japan, for limited express services on the 1067mm-gauge Chuo Main Line has been delivered to JR East's depot at Matsumoto in Nagano prefecture in readiness for the start of mainline trials.