PLANS to extend Munich U-Bahn Line 5 by 3.77km from the existing terminus at Laimer Platz to Pasing have cleared a further hurdle after the city council's building committee instructed the building department to put prepare planning approval for the project.

INDONESIA's president Mr Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has urged that construction of a high-speed link between Jakarta and Bandung start "next month" during a cabinet meeting on high-speed rail systems for Indonesia held on July 13.

CRRC subsidiary Nanjing Puzhen SR Rail Transport has secured three contracts for the supply of metro and light rail rolling stock in China worth a combined Yuan 2.1bn ($US 338.2m).

A MAJOR expansion of passenger rail services in Vermont is proposed as part of the state's new rail plan, which identifies capital investment priorities for the next 20 years.

THE European Union has agreed to provide a grant towards upgrading the main line from Kalin west of Sivas to the Black Sea city of Samsun even though Turkey is not a member of the EU.

KEOLIS confirmed on July 14 that it has been granted a five-year extension by Virginia Railway Express (VRE) for the operation of commuter rail services from Washington D.C. to Manassas and Fredericksburg in northern Virginia.

RHINE-Ruhr Transport Authority (VRR) has published a tender notice in the Official Journal of the European Union for a contract to supply and maintain at least 36 EMUs for the region's S-Bahn network.

GERMAN Rail (DB) has selected a consortium of Siemens Convergence Creators and Huawei to perform a migration of DB's first-generation GSM-R network in northern Germany.

TESTING started this month of two 350km/h prototype China Standard EMUs designed by Chinese engineers.

PASSENGER numbers on Russian Railways's (RZD) flagship Sapsan services reached 1.88 million in the first half of this year, a 26.4% increase compared with the same period in 2014, according to ridership figures released on July 13.