THE European Commission has pledged €136m in matching funding from its Cohesion Fund for the development of the standard-gauge freight line from the Portuguese port of Sines to the border town of Elvas.

GENESEE & Wyoming (G&W) confirmed on March 25 that it has completed the £492m acquisition of approximately 94% of Freightliner Group, Britain, from Arcapita and other shareholders, plus approximately £19m of net debt and capitalised leases.

SAUDI Railways Organisation (SRO) has awarded a Riyals 160.2m ($US 42.7m) contract to China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) for the second phase of a project to upgrade the track on the freight line linking Riyadh, Harad and Dammam.

PHILIPPINE state-owned Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) plans to issue a tender this year to establish a joint-venture company with a private partner to implement the Clark Rail project, an 82km section of the North-South commuter Railway (NSCR) to serve Manila.

SIEMENS has officially been awarded a €1.7bn contract by Rhine-Ruhr Transport Authority (VRR) to supply 82 Desiro High Capacity (HC) EMUs for the Rhine-Ruhr Express (RRX) network and maintain the fleet for 32 years.

DESPITE recording a 1.8% increase in group sales in 2014 to €1.32bn, Vossloh reported a negative Ebit of €171.6m as the company's restructuring plan continues to impact its performance.

NEW doubts over the economic feasibility a new high-speed railway test centre in southern Spain have surfaced after the European Commission (EC) launched an in-depth investigation to determine if the €359m project violates European Union state aid rules.

BRITAIN's infrastructure manager Network Rail (NR) has awarded a contract to Jacobs Engineering Group, United States, for surveying work and design for a new western rail link to London's Heathrow Airport.

DUTCH Minister of Finance, Mr Jeroen Dijsselbloem, has informed the Dutch Parliament that Netherlands Railways (NS) will stop ordering trains through its Irish leasing subsidiary NS Financial Services Company which will be wound down.

SOUTH Europe Atlantique Maintenance & Operations (Mesea), which will be responsible for maintaining the new 302km Tours – Bordeaux high-speed line when it opens in mid-2017, has awarded a contract to Carl Software for infrastructure maintenance software.