VTG announced on January 6 that it has completed the acquisition of Swiss wagon leasing company Ahaus Alstätter Eisenbahn Holding (AAE) following approval of the transaction by competition authorities in Germany, Austria, Poland, and Russia.

THE first of five ETR 452 Civity EMUs being supplied by CAF for the Bari suburban network was presented to Puglia regional councillor for mobility and transport Mr Giovanni Giannini, by the president of regional rail operator Ferrotramviaria Mrs Gloria Pasquini and by the company's general director Mr Massimo Nitti on December 19.

BRITAIN's Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has rejected proposals by Arriva subsidiary Great North Western Railway (GNWR) to introduce long-distance open-access services from London to Huddersfield, Leeds, and Blackpool via the West Coast Main Line (WCML).

SWISS train equipment automation specialist Selectron Systems has been acquired by Knorr-Bremse for an undisclosed sum, subject to approval by competition authorities.

SWEDISH infrastructure manager Trafikverket has awarded Strukton Rail a five-year contract worth around €50m to maintain railways in the Malmö area.

THE Hungarian government has acquired a 64.9% stake in the carriage works at Dunakeszi near Budapest from Bombardier in a deal worth Forints 2.1bn ($US 7.8m).

GERMAN Rail's (DB) next-generation long-distance train the ICx made its first appearance on the German mainline network at the end of December, when the first ICx set was hauled from Bombardier's Henningsdorf plant near Berlin to Siemens' Wildenrath test centre in North Rhine Westphalia.

A CEREMONY was held at Houston's Downtown Transit Center on January 7 to mark the entry into passenger service of Houston MetroRail's new fleet of 39 H3 LRVs, which are being supplied by CAF USA.

MPK Lodz signed a Zlotys 166m ($US 45.8m) contract with Pesa on December 30 for 22 low-floor LRVs, which will be used on the Polish city's 120km metre-gauge tram network.

GORAIL, the only operator of regular passenger services between Estonia and Russia, has announced it will cut its daily Tallinn – St Petersburg train back to just two return services per week next month.