HUNGARIAN State Railways (MÁV) announced on January 4 that Stadler is the sole bidder for the supply of 48 low-floor emus, 42 of which will be purchased by regional operator MÁV-Start and six by Györ-Sopron-Ebenfurth Railway (GySEV).
SPAIN celebrated the completion of Iberia's first high-speed connection with the rest of Europe on January 8 with the inauguration of the 131km line between Figueres and Barcelona, which completes the 804km high-speed line between Madrid and the French border.
TAIWAN's Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) approved plans on January 7 for the construction of the first phase of a light rail line serving the Danshui district of New Taipei City, paving the way for construction to begin later this year.
WITH the signing of a 12-year agreement with Whitehaven Coal, Aurizon (formerly QR National) is preparing to significantly expand its coal operation in New South Wales from July 2014.
ITALIAN open-access high-speed operator NTV announced the results for its first eight months of operation on January 7, revealing it carried more than 2 million passengers on its Italo services from its launch on April 28 to the end of December.
SYNERAIL, the PPP consortium appointed by French Rail Network (RFF) in 2010 to install, operate and maintain GSM-R across 11,000km of the network has completed its first two projects.
GERMANY's Federal Railway Authority (EBA) granted Siemens approval on December 21 for the operation of Vectron locomotives on the German mainline network.
PAULISTA Metropolitan Trains Company (CPTM) has invited bidders to prequalify for a revised tender for the construction of a rail link between central São Paulo and Guarulhos International Airport.
SERCO is to continue operating London's Docklands Light Railway (DLR) until September 2014 after being granted an 18-month contract extension by Transport for London (TfL).
THE Czech and Slovak governments are considering plans to merge state-owned railfreight operators CD Cargo and ZSSK Cargo in an effort to improve their financial position and protect them from potential takeover bids from foreign railways.
