VEOLIA Transdev and Trenitalia today announced France's first open-access passenger operator will begin operating overnight services from Paris to Milan and Venice on December 11.

NORTHERN IRELAND'S transport minister Mr Danny Kennedy has announced the launch of a project to rehabilitate the Coleraine - Londonderry line will be brought forward from 2014 to next year.

SPANISH rolling stock manufacturer CAF has secured its first train order from Australasia with the signing today of a contract for 57 three-car emus for Auckland.

THE STATE of Michigan has reached an agreement with Norfolk Southern to acquire the 217km Kalamazoo - Ann Arbor - Dearborn line in a move that will secure the future of Amtrak services between Chicago and Detroit. The $US 140m purchase was funded with the aid of a Federal Railroad Administration grant and will pave the way for the upgrading of the route for 177km/h operation.

CANADIAN engineering and construction group SNC Lavalin has acquired British railway technology consultants Interfleet Technology for an undisclosed sum.

SWEDISH transport administration Trafikverket and Railcare, Sweden, have today unveiled a new snow-clearing machine at the Nordic Rail exhibition in Jönköping, Sweden.

PLANS to implement the European Rail Traffic Management System on Poland's main lines reached a milestone on September 26, with the first test operation of rolling stock equipped with the European Train Control System (ETCS) Level 1.

CZECH Railways (CD) has placed an order for 16 230km/h push-pull Railjet trains from Siemens, taking over an option from a contract originally signed with Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB). The deal is worth around Euros 200m and deliveries will begin in 2013, with all 16 of the seven-car sets due to enter service by 2014.

TATA Steel has today unveiled its upgraded rail production facility in Hayange in northwest France following the completion of a Euros 35 million investment programme.

KING Mohammed VI of Morocco, together with French president Mr Nicholas Sarkozy and Prince Megrin Ben Adbulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, were present today at the launch of construction on Morocco's first high-speed line. The 200km line will link Tangier with Kénitra and will have a design speed of 350km/h and a maximum operating speed of 320km/h.