A draft 30-year Strategic Transport Plan for northern England was published by Transport for the North (TfN) on January 16, marking the start of a 13-week consultation on the proposals, which include the first detailed vision for the Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) link between the region’s six largest cities.

SWEDISH open-access passenger operator Saga Rail confirmed on January 16 that it will launch its first services early this year on the Stockholm - Linköping route.

A bilateral agreement setting the terms for the development of a cross-border urban rail link between Singapore and Johor Bahru, Malaysia, was signed by the transport ministers of the two countries on January 16 in the presence of Malaysian prime minister Mr Najib Razak and his Singaporean counterpart Mr Lee Hsien Loong.

THE first batch of five CAF Mk 5 coaches for Caledonian Sleeper services between London and Scotland arrived in Britain by rail through the Channel Tunnel on the night of January 14/15.

FLORIDA’s privately-owned inter-city operator Brightline introduced its first scheduled passenger trains on January 13, with the launch of introductory services between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale.

A NEW 15-year contract for the operation of regional rail services in Italy’s Veneto region was signed on January 11 by Mrs Elisa De Berti, regional councillor for public works, infrastructure and transport, and Mr Orazio Iacono, CEO of Trenitalia.

SWITZERLAND’s second-largest railway BLS concluded its biggest-ever rolling stock order on January 15, when the company’s CEO Mr Bernard Guillelmon and Stadler CEO Mr Peter Spuhler signed a contract for 52 Flirt EMUs for regional and suburban services.

BRITISH construction and facilities management company Carillion went into compulsory liquidation on January 15 following the failure of emergency talks with lenders and the government to avert the group’s collapse.

AFTER publishing a call for tenders in September 2017, Hungary’s National Infrastructure Development Agency (NIF) has cancelled a project to electrify the 53km Zalaszentiván - Nagykanizsa line, in accordance with a governmental decree which updates the list of projects eligible for funding from the state, and eventually the European Union (EU).

DIRECT passenger trains were restored between the Lithuanian capital Vilnius and Latvia’s second-largest city Daugavpils on January 13, when Lithuanian Railways (LG) launched a new twice-daily weekend service aimed at the leisure and tourist markets.