THE first of 34 Alstom Citadis 402 LRVs for the initial phase of the light rail network in Sidi Bel Abbès arrived in the Algerian city on April 8.

KIEV tram operator Kyivpastrans has awarded Pesa, Poland, a contract worth around €11.5m to supply 10 Fokstrot low-floor LRVs for use on the Ukrainian capital's 279km tram network.

THE municipal government in the Polish city of Katowice has identified the final alignment for a 5km tram line linking the southwestern district of Brynow with Kostuchna in the south.

THE Finnish government has allocated €84m towards the implementation of the Raide-Jokeri light rail line between Helsinki and the neighbouring city of Espoo as part of its 2017-2020 fiscal plan, which was announced on April 5.

THE first of eight Vossloh electro-diesel Citylink tram-trains ordered by Mid-Saxony transport authority VMS entered service in the Chemnitz area on April 4. Initially the vehicles are only operating on DB Network infrastructure as BoStrab certification for use on the CVAG-owned Chemnitz city tram network has not yet been completed.

THE Finnish government has agreed to fund 70% of a €250m project to build a 23km light rail line in Tampere, leaving the city to fund the remaining 30%.

FIVE public transport associations have sent an open letter to the Dutch minister of infrastructure and the environment, Mrs Melanie Schultz van Haegen-Maas Geesteranus, urging her to include rail and public transport on the agenda of a meeting of European Union transport and environment ministers.

UZBEKISTAN's capital Tashkent is to close its entire 90km tram network by August and sell its fleet of 80 trams, some of which are less than five years old.

THE first of 30 low-floor LRVs being supplied by Bozankaya, Turkey, for the light rail network in Kayseri was handed over to the mayor of the Turkish city Mr Mustafa Çelik on March 23.

OKLAHOMA City Council voted on March 22 to award a $US 24.9m contract for five low-floor LRVs for the Oklahoma City Streetcar project to Brookville Equipment, United States.