A ground breaking ceremony was held in California on November 29 for the $US 700m five-year first phase of the 40-year $US 6bn North Coast Corridor (NCC) infrastructure improvement project.

CZECH and Slovak open-access operator Regiojet is to set to launch Prague - Bratislava services with the start of the 2017 timetable on December 11, with trains running via Pardubice and Brno.

Vietnam Railways is undergoing a process of modernisation of its largely manual operation control systems. Dr Sebastian Wahle, IVU Traffic Technologies, explains how this is helping the railway improve staff and system efficiency and ultimately its service offering for passengers.

FRENCH secretary of state for transport Mr Alain Vidalies and the president of the region of New Aquitaine (Aquitaine, Limousin and Poitou-Charentes) Mr Alain Rousset announced on November 29 that the regional government will take control of three loss-making inter-city services from French National Railways (SNCF).

FRENCH National Railways (SNCF) will introduce on December 1 a new online compensation scheme for passengers whose journeys on TGV or inter-city services are delayed by 30 minutes or more.

A ceremony was held in the German state of Baden-Württemberg on November 11 to mark the start of electrification works on the 17km Schönbuch Railway from Böblingen to Dettenhausen.

LUXEMBOURG Railways (CFL) is planning to launch direct services between Luxembourg and Düsseldorf next year.

AHEAD of the German national elections in 2017, the German Railway Industry Association (VDB) and seven other railway associations have put forward three policy initiatives designed to boost rail traffic.

THE restoration of passenger services between Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata reached a milestone on November 22, when the first test train arrived in Argentina’s seventh-largest city following the completion of a project to upgrade infrastructure on part of the Roca Line.