THE Israeli prime minister Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, together with Israel's transport minister Mr Israel Katz, and Israel Railways' general manager Mr Boaz Zafrir, officially opened the 70km Ashkelon - Beer-Sheva line on September 17.
KENYA Railways has signed an agreement with China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) to extend the 609km standard-gauge line under construction between Mombasa and Nairobi by 120km north to Naivasha.
AUSTRIAN open-access operator Westbahn has announced it will introduce additional Friday, Saturday and Sunday peak services between Vienna and Linz from October 2 to accommodate rising demand.
RHINELAND Local Transport has awarded Rurtalbahn a contract to continue operating passenger services on the 30km Düren - Linnich, line west of Cologne until 2020.
THE first of six passenger trains being built by CAF was handed over by the company's CEO Mr Andres Arizlorret to the chairman of Saudi Railway Company (SAR) Dr Saad A Al Qadhi and SAR's CEO Dr Rumaih Al-Rumaih at the new station in Riyadh.
FRENCH infrastructure manager SNCF Network has begun work on a €110.5m project to reinstate the 22km link between Belfort and the town of Delle on the Swiss border, which was abandoned in 1992.
FINLAND's Ministry of Transport and Communications and national train operator VR Group announced on September 15 that they have reached a four-year agreement on the operation of public service obligation (PSO) passenger services.
SWISS Federal Railways (SBB) announced its results for the first half of 2015 on September 15, revealing group profits surged 60.1% year-on-year to SFr 92m ($US 94m) despite the worsening financial performance of its freight unit.
BRITAIN's rail minister Mrs Claire Perry announced on September 16 that the Department for Transport (DfT) has awarded an interim contract for the East Midlands franchise to the current operator, Stagecoach Group subsidiary East Midlands Trains (EMT).
THE introduction of a national clockface timetable in Germany could significantly reduce journey times and increase ridership, according to a feasibility report published by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) on September 10.
