ARGENTINA's world-famous Tren de las Nubes (Train of the Clouds) has ceased operating and concessionaire Ecotren has been stripped of its contract following a derailment in a remote area of the Andes.

THE FIRST of six 200km/h Flirt EMUs for Swedish open-access operator MTR Express left the Stadler Rail plant in Bussnang, Switzerland, on August 21 bound initially for the company's train commissioning centre in nearby Erlen.

BRITAIN's Department for Transport revealed the list of prequalified bidders on August 19 for the contracts to operate the new Northern and TransPennine Express (TPE) franchises from 2016.

THE SECOND phase of the railway network in Tibet was inaugurated on August 15 with the opening of the 253km line linking the Tibetan capital Lhasa to the region's second city Xigaze.

SAXONY-ANHALT public transport authority Nasa has awarded Veolia a one-year extension to its contract to operate the Harz-Elbe-Express (HEX) regional network, which was previously due to expire in December 2017.

GERMAN Rail (DB) has awarded a €312m contract to a joint venture of Ed Züblin and Hochtief to construct the 4270m Rastatt tunnel as part of the project to upgrade the Karlsruhe – Basle corridor for 250km/h operation.

THE mayors of nine cities in the US states of Indiana and Ohio plan to sign a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the Northern Indiana/Ohio High Speed Rail Initiative which seeks to introduce a passenger rail service along the 480km Chicago - Columbus corridor.

SWISS Federal Railways (SBB) will spend around SFr 1.5bn ($US 1.66bn) on revamping stations, modernising infrastructure and acquiring new rolling stock for Ticino, Switzerland's southernmost canton by 2020.

PORTUGUESE Trains (CP) passenger traffic continued to recover in the first half of this year according to the company's latest financial results, which show ridership increased 2.4% year-on-year to reach a higher-than-forecast 54 million.

FOLLOWING a Europe-wide tender, Lower Saxony Transport Authority (LNVG) has selected German regional operator Metronom for a contract to operate the Eastern Lower Saxony Electric Network (ENNO) for 10 years from December 2015.