THE first pre-series class 490 EMU for the Hamburg S-Bahn network is nearing completion at Bombardier's Hennigsdorf plant north of Berlin, and according to the manufacturer is due to begin testing next month.

PKP Intercity's new fleet of ED160 Flirt 3 EMUs entered commercial service on the morning of December 13, when one of the eight-car trains formed the 05.07 from Gdynia to Katowice via Warsaw.

THE final phase of Vienna's new Main Station became operational on December 13, bringing a major-shake up of long-distance services into the Austrian capital.

TORONTO commuter rail operator Go Transit has taken delivery of its first locomotive to comply with the latest US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Tier 4 emissions regulations.

NATIONAL Express launched its first passenger operations on the German mainline network on December 13, when it took over the operation of two regional routes in North Rhine Westphaila from DB Regio.

REGULAR passenger services returned to the Swedish town of Trelleborg for the first time since the 1970s on December 12, when Skånetrafiken introduced Pågatåg regional services on the 34km Continental Line from Malmö.

GERMAN Rail (DB) finally started passenger operation of its new IC2 double-deck push-pull inter-city trains with the launch of the 2016 timetable on December 13.

INDIA will adopt Japanese Shinkansen technology for the country's first high-speed line under a memorandum of understanding signed on December 12 in Delhi in the presence of India's Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Mr Shinzo Abe.

METRO Jeddah invites companies to pre-qualify for tenders to supply trains and equip and fit out the Saudi city's new metro for which civil works prequalification started in July.