GERMAN chancellor Mrs Angela Merkel and minister for transport and digital infrastructure Mr Alexander Dobrindt joined German Rail (DB) CEO Dr Rüdiger Grube Thuringia state minister-president Mr Bodo Ramelow and his Saxon counterpart Mr Stanislaw Tillich to inaugurate the 123km €2.74bn Erfurt - Leipzig/Halle high-speed line (VDE 8.2) on December 9.
BERLIN senator for urban development and the environment Mr Andreas Geisel confirmed on December 9 that the Senate has selected DB Regio subsidiary S-Bahn Berlin as preferred bidder for a contract to operate the Berlin S-Bahn Ring/South East group of lines for 15 years from 2021.
SWEDEN's enterprise minister Mr Mikael Damberg drove the inaugural train through the 8.7km Hallandsås tunnel on December 9. Construction of what is now the cournty's longest tunnel started as long ago as 1992.
ESTEL RA, a joint venture of Algerian Railways (SNTF) and Siemens, has secured a contract to supply signalling, safety and control systems, including ETCS, for the 140km Algiers RER commuter rail network which is operated by SNTF.
BRITAIN's Department for Transport (DfT) announced on December 9 that it has selected Arriva as preferred bidder for the Northern franchise, while TransPennine Express will be awarded to First Group.
STOCKHOLM County Council announced on December 8 that it has selected MTR Nordic, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong's MTR Corporation, for a concession to operate the Stockholm Pendeltåg suburban rail network for 10 years from December 2016.
THE 1776km high-speed line from Lanzhou to Urumqi in the Xinjiang region of northwest China must rank alongside the Qinghai Tibet Railway as one China's greatest engineering achievements of recent years. The 31-station line crosses the Gobi desert and the Qilian Mountains, reaching a summit of 3607m above sea level in the Qilianshan No 2 Tunnel, making it the world's highest high-speed line.
A new elevated infrastructure solution for metros is touted as an affordable and sustainable way to bring much-needed public transport to some of the world's worst-served cities. Mercury Rail gave Kevin Smith an exclusive insight into its new Low Cost Sustainable Transport System (LCSTS).
What should the cities of 2050 look like? And what investments in public transport infrastructure are required to meet future demand and improve wellbeing? Dr Lewis Fulton and Kevin Smith review a study by researchers at University of California Davis and the Institute for Transportation Development and Policy which attempts to answer these questions and more.
THE president of Saudi Railways Organisation (SRO) HE Mohammed bin Khalid Al-Suwaiket took delivery of four diesel passenger trains supplied by CAF from the Spanish ambassador to Saudi Arabia Mr Joaquin Perez at a ceremony in Dammam on December 7.
