A consortium of Főmterv and Ecoroad has won the tender to prepare the detailed feasibility study for building the Hungarian section of the Budapest-Belgrade high-speed line. The study will cost Forints 527m ($US 1.8m).
PLANS have been announced by Eng Irit Shperber, director of transport planning in Israel's Transport Ministry, for the construction of a tram-train line between Haifa Lev-Ha-Migrate, Kiryat-Ata, Shefaram, and Nazareth.
DUTCH secretary of state for infrastructure Mrs Wilma Mansveld announced on May 27 that the Dutch government will allocate €88m towards the construction of a new line from Utrecht Central to Leidsche Rijn, a major new housing development west of the city.
THE detailed construction schedule for Sydney's CBD and South East light rail line was released on May 28, with major city centre works on the 12km route scheduled to start on October 23.
A commission set up by the French government to draw up proposals for the development of loss-making Intercity services published its initial report on May 26, recommending significant changes to the organisation and operation of the network.
HOUSTON's Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (Metro) celebrated the opening of two new light rail lines over the weekend of May 23.
STADTWERKE Ulm (SWU) signed a €32m contract with Siemens on May 22 for 12 Avenio M low-floor LRVs as part of a project to expand the German city's metre-gauge tram network.
MEXICO's Federal Secretariat of Communications and Transport (SCT) has agreed to pay $US 1.3m in damages to China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) for costs incurred in bidding for the cancelled Mexico City – Queretaro high-speed line.
SVF, the public transport operator in the German city of Frankfurt-an-der-Oder, has published a tender notice in the Official Journal of the European Union for a contract to supply 13 new LRVs for the city's 20km metre-gauge tram network.
THE Association of French Regions (ARF) and the Federation of French Towns have warned the French government that it must act decisively to save the so-called balance of territory (TET) trains, a network of 40 loss-making long-distance services which serves 355 towns and cities across 21 regions.
