UTRECHT Regional Council (BRU) has issued a tender notice for a contract to supply 27 low-floor LRVs for the 7.5km Uithof Line, which will link Utrecht Central station with the Uithof universary campus on the eastern side of the city.

THE Norwegian city of Bergen has awarded Stadler a contract worth more than €100m to supply and maintain eight additional Variobahn low-floor LRVs and maintain the existing fleet of 20 vehicles until 2026.

IN an effort to fill the void left by the abandonment of Brussels – Amsterdam Fyra services, Thalys is planning to introduce two additional weekday services to Amsterdam from October 7.

THE Northeast Indiana Passenger Rail Association (NIPRA) has released a business plan laying the groundwork for a regional passenger rail corridor linking Columbus, Ohio, and Chicago via Fort Wayne and Warsaw, Indiana.

THE government of Argentina has announced electrification and re-signalling work will begin next year on the 60km 1676mm-gauge commuter line from Buenos Aires Plaza Constitución to La Plata, the state capital of Buenos Aires province.

GERMAN Rail (DB) CEO Dr Rüdiger Grube and Saxony's state minister for economic affairs, labour, and transport Mr Sven Morlok signed an agreement on the electrification and upgrading of the 81km Leipzig – Bad Lausick – Chemnitz line on July 16 with the aim of putting Chemnitz back on the Inter-City network.

THE LAUNCH of construction on the extension of the Los Angeles Metrolink commuter rail network to Moreno Valley and Perris has moved a step closer after a local environmental group dropped its lawsuit against the $US 232.7m project.

FRENCH National Railways (SNCF) says a detached switch fishplate is likely to be cause of the derailment of an inter-city train on July 12 at Brétigny-sur-Orge south of Paris in which six people died and 62 were injured.

Germany's Aerospace Centre in Göttingen is investigating concepts for the so-called Next Generation Train with a view to developing a very-high-speed double-deck train. Anitra Green visited the centre to see how the project is progressing.

DURING presentations held on July 12 in São Paulo and Sorocaba, technical staff of Paulista Metropolitan Trains Company (CPTM) revealed details of the planned São Paulo – Sorocaba regional rail project.