STADLER displayed the first Mälartåg, which will run in the Mälardalen region in Sweden from 2019, at Stockholm Central Station on June 27 in cooperation with Mälab and Transitio.

SIEMENS and Stadler provided the first glimpse of the next generation of rolling stock for the Berlin S-Bahn network on June 27 with the rollout of the first completed class 484 half-set Stadler’s Pankow plant.

HYUNDAI Rotem has been awarded a Won 542.4bn ($US 484.5m) contract to produce 80 driverless metro cars for Taoyuan, a city in the northwest of Taiwan. Earlier this year, the Korean company was awarded a Won 909.8bn contract with Taiwan Railways (TRA) for 520 EMUs - the company’s first order in Taiwan in 19 years.

A report from the European Court of Auditors says the €23.7bn of co-funding that the European Union (EU) has provided to support high-speed rail infrastructure investments since 2000 has created only a “patchwork” of national high-speed lines across the European Union, and failed to create a cohesive European high-speed rail network.

STADLER confirmed on June 26 that production of aluminium carbodies will begin shortly for the fleet of class 777 EMUs for Liverpool’s Merseyrail suburban network.

BRIGHTLINE, which recently began operating a passenger service between Miami and West Palm Beach, has confirmed that it has submitted an unsolicited proposal to develop a high-speed line between Orlando and Tampa.

A new 15-year contract for the operation of regional train services in Lazio was signed on June 22 by the region’s president, Mr Nicola Zingaretti Trenitalia CEO and Mr Orazio Iacono, in the presence of Italy’s newly-appointed minister of infrastructure and transport, Mr Danilo Toninelli.

CANADA’s national passenger rail operator Via Rail announced on June 18 that Bombardier Transportation Canada, Siemens Canada, Stadler US and Talgo have been shortlisted to participate in the Request for Proposals (RFP) to manufacture a new fleet of inter-city trains for the Quebec City - Windsor Corridor.

A subsidiary of Watco Companies, United States, is developing plans to launch passenger services between Oklahoma’s two largest cities.

THE city of Gatineau, Quebec, has unveiled proposals for a 26km light rail network which, according to its promoters, will help encourage movement of the population in the west of the city to downtown Gatineau and Ottawa, Ontario.