A groundbreaking ceremony was held on April 12 to mark the start of construction on Montreal’s Metropolitan Electric Network (REM), the new 67km automated light metro for the Canadian city.

TURKISH State Railways (TCDD) has awarded a €340m contract to Siemens to supply 10 more Velaro high-speed trains and to maintain them for three years.

INFRASTRUCTURE Ontario and Metrolinx have selected Mosaic Transit Group as preferred bidder for a contract to design, build, finance and maintain Toronto’s Finch West light rail line.

THE procurement commission of the city council in Daugavpils, Latvia, has approved the acquisition of eight Russian trams for the city’s 1524mm-gauge tram network.

THE government of Ile-de-France has appointed a committee of experts to evaluate the feasibility of offering public transport services free-of-charge in the area around Paris.

TURKEY’s president Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prime minister, Mr Binali Yildirim, and transport and communications minister Mr Ahmet Arslan attended the inauguration of Ankara’s Başkentray suburban line on April 12.

BULGARIAN State Railways (BDZ) is finalising tender documentation for a contract to supply 41 multiple units as it seeks to move forward with the renewal of its ageing rolling stock fleet.

CRRC Tangshan has released images of bodyshells for new double-deck coaches for Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (Septa) undergoing tests at its plant in China’s Hebei province.

ALGERIA’s president, Mr Abdelaziz Bouteflika, inaugurated two extensions of the Algiers metro on April 10, adding five more stations to the network.

THE government of the Australian state of Victoria announced on April 10 that it will allocate $A 3m ($US 2.3m) from its state budget to fund design and planning work on an 18km extension of the Melbourne tram network to Monash University and Rowville in the city’s southeastern suburbs.