SWEDISH open-access passenger operator Saga Rail confirmed on January 16 that it will launch its first services early this year on the Stockholm - Linköping route.

A bilateral agreement setting the terms for the development of a cross-border urban rail link between Singapore and Johor Bahru, Malaysia, was signed by the transport ministers of the two countries on January 16 in the presence of Malaysian prime minister Mr Najib Razak and his Singaporean counterpart Mr Lee Hsien Loong.

David Franks, Irish Rail (IE) chief executive, talks to Keith Barrow.

Keith Fender, regional editor reports on DBs mixed fortunes.

FLORIDA’s privately-owned inter-city operator Brightline introduced its first scheduled passenger trains on January 13, with the launch of introductory services between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale.

A NEW 15-year contract for the operation of regional rail services in Italy’s Veneto region was signed on January 11 by Mrs Elisa De Berti, regional councillor for public works, infrastructure and transport, and Mr Orazio Iacono, CEO of Trenitalia.

DIRECT passenger trains were restored between the Lithuanian capital Vilnius and Latvia’s second-largest city Daugavpils on January 13, when Lithuanian Railways (LG) launched a new twice-daily weekend service aimed at the leisure and tourist markets.

IRJ Pro market researcher Jonny Dearden looks at the big projects likely to hit the headlines this year.

GERMANY’s Ruhrbahn is planning to launch tenders later this year for 77 new LRVs to replace the entire Essen Stadtbahn fleet and complete the conversion of the city’s tram network to low-floor operation.

BARCELONA metro operator TMB has signed an agreement with a group of Korean companies and technological institutions to carry out trials with vertically-opening platform screen doors at one of its stations.