STUTTGART Tramways (SSB) opened a northern extension to light rail Line U12 on December 9 from Hallschlag to Wagrainäcker to connect with line U14 and made several changes to its network on December 10 due to renovation work in the city centre.

JAPAN’s Transport Safety Board has launched an investigation after bogie cracks and an oil leak were discovered on a West Japan Railway Company (JR West) N700 Series Shinkansen train while operating a Hakata - Tokyo Nozomi service on December 11.

FRENCH National Railways’ (SNCF) low-cost high-speed service, Ouigo, launched services from central Paris for the first time with the start of the new timetable on December 10.

THE £85m Ordsall Chord project, to provide Manchester with a cross-city mainline rail link, opened on December 10.

THE President of Italy’s Puglia region, Mr Michele Emiliano, has announced that a 189km section of South East Railway (FSE) in the Salento area will be electrified.

KEOLIS commenced operation of the 15-year Teutoburger-Wald-Network (TWN) concession in North Rhine Westphalia, Germany, on December 10.

WEST Midlands Trains, a joint venture of Abellio, JR East and Mitsui, has finalised two orders worth £680m for 107 new trains with Bombardier and CAF for the new West Midlands franchise, which started on December 10.

A new SFr 87m ($US 87.7m) tram link between the Swiss city of Basle and the French town of St Louis in Alsace was officially opened on December 9 after two years of construction, reviving a cross-border tram service which closed around 60 years ago.

THE first four out of 17 Evo Pendolino trains being supplied by Alstom to Italy’s open-access high-speed operator NTV entered service on December 7 between Rome and Venice.

KEOLIS Nederland commenced operation of its second rail concession in the Netherlands on December 11 when it took over an 81km network in the province of Overijssel.