PKP Intercity's new fleet of ED160 Flirt 3 EMUs entered commercial service on the morning of December 13, when one of the eight-car trains formed the 05.07 from Gdynia to Katowice via Warsaw.

THE final phase of Vienna's new Main Station became operational on December 13, bringing a major-shake up of long-distance services into the Austrian capital.

NATIONAL Express launched its first passenger operations on the German mainline network on December 13, when it took over the operation of two regional routes in North Rhine Westphaila from DB Regio.

REGULAR passenger services returned to the Swedish town of Trelleborg for the first time since the 1970s on December 12, when Skånetrafiken introduced Pågatåg regional services on the 34km Continental Line from Malmö.

GERMAN Rail (DB) finally started passenger operation of its new IC2 double-deck push-pull inter-city trains with the launch of the 2016 timetable on December 13.

ITALIAN State Railways (FS) concluded the privatisation of its power supply network on December 10 when it signed a contract transferring ownership to Terna, an Italian public company owned by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti which manages the national electricity grid.

RAILFREIGHT capacity on lines into the port of Hamburg will be increased significantly on December 13 following the completion of infrastructure upgrades which will enable maximum train lengths to be increased from 740m to 835m.

POLISH rolling stock manufacturer Newag confirmed on December 10 that it has been awarded a five-year framework contract by Italian regional operator South East Railways (FSE) for up to 15 standard-gauge EMUs, with an initial €20.2m order for five trains.

EVRAZ ZSMK has been granted a Technical Specification for Interoperability (TSI) certificate for its new type 54 E1 rails.